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Full-Text Articles in Animal Sciences
The Changing Role Of Rodenticides And Their Alternatives In The Management Of Commensal Rodents, Gary Witmer
The Changing Role Of Rodenticides And Their Alternatives In The Management Of Commensal Rodents, Gary Witmer
USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Rodents cause substantial damage and losses of foodstuffs around the world. They also transmit many diseases to humans and livestock. While various methods are used to reduce damage caused by rodents, rodenticides remain an important tool in the toolbox. However, like all tools, rodenticides have advantages and disadvantages. Several considerations are shaping the future of rodenticide use, including manufacturing and registration costs, concern about toxicity levels and nontarget animal hazards, potential hazards to children, reduced effectiveness of some formulations, and humaneness to the targeted rodents. Many of these disadvantages apply to anticoagulant rodenticides, and their use is being more restricted …
Reducing Prairie Dog Populations And Damage By Castration Of Dominant Males, Gary W. Witmer
Reducing Prairie Dog Populations And Damage By Castration Of Dominant Males, Gary W. Witmer
USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications
Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) occur widely across the prairie states of North America. They compete with livestock for forage, transmit plague, and damage lawns, landscaping, and property. Interest in non-lethal methods, such as immunocontraception, is growing; however, reductions in the population due to contraception may be offset by increases in survival because adults and yearlings are not subject to the energetic demands of reproduction, and lower densities may increase the amount of resources available to growing offspring. Surgical sterilization provides a means for modeling these effects. Thus, we castrated males prior to the 1998 breeding season to simulate the …