Integration of Wildlife Damage Management into the College Curriculum

The addition of wildlife damage management (WDM) to the university curriculum creates a well-rounded, more prepared graduate. WDM is the arena in which pure science is put to the test. Through the application of hypotheses derived from our traditional curricula, wildlife damage management students utilize the scientific method to try and solve problems pertinent to our modem world. The need for professionals well versed in WDM grows annually. Therefore, it is the responsibility of universities to train their students such that they will have the skills to compete in the expanding field of wildlife damage management. Once students have learned about what wildlife conflicts are and how many scientists approach the resolution to these problems, the next step would be to train them. The most important part of wildlife damage management training is experience with the tools used in conflict resolution. There are several factors that may prevent WDM courses or limit WDM courses in many universities, including limited staff time, budget restraints, and the absence of an obvious training ground. The Berryman Institute (BI) considers camaraderie and exposure to be the two greatest assets to education. Creating a diverse camaraderie expands exposure to new ideas and broadens the students\u27 knowledge. Conversely, exposure to new people creates more opportunities for friendships and partnerships, increasing the BIs circle of camaraderie. The BI is unique in that it has a large core base of professors who are active members in its organization. Instead of one professor studying and teaching WDM, there are 7-10 active professorial participants. Most of these professors are involved in ongoing research concerning human-wildlife conflict issues. They pass on their knowledge in the classroom and via volunteer and work-study opportunities. Over the past 10 years, hundreds of students have benefited through active membership in the Bl. They have earned professional careers in wildlife fields across the US. Also, many private, state, and federal organizations frequently request students from the BI for employment, noting the success that they experience when they last hired a BI member

Visual and Olfactory Concealment of Duck Nests: Influence on Nest Site Selection and Success

Selecting a nest site is an important decision for waterfowl. Because most nest failure is due to depredation, the primary selective pressure in choosing a nest site should be to reduce depredation risk. This task is difficult, however, because predators use differing tactics to locate nests, such as olfactory or visual cues. The purpose of this research was to evaluate both the olfactory and visual components of waterfowl nest site selection and nest depredation in North Dakota. We located waterfowl nests, monitored them until termination (hatched or depredated), and collected both visual and olfactory concealment characteristics of nest sites and paired random sites in 2006 and 2007. Waterfowl nest sites and random sites did not differ in their olfactory concealment characteristics. However, waterfowl did select nesting sites with greater lateral concealment than random sites, a visual characteristic. The only difference found between successful and depredated nests consisted of lateral dispersion, an olfactory concealment characteristic. These results indicate that while waterfowl may select nest sites based on visual concealment characteristics, those characteristics were not predictive of nest success. Olfactory concealment characteristics may be more important for nest success in our study area because the dominant nest predators, including raccoons (Procyon lotor) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), primarily utilize olfactory cues to locate nest sites

Effectiveness of Human Hair, BGR, and a Mixture of Blood Meal and Peppercorns in Reducing Deer Damage to Young Apple Trees

We evaluated the ability of three repellents [human hair, Big Game Repellent (BGR), and a mixture of blood meal and peppercorns] to reduce deer damage on young apple trees in two Connecticut orchards. Most of the deer damage consisted of winter browsing on dormant apple buds. Little browsing occurred on leaves or buds during the growing season and only a few cases of pre-rut rubbing of trees were observed. In one orchard, buds were browsed during the winter on 52% of the untreated control trees, 45% of the trees sprayed with BGR, and 40% of the trees containing a hair ball. By winter\u27s end, the severity of deer browsing (number of buds browsed per tree) was significantly less on trees with hair balls (0.5) than on control trees (1.1), but there was no significant difference between control trees and BGR-treated trees (0.8). In two fields at another apple orchard, deer browsed 83% and 89% of the control trees, 61% of the trees containing a hair ball and 55% of the trees with a bag of blood meal and peppercorns. The differences between the control and the treated trees were statistically significant. The number of browsed buds per tree was also significantly higher on control trees (2.9) than on trees with hair balls (1.1) or trees with bags containing a mixture of blood meal and peppercorns (1.2)

Central European foreign exchange markets: a cross-spectral analysis of the 2007 financial crisis

This paper investigates co-movements between currency markets of Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Euro in the year following the drying up of money markets in August 2007. The paper shows that assessing the degree of foreign currency co-movement by correlation can lead to concluding, erroneously, that financial contagion has not occurred. Using cross-spectral methods, the paper shows that defining contagion as changes in the structure of co-movements of asset prices encompasses more of the complex nature of exchange rate dynamics. What is shown is that, following August 2007, there is increased in the intensity of co-movements, but non-linearly. Focusing on the activities of a mix of banks and currency managers, it is suggested that changes in the structure of currency interaction present an unfavourable view of the contagion experienced by at least three of these currencies

Sharp gene pool transition in a population affected by phenotype-based selective hunting

We use a microscopic model of population dynamics, a modified version of the well known Penna model, to study some aspects of microevolution. This research is motivated by recent reports on the effect of selective hunting on the gene pool of bighorn sheep living in the Ram Mountain region, in Canada. Our model finds a sharp transition in the structure of the gene pool as some threshold for the number of animals hunted is reached.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Successful use of neck snares to live-capture red foxes

Box traps and foot-hold snares are common methods to live-capture study animals. However, these methods are frequently ineffective due to factors such as weather constraints, food availability, and target animal behavior. During a study of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) behavior, we examined the use of neck snares to live-trap study animals. We modified the neck snare using swivel cam-locks, deer stops to minimize damage to the animal. Additionally, we utilized our knowledge of red-fox behavior to set traps in a way that would reduce trauma to the captured animals. We snared 21 red foxes during the 3-year study with only 2 fatal injuries. Sixteen of these animals were followed with radio-telemetry for 3 to 28 months. With the data we collected during the radio-telemetry, we calculated home ranges. Home range size estimates calculated during the first few months for each fox were not different than those collected during the rest of the season. Most of the estimated home ranges for these red foxes did not encompass the snare location, suggesting either avoidance of the trap location or that the foxes were caught while investigating the status of another territory. Because captured red foxes were active the evening immediately after capture and all captured females reared young that spring, we determined that neck snares did not greatly affect their behavior. Thus, this method is a successful alternative way to live-capture red foxes for radio-telemetry studies

Assessing candidate preference through web browsing history

Predicting election outcomes is of considerable interest to candidates, political scientists, and the public at large. We propose the use of Web browsing history as a new indicator of candidate preference among the electorate, one that has potential to overcome a number of the drawbacks of election polls. However, there are a number of challenges that must be overcome to effectively use Web browsing for assessing candidate preference—including the lack of suitable ground truth data and the heterogeneity of user populations in time and space. We address these challenges, and show that the resulting methods can shed considerable light on the dynamics of voters’ candidate preferences in ways that are difficult to achieve using polls.Accepted manuscrip