Alligator hunting is the capture and killing of gators. With the appropriate licenses and tags, the American alligator can legally be hunted in the Southeastern United States. The states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas all distribute alligator hunting licenses. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
There is no single method of alligator hunting. Depending on the circumstances, hunters commonly use a combination of the following: [6]
The use of a hook and line is the most common method. It involves securing a sturdy hook and line to a tree or pole in the ground. The hook is commonly baited with fish or chicken quarter. After the bait is taken, the hunter returns to draw in and dispatch the gator. [7] Allowed methods of hunting vary by state, in South Carolina an alligator must be captured before being killed with either a handgun or bangstick. [8] A bangstick is a specialized underwater firearm fired only when in direct contact with the target.
Historically, unregulated hunting has led to dramatic decreases in alligator populations. In 1973 the American alligator was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. [6] [9] The American alligator was listed as an endangered species in 1967 under a law that was a precursor to the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Since the species' recovery, alligator hunting programs have been established in the majority of U.S. States in the alligator's habitat range. [10]
The main products of alligator hunting are alligator meat and skin. Alligator skins have been harvested since the 1800s. Alligator skin was used in the manufacture of boots, belts, and saddles. In the early 1900s some states began the commercial tanning of alligator skin. [11] The increased popularity of alligator leather lead to the rise of alligator farming, now a $60 million industry. Following the global economic recession of 2008, demand for wild alligator skins declined dramatically. In the state of Louisiana the number of reported skins dropped from 35,625 to 9,139 in one year. [12]
The red wolf is a canine native to the southeastern United States. Its size is intermediate between the coyote and gray wolf.
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniques such as handlining also exist. Modern angling rods are usually fitted with a fishing reel that functions as a cranking device for storing, retrieving and releasing out the line, although Tenkara fishing and traditional cane pole fishing are two rod-angling methods that do not use any reel. The fish hook itself can be additionally weighted with a denser tackle called a sinker, and is typically dressed with an appetizing bait to attract and entice the fish into swallowing the hook, but sometimes an inedible fake/imitation bait with multiple attached hooks is used instead of a single hook with edible bait. Some type of bite indicator, such as a float, a bell or a quiver tip, is often used to relay underwater status of the hook to the surface and alert the angler of a fish's presence.
The whooping crane is an endangered crane species, native to North America, named for its “whooping” calls. Along with the sandhill crane, it is one of only two crane species native to North America, and it is also the tallest North American bird species. The whooping crane's lifespan is estimated to be 22-24 years in the wild. After being pushed to the brink of extinction, due to unregulated hunting and loss of habitat, and just 21 wild cranes remaining by 1941, conservation efforts would lead to a partial recovery. The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in-captivity, only slightly exceeds 800 birds as of 2020.
The American alligator, sometimes referred to as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States and a small section of northeastern Mexico. It is one of the two extant species in the genus Alligator, and is larger than the only other living alligator species, the Chinese alligator.
The alligator gar is a euryhaline ray-finned fish in the clade Ginglymodi of the infraclass Holostei, being most closely related to the bowfins. It is the largest species in the gar family (Lepisosteidae), and is among the largest freshwater fish in North America. The fossil record traces its group's existence back to the Early Cretaceous over 100 million years ago. Gars are often referred to as "primitive fishes" or "living fossils", because they have retained some morphological characteristics of their early ancestors, such as a spiral valve intestine, which is also common to the digestive system of sharks, and the ability to breathe in both air and water. Their common name was derived from their resemblance to the American alligator, particularly their broad snouts and long, sharp teeth. It is suggested that an alligator gar can grow up to 10 ft (3.0 m) in length.
Snagging, also known as snag fishing, snatching, snatch fishing, jagging (Australia), or foul hooking, is a fishing technique for catching fish that uses sharp grappling hooks tethered to a fishing line to externally pierce into the flesh of nearby fish, without needing the fish to swallow any hook with its mouth like in angling. This is achieved by suddenly and vigorously pulling the line when movement is felt, causing the snag hook to "claw" into any fish grappled by the hook points. Weighted multi-hook rigs can be used to increase chances of success, and modern technologies such as underwater video camera can also be used to visually aid and time the snagging.
Deer hunting is hunting deer for meat and sport, and, formerly, for producing buckskin hides, an activity which dates back tens of thousands of years. Venison, the name for deer meat, is a nutritious and natural food source of animal protein that can be obtained through deer hunting. There are many different types of deer around the world that are hunted for their meat. For sport, often hunters try to kill deer with the largest and most antlers to score them using inches. There are two different categories of antlers. They are typical and nontypical. They measure tine length, beam length, and beam mass by each tine. They will add all these measurements up to get a score. This score is the score without deductions. Deductions occur when the opposite tine is not the same length as it is opposite. That score is the deducted score.
A bag limit is a law imposed on hunters and fishermen restricting the number of animals within a specific species or group of species they may kill and keep. Size limits and hunting seasons sometimes accompany bag limits which place restrictions on the size of those animals and the time of year during which hunters may legally kill them. Those who violate these laws or other hunting laws are known as poachers.
A hunting license or hunting permit is a regulatory or legal mechanism to control hunting, both commercial and recreational. A license specifically made for recreational hunting is sometimes called a game license.
A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician/technologist, game warden, park ranger, forest watcher, forest guard, forester, gamekeeper, investigator, wildernessofficer, wildlifeofficer, or wildlife trooper.
Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge is located in Cameron and Evangeline Parishes in southwestern Louisiana, was established in 1937 by Executive Order No. 7780 as "a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife." The refuge is nearly 35,000 acres (140 km2) in size, including 653 acres (2.64 km2) leased from the Cameron Parish School Board. The Evangeline Parish unit is called Duralde Prairie and is currently being developed. It is located south of the city of Eunice.
Alexander State Forest is located in Rapides Parish, Louisiana near the town of Woodworth. It was established in 1923 as a state demonstration forest. It contains the Indian Creek Recreation Area and the Alexander State Forest Headquarters Building, constructed in 1935, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state wildlife and fishery areas. The agency is headquartered in the capital city of Baton Rouge.
The Louisiana black bear, one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, is found in parts of Louisiana, mainly along the Mississippi River Valley and the Atchafalaya River Basin. It was classified as 'threatened' under the U.S. Endangered Species Act from 1992–2016. The validity of this subspecies has been repeatedly debated.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement contributes to Service efforts to manage ecosystems, save endangered species, conserve migratory birds, preserve wildlife habitat, restore fisheries, combat invasive species, and promote international wildlife conservation. It is an office of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
An out-of-danger species is an animal or plant species formerly categorized as Rare, Vulnerable, or Endangered that has since been removed from these lists because the species' survival has been relatively secured, e.g. Ginkgo biloba. Often known as a delisted species, these animals have been moved out of the Rare, Vulnerable, or Endangered categories through conservation efforts and government policymaking to ensure their survival and population growth. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) established its list of endangered species in 1964, subsequently becoming a global authority on wildlife conservation. The following year, the United States created the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act as a federal authority on endangered species. Currently, both international and domestic organizations implement recovery efforts and track species' population growth, delisting when necessary. Removing a species from the endangered species list is generally a slow process; most organizations and governments require long periods of observation both before and after delisting. There have been numerous efforts to delist endangered species, with both international and country-wide recovery plans being regularly implemented. These programs have led to the recovery of dozens of species, but their overall effectiveness remains contested.
The fauna of Louisiana is characterized by the region's low swamplands, bayous, creeks, woodlands, coastal marshlands and beaches, and barrier islands covering an estimated 20,000 square miles, corresponding to 40 percent of Louisiana's total land area. Southern Louisiana contains up to fifty percent of the wetlands found in the Continental United States, made up of countless bayous and creeks.
Alligator meat is the meat from alligators that is for consumption. It has been used both historically and in contemporary times in various cuisines of the Southern United States. Alligator eggs can also be consumed. Alligator meat is high in protein and low in fat, and has a mild flavor and firm texture.
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