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Deer Mice (Peromyscus Spp.) Biology, Damage And Management: A Review, Gary W. Witmer, Rachael S. Moulton

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The deer mouse is the most widely distributed and abundant small mammal in North America. They use a wide array of habitats, are very adaptable, and have a high reproductive potential. They play a number of roles in ecosystems, but can cause damage to orchards, forests, agriculture crops, and rangelands primarily through seed and newly-emerged seedling consumption. They also cause damage similar to house mice when they occupy buildings or other structures. Deer mice are important components in disease transmission especially of hantaviruses and Lyme disease. Damage reduction methods generally involve lethal control to reduce numbers using rodenticides and traps. …

Introduction: Double-Crested Cormorants Of The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Basin: Recent Studies, Movements And Responses To Management Actions, D.V. Chip Weseloh, Francesca J. Cuthbert, D. Tommy King

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

This paper introduces the second Special Publication of the Waterbird Society to address the biology and management of the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritius) in North America. Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the species was at very low population levels, the Double-crested Cormorant has rebounded to its greatest population level in over 100 years. Such a significant increase has resulted in changes in community structure, and new stressors, in many aquatic ecosystems. Both Special Publications (1995 and 2013) have been focused on the biology and management of the species. The first volume dealt mainly with population …

Are Turf-Type Tall Fescue Cultivars Useful For Reducing Wildlife Hazards In Airport Environments?, Brian E. Washburn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife-aircraft collisions pose a serious risk to aircraft and cost civil aviation over US$1 billion worldwide annually. Habitat management within airport environments is the most important long-term component of an integrated approach to reduce the use of airfields by hazardous wildlife. Recent research has demonstrated that Canada geese avoid foraging on endophyte-infected tall fescue; consequently, this turfgrass might be useful in airfield revegetation and seeding projects. Although some research evaluating commercially available tall fescue cultivars on airfields has been conducted, additional information is needed to determine if tall fescue cultivars might be viable for airfields in various regions of the …

Corrigendum To “Avian Use Of Solid Waste Transfer Stations” [Landscape Urban Plan. 104 (2012) 388–394], Brian E. Washburn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Efficacy Of Proximity Loggers For Detection Of Contacts Between Maternal Pairs Of White-Tailed Deer, Ryan Walrath, Timonthy R. Vandeelen, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Contact frequency and duration estimates between individuals are important to understanding the behavioral ecology of wildlife species and the epidemiology of infectious diseases. A new technology uses proximity data loggers to record time and duration of contacts. We conducted an experiment at Sandhill Wildlife Management Area, located near Babcock, Wisconsin (USA) to compare probabilities of detecting intraspecific contacts among white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) maternal pairs (dams/fawns) based on detections from proximity loggers deployed on collars versus those obtained from direct observation. We defined 5 discrete probabilities of detection of a contact in terms of P (probability of detection …

Safety And Immunogenicity Of Onrab® In Raccoons And Skunks In West Virginia – 2011 Field Trial Report, D. D. Slate, R. Chipman, K. Nelson, C. Croson, S. Mills, C. Rupprecht, K. C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In 2011, a field trial was conducted in southeastern West Virginia to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a live recombinant human adenovirus (serotype 5)-rabies glycoprotein vaccine (ONRAB®) in wild raccoons and skunks. ONRAB® was selected for evaluation based on the success achieved in eliminating raccoon rabies from Ontario and Quebec, Canada, through the integration of this vaccine into rabies management strategies and significantly higher sero-positivity in comparison to Raboral V-RG® in studies along the U.S.-Canada border. The field trial site was composed of forested and agricultural habitats in an area where raccoon rabies is enzootic and oral rabies vaccine …

Invasives: The High Cost Of Indifference, Mark Pfost, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

At one time, wildlife professionals may have been blissfully ignorant about invasive species, classifying “plants” as lawn grass, flowers, trees, or weeds, and putting animals into two groups: species with bag limits and everything else. But those days of ignorance are long past. We see how invasives threaten local, even global, ecosystems, and we need to help create greater awareness about the scope of the problem.

Wildlife professionals must not only prepare to deal with how seven billion people, climate change, and habitat loss will affect native species and habitats, but also how those species and habitats will be affected …

Assessment Of Bird-Management Strategies To Protect Sunflowers, George M. Linz, H. Jeffrey Homan, Scott J. Werner, Heath M. Hagy, William J. Bleier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Even though avian damage to sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is a worldwide economic issue, several of the current methods used to reduce sunflower damage were developed and tested in the Prairie Pothole Region of the United States. An intensive research program was conducted in that area because of the regionalized concentration of sunflower production and the severe incidences of blackbird (Icteridae) depredation. During the past 40 years, federal and university scientists tested chemical and physical frightening agents, aversive repellents, bird-resistant sunflowers, decoy crops, habitat management, population management, and cultural modifications in cropping. Some of these techniques have broad applicability …

Detection And Characterization Of A Distinct Bornavirus Lineage From Healthy Canada Geese (Branta Canadensis), Susan Payne, Lina Covaleda, Guo Jianhua, Seth Swafford, John A. Baroch, Pamela J. Ferro, Blanca Lupiani, J Jill Heatley, Ian Tizard

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Avian bornaviruses (ABV), identified in 2008, infect captive parrots and macaws worldwide. The natural reservoirs of these viruses are unknown. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) was used to screen oropharyngeal/ cloacal swab and brain samples from wild Canada geese (Branta canadensis) for ABV. Approximately 2.9% of swab samples were positive for bornavirus sequences. Fifty-two percent of brain samples from 2 urban flocks also tested positive, and brain isolates were cultured in duck embryo fibroblasts. Phylogenetic analyses placed goose isolates in an independent cluster, and more notably, important regulatory sequences present in Borna disease virus but lacking in psittacine ABVs were …

Bird Strikes And Aircraft Fuselage Color: A Correlational Study, Esteban Fernández-Juricic, Jimmy Gaffney, Bradley F. Blackwelll, Patrice Baumhardt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Collisions between birds and aircraft (bird strikes) pose safety risks to the public, cost airports and airlines money, and result in liability issues. Recent research suggests that aircraft visibility could be enhanced to increase detection and avoidance by birds. We questioned whether aircraft color scheme might play a role in bird-strike frequency. We used public records of bird strikes along with information on flights that were gathered by federal agencies in the United States. We estimated the bird-strike rates and compared them among airline companies using different fuselage color schemes, while controlling for aircraft type. Using an avian vision modeling …

Wildlife Risk To Aviation: A Multi-Scale Issue Requires A Multi-Scale Solution, James A. Martin, Jerrold L. Belant, Travis L. Devault, Bradley F. Blackwelll, Loren W. Berger, Samuel K. Riffell, Guiming Wang

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Aircraft collisions with birds and other wildlife (wildlife strikes) pose increasing safety and financial concerns to the aviation industry worldwide. Recent events such as the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River have renewed public interest in risks to aircraft posed by wildlife (Marra et al. 2009). However, wildlife biologists and aviation personnel have been aware of these issues for decades (Solman 1973, Blokpoel 1976). Since the inception of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) National Wildlife Strike Database in 1990, 99,411 reported wildlife strikes to airplanes have resulted in at least $1.2 billion annually in losses (direct …

Tools For Managing Invasions: Acceptance Of Non-Toxic Baits By Juvenile Nile Monitor Lizards And Burmese Pythons Under Laboratory Conditions, Peter J. Savarie, Richard M. Engeman, Richard E. Mauldin, Tom Mathies, Kenneth L. Tope

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nile monitor lizards (Varanus niloticus) and Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are large, invasive, predatory reptiles, which are now well established in south Florida. Acetaminophen was recently shown to be lethal to both animals and therefore has potential for inclusion in an integrated pest management effort to control these species. However, acceptable bait matrices for both species are still needed to deliver the toxicant. We tested nine candidate bait matrices on juvenile Nile monitor lizards and Burmese pythons in the laboratory. Baits were tested fresh and also after aging at 30°C and 50% relative humidity for …

Using Dietary Analyses To Reduce The Risk Of Wildlife–Aircraft Collisions, Brian E. Washburn, Glen E. Bernhardt, Lisa A. Kutschbach-Brohl

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife-Aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose a serious safety risk to aircraft and cost civil aviation >$614 million annually in the United States (Dale 2009, Dolbeer et al. 2009). Over 89,700 wildlife strikes with civil aircraft were reported to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) during 1990 to 2008 (Dolbeer et al. 2009). Aircraft collisions with birds accounted for 97% of the reported strikes (Dolbeer et al. 2009). Gulls (Larus spp.), waterfowl, such as Canada geese (Branta canadensis), raptors (hawks and owls), blackbirds, and European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are the species of most concern at airports …

Rodent Population Management At Kansas City International Airport, Gary W. Witmer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Birds pose serious hazards at United States airports because of the potential for collisions with aircraft. Raptors, in particular, are hazardous to aircraft safety due to their size, hunting behavior, and hovering and soaring habits. Reduction of rodent populations at an airport may decrease raptor populations in the area and, therefore, reduce risk that raptors pose to aircraft. Rodent populations can be reduced by population management (i.e., use of rodenticides) or by habitat management (i.e., vegetation and land-use management) that reduces the area’s carrying capacity for rodents. I found that zinc phosphide-treated oats reduced rodent populations by >94% at the …

Physical And Behavioural Abilities Of Commensal Rodents Related To The Design Of Selective Rodenticide Bait Stations, William C. Pitt, Robert T. Sugihara, Laura C. Driscoll, Daniel S. Vice

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Design of selective bait stations to deliver rodenticide bait is often proposed for management of non-target animal access, but much of the information on the behavioural and physical capabilities of rodents relative to station access has not been readily available or is based on unpublished, informal observations or anecdotes repeated for many years. We studied the climbing and jumping abilities of Polynesian Rats (Rallus exulans), Norway Rats (R. norvegicus), Roof Rats (R. rallus), and House Mice (Mus musculus), focused on applications for eradication of these invasive rodents from island ecosystems in the …

Managing An Invasion: Effective Measures To Control Wild Pigs, Bill Hamrick, Tyler A. Campbell, Billy Higginbotham, Steven Lapidge

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

A few years back, wild pigs ran mostly unchecked on Ossabaw Island, a 25,000-acre barrier island of maritime forests and marshlands just off the coast of Savannah, Georgia. Pigs wreaked havoc on island wildlife, feasting on the eggs of snowy plovers and eating turtle hatchlings as they made their way from the beaches to the water. Managers estimated that hogs were depredating over 30 percent of Ossabaw Island’s sea turtle nests each year (Mississippi State University 2011). Something had to be done.

In 2001, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources launched the Wild Pig Removal Program on Ossabaw Island, an …

A Mark–Recapture Technique For Monitoring Feral Swine Populations, Matthew M. Reidy, Tyler A. Campbell, David G. Hewitt

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Techniques to monitor populations of feral swine (Sus scrofa) relative to damage control activities are needed on rangelands. Our objectives were to describe and assess a mark–recapture technique using tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) for monitoring feral swine populations. We established bait stations at study sites in southern and central Texas. During 1 d, we replaced normal soured corn bait with bait containing TH and counted the number of feral swine that consumed bait with observers. We conducted feral swine removal using box-style traps and helicopters, at which time we collected teeth for TH analysis. In southern Texas, we estimated …

Registration Considerations For Chemical Bird Repellents In Fruit Crops, John D. Eisemann, Scott J. Werner, Jeanette R. O’Hare

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bird damage has plagued orchardists since the earliest times of cultivation. In a matter of minutes, a flock of birds can literally strip a tree of all harvestable fruit or render hanging fruit unmarketable. While this level of damage is rare, significant economic impact can occur to those orchards where birds select to forage. Crop protection techniques available to orchardists are primarily limited to hazing (scarecrows, propane cannons, flagging) and physical exclusion (netting). Given the propensity of birds to habituate to hazing techniques, hazing methods offer limited protection for crops. Although exclusion devices may offer the best protection from birds, …

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: Implementation Of Electric Fencing For Establishing Effective Livestock-Protection Dogs, Thomas M. Gehring, K. C. Vercauteren, Anna C. Cellar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

To be effective, livestock protection dogs (LPDs) must be carefully integrated with the livestock they will be protecting. Others have developed guidelines to assist producers in this training and assimilation process. In many areas fencing is necessary; however, guidelines for containing LPDs and their livestock behind electric fencing are lacking. We present results from larger projects involving LPDs where we encountered issues with fencing and preventing LPDs from roaming from their owner’s property. We found that ranging and escaping from pastures was exhibited by LPDs that were not properly introduced and trained to electric fencing at an early age. LPDs …

Factors Affecting Space Use Overlap By White-Tailed Deer In An Urban Landscape, W. David Walter, Jeff Beringer, Lonnie P. Hansen, Justin W. Fischer, Joshua J. Millspaugh, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Variation in the size and overlap of space use by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) has broad implications for managing deer–human conflicts and disease spread and transmission in urban landscapes. Understanding which factors affect overlap of home range by various segments (i.e., age, sex) of an urban deer population has implications to direct contact between deer on disease epidemiology. We assessed size of home range and overlap of space use using the volume of intersection index (VI) for deer in an urban landscape by sex, age, season, and time of day. We found mean space use was larger for …

Persistent Infection Or Successive Reinfection Of Deer Mice With Bartonella Vinsonii Subsp. Arupensis, Ying Bai, Charles H. Calisher, Michael Y. Kosoy, J. Jeffrey Root, Jeffrey B. Doty

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bartonella infections are common in rodents. From 1994 to 2006, longitudinal studies of a rodent community, consisting mainly of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), were conducted in southwestern Colorado to study hantaviruses. Blood samples from deer mice captured one or more times during the period 2003 to 2006 (n = 737) were selected to study bartonellae in deer mice. Bartonellae were found to be widely distributed in that population, with an overall prevalence of 82.4% (607/737 mice). No correlation was found between bartonella prevalence and deer mouse weight or sex. Persistent or successive infections with bartonellae were observed …

Wildlife Responses To Long-Term Application Of Biosolids To Grasslands In North Carolina, Brian E. Washburn, Michael Begier

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Applications of biosolids to grassland areas might alter the attractiveness of those habitats to wildlife. For the past 21 yr, biosolids have been applied annually to grasslands at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina. During 2003–2005, we conducted a study to determine if the long-term application of biosolids has altered plant communities and/or wildlife use of grassland areas. Ten circular 1.7-ha plots were established: five plots served as controls (untreated) and five plots were located in areas that received biosolids. We monitored vegetation growth, measured plant community composition, and observed all plots for wildlife activity during …

Is Wildlife Going To The Dogs? Impacts Of Feral And Free-Roaming Dogs On Wildlife Populations, Julie K. Young, Kirk A. Olson, Richard P. Reading, Sukh Amgalanbaatar, Joel Berger

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In human-populated landscapes, dogs (Canis familiaris) are often the most abundant terrestrial carnivore. However, dogs can significantly disrupt or modify intact ecosystems well beyond the areas occupied by people. Few studies have directly quantified the environmental or economic effects of free-roaming and feral dogs. Here, we review wildlife-dog interactions and provide a case study that focuses on interactions documented from our research in Mongolia to underscore the need for studies designed to best determine how dogs affect native wildlife and especially imperiled populations. We suggest additional research, public awareness campaigns, and the exclusion of dogs from critical wildlife …

Integrative Approaches To Disease Control: The Value Of International Collaborations, Thomas J. Deliberto, Dale L. Nolte, William (Bill) H. Clay

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

One health and biodiversity issues are global and complex. As such, they require international collaboration if we hope to achieve the goal of minimizing disease impacts on humans and animals, while maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem integrity. This will require motivated teams to overcome barriers to collaboration, by focusing on the proven keys to success and developing networks of biological, physical and social scientists as well as decision-makers and stakeholders. These collaborations will require facilitation by governments and international organizations.

Finally, we must move towards a more holistic, transdisciplinary approach to international collaborations. New forms of knowledge, institutional structure and problem-solving …

Phylogenetic Diversity And Genotypical Complexity Of H9n2 Influenza A Viruses Revealed By Genomic Sequence Analysis, Guoying Dong, Jing Luo, Hong Zhang, Chengmin Wang, Mingxing Duan, Thomas Jude Deliberto, Dale L. Nolte, Guangju Ji, Hongxuan He

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

H9N2 influenza A viruses have become established worldwide in terrestrial poultry and wild birds, and are occasionally transmitted to mammals including humans and pigs. To comprehensively elucidate the genetic and evolutionary characteristics of H9N2 influenza viruses, we performed a large-scale sequence analysis of 571 viral genomes from the NCBI Influenza Virus Resource Database, representing the spectrum of H9N2 influenza viruses isolated from 1966 to 2009. Our study provides a panoramic framework for better understanding the genesis and evolution of H9N2 influenza viruses, and for describing the history of H9N2 viruses circulating in diverse hosts. Panorama phylogenetic analysis of the eight …

Efficacy Of Gnrh Immunocontraception Of Wild White-Tailed Deer In New Jersey, James P. Gionfriddo, Anthony J. Denicola, Lowell A. Miller, Kathleen A. Fagerstone

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Safe and effective contraceptive agents are needed to manage overabundant populations of cervids in settings where traditional management methods such as hunting are prohibited or impractical. We used GonaCon™ Immunocontraceptive Vaccine to reduce reproduction in individual white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on a fully fenced corporate-office campus in suburban New Jersey, USA. In July– August 2005, we captured, marked, injected, and released 47 adult females and then monitored their reproductive performance for 2 years. Thirty-two of these females each received a 1.0-mL injection of GonaCon vaccine, and 15 control females were given sham injections. Field observations of udder condition …

Rock Pigeon Use Of Livestock Facilities In Northern Colorado: Implications For Improving Farm Bio-Security., James C. Carlson, Larry Clark, Michael F. Antolin, M. D. Salman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rock pigeons (Columba livia) have been implicated in the spread of pathogens within commercial livestock facilities. Currently, there is no data characterizing pigeon habitat use and movement patterns within and among commercial livestock facilities. To better understand the capacity for pigeons to spread pathogens, we used radio-telemetry techniques to estimate the home-range, travel distance, activity, and habitat use of pigeons roosting on and off dairies and feedlots in western Weld County, Colorado. Our observations suggest that pigeons roosting on (resident) and off (nonresident) livestock facilities use habitat differently. Nonresident pigeons used larger home-range areas than did resident pigeons. Nonresident pigeons …

Reconciling Sensory Cues And Varied Consequences Of Avian Repellents, Scott J. Werner, Frederick D. Provenza

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We learned previously that red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) use affective processes to shift flavor preference, and cognitive associations (colors) to avoid food, subsequent to avoidance conditioning. We conducted three experiments with captive red-winged blackbirds to reconcile varied consequences of treated food with conditioned sensory cues. In Experiment 1, we compared food avoidance conditioned with lithium chloride (LiCl) or naloxone hydrochloride (NHCl) to evaluate cue–consequence specificity. All blackbirds conditioned with LiCl (gastrointestinal toxin) avoided the color (red) and flavor (NaCl) of food experienced during conditioning; birds conditioned with NHCl (opioid antagonist) avoided only the color (not the flavor) of …

Baylisascariasis Fact Sheet, Emily L. Blizzard

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Fact Sheet compiled by: Emily L. Blizzard

Sheet completed on: May 27, 2011

Fact Sheet Reviewed by: Sarah Bevins, Kerri Pedersen, and Michael J. Yabsley

Susceptible animal groups Avian, Mammal, Human

Causative organism

Recognized species of Baylisascaris

Parasite Primary Definitive Host(s)

Distribution

Incubation period

Clinical signs

Post mortem, gross, or histologic findings

Diagnosis

Material required for laboratory analysis

Relevant diagnostic laboratories

Treatment

Prevention and control

Suggested disinfectant for housing facilities

Notification

Measures required under the Animal Disease Surveillance Plan

Measures required for introducing animals to infected animal

Conditions for restoring disease-free status after an outbreak None

Experts who may be …

Evaluation Of Fecal Dna Preservation Techniques And Effects Of Sample Age And Diet On Genotyping Success, Michael Panasci, Warren B. Ballard, Stewart W. Breck, David Rodriguez, Llewellyn D. Densmore Iii, David B. Wester, Robert J. Baker

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Optimal collection and preservation protocols for fecal DNA genotyping are not firmly established. We evaluated 3 factors that influence microsatellite genotyping success of fecal DNA extracted from coyote (Canis latrans) scats: 1) age of scat, 2) preservative, and 3) diet content. We quantified genotyping success by comparing rates of allelic dropout, false alleles, and failed amplifications among consensus genotypes. We used a panel of 6 microsatellite loci to genotype 20 scat samples, each of which was subjected to 3 age (1 day, 5 days, and 10 days post-deposition) and 3 preservation (DET buffer, 95% ethanol [EtOH], and lysis …