Digital Commons Network^™

Unsung Heroes In Conservation: Evaluating The Limitations Faced By New England Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers And Proposing Solutions For Their Support And Recognition, Shaylee M. Sarmiento

Honors Theses and Capstones

Wildlife rehabilitation is an often-unacknowledged practice within the overarching field of wildlife protection and conservation. This practice involves the treatment and hopeful release of wild animals affected by various ailments. With the continued expansion of and interest in the field, it could be assumed that wildlife rehabilitation is supported and funded by government bodies, but this is not the case. Because of the lack of funding and resources, many wildlife rehabilitation centers cannot achieve their full rehabilitative potential and expand their reach in the conservation world. Additionally, an absence of support leads critics to question the ethical standards of wildlife …

Equine Rescue Success In The United States: A Statistical Analysis, Carly J. Cave

Honors Theses and Capstones

The high inflation that has characterized the post-pandemic period in the United States has increased the costs of horse ownership for private owners and equine rescue organizations, which are facing critical pressures. Over 200,000 equines are at risk for neglect or slaughter in the United States each year, which far exceeds the capacity to house these equines at rescue organizations. While demand on these organizations is high, their ability to afford appropriate resources for their care is insufficient. This study examined geographical and economic factors that impact equine rescues’ success in taking in at-risk equines and adopting them to forever …

Alpaca Assisted Activities In The New England Alpaca Industry: A Possible Solution To Farm Profitability And Participant Mental Health, Ashley Michele Masse

Honors Theses and Capstones

The high operating costs of the New England alpaca industry were putting the majority of alpaca farmers in this region in a state of financial loss. On a separate note, American communities were experiencing a prevalence of anxiety and depression. What if a single solution could help improve the outcome of both these challenges that seem to have little to do with each other? Alpaca Animal Assisted Activities (alpaca AAAs) was a possible solution. This study explored New England alpaca farm profitability and alpaca AAAs in a way no other research study has done before. A Farmer Survey was mailed …

Alpaca Assisted Activities In The New England Alpaca Industry: A Possible Solution To Farm Profitability And Participant Mental Health, Ashley Michele Masse

Honors Theses and Capstones

The high operating costs of the New England alpaca industry were putting the majority of alpaca farmers in this region in a state of financial loss. On a separate note, American communities were experiencing a prevalence of anxiety and depression. What if a single solution could help improve the outcome of both these challenges that seem to have little to do with each other? Alpaca Animal Assisted Activities (alpaca AAAs) was a possible solution. This study explored New England alpaca farm profitability and alpaca AAAs in a way no other research study has done before. A Farmer Survey was mailed …

Cutaneous Microbiome Of Red Fox (Vulpes Vulpes) Infected With Sarcoptic Mange (Sarcoptes Scabiei), Jacqueline C. Robidoux

Honors Theses and Capstones

Sarcoptic mange is a parasitic skin disease that affects countless mammals worldwide, including red foxes (Vulpes vulpes). The symptoms, such as hair loss, crusting, and the number of mites, vary between individual foxes. Sarcoptic mange damages the skin barrier, which in turn disrupts the biodiversity of bacteria in the microbiome. It is unknown what the biodiversity of bacteria is at each stage of the disease. This experiment will compare the microbiomes of different samples with and without mange; in hopes to reveal a connection between the different severities of sarcoptic mange and the biodiversity of bacteria and fungi …

Dog Weight, Age, And Sex Relationship With Shelter Length-Of-Availability At Pope Memorial Humane Society, Logan Lajoie

Honors Theses and Capstones

Many factors can influence length-of-availability for dogs in shelters, ranging from factors of the dogs themselves to outside factors. The external factors could be the geographical location of the shelter and its clientele, the socioeconomic status of the area, how the individual shelter uses its resources, the region's policies, and more (Scarlett, 2021, p. 18). This study evaluated length-of-availability in dogs at the Pope Memorial Humane Society, a nonprofit animal shelter that serves Strafford County, New Hampshire. This allowed for dog-specific factors to be investigated more closely. The specific factors investigated were dog weight, age, and sex compared to their …

The Prevalence And Impact Of Dairy/Beef Crosses On Cattle Producers In New Hampshire, Eleanor J. Braun

Honors Theses and Capstones

Recent years had seen a significant rise in the use of beef semen on dairy cows in the United States. This trend was not widely understood, especially as it related to dairy farmers in New Hampshire. A survey was sent out by mail to the ninety-seven dairy farms in New Hampshire. There were thirty-seven responses to the survey. Thirty-two out of thirty-seven respondents bred beef semen to their dairy cows. Twenty-one of these respondents raised dairy x beef on their farms and twenty-six planned to continue breeding dairy x beef. The most common breeds used in dairy x beef crosses …

Nutritive Comparison Of Ruminant Feed, Integrating Crab And Lobster Meal, Kelsi L. Devolve

Honors Theses and Capstones

In attempts to increase livestock production and decrease waste products from the seafood industry, crab meal and lobster meal were tested as a potential cattle feed ingredient. Jonah crab waste, Atlantic Red crab waste, soybean meal, and blood meal were collected from various vendors and utilized in an in vitro study, an in situ study, and a nitrogen analyzer to determine crude protein in each feed. After allowing the samples to sit in a DAISY incubator for 48 h, mimicking a rumen environment, degradability for the soybean meal, blood meal, lobster meal, and crab meal were 100.13%, 76.36%, 43.77%, and …

Assessing The Bioavailability Of Infused Lysine And Rumen-Protected Lysine Supplements Using The Area Under The Curve Technique And The Plasma Free Amino Acid Dose-Response Method, Megan Vetter

Honors Theses and Capstones

The milk production of lactating dairy cows is dependent on factors such as housing conditions, lineage, climate, and health, but the quality of their diets is generally the most influential. Maintaining a proper balance of nutrients is necessary to achieve the greatest milk production at the lowest cost. Maximum feed efficiency is not only critical for increasing the economic profits of an individual farm, but also for increasing food supply without increasing environmental demand. Supplementing cows’ diets with lysine (Lys), an essential amino acid (AA), can aid in maximizing protein synthesis. Providing this nutrient in a rumen-protected (RP) coating can …

Finding The Best Predictors For Foot Traffic In Us Seafood Restaurants, Isabel Paige Beaulieu

Honors Theses and Capstones

COVID-19 caused state and nation-wide lockdowns, which altered human foot traffic, especially in restaurants. The seafood sector in particular suffered greatly as there was an increase in illegal fishing, it is made up of perishable goods, it is seasonal in some places, and imports and exports were slowed. Foot traffic data is useful for business owners to have to know how much to order, how many employees to schedule, etc. One issue is that the data is very expensive, hard to get, and not available until months after it is recorded. Our goal is to not only find covariates that …

Effects Of The Air Quality In Equine Stable Environments On The Respiratory Health And Allergy Response Of Human Personnel: A Review, Maeve Hannah Perrin

Honors Theses and Capstones

Many studies have evaluated the impact of poor stable air quality on equine respiratory health and respiratory illness in horses. Many factors contribute to poor air quality conditions in the equine stable environment, including ventilation rates, humidity levels, presence of noxious gases, rate of fungal spore production, and level of airborne organic and inorganic dust particles. While the implications of poor air quality for equine health are well-documented, far less is known about how air quality impacts human stable personnel. This literature review seeks to evaluate the implications of poor equine stable air quality on the respiratory health and allergic …

Occurrence Of Pulmonary Arteritis With Lungworm Infections In Gray Seals From New England, 2013-2020, Jillian R. Broadhurst, Inga Sidor Dvm, Ms, Dacvp

Honors Theses and Capstones

Gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) are a common pinniped species in New England coastal waters. Parasitic infection is an important cause of mortality for this species, and lungworm species are frequently implicated in cases of respiratory infection, especially in pups and weanling seals. The most common of these is Otostrongylus circumlitus, a large nematode found in the bronchi and bronchioles of affected seals. The full life cycle is unknown but its presence in lungs and sometimes pulmonary arteries suggests that migration via arterial circulation occurs. Signs and microscopic findings are widely variable; our cases included dyspnea, bloody mucoid …

The Evolution And Development Of Chiropteran Flight, Emmaline Willis

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Inappropriate Human Possession Of Wildlife On The Animal’S Well-Being, Anika Frink

Honors Theses and Capstones

Wildlife rehabilitation is the temporary intervention by humans on sick or injured wild animals, who would not otherwise survive, with the goal of release. Individual states have their own guidelines for how to become a licensed rehabilitator with extensive standards in place for how to keep such wildlife. The standards help to keep the animals wild for their eventual release and to avoid side effects of Inappropriate Human Possession or IHP. IHP is when an unlicensed person attempts to rehabilitate a wild animal or to keep it as a pet. This study examines the effects of IHP on wildlife patients …

Current Dog Breeding Practices Impacts On Health And Preservation Of Purebred Dogs, Bridget E. Baker

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Review Of Equine Laminitis: Risk Factors And Predispositions, Molly C. Henion

Honors Theses and Capstones

Equine laminitis is a disease of the hoof characterized by inflammation or disruption of the sensitive and insensitive laminae located within the hoof. These structures are responsible for maintaining a secure connection between the third phalanx (P3) and the hoof wall. Damage to these laminae can weaken the attachment between the hoof wall and P3, causing separation and eventual rotation of P3. Equine laminitis can result from multiple triggers, but the most commonly seen cases of the disease are those which are related to endocrinopathy and metabolic related issues. This review will focus on determining the metabolic risk factors associated …

Comparing The Effects Of Monensin And Sodium Butyrate On Coccidia In Post-Weaned Heifers, Hannah R. Coffin

Honors Theses and Capstones

The emergence of antibiotic resistances has raised concerns in society about the widespread use of antibiotics, such as monensin, as growth enhancers in agriculture. Pressure to find alternatives has increased since the European Union banned the use of ionophorous antibiotics. Butyrate supplementation has been found to enhance growth in pre-weaned calves and it has been recently suggested to enhance growth in post-weaned heifers. In a recent study by Rice in 2017, there was a quadratic (P=0.03) response for coccidia counts as sodium butyrate was increased, with the lowest counts being at the intermediate doses. This suggested that butyrate has the …

The Molecular Analysis Of Hawaiian Bird Diets, Alissa C. Scinto

Honors Theses and Capstones

The aim of this project is to utilize high-throughput molecular methods to investigate the diets of three non-native and one native Hawaiian bird species. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has made it possible to produce thousands of sequencing reads of DNA in a relatively short amount of time. This metabarcoding technology has been used to identify a range of different taxa, from bacteria in the human gut to fungi in the soil. More recently, this approach has been used to identify insects in the diets of birds and other species, including bees and bats. Samples underwent genomic sequencing using a targeted approach …

Effects Of Equine Assisted Activities And Therapies On Equine Stress And Welfare, Sarah Jean Reega

Honors Theses and Capstones

Equine assisted activities and therapies (EAATs) are becoming an increasingly popular approach for therapy, therapeutic recreation, and learning for a broad range of human clients and participants. In the EAAT field, most research has been human-centric, focusing primarily on benefits of EAATs for participants and clients. Relatively little research has been conducted on the effects of EAATs on equine stress and welfare for equines engaged in EAAT sessions.

The effects of equine assisted activities and therapies on equine stress and welfare were studied by way of exploring current EAAT professionals’ experiences and views related to equine stress and welfare in …

Daily Distance Moved And Home Range Analysis Of Female Cheetahs On Namibia's Commercial Farmland, Elisabeth Nicole Wise

Honors Theses and Capstones

Fewer then 10,000 cheetahs remain in Sub-Saharan Africa. Namibia has the largest population, estimated to be 4,000. Habitat fragmentation and prey depletion from human expansion for agriculture has pushed 90% of cheetahs to reside on commercial farmland where there is an absence of larger predators. Radio telemetry was used to investigate the seasonal variation in home range size among nine female cheetahs on commercial farmlands on or near the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Otjiwarongo, Namibia. ArcGIS 10.3 and Geospatial Modeling Environment were used to calculate the overall and core home range size. This was estimated for the overall, annual, monthly, …

Effect Of Direct-Fed Microbials And Enzyme Supplementation In Prepartum Holstein Cows On Colostrum And Calf Immunity, Erin M. Shangraw

Honors Theses and Capstones

In cows, colostrum is composed of several antibodies and nutrients to provide immunity and energy to the calf. Feeding calves high quality colostrum has been shown to improve calf health, leading to reduced mortality in calves and greater milk production in cows. The addition of direct-fed microbials (DFM) to cow diets has been theorized to improve feed efficiency and milk production, with studies showing mixed results. However, few experiments have studied the effect of feeding DFM on colostrum quality. In this experiment two treatments were given, 1) DFM and 2) DFM and enzymes (DFME). Colostrum was …

Carnivore Diet Identification Through Scat And Genetic Analysis In Namibia, Africa, Alicia J. Walsh

Honors Theses and Capstones

Worldwide the cheetah population is declining making them Africa’s most endangered large cat. Namibia, Africa currently has the largest population of cheetahs in the world. During the summer of 2014, I did scat analysis of carnivores on the property of the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) in Namibia in order to better understand the predators that compete with the cheetah and how the ecosystem works as a whole. I worked at CCF for nine weeks to analyze the diets of carnivores in the area through genetic and scat analysis. Analyzing carnivore feces would ultimately identify the diet of various carnivores in …

Effects Of Age, Density, And Seasonality On Molt Pattern In The Mammal Genus (Peromyscus), Rebecca Catherine Graves

Honors Theses and Capstones

Molting, or replacement of pelage (hair) in mammals, occurs during ontogeny as individuals transition from juveniles to adults. Environmental factors can cause variation in molt in many species for thermoregulatory and camouflage purposes. Within and among years molt can vary by time and age or by reproductive status. Past studies have found differences in molt pattern and timing depending upon age, and between captive reared and wild caught individuals. There has been little investigation into the molting characteristics of Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus, specifically in comparison to adults and juveniles. I used molt observed from museum specimens …

Insights From Project Feederwatch: Changes In The Abundance And Occurrence Of Birds In New Hampshire Over The Past 24 Years, Lee A. Sutcliffe

Honors Theses and Capstones

Changes in the climate and land use over time can lead to changes in the composition of wildlife communities. Using data from Project FeederWatch, we examine trends in the abundance and occurrence of birds documented in the winters from 1988 to 2012 in New Hampshire. Changes in abundance and occurrence are summarized for individual bird species as well as across species based on life history traits. In addition, we examined trends for the state as a whole as well as in subregions. We discuss these changes with regards to the variations of climate and land use that are occurring throughout …

Effects Of Audible Human Disturbance On Koala (Phascolarctos Cinereus) Behavior In Queensland, Australia And Implications For Management, Galina Eugenia Kinsella

Honors Theses and Capstones

As the growing human population continues to encroach on wildlife habitat, species are forced to adapt in order to survive. In addition to causing habitat loss, human presence can create more subtle disturbances, such as noise pollution, that disrupt wildlife behavior. Adapting to human presence is particularly difficult for species with specialized resource needs or low mobility. The koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), a national icon of Australia, meets both these criteria. Koalas were once abundant throughout Australia, but are now classified as “threatened.” Habitat loss is at least partly responsible for this decline, but anthropogenic noise may also be …

The Effect Of Rider Level On Equine Mean Heart Rate At The Trot, Jacqueline Marinoff

Honors Theses and Capstones

The effect of riders at two different levels of riding ability on the mean heart rates (HR) of school horses at the trot was studied. Five horses were each paired with a beginner (n=4) and an intermediate (n=5) rider, and the mean HR generated by the two riders at the trot were compared for each horse. There was a significant (p

Biosecurity Risk Assessment Of The Fairchild Dairy Nutrition Research Center, Margaret Lynch

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Incremental Dietary Levels Of Ground Flaxseed On Milk Production, Ruminal Metabolism, And Enteric Methane Emissions In Organic Dairy Cows, Katie Velez

Honors Theses and Capstones

Ground Flaxseed (Linum uitatissimum) is a lipid supplement that is commonly fed to dairy cows. It is believed that supplemental lipid can change the Fatty Acid (FA) composition in the milk, and decrease methane production. Twenty lactating organic Jersey cows, housed at the UNH Organic Dairy Research Farm (ODRF), were randomly assigned to five replicated 4 × 4 Latin squares to investigate the effects of increasing dietary levels of ground flaxseed (0, 5, 10, or 15% of the diet dry matter) on animal fperformance (e.g., dry matter intake, milk production, milk composition), ruminal metabolism, and enteric methane emissions. Each …

Variations In Carotenoids In Plasma From Jersey Cows At An Organic Dairy Compared To A Conventional Dairy Over Time, Jillian M. Smith

Honors Theses and Capstones

Interest in organic milk is increasing. By USDA Certified Organic standards, animals must be fed on pasture for a minimum of 120 days. Research indicates that various factors such as diet impact the nutritional quality and composition of milk. The objective of this study was to understand how feeding practices affected bovine plasma carotenoid concentrations over time. Plasma samples were collected from 9 cows fed on pasture at an organic dairy and from 9 cows fed total mixed ration (TMR) at a conventional dairy. Components were extracted from the plasma and separated via High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Results showed that …

The Effects Of Dependent Infants On The Social Behavior Of Mantled Howler Monkeys (Alouatta Palliate), Keziah Katz

Honors Theses and Capstones

Six weeks of observation on eight groups of wild mantled howler monkeys revealed that the presence of a dependent infant alters the frequency of social interactions between a female with an infant and other adult monkeys. Males preferred to spend time with females without infants but still spent more time with females with infants than with males. Females without infants spent significantly less time with females with infants than with males or other females without infants and females with infants decreased their frequency of social interaction overall without preference for males, females or other females with infants.