Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Open Access Articles

Laboratory Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Fertility Control Bait Contrapest® On Wild-Captured Black Rats (Rattus Rattus), Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Brandy R. Pyzyna, Gary Witmer

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

A non-toxic liquid fertility control bait for rats has recently become commercially available (ContraPest® from SenesTech, Inc.). This product contains two chemicals, both of which impair spermatogenesis in male and reduce ovulations in female rats. We tested the efficacy of this bait in wild-caught adult black rats from the island of Hawai’i in a short-term laboratory trial. A control group (n = 25) was offered placebo bait and the treatment group (n = 25) was offered fertility control bait, both ad libitum, during a 15-day introduction period and during the first of four breeding rounds, for a total of 58 …

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A Preliminary Field Evaluation Of Candidate Repellents To Reduce Black Bear Damage To Western Larch Trees, G. W. Witmer, Michael Pipas

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Bear damage to western larch trees on intensively managed public and private forest lands of the Intermountain West continues to be a problem for forest managers. Bark stripping and subsequent cambium feeding by bears commences upon den emergence in the spring, when foraging options are most restrictive. Various damage reduction methods are often controversial (snaring, hunting, supplemental feeding), or do not always adequately resolve the problem (silvicultural strategies); hence, a need exists for the development of alternative nonlethal techniques to reduce damage. We tested the efficacy of three candidate repellents (Hot Sauce®, Tree Guard™, and grizzly bear feces) to reduce …

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Automated Aerial Baiting For Invasive Brown Treesnake Control: System Overview And Program Status, Shane R. Siers, John D. Eisemann, William C. Pitt, Larry Clark, Scott M. Goetz, Robert J. Gosnell, Aaron F. Collins, Eric T. Hileman, Melia G. Nafus, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Michael C. Messaros, William G.N. Coon

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

The economically and ecologically catastrophic introduction of invasive brown treesnakes to the Pacific Island of Guam has long served as a cautionary tale about the dangers of invasive species and the seeming impossibility of their management on a landscape scale. USDA Wildlife Services and federal and private partners have engineered a system for the automated manufacture and aerial delivery of toxic baits for landscape-scale suppression of brown treesnakes in large and remote forest plots. The helicopter-borne dispensing module can launch four bait cartridges per second, and a single payload of 3,600 cartridges can treat 30 ha of forest at 120 …

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Development And Testing Of A Matrix For Mongoose Toxic Bait: Nontoxic Bait Acceptance Cage Trials, Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Daniel Sedgwick, Chris N. Niebuhr, Emily W. Ruell

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

The only pesticide currently registered for mongoose control is a product developed for rats that consists of a hard-cereal bait block. Although the active ingredient (diphacinone) is known to be highly effective for mongoose, previous studies indicate that carnivorous and omnivorous mongooses do not readily consume the hard bait matrix designed for gnawing rodents. A palatable bait matrix with a consistency more appropriate to mongoose dentition and feeding behavior will be required to develop a more effective mongoose pesticide. We evaluated the acceptance and consumption of nontoxic versions of four candidate bait matrices: FOXECUTE® and FOXSHIELD® (Animal Control Technologies, Australia; …

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Understanding And Preventing Bird Damage On Dairies, Amber Adams-Progar, Karen Steensma, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Julie L. Elser, Susan Kerr, Tyler P. Caskin

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Wild birds cause significant damage to dairy farms through the consumption and spoilage of cattle feed. A survey of Washington State dairy farmers revealed approximately $14 million in bird damage losses for the Washington State dairy industry, annually. Furthermore, farms that reported the presence of more than 10,000 birds per day were more likely to report the presence of Salmonella spp. or Johne’s disease (caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis). Over the course of three years, we assessed the impact of bird populations on the presence of bacteria in bird feces and the nutritional composition of cattle feed. Five dairies …

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If At First You Don’T Eradicate: Remediating Rat Eradication Failure On Wake Atoll, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers, Kristen Rex, Chad Hanson

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Island rodent eradication operations have been remarkably successful at eliminating damages caused by these harmful vertebrate pests. As efforts increase in scale and complexity, so does risk of eradication failure. In this paper we present the example of a partially successful rodent eradication project to highlight how best practices and lessons learned are being integrated to reduce risk of failure during a second attempt. In 2012 the U.S. Air Force (USAF) commissioned an attempted eradication of two rat species from Wake Atoll in the Western Pacific. Asian house rats were successfully eradicated, but it was soon confirmed that some Polynesian …

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The Pocatello Supply Depot: A History And Update, Patrick A. Darrow

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Since the Pocatello Supply Depot (PSD) was created in 1936, the PSD has gone through many transformation and organizational changes. The most recent of these changes occurred in 2014, when the PSD transitioned from a cooperative service agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce, to a fully federal facility within USDA. Despite the many organizational changes, the purpose of the PSD has remained the same. The PSD manufactures and provides specialized wildlife damage management materials and services that are not readily available from commercial sources, for use by USDA Wildlife Services (WS), …

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Feasibility Of A Successful Rat Eradication On Wake Atoll Following Initial Partial Failure: Potential Causes, Remedial Actions, And Remaining Knowledge Gaps, Chad Hanson, Kristen Rex, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

A 2012 attempt to remove two rat species (Rattus tanezumi and R. exulans) from Wake Atoll was partially successful. R. tanezumi was eradicated from all three islands (Wake, Wilkes, and Peale), and R. exulans was eradicated from Peale. However, R. exulans remained on Wake and Wilkes and have since recovered to very high densities. In 2013, a panel of experts reviewed the eradication operation and offered a list of possible causes of the partial failure. Since that time, further research has been conducted to address several of the issues identified in the review. In this paper, we conduct a current …

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Island Rodent Eradications: Little Things Make Big Things Happen, Araceli Samaniego-Herrera, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Island rodent eradication is often a prerequisite for ecological restoration. These operations have been scaling up in size and complexity, and typically revolve around the thorough distribution of rodenticides in bait stations, by hand broadcast, by helicopter-borne spreading buckets, or by combinations of these methods. Many of the requirements of an eradication can be met by simply purchasing the right materials and following published best practices. However, intangible factors such as training and mindset of personnel are equally critical, and less commonly understood. We briefly review these factors and highlight issues such as the limited pool of experienced eradication practitioners, …

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Assessing Beaver Occupancy And Dam Building Potential: A Case Study In The Umpqua Watershed Of Southwestern Oregon, Vanessa M. Petro, John Stevenson, Jimmy Taylor

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Interest in beaver-related restoration is growing in the western U.S. but understanding the basic ecology of American beaver and their population dynamics is often overlooked when integrating beaver into stream restoration goals. Our study investigated the spatial-temporal distribution of beaver colonies and their damming activities to better inform stream restoration projects in the West Fork Cow Creek Basin of the Umpqua Watershed in southwestern Oregon. During fall 2017, we conducted beaver activity surveys at 144 randomly selected reaches predicted to be either suitable or unsuitable for damming, but suitable for beaver occupation. We categorized beaver use at each reach using …

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Placebo Bait Uptake Trial To Test Feasibility Of Polynesian Rat (Rattus Exulans) Eradication On Wake Atoll, Chris N. Niebuhr, Israel Leinbach, Thomas W. Mcauliffe, Dean K. Foster, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Rodent eradications have contributed to the recovery of many threatened species, but challenges often exist for campaigns that occur on tropical islands when compared to more temperate regions. A post-operational review of a rat eradication operation on Wake Atoll indicated that certain areas, such as those with high alternative food abundance, may have contributed to the failure to remove all Polynesian rats. We conducted a nontoxic bait uptake trial to evaluate whether the maximum prescribed bait application rate for Brodifacoum-25W rodenticide pellets was sufficient to expose all rats to a lethal dose at three sites on Wake Atoll, including around …

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Laboratory Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of The Fertility Control Bait Contrapest® On Wild-Captured Black Rats (Rattus Rattus), Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Brandy R. Pyzyna, Gary Witmer

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

A Preliminary Field Evaluation Of Candidate Repellents To Reduce Black Bear Damage To Western Larch Trees, G. W. Witmer, Michael Pipas

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Development And Testing Of A Matrix For Mongoose Toxic Bait: Nontoxic Bait Acceptance Cage Trials, Shane Siers, Robert T. Sugihara, Israel Leinbach, Daniel Sedgwick, Chris N. Niebuhr, Emily W. Ruell

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Understanding And Preventing Bird Damage On Dairies, Amber Adams-Progar, Karen Steensma, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Julie L. Elser, Susan Kerr, Tyler P. Caskin

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

If At First You Don’T Eradicate: Remediating Rat Eradication Failure On Wake Atoll, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers, Kristen Rex, Chad Hanson

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

The Pocatello Supply Depot: A History And Update, Patrick A. Darrow

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Feasibility Of A Successful Rat Eradication On Wake Atoll Following Initial Partial Failure: Potential Causes, Remedial Actions, And Remaining Knowledge Gaps, Chad Hanson, Kristen Rex, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Island Rodent Eradications: Little Things Make Big Things Happen, Araceli Samaniego-Herrera, Peter J. Kappes, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Assessing Beaver Occupancy And Dam Building Potential: A Case Study In The Umpqua Watershed Of Southwestern Oregon, Vanessa M. Petro, John Stevenson, Jimmy Taylor

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)

Placebo Bait Uptake Trial To Test Feasibility Of Polynesian Rat (Rattus Exulans) Eradication On Wake Atoll, Chris N. Niebuhr, Israel Leinbach, Thomas W. Mcauliffe, Dean K. Foster, Shane R. Siers

Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth Vertebrate Pest Conference (2020)