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Sanders CW, Stewart DL, Pacifici K, Hess GR, Olfenbuttel C, DePerno CS. Variations in reproduction and age structure in the North American river otter in North Carolina, USA. J Wildl Manage 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Charles W. Sanders
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 USA
| | - Dennis L. Stewart
- Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge United States Fish and Wildlife Service (retired) Manteo NC 27954 USA
| | - Krishna Pacifici
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 USA
| | - George R. Hess
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 USA
| | - Colleen Olfenbuttel
- Surveys and Research Program, Wildlife Management Division North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Pittsboro NC 27312 USA
| | - Christopher S. DePerno
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 USA
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Gettelman TE, Nielsen CK, Scimeca JM, Schauber EM. River otter chemical immobilization and field surgery using nonscheduled drugs. WILDLIFE SOC B 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tatiana E. Gettelman
- Department of Zoology and Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory Southern Illinois University Carbondale IL 62901 USA
| | - Clayton K. Nielsen
- Department of Forestry and Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory Southern Illinois University Carbondale IL 62901 USA
| | - Joseph M. Scimeca
- Department of Animal Science, Food and Nutrition Southern Illinois University Carbondale IL 62901 USA
| | - Eric M. Schauber
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Champaign IL 61820 USA
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Sundelius AJ, Forman N, Roberts NM, Rossler ST, Ruid DB, Willging RC. An Evaluation of Body‐grip Trap Trigger Configurations for Reducing River Otter Take Incidental to Beaver Trapping. WILDLIFE SOC B 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alec J. Sundelius
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services 3654 Nursery Road Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
| | - Nicholas Forman
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2801 Progress Road Madison WI 53716 USA
| | - Nathan M. Roberts
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2801 Progress Road Madison WI 53716 USA
| | - Shawn T. Rossler
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2801 Progress Road Madison WI 53716 USA
| | - David B. Ruid
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services 3654 Nursery Road Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
| | - Robert C. Willging
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services 3654 Nursery Road Rhinelander WI 54501 USA
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Functionality of a New Live-Capture Device for River Otters. JOURNAL OF FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 2019. [DOI: 10.3996/092018-jfwm-083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Assessments of novel capture techniques are important to wildlife research. We used Comstock traps, a new live-capture technique, to capture North American river otters Lontra canadensis. We measured Comstock trap functionality in terms of river otter capture efficiency, furbearer capture efficiency, nonfurbearer capture efficiency, and malfunction rate. During 2014–2016, we captured 36 river otters (19 male, 17 female) in Comstock traps during 2,533 trap nights (1 capture/63 trap nights) at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge in southern Illinois, USA. Eleven of 20 (55%) river otters assessed for capture-related injuries received an injury as a result of capture in a Comstock trap. The most common injury was claw loss (45%), followed by tooth fracture (25%) and lacerations (10%). The ease of setting Comstock traps and of releasing nontarget captures made them an appealing option for river otter live capture; however, two river otters died because of hypothermia, two died because of drowning, and one died because of traumatic injuries sustained during capture. Special care should be taken when selecting locations to set Comstock traps with regard to temperature and fluctuating water levels. Researchers attempting to live-capture river otters using this method would benefit by restricting their use to locations with predictable water levels and seasons with mild weather patterns.
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Hanrahan AT, Rutter AU, Nielsen CK, Schauber EM. Spatial ecology of river otters in a human-modified landscape. J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyz095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
AbstractRiver otter populations have expanded across much of their historical range, including in Illinois where they were reintroduced from 1994 to 1997. These expanding populations are recolonizing a wide range of landscapes with different levels of human modification, which could influence how river otters use space in relation to habitat characteristics and each other. Our objectives were to quantify 1) home ranges and core areas, 2) sociality, and 3) habitat selection across all available habitats and within home ranges (second- and third-order selection, respectively) of 22 radiomarked river otters (Lontra canadensis) in southern Illinois during 2014–2016. Our study area contained a diverse mix of forest, agriculture, aquatic and wetland habitats, and a range of urban development intensity. We examined sociality using the frequency at which individuals were located < 25 m from a conspecific and compared home-range overlap among individuals based on sex. Habitat selection at the second and third order was analyzed using an eigen-analysis of selection ratios based on landcover categories. Similar to other studies, male river otters had > 2-fold larger home ranges and core areas than females in southern Illinois. Several lines of evidence indicated males were more social than females. Males were located close to a conspecific more frequently than were females, and overlap of home ranges and core areas among males was greater than it was among females or between sexes. As observed in other landscapes, river otters strongly selected herbaceous and wooded wetlands at both second- and third-order scales. River otters selected terrestrial cover types with vegetative cover potentially due to shelter or prey availability. Forests were selected over crop fields at the third-order scale, which was consistent with studies using sign surveys. River otters in our study had home ranges containing 0–40% developed land cover, but we found no evidence that otters living in more developed areas used their home ranges more selectively. River otters in this landscape were plastic in regard to social behavior and habitat selection, highlighting their generalist nature and providing insight into their ability to successfully recolonize areas of the Midwest with sufficient vegetative cover and aquatic habitat, among other factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander T Hanrahan
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 251 Life Science II, Carbondale, IL USA
| | - Andrew U Rutter
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Forestry, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 251 Life Science II, Carbondale, IL, USA
| | - Clayton K Nielsen
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Forestry, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 251 Life Science II, Carbondale, IL, USA
| | - Eric M Schauber
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 251 Life Science II, Carbondale, IL USA
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