Prairie Dog Pals

Dedicated to the Preservation of Prairie Dogs and their Habitat

Endangered wildlife are getting dosed with rat poisons

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People who consider rodents to be pests often turn to an array of products, known as anticoagulant rodenticides, which are marketed to lethally “solve” the issue with poisoned bait. But researchers have been collecting evidence for years showing that it’s not just nuisance rats that can end up dead.

Some of the most recent studies, conducted in California, found that everything from Pacific fishers to bobcats to northern spotted owls often become victims of rodenticides. The list of potentially affected wildlife is long – basically anything that preys on a rodent could be at risk, because the poisons are so toxic they travel up the food chain, and in some cases, can remain in an animal’s body for years. It can even leapfrog in utero from one generation to the next.

 

 

Read more:  Poison

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Prairie dogs have a new plague vaccine

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By R. Scott Nolen

Posted Nov. 15, 2017

A new oral vaccine bait can help protect prairie dogs against sylvatic plague and possibly assist in the recovery of black-footed ferrets, one of the most endangered mammals in North America.

Sylvatic plague, a bacterial disease caused by Yersinia pestis, affects numerous wild and domestic animal species as well as humans. Developed specifically for prairie dogs by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the peanut butter–flavored vaccine elicits a protective immune response that can help vaccinated prairie dogs fight off infection after later exposure to the disease. Read more:  Vaccine

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Treatment of malocclusion in squirrel

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This is an interesting article about a squirrel with malocclusion.  Over the years we have captured prairie dogs with similar problems.  Sometimes a simple clipping of the teeth sets them to right.  Other times the malocclusion cannot be rectified and the animal cannot be released.  In these cases the prairie dog and the person fostering it face a decision of removing the incisors or a lifetime of trimming.  Jim T previously and is currently fostering such a prairie dog.

Here’s the original note that appeared on our Facebook page:  Congrats to Mikey! As he was processing in today, doing the 2/4/20 (2 eyes, 4 teeth, 20 toes) he noted that the PD had ram’s horn teeth. The disorder is usually caused by dislocation of the teeth preventing them from meeting and keeping the upper and lower incisors in check. In this particular case the PD had been born without lower teeth, or had lost them at some point in its life. Eventually they would have grown through roof of the mouth and caused death by starvation or infection. YB and C Rex, trimmed the teeth but without lower teeth to keep the uppers in check, it is likely this this PD will not be released. While I don’t have a picture the upper teeth were about 1″ long and curved back into the mouth. The fact that this PD did not starve indicates that he was able to get enough nutrition using his molars.

It is reassuring that the treatment seems to work well for prairie dogs as well.  Read More:  Treatment of malocclusion in squirrel

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