Mammal Abstracts 2013The effects of mealworm supplementation on small mammal trappability
Prevalence of Endoparasites in Feral Cats
A Comparison of Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) Scat Along Obion Creek in Four Western Kentucky Counties After RestorationOlivia Harmsen
Flight Distance of Squirrels in High-Human Activity Areas in the Presence of a Human with a DogKelsey McCain and Shellie Wilson
Squirrels are some of the wildlife commonly seen in high-human activity areas. Previous studies have shown that The Number of Road Kill Fatalities Show No Change between Light and Dark ZonesAlexander Elliott and Stacy Patterson  Road kill is known to have a negative side effect on wildlife and can also result in costly damages. A road kill survey was performed on two roads, Highway 641 and Murray-Paris Road. The purpose of our survey was to determine if carcasses would be found more often within a given dark zone or outside of it. Bridges covering Clarks River along the two roads represented the dark zone. The two roads differed in several ways including speed limit, elevation, and the amount of urbanization, traffic volume and number of dark zones. Carcasses observed within a 10 meter radius of the bridges were considered within the dark zone, and any outside of the given radius were considered outside of the dark zone. The surveys were conducted every day at sunrise over a three week period during the month of November. Two t-tests were ran to determine if there was a significant increase in the amount of road kill observed in the dark zones compared to the non-dark zone for both roads. The p-value for Murray-Paris Road was 0.281 while the p-value for Highway 641 was .374. Both values were well over the accepted amount of .05. We, therefore, rejected the alternative hypothesis, and accepted that there is not a significant difference. If a significant difference was observed, the results could have aided road planning to help mitigate road kill.
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Shrews (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) often experience high accidental mortality rates due to unaccommodating small mammal trapping methods. This has been attributed to these organisms’ high metabolic rate and the caloric constraints associated with traditional baiting methods. Although mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) bait supplementation has been proven to decrease shrew mortality by over one-half, the consequence of this supplementation on small mammal trappability remains unknown. I conducted a field experiment to assess the effect of mealworm supplementation on small mammal trapping success using Sherman live traps. It was hypothesized that the trapping success would be greatest in supplemented traps as compared to non-supplemented traps due to a preference for high energy food sources. Supplementation had no significant effect on the number of shrews, mice (Peromyscus spp.), or total small mammals trapped. The supplementation of live-trap baits with mealworms, therefore, represents a practical method for small mammal researchers to reduce accidental shrew mortality without effecting population estimates during small mammal livetrapping.
Domestic cats have spread across the world with the assistance of humans, and are still well equipped for life in the wild. Due to their self-sufficient nature, cats are often released or allowed to roam freely. These stray cats breed quickly and form large feral colonies. Murray, Kentucky is home to at least three large feral cat colonies. Feral cat colonies are large reservoirs for gastrointestinal parasites, as well as other diseases. Previous studies have been done in other countries to determine gastrointestinal parasite loads in free-roaming cats. Due to lack of veterinary care, we hypothesized that feral cats would have higher parasite load than domestic cats. We compared the parasite loads of feral cats and domestic cats by collecting fecal samples. A fecal egg count was performed using a floatation fluid and McMaster slides. Four samples were collected from domestic cats and four samples were collected from feral cats. Collected data was analyzed using a one-tailed T-test. Our t-value was .178 and was therefore not statistically significant, so we accepted our null hypothesis. However, more samples would be needed to confirm this conclusion.
Limited information is known about the current status of swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) with regards to the conversion of the bottomland hardwood forest into agriculture land. Restoration has been completed on the Obion Creek through a wetland restoration project that took place during the years 2000-2005. To test the current presence or absence of swamp rabbits in comparisons to Jeffery Sole’s study in 1992, the number of logs with scat was counted in four selective western Kentucky counties. Each site was visited once and was visually scanned for 1 mile for presences of scat on logs. If scat on a log was present, then it accounted for one sign. The log density was determined at each site within the four counties by counting each log that was present along the route. Linear correlation regression test showed a P value of 0.276, indicating no significance of log density in relation to presence of scat. Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed no significance between my observations and Sole’s 1992 study which supported my null hypothesis of no difference between the two studies. As a whole, swamp rabbit populations have remained stable from 1992 to 2013 in sites observed in western Kentucky.
squirrels living in high-human activity areas have habituated to the presence of humans and perceive them as a low-threat predator. According to the optimal foraging model, squirrels will forage longer before fleeing (having a smaller flight distance) when the threat of a predator is low and will flee sooner (having a larger flight distance) if the predator threat is higher. We aim to determine if there is a difference in the flight distance at which a squirrel will flee in the presence of a human, a human with a small dog and a human with a large dog in high-human activity areas. Following a set of methods we measured the start distance to a squirrel foraging on the ground, distance walked toward the squirrel, stimulus distance that initiated the flight response (flight distance) and the distance from the squirrel to the squirrel’s refuge. We found the only significant difference in flight zones exist between a human with a small dog and a human with a large dog. The flight distance was significantly greater when approached by a human with a small dog. Variations in starting distance between a human with a small dog and our other two stimuli may have influenced our conclusions. These results are useful for western Kentucky and the surrounding areas in the education of urbanized squirrel activity and behavior.