Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Accelerated Evolution Of Sars-Cov-2 In Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer, Dillon S. Mcbride, Sofya K. Garushyants, John Franks, Andrew F. Magee, Steven H. Overend, Devra Huey, Amanda M. Williams, Seth A. Faith, Ahmed Kandeil, Sanja Trifkovic, Lance Miller, Trushar Jeevan, Anami Patel, Jacqueline M. Nolting, Michael J. Tonkovich, J. Tyler Genders, Andrew J. Montoney, Kevin Kasnyik, Timothy J. Linder, Sarah N. Bevins, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jeffrey C. Chandler, Thomas J. Deliberto, Eugene V. Koonin, Marc A. Suchard, Philippe Lemey, Richard J. Webby, Martha I. Nelson, Andrew S. Bowman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The zoonotic origin of the COVID-19 pandemic virus highlights the need to fill the vast gaps in our knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 ecology and evolution in non-human hosts. Here, we detected that SARS-CoV-2 was introduced from humans into white-tailed deer more than 30 times in Ohio, USA during November 2021-March 2022. Subsequently, deer-to-deer transmission persisted for 2–8 months, disseminating across hundreds of kilometers. Newly developed Bayesian phylogenetic methods quantified how SARS-CoV-2 evolution is not only three-times faster in white-tailed deer compared to the rate observed in humans but also driven by different mutational biases and selection pressures. The long-term effect of …

Rapid Evolution Of A(H5n1) Influenza Viruses After Intercontinental Spread To North America, Ahmed Kandeil, Christopher Patton, Jeremy C. Jones, Trushar Jeevan, Walter N. Harrington, Sanja Trifkovic, Jon P. Seiler, Thomas Fabrizio, Karlie Woodard, Jasmine C. Turner, Jeri Carol Crumpton, Lance Miller, Adam Rubrum, Jennifer Debeauchamp, Charles J. Russell, Elena A. Govorkova, Peter Vogel, Mia Kim-Torchetti, Yohannes Berhane, David Stallknecht, Rebecca Poulson, Lisa Kercher, Richard J. Webby

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b underwent an explosive geographic expansion in 2021 among wild birds and domestic poultry across Asia, Europe, and Africa. By the end of 2021, 2.3.4.4b viruses were detected in North America, signifying further intercontinental spread. Here we show that the western movement of clade 2.3.4.4b was quickly followed by reassortment with viruses circulating in wild birds in North America, resulting in the acquisition of different combinations of ribonucleoprotein genes. These reassortant A(H5N1) viruses are genotypically and phenotypically diverse, with many causing severe disease with dramatic neurologic involvement in mammals. The proclivity of …

Pathogenicity In Chickens And Turkeys Of A 2021 United States H5n1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b Wild Bird Virus Compared To Two Previous H5n8 Clade 2.3.4.4 Viruses, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood, Erica Spackman, Christina Leyson, Sungsu Youk, Scott A. Lee, Linda M. Moon, Mia K. Torchetti, Mary L. Killian, Julianna B. Lenoch, Darrell R. Kapczynski, David E. Swayne, David L. Suarez

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of subtype H5 of the Gs/GD/96 lineage remain a major threat to poultry due to endemicity in wild birds. H5N1 HPAIVs from this lineage were detected in 2021 in the United States (US) and since then have infected many wild and domestic birds. We evaluated the pathobiology of an early US H5N1 HPAIV (clade 2.3.4.4b, 2021) and two H5N8 HPAIVs from previous outbreaks in the US (clade 2.3.4.4c, 2014) and Europe (clade 2.3.4.4b, 2016) in chickens and turkeys. Differences in clinical signs, mean death times (MDTs), and virus transmissibility were found between chickens and …

Raccoon Spatial Ecology In The Rural Southeastern United States, Jacob E. Hill, Madison L. Miller, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert, University Of Georgia, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The movement ecology of raccoons varies widely across habitats with important implications for the management of zoonotic diseases such as rabies. However, the spatial ecology of raccoons remains poorly understood in many regions of the United States, particularly in the southeast. To better understand the spatial ecology of raccoons in the southeastern United States, we investigated the role of sex, season, and habitat on monthly raccoon home range and core area sizes in three common rural habitats (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, and riparian forest) in South Carolina, USA. From 2018–2022, we obtained 264 monthly home ranges from 46 raccoons. Mean …

Skin Lipids Alone Enable Conspecific Tracking In An Invasive Reptile, The Argentine Black And White Tegu Lizard (Salvator Merianae), M. Rockwell Parker, Eric A. Tillman, Lauren A. Nazarian, Megan L. Barlowe, Julianna M. Lincoln, Bryan M. Kluever

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Locating potential mates in non-native habitats is one of the most important challenges faced by invasive vertebrate species. The Argentine black and white tegu lizard (Salvator merianae) is a major invasive reptile species in the contiguous United States and is rapidly expanding its range across Florida and the Southeast, in part due to inadequate management strategies and tools. Because a wide array of reptiles, especially squamates (snakes and lizards), have been well-studied for their reliance on chemical cues to locate conspecifics, our project aimed to isolate chemical cues from tegus and assess the ability of adult males and …

Limited Accumulation And Persistence Of An Influenza A Virus In Tadpole Snails (Physa Spp.), Paul T. Oesterle, J. Jeffrey Root, Darcy S.O. Mora, Heather Schneider, Alan B. Franklin, Kathryn P. Huyvaert

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Waterfowl infected with avian influenza A viruses (IAVs) shed infectious virus into aquatic environments, providing a mechanism for transmission among waterfowl, while also exposing the entire aquatic ecosystem to the virus. Aquatic invertebrates such as freshwater snails are likely exposed to IAVs in the water column and sediment. Freshwater snails comprise a significant portion of some waterfowl species’ diets, so this trophic interaction may serve as a novel route of IAV transmission. In these experiments, tadpole snails (Physa spp.) were exposed to a low-pathogenicity IAV (H3N8) to determine whether snails can accumulate the virus and, if so, how long virus …

H5n1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Clade 2.3.4.4b In Wild And Domestic Birds: Introductions Into The United States And Reassortments, December 2021–April 2022, Sungsu Youk, Mia Kim Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Mary Lea Killian, Christina Leyson, Sarah N. Bevins, Krista Dilione, Hon S. Ip, David E. Stallknecht, Rebecca L. Poulson, David L. Suarez, David E. Swayne, Mary J. Pantin-Jackwood

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) of the A/goose/Guangdong/1/1996 lineage H5 clade 2.3.4.4b continue to have a devastating effect on domestic and wild birds. Full genome sequence analyses using 1369 H5N1 HPAIVs detected in the United States (U.S.) in wild birds, commercial poultry, and backyard flocks from December 2021 to April 2022, showed three phylogenetically distinct H5N1 virus introductions in the U.S. by wild birds. Unreassorted Eurasian genotypes A1 and A2 entered the Northeast Atlantic states, whereas a genetically distinct A3 genotype was detected in Alaska. The A1 genotype spread westward via wild bird migration and reassorted with North American …

Antiviral Susceptibility Of Clade 2.3.4.4b Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Viruses Isolated From Birds And Mammals In The United States, 2022, Ha T. Nguyen, Anton Chesnokov, Juan De La Cruz, Philippe Noriel Q. Pascua, Vasiliy P. Mishin, Yunho Jang, Joyce Jones, Han Di, Andrei A. Ivashchenko, Mary Lea Killian, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, David E. Wentworth, Charles T. Davis, Alexandre V. Ivachtchenko, Larisa V. Gubareva

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) viruses that are responsible for devastating outbreaks in birds and mammals pose a potential threat to public health. Here, we evaluated their susceptibility to influenza antivirals. Of 1,015 sequences of HPAI A(H5N1) viruses collected in the United States during 2022, eight viruses (∼0.8%) had a molecular marker of drug resistance to an FDA-approved antiviral: three adamantane-resistant (M2-V27A), four oseltamivir-resistant (NA-H275Y), and one baloxavir-resistant (PA-I38T). Additionally, 31 viruses contained mutations that may reduce susceptibility to inhibitors of neuraminidase (NA) (n = 20) or cap-dependent endonuclease (CEN) (n = 11). A panel of 22 …

The Devil You Know And The Devil You Don’T: Current Status And Challenges Of Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication In The United States, Daniel J. O'Brien, Tyler C. Thacker, Liliana C.M. Salvador, Anthony G. Duffiney, Suelee Robbe‑Austerman, Mark S. Camacho, Jason E. Lombard, Mitchell V. Palmer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Having entered into its second century, the eradication program for bovine tuberculosis (bTB, caused by Mycobacterium bovis) in the United States of America occupies a position both enviable and daunting. Excepting four counties in Michigan comprising only 6109 km2 (0.06% of US land area) classified as Modified Accredited, as of April 2022 the entire country was considered Accredited Free of bTB by the US Department of Agriculture for cattle and bison. On the surface, the now well-described circumstances of endemic bTB in Michigan, where white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) serve as a free-ranging wildlife maintenance host, may appear to be …

Leveraging Eco-Evolutionary Models For Gene Drive Risk Assessment, Matthew A. Combs, Andrew J. Golnar, Justin M. Overcash, Alun L. Lloyd, Keith R. Hayes, David A. O'Brochta, Kim M. Pepin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Engineered gene drives create potential for both widespread benefits and irreversible harms to ecosystems. CRISPR-based systems of allelic conversion have rapidly accelerated gene drive research across diverse taxa, putting field trials and their necessary risk assessments on the horizon. Dynamic processbased models provide flexible quantitative platforms to predict gene drive outcomes in the context of system-specific ecological and evolutionary features. Here, we synthesize gene drive dynamic modeling studies to highlight research trends, knowledge gaps, and emergent principles, organized around their genetic, demographic, spatial, environmental, and implementation features. We identify the phenomena that most significantly influence model predictions, discuss limitations of …

Feral Swine As Indirect Indicators Of Environmental Anthrax Contamination And Potential Mechanical Vectors Of Infectious Spores, Rachel M. Maison, Maggie R. Priore, Vienna R. Brown, Michael Bodenchuk, Bradley R. Borlee, Richard Bowen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

U.S. government work

Gauging Clientele Knowledge On Alternative Methods Of Payment For Veterinary Services In Relation To Client Satisfaction, Olivia Hritzkowin

Honors College Theses

The following study focuses on the knowledge that veterinary clients possess surrounding alternative methods of payment for veterinary services and its relation to overall client satisfaction, as well as the prevalence of mental health crisis in veterinary professionals as it relates to client satisfaction. An in-depth analysis of online articles and journals was compared to the results of a survey of pet owners and veterinary professionals to obtain results for the study. The results of the analysis of online resources revealed that many pet owners are stressed about paying for veterinary care for their animal and that most are unprepared …

Translational Models For Advancement Of Regenerative Medicine And Tissue Engineering, Kristin Marie Bowers

Doctoral Dissertations

At the root of each regenerative medicine or tissue engineering breakthrough is a simple goal, to improve quality of healing, thus improving a patient’s quality of life. Each tissue presents its own complexities and limitations to healing, whether it is the scarring nature of tendon healing or the mechanical complexity driving bone regeneration. Preclinical, translational models aim to reflect these complexities and limitations, allowing for effective development and refinement of tissue engineered therapeutics for human use. The following body of work explores several of these translational models, both utilizing them for tissue regenerative therapy development and evaluating the benefits and …

Optimal R&D Investment In The Management Of Invasive Species, William Haden Chomphosy, Dale T. Manning, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Stephan Weiler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive alien species (IAS) threaten world biodiversity, ecosystem services, and economic welfare. While existing literature has characterized the optimal control of an established IAS, it has not considered how research and development (R&D) into new removal methods or technologies can affect management decisions and costs over time. R&D can lower the costs of control in a management plan and creates an intertemporal trade-off between quick but costly control and gradual but cheaper removal over time. In this paper, we develop and solve a continuous time dynamic optimization model to study how investment in R&D influences the optimal control of an …

Evaluation Of Treatment Options And Investigation Of Pathogenesis Of Chytridiomycosis In North American Salamanders, Anastasia Elaine Towe

Doctoral Dissertations

Chytridiomycosis, a cutaneous fungal disease caused by two related fungi, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) and Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), is a major cause of amphibian population declines worldwide. Bd has a broad distribution, covering every continent except for Antarctica. Meanwhile, Bsal is currently restricted to Europe and Asia. Treatment options for both Bd and Bsal remain a major area of concern for wild populations. Recently, implants for long-term, parenteral antifungal drug administration have shown some promise in fungal diseases in wildlife. We investigated the safety and efficacy of an intracoelomic implant of the antifungal drug terbinafine in greater …

Veterinary Access Barriers Experienced By Urban Versus Rural Clients: A Case Study In Middle America, Molly Andreasen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The comparison of urban versus rural clientele as to their access to veterinary care and preferences regarding veterinary services has received little research attention. A better understanding of client perspectives is critical for ongoing efforts to provide more equitable availability of veterinary services across varying demographic areas. In this study, I directly assess differences in access to veterinary services based on client perspectives from both rural and urban locales across Nebraska, USA, a state almost directly in the middle of America. It was expected that rural clients would experience more barriers to veterinary access in general and with respect to …

The Mental Health Epidemic In Veterinary Medicine: An Analysis Of Burnout In The Veterinary Field, Hannah Eckstein

Undergraduate Theses

The Mayo Clinic describes burnout as a specific type of stress that involves a state of physical or emotional exhaustion. This exhaustion can lead to a lowered sense of accomplishment and negative personal identity. Despite burnout not being an actual diagnosis, many researchers believe there are several mental health components that contribute to burnout, such as depression and anxiety. Several factors are known to contribute to specifically work-related burnout, including lack of control, work-life imbalance, lack of social support, and extremes of the activity. All of the above factors relate to the veterinary field. In one study, 6.8% of male …

The Demographic Shift Of Males And Females In Veterinary Medicine, Dalton Tatum, Eddy Patterson, Mia C. Ratliff

ATU Research Symposium

The workforce in veterinary medicine saw a gender shift from a male dominated field towards women in the present day. This research aimed to determine why this shift occurred through demographic analysis and surveys to different job types in this career path. By using this data, the group determined that one of the biggest impacts of the shift is due to the very component that makes veterinary medicine such a tough field, and it is located at the graduate school entry level . The competitiveness level is intertwined through all of the data and leads to the conclusion that females …

Use Of A Clinical Skills Training Center To Supplement A Distributive Model Of Education In A Veterinary Technology Program, Megan Taliaferro

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

A distributive model of education has recently become a popular method for training veterinary technicians in the United States. Although this model has significant benefits, such as decreased cost of program infrastructure, there are significant challenges in managing students and their clinical skill acquisition using private veterinary hospitals. A clinical skills training center was implemented at Tidewater Community College to address a main shortcoming of the distributive model, namely the lack of specialized training models at outside hospitals. Based on survey findings, both students and clinical mentors found the veterinary technology clinical skill training center to be a beneficial addition …

Effect Of Furosemide Administration On Plasma Analytes And Urine Enzyme Excretion In Two Reptilian Species, Kathryn Metcalf

LSU Master's Theses

Renal disease is a common ailment of captive reptiles that is often closely linked to chronic, subclinical states of dehydration. Currently, the diagnosis of renal disease in reptiles is poorly characterized and often relies on invasive diagnostic techniques (e.g., renal biopsy) for definitive diagnosis. A potential outlet for the further characterization of renal dysfunction in reptiles is the induction of dehydration by furosemide therapy. Furosemide is a loop diuretic that is commonly used in mammalian patients for the treatment of congestive heart failure. The utility of furosemide in reptiles is poorly characterized, however, both experimental and clinical utility of this …

"Barriers Between Client Education/Communication And Exotic Animal Husbandry", Caileigh M. Linton

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this study is to quantify the knowledge gap between clientele and veterinary staff about exotic animal husbandry corresponding to housing and diet specifically. With the rise of social media platforms and influencers, the spread of misinformation and stigma revolving around the mistrust of veterinary staff has created strife between clients and veterinary professionals. Misinformation influences pet owners to implement aspects of care into their pets lives that may be unnecessary or harmful. Consequently, as veterinary professionals attempt to educate their clients they are not always trusting of the information being provided to them. This can lead to …

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5n1) Virus Outbreak In New England Seals, United States, Wendy Puryear, Kaitlin Sawatzki, Nichola Hill, Alexa Foss, Jonathon J. Stone, Lynda Doughty, Dominique Walk, Katie Gilbert, Maureen Murray, Elena Cox, Priya Patel, Zak Mertz, Stephanie Ellis, Jennifer Taylor, Deborah Fauquier, Ainsley Smith, Robert A. Digiovanni, Adriana Van De Guchte, Ana Silvia Gonzalez-Reiche, Zain Khalil, Harm Van Bakel, Mia K. Torchetti, Kristina Lantz, Julianna B. Lenoch, Jonathan Runstadler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We report the spillover of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) into marine mammals in the northeastern United States, coincident with H5N1 in sympatric wild birds. Our data indicate monitoring both wild coastal birds and marine mammals will be critical to determine pandemic potential of influenza A viruses.

Pharmacokinetics Of Intramuscular Maropitant In Pigs (Sus Scrofa Domesticus), Joseph Smith, Jessica E. Gebert, Lisa S. Ebner, Kailee O. Bennett, Rebecca J. Collins, Chiara E. Hampton, Stephanie A. Kleine, Pierre-Yves Mulon, Christopher K. Smith, Reza Seddighi, Genevieve Bussieres, Jonathan P. Mochel, Healther K. Knych

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Large Animal Clinical Sciences

Pigs are at risk of vomiting from medical conditions as well as the emetic side effects of drugs administered for peri-operative manipulations, but there is a lack of pharmacokinetic data for potential anti-emetic therapies, such as maropitant, in this species. The main objective of this study was to estimate plasma pharmacokinetic parameters for maropitant in pigs after a single intramuscular (IM) administration dosed at 1.0 mg/ kg. A secondary objective was to estimate pilot pharmacokinetic parameters in pigs after oral (PO) administration at 2.0 mg/kg. Maropitant was administered to six commercial pigs at a dose of 1.0 mg/kg IM. Plasma …

An Evaluation Of Avian Influenza Virus Whole-Genome Sequencing Approaches Using Nanopore Technology, Hon S. Ip, Sarah Uhm, Mary Lea Killian, Mia K. Torchetti

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As exemplified by the global response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, whole-genome sequencing played an important role in monitoring the evolution of novel viral variants and provided guidance on potential antiviral treatments. The recent rapid and extensive introduction and spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in Europe, North America, and elsewhere raises the need for similarly rapid sequencing to aid in appropriate response and mitigation activities. To facilitate this objective, we investigate a next-generation sequencing platform that uses a portable nanopore sequencing device to generate and present data in real time. This platform offers the potential to extend in-house sequencing …

Burmese Pythons In Florida: A Synthesis Of Biology, Impacts, And Management Tools, Jacquelyn C. Guzy, Bryan G. Falk, Brian J. Smith, Johnd David Willson, Robert N. Reed, Nicholas G. Aumen, Michael L. Avery, Ian A. Bartoszek, Earl Campbell, Michael S. Cherkiss, Natalie M. Claunch, Andrea F. Currylow, Tylan Dean, Jeremy Dixon, Richard Engeman, Sarah Funck, Rebekah Gibble, Kodiak C. Hengstebeck, John S. Humphrey, Margaret E. Hunter, Jillian M. Josimovich, Jennifer Ketterlin, Michael Kirkland, Frank J. Mazzotti, Robert Mccleery, Melissa A. Miller, Matthew Mccollister, M. Rockwell Parker, Shannon E. Pittman, Michael Rochford, Christina Romagosa, Art Roybal, Ray W. Snow, Mckayla M. Spencer, J. Hardin Waddle, Any A. Yackel Adams, Kristen M. Hart

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Burmese pythons (Python molurus bivittatus) are native to southeastern Asia, however, there is an established invasive population inhabiting much of southern Florida throughout the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. Pythons have severely impacted native species and ecosystems in Florida and represent one of the most intractable invasive-species management issues across the globe. The difficulty stems from a unique combination of inaccessible habitat and the cryptic and resilient nature of pythons that thrive in the subtropical environment of southern Florida, rendering them extremely challenging to detect. Here we provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the science relevant to managing invasive …

Risk Of African Swine Fever Virus Transmission Among Wild Boar And Domestic Pigs In Poland, Kim M. Pepin, Tomasz Borowik, Maciej Frant, Kamila Plis, Tomasz Podgórski

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Introduction

African swine fever (ASF) is a notifiable disease of swine that impacts global pork trade and food security. In several countries across the globe, the disease persists in wild boar (WB) populations sympatric to domestic pig (DP)operations, with continued detections in both sectors. While there is evidence of spillover and spillback between the sectors, the frequency of occurrence and relative importance of different risk factors for transmission at the wildlife-livestock interface remain unclear.

Methods

To address this gap, we leveraged ASF surveillance data from WB and DP across Eastern Poland from 2014–2019 in an analysis that quantified the relative …

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

United States Department of Agriculture 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 …

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

United States Department of Agriculture 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. …

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

United States Department of Agriculture 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 …

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

United States Department of Agriculture 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 …