Evaluation of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate as a Blackbird Wetting Agent

New and improved strategies are needed for managing overabundant blackbird (Icteridae spp.) populations in some areas of the United States. From 2004 to 2007, we evaluated sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) as a wetting agent during controlled outdoor cage and flight pen tests in Colorado and small-scale field tests at urban blackbird roosts in Missouri. In the outdoor cage tests (ambient temperature -5 to 2° C), mortality of male red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) sprayed with 1, 2, and 5 ml of SLS on the back feathers only, on the breast feathers only, or on both breast and back feathers ranged from 25% to 100%. A SLS spray on male red-winged blackbirds at 2° C ambient temperature with 1 ml of SLS sprayed on breast feathers and back feathers resulted in 90% mortality in less than 60 minutes. In a flight pen test (-12 to -5° C ambient temperature ), SLS sprayed at 20 l per 3,400 l of water with a single ground-based sprinkler-head system over 35 male red-winged blackbirds roosting in cedar trees (Juniperus virginiana) resulted in 53% mortality. There was no mortality in the control group exposed to the same treatment without the SLS. Small-scale field tests conducted in Missouri at 6 sites with a single ground-based sprinkler-head spray system and at 2 sites with 4 sprinkler-head spray systems resulted in mortality that ranged from 0 to 4,750 and 4,500 to 15,000 blackbirds and starlings, respectively. Spray operations lasted from 28 to 208 minutes. Each spray covered about 200 m2 . At all sites, mortality of blackbirds sprayed with the SLS occurred as soon as 30 minutes post-SLS application. Mortality at two sites where pump problems precluded completing the spray ranged from 0 to 800 birds. Air leaving the system as the system was activated caused birds to flush from the roost trees. Poor water quality and pump durability were problems at some sites.

RB25-207 The Spindle-Tuber Disease: One Cause of "Run-Out" Seed Potatoes

The spindle-tuber disease is one of the most prevalent potato diseases occurring in all parts of Nebraska. It has been found in all varieties tested. It does much damage to the potato crop, in that it reduces the yield and injures the market quality of the potatoes. This 1925 publication discusses the spindler-tuber disease also known as "running-out" or degeneracy of seed potatoes; the distribution of the disease; effect upon yield and quality; symptoms of the different potato varieties; transmission of the disease and experiments; rate of increase of the disease; dry land versus irrigation in western Nebraska; straw mulching versus cultivation in eastern Nebraska; planting times; harvesting; and control.

Baleen Whales: Conservation Issues and The Status Of The Most Endangered Populations

Most species of baleen whales were subject to intensive overexploitation by commercial whaling in this and previous centuries, and many populations were reduced to small fractions of their original sizes. Here, we review the status of baleen whale stocks, with an emphasis on those that are known or thought to be critically endangered. Current data suggest that, of the various threats potentially affecting baleen whales, only entanglement in fishing gear and ship strikes may be significant at the population level, and then only in those populations which are already at critically low abundance. The impact of some problems (vessel harassment, and commercial or aboriginal whaling) is at present probably minor. For others (contaminants, habitat degradation, disease), existing data either indicate no immediate cause for concern, or are insufficient to permit an assessment. While the prospect for many baleen whales appears good, there are notable exceptions; populations that are of greatest concern are those suffering from low abundance and associated problems, including (in some cases) anthropogenic mortality. These include: all Northern Right Whales Eubalaena glacialis, Bowhead Whales Balaena mysticetus of the Okhotsk Sea and various eastern Arctic populations, western Gray Whales Eschrichtius robustus, and probably many Blue Whale Balaenoptera musculus populations. We review the status of these populations and, where known, the issues potentially affecting their recovery. Although Humpback Whales Megaptera novaeangliae and Southern Right Whales Eubalaena australis were also heavily exploited by whaling, existing data indicate strong recovery in most studied populations of these species.

Monitoring Raccoon Rabies in Alabama: The Potential Effects of Habitat and Demographics

Density, morphometrics, and disease prevalence of raccoon populations were determined in 4 habitats (agriculture, riverine, managed, and forested) in central Alabama. In addition we monitored 71 collared raccoons to determine survival. Density estimates were similar in the agriculture (ag) and riverine habitats in central Alabama with 8 raccoons/km2, and lower in the forested habitat at 5 raccoons/ km2. Retention of juveniles did not appear to contribute to observed higher populations in the riverine and ag habitat. Although the riverine and ag, possibly due to supplemental resources, likely provide better habitat for raccoons, we found only body size in female raccoons to be different across habitats (P = 0.001). Human-caused mortality (either hunting or missing and presumed killed) was the main cause of mortality in several raccoon populations during fall; however, fall survival did not differ between the habitats (χ = 1.47, d.f. = 3, P = 0.69). Although rabies and distemper virus were prevalent in all habitats, they did not appear to contribute to mortality even with a high proportion of the population exhibiting positive CDV titers (ag – 44%, managed- 50%) and rabies titers (managed- 57% and riverine habitat-60%).

SCWDS BRIEFS: Volume 18, Number 3 (October 2002)

• Chronic Wasting Disease Update: Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Colorado; National CWD Management – USDA & USDI National Plan for Assisting States, Federal Agencies, and Tribes in Managing Chronic Wasting Disease in Free-ranging and Captive Cervids • West Nile virus (WNV) reaches the Pacific coast • West Nile Virus in Blue Jays • Idaho Brucellosis Linked to Wildlife: All of the epidemiological and laboratory information clearly indicates that brucellosis-infected elk transmitted the disease to the cattle herd. • Tularemia caused a die-off of captured wild prairie dogs this summer at a Texas commercial exotic animal facility that distributes the animals for sale as pets. • Raptors can acquire avian vacuolar myelinopathy (AVM) via ingestion of other affected birds. • House Finch Mycoplasmosis: bacterial eye disease of house finches • Raccoon Rabies report • Toxoplasmosis – The newest finding regarding sea otters in California is the importance of toxoplasmosis as a mortality factor. Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that can invade visceral organs and the central nervous system to cause acute, disseminated tissue necrosis and fatal meningoencephalitis in susceptible animals. In recent years, 36% of dead sea otters examined have been infected. Another tissue-invading protozoan, Sarcocystis neurona, also was found in 4% of the otters. • Recovery of remnant populations of the endangered black-footed ferret have been hampered by sylvatic plague, which is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. • Dr. Samantha Gibbs received the Wildlife Disease Association’s Student Research Recognition Award. Dr. Cynthia Tate was selected by the American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists to receive the Best Student Presentation Award. Dr. Andrea Varela won second place in the Student Presentation Award for her presentation at the meeting of the American Association Veterinary Parasitologists. Mr. Michael Yabsley received the Wildlife Disease Association Student Scholarship and the S.A. Ewing Vectorborne Parasitology Award from the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine.