Influence of Habitat and Baiting Strategy on Oral Rabies Vaccine Bait Uptake by Raccoons in the Southeastern United States

Authors

Jacob E. Hill, Michigan State UniversityFollow
Madison L. Miller, West Virginia University
Richard B. Chipman, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Rabies Management Program, Concord, New HampshireFollow
Amy T. Gilbert, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Fort Collins, ColoradoFollow
James C. Beasley, University of Georgia
Guha Dharmarajan, Krea University
Olin E. Rhodea, University of Georgia

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2024

Citation

Applied Animal behaviour Science (2024) 106320

doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2024.106320

Comments

United States government work

Abstract

terrestrial wildlife species. However, there is currently a limited understanding of how different baiting strategies influence raccoon (Procyon lotor) uptake of ORV baits in non-agricultural habitats in the Southeastern United States, which may hinder the refinement of ORV management for raccoons in this region. Using a combination of new and existing data, we investigated the role of baited area (0.16 vs 3 km²), bait density (75 versus 150 baits/km²) and season (spring versus fall) on placebo ORV bait uptake by raccoons in four rural, non-agricultural habitats in the southeastern United States (bottomland hardwood forest, upland pine forest, riparian forest, and isolated wetlands). Increasing the baited area to 3 km² increased the proportion of raccoons that consumed baits by 140% in riparian forests and decreased the proportion consuming baits by 70% in bottomland hardwood forests. A greater proportion of raccoons consumed baits in riparian habitat in spring compared to fall, but bait density did not influence uptake in either season in this habitat. Increasing the bait density during spring in bottomland hardwoods increased the proportion of raccoons that consumed baits by 270%, but there was no effect of increasing bait density in bottomland hardwoods during fall. We suggest that variation in habitat contiguity and seasonal resource availability influence how raccoons utilize these habitats which in turn impacts habitat-specific ORV bait uptake. The estimated proportion of raccoons that consumed baits did not exceed 60% for any treatment, and for most treatments was less than 40%. These low uptake rates indicate a need for research into additional strategies to maximize raccoon uptake of ORV baits across rural, non-agricultural southeastern landscapes.