Mississippi Alligator Packs Bags for Louisiana
While cross-border tourism is common for Mississippi and Louisiana's two legged inhabitants, sometimes it works for the four-legged types as well. According to a press release from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks, there are at least a few alligators that change residences from the Magnolia state neighboring Louisiana.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) informed their Mississippi counterpart that an agent trapper responding to a complaint of a nuisance alligator near Lake Providence Louisiana found something interesting. While the 9-foot 2-inch long male alligator was not in and of itself unusual, the jewelry he was sporting was. Alligators, often found as accessories, do not normally come with their own. The agent trapper removed the bad boy's jewelry and turned it over to LDWF. The Louisiana game wardens soon figured out that the tags were not theirs or USF&W, but were from nearby Mississippi.
When contacted, the MDFWP (we prefer more initials in our acronyms over here on this side of the river) was able to positively identify the rowdy alligator in question. In the past five years, the agency has tagged more than 600 alligators to research just these kinds of incidents. Known by his tag catalog number, "White 4," the former Magnolia state resident had been captured, studied, tagged and released near Eagle Lake (close to Vicksburg) in Warren County. The time had been March 18, 2009 and the alligator had been 7-feet, 7-inches in length then.
This showed two things, that the alligator had grown 19-inches and traveled at least 30.6 miles as the crow flies from place to place in almost 25-months. It should be noted that the alligator's route by the most likely all-water source would have been closer to 44-miles. As current TSA regulations are somewhat moody about passenger travel for alligators, and bus seats are notoriously alligator unfriendly, the waterborne route seems probable.
The reasons for the relocation are nothing sinister. In their press release, the MDFWP stated that it is common for young male alligators to cover large distances over time.
What may curb some of these strolls is the proposed expansion of the alligator lottery in Mississippi. With the expansion of the local population of alligators in the magnolia state, there has been an ever-expanding public alligator-hunting season. In 2005, the state took 719 applications for 50 permits issued. This was expanded in 2006 to 100 permits to applicants, in 2007 to 200, and so forth until last year some 480 permits were given out. On March 20, 2012, the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks approved the Public Notice of Proposed Rule for the 2012 Public Waters and Private Lands Alligator Hunting Seasons in Mississippi that plans to expand the hunt in 31 counties and issue 810 permits. For additional specific information on hunting alligators in Mississippi and further instructions on how to enter the lottery, please visit www.mdwfp.com/alligator.
However, it should be pointed out in the interest of diplomacy that sometimes these spontaneous relocations happen the other way too. In 2008 a LDWF tagged gator originally caught in that state in 1996 was found in Mississippi after growing from 46-inches to over 11-feet. Prior to that, there had been a huge migration of Louisiana gators to Mississippi bayous. During 1970-1978, approximately 4,000 alligators were captured from the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Grand Chenier, Louisiana and transported to Mississippi to replace exhausted stocks in the magnolia state.
I've heard of alligator skin suitcases, but never alligators with suitcases.
Mississippi Sportsman.com will keep you informed as these stories develop.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) informed their Mississippi counterpart that an agent trapper responding to a complaint of a nuisance alligator near Lake Providence Louisiana found something interesting. While the 9-foot 2-inch long male alligator was not in and of itself unusual, the jewelry he was sporting was. Alligators, often found as accessories, do not normally come with their own. The agent trapper removed the bad boy's jewelry and turned it over to LDWF. The Louisiana game wardens soon figured out that the tags were not theirs or USF&W, but were from nearby Mississippi.
When contacted, the MDFWP (we prefer more initials in our acronyms over here on this side of the river) was able to positively identify the rowdy alligator in question. In the past five years, the agency has tagged more than 600 alligators to research just these kinds of incidents. Known by his tag catalog number, "White 4," the former Magnolia state resident had been captured, studied, tagged and released near Eagle Lake (close to Vicksburg) in Warren County. The time had been March 18, 2009 and the alligator had been 7-feet, 7-inches in length then.
This showed two things, that the alligator had grown 19-inches and traveled at least 30.6 miles as the crow flies from place to place in almost 25-months. It should be noted that the alligator's route by the most likely all-water source would have been closer to 44-miles. As current TSA regulations are somewhat moody about passenger travel for alligators, and bus seats are notoriously alligator unfriendly, the waterborne route seems probable.
The reasons for the relocation are nothing sinister. In their press release, the MDFWP stated that it is common for young male alligators to cover large distances over time.
What may curb some of these strolls is the proposed expansion of the alligator lottery in Mississippi. With the expansion of the local population of alligators in the magnolia state, there has been an ever-expanding public alligator-hunting season. In 2005, the state took 719 applications for 50 permits issued. This was expanded in 2006 to 100 permits to applicants, in 2007 to 200, and so forth until last year some 480 permits were given out. On March 20, 2012, the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks approved the Public Notice of Proposed Rule for the 2012 Public Waters and Private Lands Alligator Hunting Seasons in Mississippi that plans to expand the hunt in 31 counties and issue 810 permits. For additional specific information on hunting alligators in Mississippi and further instructions on how to enter the lottery, please visit www.mdwfp.com/alligator.
However, it should be pointed out in the interest of diplomacy that sometimes these spontaneous relocations happen the other way too. In 2008 a LDWF tagged gator originally caught in that state in 1996 was found in Mississippi after growing from 46-inches to over 11-feet. Prior to that, there had been a huge migration of Louisiana gators to Mississippi bayous. During 1970-1978, approximately 4,000 alligators were captured from the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in Grand Chenier, Louisiana and transported to Mississippi to replace exhausted stocks in the magnolia state.
I've heard of alligator skin suitcases, but never alligators with suitcases.
Mississippi Sportsman.com will keep you informed as these stories develop.
