Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

To explore the potential of armadillos as bobwhite quail nest predators, 75 "dummy" quail nests, containing four to six eggs each, were constructed in an area of recent armadillo activity in Clarke County, Alabama during June and July of 1973. During 300 nest nights, armadillos accounted for 25 of 96 destroyed nests. Seventeen other nests contained armadillo signs, but the eggs were not broken. Eighteen of the 25 destroyed nests were located in one small area which might indicate that one armadillo was responsible for most of the nests being destroyed. One armadillo was observed eating eggs from two of the nests in this area of high nest mortality. In all probability, armadillos will be of little importance as nest predators, but individuals within a population may feed on quail eggs.

From the fall of 1967 through the winter of 1972-73, 2,365 common snipe (Capella gallinago) were banded on Paynes Prairie, a wetlands south of Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida. Cattle-grazed maiden-cane (Panicum hem1tomen) was the preferred cover for snipe. Fall migrants came in late-September. The wintering population stabilized from mid-November through lateFebruary. Spring departure began in mid-March; only a few stragglers remained on the study area after the middle of April. Snipe weighed an average of 100 g from October through March and 112 g in April. Band recoveries showed that the snipe returned each year to the same winter range. Only 0.4 percent of the birds recovered were shot by hunters confirming the relative under-exploitation of the species.

Nine woodlots were selected in Ashe and Alleghany counties, North Carolina, to study grouse populations from 1969 to 1972 relative to the effects of hunting pressure in habitat characteristic of small woodlots. The nine study areas were divided equally into the categories of control, regulated and unregulated hunting areas. Pre-hunting season and post-hunting season population levels were estimated by flushing censuses. Numbers of flushes and kills during bi-weekly hunting on the three regulated areas were recorded. Bi-weekly bird dog hunting on the regulated hunting areas yielded hunter hours per kill of 31.5,28.0 and 63.0+ respectively for the 1969-1971 hunting seasons. Personal contacts with landowners and sportsmen were used to estimate the kill on the unregulated hunting areas.

Breeding populations of the mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura) have been declining over the past decade while at the same time hunting pressure and harvest have increased. Thus, minimization of conf1ict between nesting activity and hunting is important in stabilizing populations. As the crop-gland activity of doves provides an indication of post-hatching nesting activity the proportion of doves with active and regressing crop-glands was studied during the 1971 and 1972 hunting seasons in Virginia. Examination dates, number of adult doves examined, number with active (A) crop-glands, and number of regressing (R) crop-glands were as follows: 4 September 1971,82 doves, 12.5 percent A, 8.4 percent R; 2 September 1972, 279 doves, 22.6 percent A, 8.2 percent R; 9 September 1972,89 doves, 23.6 percent A, 14.6 percent R; 16 September 1972, 34 doves, 29.3 percent A, none R; 23 September 1972, 14 doves, 21.4 percent A, 14.3 percent R, 23 December 1972, 11 doves, none A, and none R.

From 1969 to 1972, Blue and Lesser Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) were neck-banded to permit identification of individuals and family groups, and 592 geese were dyed or painted to facilitate the study offlock behavior. The geese were dyed or painted to facilitate the study of flock behavior. The geese were captured and marked on the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. Thirty-one neckbanded family groups were observed during the 3-year study. Eighteen families were seen together two or more times, while two families were seen together six or more times. The standard family pattern consisted of parents and cohort offspring. Offspring hatched in a family group. Neckbanded parents and yearlings or parents and 2-year-olds were seen together as families. Flocks of 70 to 200 gesse were dyed and released together. The dyed geese were observed to spread out in singles and groups of two to five for a distance of 130 airline miles along the coast.

Resident flocks have become a hope for retaining wild Canada geese in the South. A history is presented of eight such flocks which were attempted on national wildlife refuges. Habitat requirements, management techniques, and significant problems are discussed. Successful flocks now established on five of the eight refuges are providing considerable public enjoyment.

An investigation of factors influencing gobbling of adult and juvenile eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) was conducted in 1972 and 1973 in the Western Piedmont of South Carolina. General gobbling activity was monitored and individual gobbling behavior was studied. Five adult and seven juvenile gobblers were individually monitored on 24 mornings during the study in order to ascertain specific information on gobbling characteristics. Gobbling intensity of adult and juvenile gobblers was compared. Influences of weather on gobbling were evaluated. Data on changes in availability of hens and social structure of the gobbler population were discussed. The initiation and duration of gobbling was calculated for those gobblers regularly monitored.

Rio Grande turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia) were studied in Roger Mills and Beckham Counties from fall 1966 to fall 1969. Three hundred and eight turkeys were trapped and individually marked, and physical measurements were made. Radio transmitters were placed on 31 turkeys. Tagged turkeys were observed 333 times on spring and summer ranges. Daily ranges of spring flocks varied from 160 to 379 acres. Total number of turkeys in the winter flock varied from approximately 280 to 368 birds. Size of winter headquarters area varied from 351 to 507 acres, and spring range included approximately 60,000 acres. Removal of trees on a portion of the winter area in fall of 1968 had a marked effect on daily activities on the winter flock and size of the winter area. During spring dispersal and winter flock formation, an exchange of members from different winter flocks occurred.

Stomach and crop contents of 75 turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo osceola) poults from 1 to 164 days old and 8 adults, collected from April through October in Glades and Alachua Counties, Florida, were identified and measured by volume displacement. Vegetable material accounted for 75.0 percent and animal material for 25.0 percent of the diet by volume of poults 1 to 14 days old. Poults 15 to 164 days old ate 72.8 percent vegetable and 27.2 percent animal foods. The most important single item in the diet of the I to 14 day old group was "stargrass" (Hypoxis leptocarpa) - this was replaced in importance by the seed of a true grass (Paspalum conjugatum) in the older poults. Eight summer crops of adult turkeys permit a brief comparison between foods of adults and poults.

Population level and habitat selectivity of an introduced population of the wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo L. was investigated during 1969 and 1970 on a 17,000 acre area of bottomland hardwoods. A cover type map was developed to give reconnaissance evaluation of forest types and detailed analysis of vegetative plots furnished a more complete characterization. Five environment types were subsequently revealed; hardwood or glade bottoms, swamp bottoms, clearings, a small live oak grove, and a limited stand of willows. Vegetative analysis indicated that sweetgum, hackberry, and water oak were dominant tree species in the forest overstory. Poison ivy, peppervine, Virginia creeper, blackberry, and rattan were major species in the understory. Fifty-five turkeys were trapped and marked with colored patagial wing streamers. Of 202 subsequent sightings, the majority were collected in openings and adjacent hardwood bottoms.

Since 1954, 3,438 white-tailed deer have been harvested from 5,500 acres on the Kerr Wildlife Management Area. Initial attempts to reduce the deer herd by harvest were unsuccessful due to ingress of deer from adjoining ranches. Range iecovery and habitat improvement were impossible to achieve because of the constant grazing pressure exerted by the extensive deer population. The over-all quality of harvested deer was poor. Deer-proof fences were erected around the wildlife area in 1968 and the inflow of deer from surrounding rances was stopped. Since 1968, the deer herd has been reduced from an estimated 1,038 deer to the present estimate of 320 deer by an average annual harvest of 27 percent. Data indicates that the heavy harvest has resulted in a younger age class herd, lower over-all fawn production, lower hunting success, and insufficient age in buck deer to produce trophy antlers.

In the winters of 1971, 1972, and 1973 st udy groups of white-tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus) were fed rations of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), oats (Avena sativa L.), and winter ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), respectively, in prder that the effects on growth might be determined. During each eight-week study period, fresh rations were cut and fed daily to individually-penned animals. Analysis of variance showed highly significant differences (P<.01) between rations, both for consumption and body weight gain. Average daily consumption of wheat was 6.0 pounds as compared to 6.5 pounds for oats and 7.6 pounds for ryegrass. Fawns fed wheat averaged a weight gain of2.5 pounds over the study period. Fawns fed ryegrass and oats, however, averaged weight losses of 3.0 pounds and 4.7 pounds, respectively, over the same period.

A study of food-habits of white-tailed deer on approximately 26,000 acres of industrial timberlands in eastern North Carolina was made in a managed pond pine pocosin. A rumen analysis was completed for each of 128 deer collected during the period October 1971 through July 1973. These samples were partitioned into groups: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Although most of the food utilized was leafy browse, definite seasonal trends were established. Fruit of shining sumac and pokeweed was utilized heavily in the fall. A shift to greenbrier and ericaceous plants in the winter was observed. Important spring food items included succulent stems and leafy material of red maple and blackberry. Red maple was also heavily utilized in the summer along with such species as pokeweed, grape, green briers, and swamp cyrilla. The importance of species associated with forest openings is documented.

When the 113.000 acre White Rive National Wildlife Refuge was established on September 5, 1935, very few white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were present. With protection, the deer herd increased and by 1947 deer were firmly established. By 1957, the bottomland area was overstocked and browsing and desirable forest reproduction was heavy. Overpopulation continued until public hunts began in 1961. Due to obvious overpopulation, the number of hunters were unrestricted from 1961 through 1964. Beginning in 1965, controlled hunting was initiated to achieve deer herd management on a sustained yield basis. The purpose of this study was to determine age and sex composition of the deer herd, proper number of hunters needed to harvest the annual increment and what affects either sex hunting had on reproduction and deer weights. From 1961 through 1970 hunters removed a total of 16,709 deer.

Fur trappers in the area of the Atchafalaya River flood plain were interviewed following the 1971-72 season. Fur catch information from two portions of the flood plain, the swamp region and the marsh region, were compared; and the total fur catch was computed for the swamp region. Mean harvest values were computed and expressed as animals caught per trap-night per square mile per trapper. Differences between mean harvest values from the two regions were not significant for muskrat (Ondatra zihethicus), nutria (Myocastor coypus), and otter (Lutra canadensis). Mink (Mustela vison) and raccoon (Procyon lotor) harvest means were significantly higher in the swamp region than in the marsh region. Harvest data were also obtained for different vegetative types within the swamp region. Three species (nutria, mink, and raccoon) each comprised an important portion of the total reported catch in this region and made up a large portion of the total reported income.

Ages were assigned to 151 Nort h Carolina black bears (Ursus americanus) by canine cementum annuli count. Canine teeth collected during the 1969, 1970 and 1971 hunting seasons revealed average ages of 5.17,4.73 and 4.82 years, respectively. The average age increased in the coastal area but decreased in the mountain region. Ages ranged from 0.75 to 22.75 years. Yearlings, 1.75, represented 29 percent of the kill with a high incidence of males. Forty-eight female reproductive tracts indicated corpora lutea counts of 1.00, 2.71 and 2.81 per pregnant female over the 1969 to 1971 period. Active corpora lutea were found in 80 percent of the 3.75 year old females. Female breeding age ranged from 2.5 to 17.5 years. The sex ratio was established at 106 males: 100 females. Embryonic development was noted in only one instance. Egg migration between the horns of the uterus was noted in one instance.

Twelve raccoons (Procyon lotor) were trapped in the lower Coastal Plain of South Carolina and transported to the upper Piedmont of the state. The raccoons were held from one to three weeks during which time they were equipped with radio transmitters. Ten raccoons were released between 4 April and 28 May 1973 and their movements were monitored from 3 to 51 days (mean of 26.8). From 4 April to 17 July 1973 movements ranged from 0.1 to 14.5 linear kilometers (mean of 3.28). The health of the remaining two raccoons was not normal and therefore they were not released. The raccoons remained relatively close to their sites of release for at least a few days following release (mean of 12.6). They often returned to areas where they had been found previously and their movements generally followed close to existing water courses with no apparent preference for direction of travel. This study suggests that the relocating of raccoons into areas in which low populations exist can be successful.

In September 1972 the Louisiana Wild Life and Fisheries Commission established an experimental alligator harvest program. The primary objective of the open season was to evaluate a complex system of quotas, tags, licenses and report forms designed to rigidly control the harvest and shipment of alligator skins. Information was also obtained on the effects of the harvest on alligator populations, food habits, tag recovery rates, body condition factors, aging techniques, reproductive biology and pesticide..and parasite levels. A total of61 alligator hunters were issued 1,961 tags. One thousand three-hundred and fifty alligators averaging 6 feet II inches. were taken during the 13 day season. Skins were sold at public auction for $74,773, an average of $55.93 each for the 1,337 skins sold. Males comprised 80.29 percent of the kill. Shipments were followed through commerce with no evidence of illegal skins entering the legal traffic.

Numbers, movements, and habitat of the Dusky Seaside Sparrow (Ammospiza maritima nigrescens) were investigated during 1972-1973 on the newly established St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge. Numbers declined from 110 males in 1972 to 54 in 1973. This decrease was probably due to 2 winter wildfires. Observations of banded individuals indicated that the bird is generally sedentary throughout the year and that preferred winter habitat is similar to breeding habitat. Cordgrass (Spartina bakerii), with a mean percent cover of 38.1±16.3, was dominant over the 22 other plant species on the territories. Cover mapping showed that although 20 percent of the refuge had preferred vegetation types, only about 10 percent (400 acres) was actually available as preferred habitat.

The apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) is the exclusive food source of the Florida everglade kite (Rostrhamus sociabi/is plumbeus), an endangered species. A study of the snail at Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge was initiated during 1971 to gather information needed to manage the snail to insure a food supply for the kite. Habitat studies revealed that apple snails are most abundant in alkaline waters containing an ample supply of submerged vegetation. A deficiency of dissolved oxygen may be a limiting factor in snail abundance. It was found that individual female snails will produce many clusters of eggs during the year. Female snails may produce several clusters of fertile eggs from one mating but have to mate two or more times during the egg laying season to continue producing fertile eggs. The average hatching time for eggs kept under observation in the refuge office was 22 to 24 days.

Habitat management for the everglade kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus) began at L.oxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in April 1971. The kite feeds almost exclusively on the apple snail (Po/llacea paludosa), and efforts have been aimed at producing conditions similar to kite feeding areas in the everglades. The management unit received kite use from March to May, 1973. Investigations are now underway to determine which environmental factors limit apple snail growth and densities. This management approach shows excellent potential for long term success.

A circular plot method of censusing non-game birds on southern Appalachian forest recreation Forest recreation areas was devised and tested, Plot boundaries were defined with a range finder. Accuracy of the method was affected by the variability inherent in wild bird populations, rain and wind, dense vegetation, and complexity of the late summer period, Data are presented indicating significant differences in evening and morning bird activity and a significant within-season decline in late summer bird population estimates. The census method used was judged satisfactory for a post-breeding bird census. An exploratory study, designed to furnish data on the late summer habitat of non-game birds in the region of the southern Appalachian mountains, was conducted in 1969 (Fowler, 1970). Since no suitable techniques for censusing late summer birds were available, it was necessary to devise a procedure for use in campgrounds of 5 to 9 acres.

The impact of predation by common mergansers (Mergus merganser americanus) wintering on Lake Carl Blackwell (650 ha) in Payne County, Oklahoma was investigated. Parameters measured included merganser usedays, daily food consumption, and food habits; plus the standing crops offish in the lake. There were 27,500 use-days in the winter of 1971-72 and 13,100 in the 1972-73 winter. The approximate daily food consumption was determined to be 454 g (1 pound) per merganser. Common Mergansers consumed an estimated 12.5 and 6.0 percent of the mean standing crop of fish in the winters of 1971-72 and 1972-73, respectively. Gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) comprised 84 percent of the mergansers' food by weight, and 25.6 and 12.6 percent of the standing crop of this fish was consumed in the respective winters. In 1971-72, 27.5 percent of the standing crop of white crappie (Pomoxis annularis) was consumed, as compared to 13.2 percent in 1972-73.

An 88-question survey was conducted on 15 beagle clubs in Tennessee, Club history and membership, lands and enclosures, predator control, cottontail introduction, hahitat management, and field trial management are summarized. Results revealed that clubs expend significant amounts of money annually to perpetuate their sport, continue to introduce large numbers of rabbits, conduct predator control programs, and practice highly varying degrees of habitat management. Characteristics of a "typical" beagle club are described. Based on the club responses an evaluation is made of the relative "state of the art." Suggestions are made regarding better habitat and field trial management for the benefit of both the beaglers and the cottontail rabbit.

For several years, ecologists, naturalists, and others have been concerned over the possible ecological effects of wide-spread gassing ofgopher tortoise burrows by snake hunters in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Research was conducted on some of the effects of tortoise burrow gassing at several localities in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida in 1969, 1970 and 1971. Forty-one tortoises were gassed in their burrows with amounts of gasoline ranging from 0.25 ounce to 6 ounces. They were recovered by excavation following exposure periods of from 6 hours to 42 days. None of the tortoises died or showed any ill-effects of having been gassed. Of fourteen eastern diamondback rattlesnakes gassed, 3 died and 2 nearly died, apparently from the effects of the gasoline. Tests were made on 3 indigo and 2 Florida pine snakes to determine their reaction to gassing and the effects of gassing upon them.