Veterinary Infectious Diseases Commons^™

Behavior Of Wild Pigs Toward Conspecific Carcasses: Implications For Disease Transmission In A Hot, Semiarid Climate, Samantha Leivers, Tyler Campbell, Michael J. Bodenchuk, John Tomeĉek

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a prolific, invasive species in the United States of America and act as vectors for many pathogens. An emerging pathogen of concern to the USA is African swine fever (ASF), a deadly viral disease affecting swine that is endemic to Africa and has spread to parts of Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. ASF affects both wild and domesticated pigs and can be transmitted via several avenues, including interactions between and consumption of dead pigs by their live conspecifics. As wild pigs are considered a serious threat in the transmission of ASF, understanding the …

Disease Progression And Serological Assay Performance In Heritage Breed Pigs Following Brucella Suis Experimental Challenge As A Model For Naturally Infected Feral Swine, Vienna R. Brown, Ryan S. Miller, Courtney F. Bowden, Timothy J. Smyser, Nicholas A. Ledesma, Aim E. Hartwig, Paul Gordy, Aaron M. Anderson, Stephanie M. Porter, Kate Alexander, Zane Gouker, Tom Gidlewski, Richard A. Bowen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive feral swine (Sus scrofa) are one of the most important wildlife species for disease surveillance in the United States, serving as a reservoir for various diseases of concern for the health of humans and domestic animals. Brucella suis, the causative agent of swine brucellosis, is one such pathogen carried and transmitted by feral swine. Serology assays are the preferred field diagnostic for B. suis infection, as whole blood can be readily collected and antibodies are highly stable. However, serological assays frequently have lower sensitivity and specificity, and few studies have validated serological assays for B. suis in feral swine. …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Equine Science, Sarah H. White-Springer, Jason E. Bruemmer, Robert J. Coleman

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A core group of 27 equine nutritionists and physiologists joined together in the late 1960s to formally address and enhance the direction of equine research, creating the Equine Nutrition and Physiology Soci- ety. In 2003, that growing society transformed into the Equine Science Society, which now serves as the preeminent, internationally recognized scientific equine organization. In recent years, it has been appre- ciated that equine science encompasses a wide range of focus areas, including exercise science, nutrition, genetics, reproductive physiology, teaching and extension, production and management, and mix of other specialties, qualified as biosciences. Additionally, trainees are highly valued in …

Invasive Frogs Show Persistent Physiological Differences To Elevation And Acclimate To Colder Temperatures, Jack R. Marchetti, Karen H. Beard, Emily E. Virgin, Erin L. Lewis, Steven C. Hess, Kwanho C. Ki, Layne O. Sermersheim, Adriana P. Furtado, Susannah S. French

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) was introduced to the island of Hawai’i in the 1980s and has spread across much of the island. Concern remains that this frog will continue to expand its range and invade higher elevation habitats where much of the island’s endemic species are found. We determined whether coqui thermal tolerance and physiology change along Hawai’i’s elevational gradients. We measured physiological responses using a short-term experiment to determine baseline tolerance and physiology by elevation, and a long-term experiment to determine the coqui’s ability to acclimate to different temperatures. We collected frogs from low, medium, and high elevations. …

Distribution Of The Misfolded Isoform Of The Prion Protein In Peripheral Tissues And Spinal Cord Of Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus Elaphus Nelsoni) With Naturally Occurring Chronic Wasting Disease, Terry R. Spraker, Thomas Gidlewski, J. G. Powers, T. A. Nichols, M. A. Wild

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an infectious transmissible spongiform encephalopathy of cervids associated with the presence of a misfolded prion protein (PrPCWD). Progression of PrPCWD distribution has been described using immunohistochemistry and histologic changes in a single section of brain stem at the level of the obex resulting in scores from 0 (early) to 10 (terminal) in elk with naturally occurring CWD. Here we describe the spread and distribution of PrPCWD in peripheral tissues and spinal cord in 16 wild and 17 farmed Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with naturally occurring CWD and correlate these findings with obex scores. …

Genomic Analyses Of Gray Fox Lineages Suggest Ancient Divergence And Secondary Contact In The Southern Great Plains, Elizabeth M. Kierepka, Sophie Preckler-Quisquater, Dawn M. Reding, Antoinette Piaggio, Seth P.D. Riley, Benjamin N. Sacks

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) lineage diverged from all other extant canids at their most basal node and is restricted to the Americas. Previous mitochondrial analysis from coastal populations identified deeply divergent (up to 1 Mya) eastern and western lineages that predate most intraspecific splits in carnivores. We conducted genotyping by sequencing and mitochondrial analysis on gray foxes sampled across North America to determine geographic concordance between nuclear and mitochondrial contact zones and divergence times. We also estimated the admixture within the contact zone between eastern and western gray foxes based on nuclear DNA. Both datasets confirmed that …

Distribution Of Baylisascaris Procyonis In Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) In Florida, Usa, Mark W. Cunningham, Daniel P. Wolf, Katherine A. Sayler, Michael Milleson, Brittany Bankovich, Paul Schueller, Betsy S. Haley, Savannah Stura, Michael J. Yabsley

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Baylisascaris procyonis, or raccoon roundworm, is an intestinal nematode parasite of raccoons (Procyon lotor) that is important to public and wildlife health. Historically, the parasite was uncommon in the southeastern US; however, the range of B. procyonis has expanded to include Florida, US. From 2010 to 2016, we opportunistically sampled 1,030 raccoons statewide. The overall prevalence was 3.7% (95% confidence interval=2.5–4.8%) of sampled individuals, and infection intensity ranged from 1 to 48 (mean±standard deviation 9.9±4.0). We found raccoon roundworm in 9/56 (16%) counties sampled, and the percent positive ranged from 1.1% to 13.3% of specimens collected per …

Perturbations Highlight Importance Of Social History In Parakeet Rank Dynamics, Annemarie Van Der Marel, Xavier Francis, Claire L. O'Connell, Cesar O. Estien, Chelsea Carminito, Virginia Darby Moore, Nickolas Lormand, Bryan M. Kluever, Elizabeth A. Hobson

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Dominance hierarchies can provide many benefits to individuals, such as access to resources or mates, depending on their ranks. In some species, rank can emerge as a product of a group’s history of social interactions. However, it can be difficult to determine whether social history is critical to rank in observation-based studies. Here, we investigated rank dynamics in three captive groups of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We used experimental social perturbations to test whether social history shapes rank emergence in these groups. Using targeted removals and reintroductions, we tested whether differently ranked individuals could re-take their ranks in hierarchies after …

An Ode To Owls: Review Of What An Owl Knows: The New Science Of The World’S Most Enigmatic Birds By Jennifer Ackerman, Alan B. Franklin

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Owls are mysterious creatures, mainly because we humans hardly ever encounter them. They are mostly nocturnal, are silent in their flight, and tend to unnerve us with their ghostly and sometimes quavering vocalizations. There have been numerous books on the natural history of owls written for nonexperts, but Jennifer Ackerman’s What an Owl Knows takes a novel tack, blending natural history and scientific discovery with a discussion of recent technological innovations. The result is a fascinating read on how scientists are beginning to better understand the lives and ecology of these secretive and rarely visible birds.

The book’s nine chapters …

Investigating Nocturnal Uas Treatments In An Applied Context To Prevent Gulls From Nesting On Rooftops, Morgan Pfeiffer, Craig K. Pullins, Scott F. Beckerman, Joshua L. Hoblet, Brad Blackwell

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Ring‐billed (Larus delawarensis) and herring (L. argentatus) gulls are numerous and widespread in North America. These gulls rank among the top 9 species for risk of bird‐aircraft collisions (hereafter strikes). The ubiquitous presence of gulls in urban coastal environments, including rooftop nesting behavior, are factors impacting strike risk. Our purpose was to assess gull response to a small uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) in hazing flights at night during the nest‐building phase. We hypothesized that nocturnal UAS operation, like nocturnal predator disturbance, might reduce gull numbers and, thus, strike risk to aircraft. In spring 2021, we conducted …

Science‐Driven Guidelines Needed To Better Manage And Conserve Black Vultures In North America, Scott A. Rush, Neil J. Buckley, Patrick A. Zollner, Bryan M. Kluever, Brooke Mcwherter, Grant C. Burcham, Zhao Ma, Marian L. Wahl, Adrián Naveda‐Rodríguez

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Black vultures (Coragyps atratus) provide invaluable ecological services through disposal of carrion and the mobilization of energy within the landscape. Human‐wildlife conflicts with these birds have increased as populations have grown and the species distribution has expanded. We identify critical science needed to understand conflict between black vultures and humans to inform effective management of this species in North America. It is imperative that diagnostic criteria supporting the identification of the impacts of black vulture on livestock be standardized and verified. Management guidelines that take these criteria into account will enable reduction in the potential for black‐vulture‐farmer conflict …

Urbanization Influences Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Roost Site Selection By Black Vultures And Turkey Vultures, Jacob E. Hill, Kenneth F. Kellner, Amanda E. Holland, Bryan M. Kluever, Morgan B. Pfeiffer, Travis L. Devault, Jerrold L. Belant

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Roost locations can be an important contributor to vulture conflicts with humans, but factors influencing roost-site selection at a landscape level remain largely unexplored. Further, there has been little research comparing how these factors vary between nocturnal and diurnal roosting sites. We used remote cameras to document daily variation in vulture use of 21 roosts (20 communication/water towers and 1 natural roost) near Beaufort, South Carolina, USA from October 2019–August 2020. Numbers of vultures on roosts increased with decreasing urban cover and with greater distance to water, but were not influenced by habitat fragmentation or elevation. Roosts surrounded by greater …

Role Of Social Structure In Establishment Of An Invasive Large Mammal After Translocation, Lindsay M. Clontz, Anni Yang, Sarah M. Chinn, Kim M. Pepin, Kurt C. Vercauterten, George Wittemyer, Ryan S. Miller, James C. Beasley

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background

Data on the movement behavior of translocated wild pigs is needed to develop appropriate response strategies for containing and eliminating new source populations following translocation events. We conducted experimental trials to compare the home range establishment and space-use metrics, including the number of days and distance traveled before becoming range residents, for wild pigs translocated with their social group and individually.

Results

We found wild pigs translocated with their social group made less extensive movements away from the release location and established a stable home range ~5 days faster than those translocated individually. We also examined how habitat quality …

Light Wavelength And Pulsing Frequency Affect Avoidance Responses Of Canada Geese, Ryan B. Lunn, Patrice E. Baumhardt, Bradley F. Blackwell, Jean Paul Freyssinier, Esteban Fernández-Juricic

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Collisions between birds and aircraft cause bird mortality, economic damage, and aviation safety hazards. One proposed solution to increasing the distance at which birds detect and move away from an approaching aircraft, ultimately mitigating the probability of collision, is through onboard lighting systems. Lights in vehicles have been shown to lead to earlier reactions in some bird species but they could also generate attraction, potentially increasing the probability of collision. Using information on the visual system of the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), we developed light stimuli of high chromatic contrast to their eyes. We then conducted a controlled …

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 …

Changes In Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Relative Abundance, Crop Damage, And Environmental Impacts In Response To Control Efforts, Joseph W. Treichler, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Charles R. Taylor, James C. Beasley

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background

As the population and range of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) continue to grow across North America, there has been an increase in environmental and economic damages caused by this invasive species, and control efforts to reduce damages have increased concomitantly. Despite the expanding impacts and costs associated with population control of wild pigs, the extent to which wild pig control reduces populations and diminishes environmental and agricultural damages are rarely quantified.The goal of this study is to quantify changes in wild pig relative abundance and subsequent changes in damages caused by invasive wild pigs in response to …

Differential Canid Predation Of Translocated Juvenile Desert Tortoises (Gopherus Agassizii) Using Chemical Signature Differences, Derek B. Hall, Bruce A. Kimball, Jennifer M. Germano, Eric M. Gese, Jeanette A. Perry

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Differential predation was observed in a population of 59 translocated juvenile desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) of known sex during a juvenile translocation survival study between September 2012 and November 2017. The main source of mortality was attributed to coyote (Canis latrans) and kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) predation. Predation was skewed with higher female mortality than male mortality. We tested the hypothesis that juvenile females smell different than males, which leads to increased canid predation. We also explored differences in chemical signatures of resident adult female and male desert tortoises. We collected oral, cloacal, and …

Comparison Of Daily Activity Patterns Across Seasons Using Gps Telemetry And Camera Trap Data For A Widespread Mammal, David W. Wolfson, Peter E. Schlichting, Raoul K. Boughton, Ryan S. Miller, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Jesse S. Lewis

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Daily activity patterns of animals can be dynamic across seasons in response to changing environmental conditions. Daily activity, though, has rarely been evaluated in relation to multiple factors (for example, seasons, demographics, and data collection methods), which could be important for understanding what drives activity patterns. Here, we evaluated the daily activity patterns of a widespread invasive species, wild pigs (Sus scrofa), across two ecologically different study areas at Buck Island Ranch, Florida, and Tejon Ranch, California (United States), from 2015 to 2018. Using GPS telemetry data (62 individuals in Florida, 21 individuals in California) and detections from …

Individual‑Level Patterns Of Resource Selection Do Not Predict Hotspots Of Contact, Anni Yang, Raoul Boughton, Ryan S. Miller, Nathan P. Snow, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Kim C. Pepin, George Wittemyer

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contact among animals is crucial for various ecological processes, including social behaviors, disease transmission, and predator–prey interactions. However, the distribution of contact events across time and space is heterogeneous, influenced by environmental factors and biological purposes. Previous studies have assumed that areas with abundant resources and preferred habitats attract more individuals and, therefore, lead to more contact. To examine the accuracy of this assumption, we used a use-available framework to compare landscape factors influencing the location of contacts between wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in two study areas in Florida and Texas (USA) from those influencing non-contact space use. …

Home Range Overlap Between Small Indian Mongooses And Free Roaming Domestic Dogs In Puerto Rico: Implications For Rabies Management, Caroline C. Sauvé, Are R. Berentsen, Steven F. Llanos, Amy T. Gilbert, Patrick A. Leighton

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctata) is the primary terrestrial wildlife rabies reservoir on at least four Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico, mongooses represent a risk to public health, based on direct human exposure and indirectly through the transmission of rabies virus to domestic animals. To date, the fundamental ecological relationships of space use among mongooses and between mongooses and domestic animals remain poorly understood. This study is the first to report mongoose home range estimates based on GPS telemetry, as well as concurrent space use among mongooses and free roaming domestic dogs (FRDD; Canis …