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discovered (Figur€s 2 and 3). I.he Oclober 1991 increasc in lhe percentage of eyeshinc counts
in the West Arm contrasls with the tindings of Murphy (1977) who found the percentage o[
alligators in the West Arm to alecrease from Septcmberhrough October of 1972-19?3. In the
ht6r case, however, lhis rcsponse was shown lo be relaled to the increasing uso of Par Pond's
Hot Arm, through the tall and wint€r months, in response to the introduction therc of heated
reactor effluents. The distribution of alligators tkoughout Par Pond in 1991 also contrasted
sh ply wilh the findings of Brandt (1989) whose ddn showed a concertration of :mimals in rh€
Mai; L*e in 1987 and relativcly low use of the reservoi/s arms. ln l99l however' the ltrms
wcre preferrcd and use of the Main Lakc was disproportionally low (l'able l)
Reproduclion:
Three nests were localed nt P^r Pond during 1991. All were in close proximily to if not
exactly xt nest sites from previous years. By lhe end of August all of these nests were al least
100m from the lowercd shoreline of the reservoir- In each case, the lemales r€mained in
attendance md all nests hatched even though in one cllse the female had to move the halchlings
l50m to the water. A tot ot 44 hatchlings was matked from two nests- No hatchlings were
marked from the third nest, bul a! lcast eight were later observed , ong the shorsline.
h one case the halchlings were found in a shallow pool adjacento what may have bccn
a alen. Thcse animals may have soNived the wintcr because of the shelter provided by such a
den. In the othcr two cases, the halchlings were found along the shoreline in areas with no
vegetalion and v€ry little cover. It is unlikely thal many of these animals survived. As yet
unpublished sludies o{ the avian communiry of par Pond havc shown markcd increases in the
numbers of wading birds at the rese oir since the drNdown (Keilh Bildstein, pers comm.)' and
these birds along with larger alligators ^nd large-mouthed bass (Micloptetu salmoidesr' th^t ^te
also abundanl in Par Pond (Gibbons and Sharilz 1974), would rcPresenl significmt sources ot
predation upor hatchling alligators inhabiting such exposed shorelines.
Movements and Distribulion:
The inilial capture locations and subsequent movements of the nine male and five
femalc :rdult alligators equipped with radio trllnsmitlers are shown in Figures 2 and 3,
respectivoly. The dislributions of lhe sexes differed markedly throughout the reservoir rn
September/October when initial captures were made. All alligators caplurcd by trip snares in
th; reservoir's North Arm were males, while fou. oul of the five females captured were taken in
the West Arm. Later in Octobcr, the males th:tt had been captured in tbe Norlh Arm showed
considerable movemert, with two moving as far as the West Arm and two leaving the reservoir
itself. However, only one of the females showed .Dy movement between regions ot the
reservoir. This female was captured near the west end of lhe retaining dam in the wesr Arm
and later moved the entire length of the reservoir to the upper reaches of the North A-rm where
it later spent the winter. By Oclober, thc tkee females thrt had been caPlured in the West
Arm began 1o concentrate, along with a radio{elemetered male from the North Arm, in a
limited portion of the Wesl Arm where they would later spend the wintcr.
With tbe onset of colder wcather in DecemberJanuary, all long-distance movements of the
radiolelemetered allig:rtors ceased, and their distribulion