Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Changes In Fecal Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Captive Coyotes (Canis Latrans): Influence Of Gender, Time, And Reproductive Status, Eric M. Gese, Patricia A. Terletzky, Cole A. Bleke, Erika T. Stevenson, Susannah S. French

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Simple summary

Biologists have long considered producing offspring a demanding time in the life of any animal, with reproducing and raising offspring being physiologically stressful. We examined whether breeding and producing pups was more stressful than other life-history stages among captive coyotes (Canis latrans) using fecal sampling and subsequent assays for glucocorticoid metabolites. Using 12 pairs of coyotes (five pairs produced pups, seven pairs did not), we examined fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM) covering 11 biological time periods for one year. We found high individual variability among both females and males with no apparent statistical effect of reproduction on …

Scavenging Vs Hunting Affects Behavioral Traits Of An Opportunistic Carnivore, Mitchell A. Parsons, Andrew Garcia, Julie K. Young

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background. Human-induced changes to ecosystems transform the availability of resources to predators, including altering prey populations and increasing access to anthropogenic foods. Opportunistic predators are likely to respond to altered food resources by changing the proportion of food they hunt versus scavenge. These shifts in foraging behavior will affect species interactions through multiple pathways, including by changing other aspects of predator behavior such as boldness, innovation, and social structure. Methods. To understand how foraging behavior impacts predator behavior, we conducted a controlled experiment to simulate hunting by introducing a prey model to captive coyotes (Canis latrans) and compared their behavior …

Social Learning Of Avoidance Behaviors: Trap Aversion In Captive Coyotes, Julie Young, Jeffrey T. Schultz, Buck Jolley, Nekol Basili, John P. Draper

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Social learning can help animals gain knowledge rapidly and may enhance survival. In species that are subjected to capture in foothold traps and then lethally removed, such as the coyote (Canis latrans), learning to avoid traps is critical to survival. Here, we tested social learning of trap avoidance behavior in three experimental scenarios with captive coyotes. In the first experiment, coyotes observed an unfamiliar coyote get captured in a foothold trap (i.e., demonstrator) or did not observe a demonstrator and were therefore naïve to traps. The coyotes that observed a demonstrator showed similar latencies to approach the trap …

Mesopredator Frugivory Has No Effect On Seed Viability And Emergence Under Experimental Conditions, John P. Draper, Trisha B. Atwood, Noelle G. Beckman, Karin M. Kettenring, Julie K. Young

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Members of the order Carnivora are a unique and important seed disperser who consume and deposit undamaged seeds while providing regular long-distance seed dispersal opportunities. Some members of Carnivora, such as coyotes (Canis latrans), are undergoing range expansions which may help the plant species they consume colonize new locations or replace dispersal services provided by recently extirpated species. In this study, we evaluated aspects of the seed dispersal effectiveness of coyotes and gut passage time to determine the potential dispersal distances for three commonly consumed and commonly occurring plant species (Amelanchier alnifolia, Celtis ehrenbergiana, and Juniperus osteosperma). We also investigated …

Surgical Sterilization Impacts On Behavior Of Coyote Pairs, Tyler Leary, Jeffrey T. Schultz, Julie K. Young

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) involved in depredation of livestock, an act frequently resulting in human-wildlife conflict, often do so out of necessity for provisioning pups. Surgical sterilization methods such as vasectomy that preserve gonadal hormones have been successful in reducing depredation by free-ranging coyotes while allowing individuals to maintain territoriality and mate fidelity. However, use of these methods remain costly and ineffective for wide-scale use. Given the alternative proposal of using chemical sterilization techniques, we investigated whether the use of hormone-altering sterilization methods impacted behavior of captive coyote pairs (i.e., male-female pair bonds). Our objective was to evaluate behavior …

Space Use In Free-Ranging Canids: Are Gonadal Hormones Required For Territory Maintenance?, Eric M. Gese, Patricia A. Terletzky

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Fertility control among carnivores has been used to reduce depredations on livestock and wild neonates, population control, modify behavior, inhibit genetic introgression, and reduce human–wildlife conflicts. Although there is considerable knowledge on techniques to sterilize carnivores, there is little information concerning how the absence of gonadal hormones influences behavior, space use, and survival of wild canids. We examined territorial fidelity, home-range size and overlap, and survival of 179 surgically sterilized free-ranging canids (124 coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823), 55 coyote – red wolf (Canis rufus Audubon and Bachman, 1851) hybrids) with gonadal hormones present (tubal-ligated females (n = 70), vasectomized …

Improving Evaluation Of Nonlethal Tools For Carnivore Management And Conservation: Evaluating Fladry To Protect An Endangered Species From A Generalist Mesocarnivore, R. M. Windell, L. L. Bailey, J. K. Young, T. M. Livieri, D. A. Eads, S. W. Breck

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Carnivore conservation and management are global research priorities focused on reversing population declines of imperiled species and identifying more effective and humane management of generalist carnivores with thriving populations. Nonlethal methods to mitigate conflict are increasingly used to advance conservation objectives; however, there is limited knowledge about the effectiveness of many nonlethal methods. We tested a nonlethal tool (fladry), that serves as a barrier to deter wolves Canis lupus and coyotes Canis latrans, for its efficacy at preventing coyotes from using prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus colonies, the primary prey for critically endangered black-footed ferrets Mustela nigripes. We used …

Instability Of Glucocorticoid Metabolites In Coyote Scats: Implications For Field Sampling, Erika T. Stevenson, Eric M. Gese, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Susannah S. French

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Studying physiologic stress responses can assist in understanding the welfare of animals. One method of measuring the physiologic stress response is evaluating concentrations of glucocorticoid metabolites in feces. Previously, using an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge, we found fecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels were a reliable indicator of physiologic stress response in coyotes (Canis latrans). We determine whether glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations remain stable when collecting feces over a 2-week period, a timeframe commonly used in scat surveys for wild canids. We collected feces from 6 captive coyotes maintained at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Predator …

Mind The Gap: Experimental Tests To Improve Efficacy Of Fladry For Nonlethal Management Of Coyotes, Julie K. Young, John Draper, Stewart Breck

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Coyotes (Canis latrans) are the top predator of livestock in the contiguous United States. Developing more effective nonlethal tools to prevent coyote depredation will facilitate coexistence between livestock producers and coyotes. Fladry is a nonlethal deterrent designed to defend livestock by creating a visual barrier to wolves (C. lupus). Fladry may also be effective with coyotes, but large gap spacing between flags may reduce its efficacy. To address this issue, we performed 2 experiments on captive coyotes using fladry modified to reduce gap spacing at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Predator Research Facility in Millville, Utah, USA, during 2015–2016 and …