Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

Modification Of Raccoon Food Resources In Parks To Reduce Rabies Risks To Humans, Stephen C. Frantz

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

In May 1990, the mid-Atlantic raccoon (Procyon lotor) rabies epizootic crossed New York State's southern border. By the end of the year, 84 rabid raccoons had been identified from a 400-km "front" in the State's southern tier of counties. By about mid-February 1991, the number of confirmed rabid raccoons increased to 134. Major metropolitan areas are threatened and predictions for the future indicate a pressing need for information and services by various government agencies. High-risk areas currently are park camp grounds, but will be extended as the outbreak progresses to include urban parks and those residential communities having …

A Cost-Effective Method For Applying And Removing Bird-Exclusion Netting In Commercial Vineyards, Lawrence D. Fuller-Perrine, Mark E. Tobin

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Bird-exclusion netting can be highly effective for reducing bird damage to agricultural crops, but the high cost of materials and perceived difficulty of applying and removing it has discouraged many growers from using this technique. The expectation of extensive damage to a high-value crop may warrant the implementation of costly protection measures such as bird-exclusion netting. During 1987, we evaluated a method for applying and removing bird-exclusion netting in 4 commercial vineyards on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. The method involved altering a hydraulically-operated, front-end bucket-loader to accommodate loading and applying 5.2-m-wide nets directly over rows of …

Interactions Between People And Wildlife In Urbanizing Landscapes, John Hadidian

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

In little more than 100 years, America has been transformed from a rural to an urban society in which 8 out of every 10 people live in cities or associated metropolitan areas. This change has affected the way that people interact with wildlife and has introduced new and unique situations in which human-wildlife conflicts arise and must be dealt with. Most urban wildlife problems occur in and around primary residences or nodes (e.g., airports, golf courses, lake fronts) and involve only a few species. This relationship may change as urban landscapes mature or expand through restoration efforts, or as more …

Citizen Task Force On Deer Management, Mike Hall

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

In spring 1990, as part of an intensified effort to involve the public in wildlife management decisions, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) implemented a new public input program. Citizen task forces were organized in 15 deer (Odocoileus virginianus) management units (DMUs) across the state. The task force purpose was to choose a desired deer population level for their particular DMU.

Wildlife Damage Management: Policy And Professional Considerations, Harry E. Hodgdon

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

I am honored by the opportunity to be part of this conference and to participate with such a distinguished panel this morning.

Today I have been asked to address policy and professional considerations as they relate to wildlife damage management. As an advocate of professional wildlife management, I will share with you some of the problems and issues that confront, frustrate, and confound us; some sense of the problems that lie ahead; and some thoughts on what we need to do to ensure the wildlife profession remains relevant in the future.

Wildlife Damage Education At Auburn University, Nicholas R. Holler

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Wildlife Damage Control is offered as a 3-hour course during winter quarter in alternate years at Auburn University. This course is taught simultaneously at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage (R. Timm, ed.) 1983. Nebraska Cooperative Extension Service, University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is the course text, but numerous outside readings are provided on specific topic areas. Graduate students are given additional required reading material, must complete a term paper, and are given examinations requiring greater synthesis of ideas than do those administered to undergraduates. An optional weekend field trip, arranged in cooperation with United States Department …

Effects Of Chronological Deer Damage On Corn Yields, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Jan R. Hygnstrom, Kurt R. Vercauteren, Nancy S. Foster, Susan B. Lembezeder, Dale J. Hafer

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

To examine the relationship between the timing of deer (Odocoileus virginianus) damage and subsequent yields of field corn, we conducted 2 studies in 2 cornfields in eastern Nebraska during 1989 and 1991.

Public Involvement In Coyote Management Decisions, Robert A. Inslerman

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

In 1990, the Legislature passed a bill that would have allowed year-round hunting of coyotes (Canis latrans) in New York's Northern Zone, as opposed to the current system of open and closed hunting seasons established annually by Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regulation. The bill generated such controversy that it was withdrawn pending a study by DEC. The objectives of the study were to: (1) assess the role of the coyote in northern New York in relation to people, wildlife, and livestock; (2) provide adequate opportunity for citizens to express their opinions concerning coyotes; and (3) prepare a …

United Conservation Alliance, Laurence R. Jahn

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

We gather here and reflect on successes in wildlife conservation, restoration, and management; and make plans for more beneficial actions. Significant achievements have been made in public education and wildlife management, as shown by increases in some wildlife populations. But a continuing pressing challenge involves responding to some wildlife population declines, as well as wildlife damage and nuisance situations, as the human population increases and dominates the landscape.

Strategies To Control Rodent Damage In Sugar Bushes: An Update, Alan May, John Austin, Dennis Slate

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Efficacy trials using zinc phosphide (ZP) steam-rolled oats (2% a.i., EPA Reg. No. 56228-5), and cholecalciferol mixed (CHOL) grain bait (.075% a.i., EPA Reg. No. 12455-57), were conducted during summer 1990 to compare their effectiveness in controlling rodent damage to plastic tubing systems used to collect sap from sugar maples (Acer saccharum) in Vennont A 24( c) Special Local Needs registration for ZP to control rodent damage has existed in Vennont since the 19(i()s. However, no fonnal efficacy trials have been conducted for this specific use of ZP, and the previous supplemental label did not include instructions for …

Wildlife Damage Education At West Virginia University, Edwin D. Michael

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

West Virginia University has offered a formal wildlife damage course in each of the last 2 years (1990 and 1991). Prior to offering the formal course in 1990, the topic of wildlife damage was presented as one section of 2 different courses: Introduction to Wildlife Management (for non wildlife majors), and Principles of Wildlife Management (a senior-level course required for wildlife majors).

Conference Summary And A Look To The Future, James E. Miller

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

It is with mixed feelings that I agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to accept this challenge of trying to summarize the implications of this Fifth Eastern Wildlife Damage Control Conference. Even though it has been over 8 years ago, I still remember burning the midnight oil and working in the predawn hours on the last eve of the First Eastern Conference trying to prepare closing remarks for use by my former Deputy Administrator, Merrill L. "Pete" Petoskey. In fact, even though some of the guard has changed, at least one of the professionals who helped provide their insight as we prepared those …

Incorporating Wildlife Damage Control Into A University Wildlife Management Curriculum, William G. Minser, Alex B. Coley

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Most university wildlife programs that do not include wildlife damage control course offerings probably lack those courses for 2 main reasons: (1) most professors in those wildlife programs likely did not have formal training in wildlife damage control in their own degree programs and therefore may not have developed the skills nor the interest to teach this subject; and (2) universities may lack funding to hire new personnel to teach wildlife damage control.

An Evaluation Of Roost Dispersal For Reducing Cormorant Activity On Catfish Ponds, Donald F. Mott, Keith J. Andrews, Gary A. Littauer

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Pyrotechnics and helicopter flyovers were used to harass double-crested connorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) at 4 roost sites in the Delta region of Mississippi. Roosting connorants were easily dispersed from 3 of the 4 sites. Average numbers of cormorants observed at selected catfish (lctaluridae) ponds and day roosts near foraging areas also declined after harassment began.

Economics And Effectiveness Of Control Methods: Fact And Fiction, Rick D. Owens, Dennis Slate

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Wildlife damage management decisions are often incorrectly viewed as being predicated solely upon economics. Although costs of wildlife damage and methods employed to reduce this damage are considerations in damage management decision-making, the selection and application of methods are also dependent upon environmental factors that include biological, physical, social, and legal influences. Professional decision-making involves an assessment of these factors on a case-by-case basis, to determine which methods and application strategies are environmentally cost-effective and therefore practical.

The Quabbin Reservation White-Tailed Deer Impact Management Plan: A Case History, James A. Parkhurst, Robert W. O'Connor

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Quabbin Reservation, a 22,662-ha watershed management area located in west-central Massachusetts, is experiencing moderate to severe browsing pressure by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on much of the reservation's forested land. In many areas, park-like habitat exists where natural regeneration of the dominant mixed oak (Quercus spp.) forest has been severely repressed, or outright eliminated, due to repetitive browsing by deer. Understory composition is now dominated by patches of blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), thick carpets of hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), and grasses. Managers are concerned that as the forest ages …

Evaluation Of A New Deer Repellent On Japanese Yews At Suburban Homesites, Roger W. Sayre, Milo E. Richmond

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Jersey, an experimental deer repellent, was field tested against 2 commercial repellents on Japanese yews (Taxus cuspidata) near Ithaca, New York, during spring 1990. In Experiment 1, plots (n = 24) of 4 individually-potted yews were established, with 2 yews at each plot randomly treated with Jersey and 2 left as controls. Plots of 4 (1 x 4, n = 12) and 16 (4 x 4, n = 2) plants were used in Experiment 2, with individual plants being treated with Jersey, Hinder^R, or Big Game Repellent^R (BGR^R) or left as controls. …

Tapping The Potential Of The Wildlife Rehabilitation Community For Public Education About Wildlife Damage Management, William F. Siemer, Tommy L. Brown, Patrick P. Martin, Randall D. Stumvoll

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Wildlife rehabilitators frequently interact with the public, but the extent and impact of their activities as public educators had never been well documented in New York State. In 1991 the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) sponsored a mail survey of all 430 rehabilitators in New York to address this information need. Rehabilitators showed high interest and involvement in public education, and they reached a large audience, suggesting that they may hold potential as contributors to public education concerning wildlife damage control. Realizing that potential offers an incentive for DEC to work more closely with rehabilitators to provide …

Perceived Risks Of Deer-Related Vehicle Accidents: Influence On Deer Population Preferences Of The Residents Of Tompkins County, New York, Richard C. Stedman, Rebecca J. Stout, Barbara A. Knuth, Daniel J. Decker

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

High populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in much of the eastern United States have increased the probability of deer-related vehicle accidents (DRVAs). These accidents are very costly in terms of vehicle repair and have the potential for serious physical injury to motorists. DRVAs are increasing rapidly in suburban areas, where deer may also cause other types of damage (i.e., to gardens or ornamental shrubs). In these suburban areas, wildlife professionals have limited deer management options. We hypothesized that the peoples' perception of the potential risk posed by ORV As interacts with the perceived benefits provided by deer, …

Agency And Stakeholder Evaluations Of Citizen Participation In Deer Management Decisions: Implications For Damage Control, Rebecca J. Stout, Daniel J. Decker, Barbara A. Knuth

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

As in many states, wildlife managers and biologists in the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Bureau of Wildlife (BOW) set white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population objectives in deer management units (DMUs). BOW has authority to regulate deer harvest through a deer management permit quota system. Decisions about regulating deer population levels have a direct impact on stakeholders concerned with the degree of damage to field and vegetable crops, orchards, nurseries, tree plantations, gardens, and ornamental shrubbery. Deer densities also affect economic and recreational benefits derived by other stakeholders. Developing management strategies that address these conflicting interests …

Bear Damage To Agriculture In Wisconsin, Laine R. Stowell, Robert C. Willging

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Black bear (Ursus americanus) are common in northern Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has established a population goal of 6,000 bears across 46,361 km2 of bear range. Bear damage to agriculture has occurred for over 50 years, and various strategies have been used to address these problems. Bear damage to agricultural crops and livestock became eligible for reimbursement by the state in 1939. The legislature terminated this program in 1980 in favor of a new program that placed greater emphasis on damage prevention than on compensation. Since 1984, WDNR has managed bear damage primarily through …

Ecological Considerations In The Management Of Wildlife Damage, Robert K. Swihart

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Strategies for managing wildlife damage may be divided into 3 broad categories: direct manipulation of populations, manipulation of behavioral or ecological traits of pest species, and manipulation of environmental features. For each of these categories, I review the importance of ecological considerations in determining the effectiveness of management strategies. Proper incorporation of ecological information is important to the success of management strategies in all 3 categories. I predict that future demands will increase for ecologically-based strategies that require minimal intervention, and for integration of management strategies that simultaneously address problems posed by both vertebrate and invertebrate pests. Several recent ecologically-based …

Perceptions And Realities: When Does 2 + 2 = 5?, Robert M. Timm

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Perception and reality. One and the same, or are they different? There are certainly a diversity of perceptions. Are there also multiple realities?

Comparison Of Methods For Detecting Voles Under Apple Trees, Mark E. Tobin, Milo E. Richmond, Richard M. Engeman

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

We conducted a study in 2 heavily infested orchards in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York to evaluate methods for detecting the presence of meadow voles (MV, Microtus pennsylvanicus) and pine voles (PV, M. pinetorum) under apple trees. We quantified several possible signs indicating the presence of voles in each of the 4 quadrants under the canopy of each tree, and then set and monitored traps until capture success in the orchard declined to zero. There was no evidence that the 4 quadrants differed with respect to any of the variables examined. The apple slice index (ASI) was …

Management Of Human-Raccoon Interaction In The Midst Of A Raccoon Rabies Outbreak, Charles V. Trimarchi, John G. Debbie

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The rabies epizootic that had affected raccoon (Procyon lotor) populations in the southeastern United States since the mid-1950s jumped to West Virginia in 1977, the apparent result of importation of raccoons from Florida. During the following 14 years, the disease spread through raccoon populations in the mid-Atlantic states, so that by early 1991 infected raccoons had been identified in areas of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Although raccoons have remained the primary vector of the disease throughout the affected areas, spillover has occurred into other wildlife, including skunks …

Use Of Livestock Protection Collars To Protect Sheep And Goats, Murray T. Walton

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The sodium monofluoroacetate (Compound 1080) Livestock Protection Collar is selective for individual predators attacking the throat of sheep or goats and is especially useful in talcing coyotes (Canis latrans). However, fears of secondary and nontarget poisonings have resulted in restrictions on their use. They are registered for use in the United States only to kill coyotes. To satisfy U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements, the Texas Department of Agriculture provides training and testing for certifying collar applicators, and has monitored collar use from 1988 through 1990. During this period, 59 licensed applicators, 6 collar pools, and the Texas Animal …

Minimizing Deer Damage To Forest Vegetation Through Aggressive Deer Population Management, Raymond J. Winchcombe

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Controlled hunts were used annually between 1976-90 on the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum in southeastern New York to control deer (Odocoileus virginianus) population expansion and prevent over-browsing of forested and landscaped areas. The primary objective of the hunts was to remove sufficient numbers of adult female deer each year to stabilize herd growth and minimize browsing pressure. Hunters had to register early, attend a preseason meeting, pass a shooting proficiency test, apply for a deer management permit, and pay a fee. Spring browse-use surveys, using several tree species as an index to browsing pressure, showed low use through …

The Need And Difficulty Of Bringing The Pennsylvania Deer Herd Under Control, Gary W. Witmer, David S. Decalesta

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The Pennsylvania white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herd has increased dramatically in the last several decades, despite greatly increased harvests. The high statewide deer density (11 + deer/km²) causes serious losses to agricultural crop production, forest regeneration, and diversity of forest flora and fauna. High deer numbers are associated with an excessive number of vehicle-deer accidents, and is implicated in the rapid increase in the incidence of Lyme disease in humans. Current efforts to reduce deer densities locally and statewide (extended antlerless harvest seasons and special farm hunts) are not solving the damage problem. Other solutions should …

Status Of Coyotes And Coyote Depredations In Pennsylvania, Gary Witmer, Arnold Hayden

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The coyote (Canis latrans) population in Pennsylvania has grown in the last several decades to about 4,000. It continues to grow, despite a known annual harvest of more than 850 animals. There is a growing concern about the effects of coyotes on game and livestock populations. We discuss known and potential coyote-human conflicts in Pennsylvania and propose a program of depredation prevention and control. To be successful, the program requires cooperation, funding, research, educational materials, and training workshops.

Educational Opportunities At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Scott E. Hygnstrom

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

University students, particularly those enrolled in natural resources programs, make up one of the smallest, yet potentially most important and influential audiences for wildlife damage professionals. Considering that these students will be tomorrow's natural resources technicians, biologists, and administrators, I feel that it is critical that we provide them factual information about wildlife damage to increase their awareness of potential problems and solutions, and increase their ability to make well-informed decisions.