Life Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation Of Oral Baits And Distribution Methods For Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus Harrisii), Sean Dempsey, Ruth J. Pyer, Amy Gilbert, Nicholas M. Fountain-Jones, Jennifer M. Moffat, Sarah Benson-Amram, Timothy J. Smyser, Andrew S. Flies

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context

Diseases are increasingly contributing to wildlife population declines. Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) populations have locally declined by 82%, largely owing to the morbidity and mortality associated with two independent transmissible devil facial tumours (DFT1 and DFT2). Toxic baits are often used as a management tool for controlling vertebrate pest populations in Australia, but in other areas of the world, oral baits are also used to deliver vaccines or pharmaceuticals to wildlife.

Aim

Our goal was to evaluate the potential use of edible baits as vehicles for vaccine delivery to Tasmanian devils.

Method

We first tested bait palatability with …

Development And Evaluation Of Prototype Toxicant-Delivery Bait Stations For The Control Of The Small Indian Mongoose, Carmen C. Antaky, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel L. Leinbach, Shane R. Siers, Emily W. Ruell, Steven C. Hess

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted research to develop a safe and effective toxic bait to control the small Indian mongoose (Urva auropunctata), an invasive vertebrate predator impacting the survival of native species in Hawai‘i (United States) and in other parts of the world. A preserved fish-based bait product was found to be highly palatable to mongooses in cage trials and subsequent formulations with diphacinone (0.005%) showed promise as an efficacious toxic bait for mongooses. This product is intended for future use to control mongooses in conservation and urban areas, and as a biosecurity tool at ports of entry to address accidental …

Songbird-Mediated Insect Pest Control In Low Intensity New England Agriculture, Samuel J. Mayne

Masters Theses

Global agricultural intensification has caused large-scale wildlife declines, but agricultural lands that maintain natural habitats can support healthy wildlife populations and receive significant ecosystem services from these natural communities. However, how on-farm biodiversity results in beneficial ecosystem services is highly variable and is reported to differ among taxa and guilds. One group that has attracted attention for their potential beneficial role in reducing pest abundance are birds. Understanding the role of bird communities and individual species in pest control could be important for managing farms under a low intensity agroecological framework. In New England, farmers are increasingly applying low intensity …

Evaluating The Use Of Barn Owl Nest Boxes For Rodent Pest Control In Winegrape Vineyards In Napa Valley, Ashley N. Hansen

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Attracting natural enemies to farms to reduce pests has long been a part of integrated pest management for insects, but knowledge of the impact of raptors on rodents and other vertebrate pests is comparatively sparse. In this study, I compared rodent prey on winegrape vineyards in Napa California with and without occupied barn owl nest boxes. We collected data before the breeding season, when hunting pressure should be light, and again when adult owls were hunting actively to feed their chicks. I used the open-hole method to quantify an index of gopher activity, and Sherman live traps to estimate the …

Invasive Species Control And Resolution Of Wildlife Damage Conflicts: A Framework For Chemical And Genetically Based Management Methods, Larry Clark, John Eisemann, John Godwin, Katherine Horak, Kevin Oh, Jeanette R. O'Hare, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Kim M. Pepin, Emily W. Ruell

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Vertebrate wildlife damage management relates to developing and employing methods to mitigate against damage caused by wildlife in the areas of food production, property damage, and animal or human health and safety. Of the many management tools available, chemical methods (e.g., toxicants) draw the most attention owing to issues related to environmental burden, species specificity, and humaneness. Research and development focusing on RNA interference and gene drives may be able to address the technical aspects of performance goals. However, there remain many questions about regulation, environmental risk, and societal acceptance for these emerging biological technologies. Here we focus on the …

Shade Trees Preserve Avian Insectivore Biodiversity On Coffee Farms In A Warming Climate, Sarah L. Schooler

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Coffee is an important export in many developing countries, with a global annual trade value of $100 billion. Climate change is projected to drastically reduce the area where coffee is able to be grown. Shade trees may mitigate the effects of climate change through temperature regulation for coffee growth, temperature regulation for pest control, and increase in pest-eating bird diversity. The impact of shade on bird diversity and microclimate on coffee farms has been studied extensively in the Neotropics, but there is a dearth of research in the Paleotropics. I examined the local effects of shade on bird presence and …

Rabbit Kitten Survival In The South-West, D R. King

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In the South-West of Western Australis reliable winter rains allow the rabbit breeding season to extend through winter and spring, and thus a large number of kittens are produced each year.

Studies on the biology of rabbits at Cape Naturaliste (270 kilometres south-west of Perth) and Chidlow (40 kilometres east of Perth in the Datling Range) have shown that at these sites each doe produces about 30 and 27 kittens respectively a year. If all these youg rabbits survived, there would be a 15-fold increase in numbers. Within a short time the State would be covered "wall to wall" by …

1080 : A Selective Poison For Pests, D R. King

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Since the 1960s, the control programmes for rabbits and dingoes in Western Australia have relied heavily on the use of sodium monofluoroacetate, more commonly known as compound 1080. Large quantaties are used each year as it is a valuable substance for the control of vertebrate pests.

Once in the animal's body 1080 is converted to fluorocitrate, a poison which is highly toxic to most mammals. Fluorocitrate blocks the Krebs cycle, a fundamental pathway of energy exchange in animals and plants. The animal dies as a result of damage to the heart, or to the brain and central nervous system, or …

Bounty Systems In Vermin Control, S J O Whitehouse

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

For more than 3000 years man has tried to reduce the numbers of pest animals by payment of bounties. In general, the system has failed.

This article, by a research scientist who specalizes in the study of declared (pest) animals in Western Australia reviews some of the literature about bounties and comments on the situation in Australia.

Rabbit Fumigation, C D. Gooding

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Not all poisons act by absorption from the alimentary tract or through the skin, the fumigants are a big group of poisons used in pest control which act on the animal after being absorbed through the lungs.

FUMIGATION as it is now used in Western Australia is not always an economical way of treating whole farm properties. It should only be used on its own in areas where it is impossible to use other more permanent methods such as warren destruction.

Wallaby Control In The Kimberleys, C D. Gooding

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

EXPERIMENTS aimed at controlling sandy wallabies along the Fitzroy River frontage were started in 1952 by officers of the Agriculture Protection Board.

This work was undertaken in response to requests for assistance from some of the station owners and managers between Derby and Fitzroy Crossing.

Vermin Symposium Report : Wanted : A New Approach To Rabbit Control, A R. Tomlinson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE main reason why rabbits have not increased as rapidly as their amazing capabilities might have led people to expect has been a series of years not suitable for full breeding.

This has been more important than myxomatosis and "1080". This was one of the thoughts taken away by those who attended the rabbit control symposium held in Perth recently.