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Environmental Factors' Effects On Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis) Infant Populations And Health, Jenny Mcfarland

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Ecosystem factors, both biotic and abiotic, impact all animal species. Temperature, rainfall, daylight, windspeed, mast production, competition and predation are integral to the ecosystem and thus affect the survival and overall wellbeing of the population. Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) infant intakes at Ohio Wildlife Center followed a pattern of more infants in the fall than in the spring, differing from the usual observation that more infants are born in the spring. Ecosystem factors were compared to monthly and annual intakes to see what influenced intake date, admittance condition and survivability rate of the Eastern gray squirrel infants. The results …

The Effect Of Hay Net Use On Cribbing Horses, Lauren Wesolowski

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Cribbing is a stereotypic behavior observed in horses, wherein the animal grasps a solid object with its front incisors and contracts its neck muscles to suck in air through its mouth, resulting in an audible grunt. Stereotypic behaviors such as cribbing are thought to be done in response to stress or insufficient stimulus in an animal’s living environment. Slow feeding hay nets can increase the amount of time horses spend eating daily hay rations. This research aims to use slow feeding hay nets to create a feeding process that is closer to natural grazing behavior and provide more stimulation for …

The Effect Of Whole-Body Vibration On Thermographic Readings Of The Equine Back And Distal Forelimb, Megan Leclerc

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Modern horses are sophisticated athletes, which puts them at a high risk for injury. One therapy now being utilized is whole-body vibration. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of whole-body vibration on the distal forelimb and the back of the healthy horse using thermography.

Data were collected over a 30-day period. Test horses stood on the vibration plate (n=10) 3 days a week for 30-minute sessions with the plate vibrating at 30-40 Hz. The control horses (n=10) received no treatment during the study. Baseline thermographic images were taken for all horses, and post treatment images were …