Full document / COSOC-W-86-002 - the National Sea Grant Library

The Florida alligator nuisance program used capture methods which
would minimize public disturbance and encourage selectivity in
attempting to get the specific nuisance animal. All alligator hunting
was done at night and the agents were not permitted to carry firearms.
Agents were directed to capture the alligator alive and remove it from
the area before killing it. Several potential capture methods were
outlined in an operations manual for the control agents. These methods
included using a gig (harpoon) (Jones, 1965), snare or noose (Chabreck,
1963), box trap (Hurphy and Fendley, 1973), snatch hook, or bow and
arrow. Fishing with set hooks was to be used only if these other
methods failed to work (FGFC, 1979).
The efficiency (no. alligators harvested/no. tags issued) of
Florida nuisance alligator agents during a particular month was not
related to the number of tags issued that month. However, monthly
change in the number of tags issued was negatively correlated (r =
-0.3881, n = 25, P < 0.05) with hunter efficiency and a reduction in
tags increased efficiency.
Alligator population levels have been monitored using night-light
survey lines since 1974. From 1974 to 1980, a 40% increase from 5.0 to
8.3 alligators/1.5km was noted (Stanberry, 1981). In 1981, FGFC
developed a new alligator management plan which Included an
experimental commercial alligator harvest program. The first harvest
occurred in November 1981 (FGFC, 1982), and was similar to that of the
first Louisiana harvest in duration and population model used. Florida
deviated from Louisiana by designing the harvest after the nuisance
control program, using mostly nuisance contract agents and the same
night-hunting techniques.
Evaluation of Parameters for Each Technique
Land ownership patterns played an Important role in the
development of alligator management programs In Louisiana and Florida
(A. Ensmlnger, pers. comrrun.). In Louisiana, the greatest alligator
concentrations occur in the coastal parishes of the stato, where land
ownership consists of large tracts of marshland. The human density of
the marshland is low and public support for the program Is strong. The
vastness of the area combined with the sparse human population and
strong local support dictated a need for an economically efficient
means of harvest with little need for increased public relations or
acceptance of the program.
On the other hand, in Florida the highost alligator concentrations
occur in the north-central lake region and the everglades region. With
the exception of tho Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress
Nature Preserve, both regions are highly populated and tho land is
mostly divided into smaller parsels under private ownership. This more
urban situation dictated a need for a more intensive form of alligator
harvest that minimized public contact and visibility.
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