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A Field Technique for Assessing Physical Condition of Some Ungulates Author(s): Thane Riney Source: The Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Jan., 1960), pp. 92-94 Published by: Wiley on behalf of the Wildlife Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3797362 . Accessed: 04/09/2014 09:12

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This content downloaded from 130.92.9.55 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 09:12:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 92 JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, VOL. 24, No. 1, JANUARY 1960

mature or past maturity, a large amount of the sons, from Grand Mesa, Black Mesa, and other lo- stomach contents consisted of green vegetation from calities in western Colorado. above the ground. It is not known how much of Food habits examinations disclosed that: this vegetation might have been pulled underground 1. Above-ground vegetation made up a consider- to be eaten, but experimentswith aluminum-coated able part of the pocket gopher's diet during the grain showed that much of this type of food was period of the year when the plants were grow- gathered on the surface. ing and were green and succulent. This information has led to field trials in surface 2. Forbs were taken in preference to grasses dur- baiting as a means of pocket gopher control. Al- ing all periods of the year when both were though the results still are inconclusive, there is the plentiful. possibility that under some conditions at least, sur- 3. Largest amounts of grass, consisting mainly of face baiting might replace the more laborious stems and leaves, were consumed during the method of probing for underground burrows as a growing season. means of bait placement. 4. Grain baits were taken by gophers from the surface of the ground. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS REFERENCES CITED The writer the assistance gratefully acknowledges BAUMGARTNER, L. L., AND A. C. MARTIN. 1939. Plant rendered by co-workers of the Denver Wildlife Re- histology as an aid in squirrel food-habits studies. J. search Laboratory, the Agricultural Experiment Sta- Wildl. Mgmt., 3(3):266-268. tion of Colorado State University, and the Rocky DusI, J. L. 1949. Methods for the determination of food Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station of habits by plant microtechniques and histology and the U.S. Forest Service. Special thanks are due their application to cottontail rabbit food habits. J. Evan Roberts and Sydney Tibbets of Livermore, Wildl. Mgmt., 13(3):295-298. Colorado, for permission to trap gophers on their KEITH, J. O., R. M. HANSEN AND A. L. WARD. 1958. Changes in abundance and food habits of properties. pocket gophers following treatment of range with 2,4-D. J. Wildl. Mgmt., 23(2):137-145. SUMMARY KELSO, L. H. 1934. Pocket gopher stomachs examina- Mountain stomachs were collected tion cards in the files of the Denver Wildlife Res. pocket gopher Lab., Bur. of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. during all months of the year from an area near Livermore, Colorado, and during the snow-free sea- Received for publication May 22, 1959.

A FIELD TECHNIQUE FOR ASSESSING PHYSICAL CONDITION OF SOME UNGULATES

Thane Riney National Museum, Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia

Several techniques for assessing the physical con- is restricted to certain seasons and limited to certain dition of in the field have been devised and sections of the population. Ideally such a technique applied in the management of deer populations. So could be applied at any time of year, to any sex far, most of these techniques have utilized deer or age group, and under existing game laws. killed either by shooting (Park and Day, 1942), or The technique here described is based on one of from natural causes (Cheatum, 1949). Further- the many characteristicsof inanition, the tendency more, under special circumstances when it has been of the to become thin as it drops in condi- possible to obtain some measure of each sex and tion (Harris, 1945; Leopold, et al. 1951; Riney, all age groups, the task has been time-consuming 1955). Even a general estimate of the condition and expensive. For example, Rosen and Bischoff of a population can be valuable as one measure of (1952) established norms for erythrocyte and hemo- response of a population to a given ecosystem globin counts in ( hemionus), (Riney, 1956). and ratings or indices to fat reserves have been used Under most field conditions it is impossible to for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) judge the physical condition of a deer precisely and (Harris, 1945), and ( elaphys) in a way that will allow comparison with similar (Riney, 1955). A simple field technique is needed observations by other workers. However, some- to obtain some index to the physical condition of times populations are encountered that are in either all sections of a population in areas where shooting extremely good or extremely poor condition, and

This content downloaded from 130.92.9.55 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 09:12:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ASSESSING CONDITION OF UNGULATES-Riney 93 d e d e d e CC C b b b

a a a_ I

FIG. 1. General appearance of the hind quarters of deer in good, medium, or poor condition.

if sufficient care is taken, the proportionof populations where it is necessary to assess quickly of each recognizable sex and age group that fall into conspicuous trends in condition, or for comparison three general condition groups can be calculated of markedlydifferent habitats. This or similar tech- for comparison. niques can be used with but little extra time and As the fat reserves of the animal diminish, the expense if combined with other management tech- tail (a, Fig. 1) appears more angular, the outline niques such as classification counts. of a point of the pelvic girdle (b) can be seen, a Species on which this technique has been suc- distinct angle appears at the point indicated by cessfully used are red deer, fallow deer ( (c), the lateral processes of the backbone vertebrae dama), sambar (Cervus unicolor), feral (d) can be seen as a faint line, and outlines of the ( hircus), ( rupicapra), ribs (e) are visible. If there are no angles corre- and thar (Hemitragus jemlaicus) in New Zealand; sponding to points a and c on the diagram, the deer and, in Africa, ( strepsiceros). are classed as in good condition (Fig. 1, left). If (Sylvicapra grimmia), steenbuck (Raphi- any one of the points indicated at b, d, or e, can cerus campestris), (Redunca arundinum), be observed, the deer is classed as in poor condition roan (Hippotragus equinus), sable ante- (Fig. 1, right). Figure 1 (middle) represents the lope (Hippotragus niger), (Aepyceros mel- appearance of individuals that are not clearly in ampus), and eland ( ). Slight good condition or poor condition. modifications are being developed for several other As with other field techniques of this type, cer- African species whose body conformation differs tain arbitrary local rules will have to be followed enough from deer and antelope to preclude use of if results are to be used for comparative purposes. the same criteria, e.g., cape buffalo (Syncerus For example, if red deer are observed from distances caffer), (Giraffa cameloparadalis), and blue greater than 50 yards, it is necessary to use bi- (Connochaetes taurinus). noculars to see clearly enough to assess their condi- tion. The maximum distance at which assessments SUMMARY are made will have to be determined separately for each species and in each area. A series of records A technique is described to facilitate recording should be complete, whether based on deer seen, the condition of live deer and several other ungu- or on deer shot, and whether for a day, a week, or lates. Each animal classified is arbitrarily placed a season. Sets of records can be kept either for deer in one of three condition classes, good, fair, or poor, observed or for deer killed; but these records should and the evidence presented as the proportionof ani- not be mixed. mals in each condition class at a given locality, in This method of assessing condition is by no means a given season. Although the technique has dis- as precise as the measure based on indices to fat advantages associated with any "rating"technique, reserves (particularly the weight of perinephric fat it is inexpensive and simple to use and has proved expressed as a percentage of the weight of the kid- useful in New Zealand and in Africa, especially in ney) (Riney, 1955); but in New Zealand it has situations where it is impractical to kill or trap a proved useful for many questions of managementof sample of the population to assess condition.

This content downloaded from 130.92.9.55 on Thu, 4 Sep 2014 09:12:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 94 JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, VOL. 24, No. 1, JANUARY 1960

LITERATURE CITED RINEY,T. 1955. Evaluating condition of free-ranging red deer (Cervus elaphus), with special reference to New E. L. 1949. Bone marrow as an index of CHEATUM, Zealand, parts I and II. N.Z. J. Sci. and Tech., 36, malnutrition in deer. New York State Conserv., 3: Sec. B (5):429-483. 19-22. . 1956. A zooecological approach to the study D. 1945. of malnutrition in deer. HAMuS, Symptoms of ecosystems that include tussock grassland and J. Wildl. Mgmt., 9(4):319-322. browsing and grazing animals. N.Z. J. Sci. and Tech., A. T. R. AND L. LEOPOLD, S., RINEY, MCCAIN, TEVIS, JR. 37, (4):455-472. 1951. The Jawbone deer herd. Calif. Div. Fish and ROSEN, M. N. AND A. I. BISCHOFF. 1952. The relation Game, Game Bull. No. 4. 139pp. of hematology to condition in California deer. Trans. PARK,B. C., AND B. B. DAY. 1942. A simplified method for determining the condition of white-tailed deer N. Amer. Wildl. Conf., 17:482-496. herds in relation to available forage. U.S.D.A. Tech. Bull. 840. 60pp. Received for publication March 7, 1958.

CONTACT DERMATITIS INCURRED FROM COTTONTAIL STOMACH CONTENTS

Gordon M. Clark, Louis N. Locke and Frederick C. Schmid Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, Maryland

Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus mall- poisoning, it seems likely that the poison ivy in the urus), killed during the annual December census stomach contents was the cause of the dermatitis. hunt at the Patuxent Research Refuge, are routinely There is no reason to suspect that digestive enzymes autopsied and searched for parasites. A severe or larval parasites could produce these phenomena. dermatitis of the hands was incurred by one of the It is probable that poison ivy is a common item of parasitologistsas a result of examiningmaterial from the winter diet of the cottontail in Maryland. Re- the alimentary tracts of these rabbits during the current attacks occurred in the two susceptible 1957-58 hunt. In 1958-59 the condition was ob- individuals during handling of approximately 120 served again in this and an additional worker. The rabbits whenever tears occurred in the surgical lesions were similar to those experienced with gloves worn for protection. poison ivy. Both workers were known to be highly It has been observed (Trippensee, 1948) that the susceptible to ivy poisoning. typical winter diet of the cottontail in New England In order to ascertain what part of the rabbit was is high in bark, roots, buds, and other parts of the sensitizing agent, patch tests were conducted woody perennials. In New York State poison ivy on the two sensitized workers. The inside skin of constitutes from ? to 2 percent of the diet of the the forearm was rubbed in 1-inch squares with Mearns cottontail (Martin et al, 1951). Petrides moist cottontail fur, muscle, heart blood and con- (1942) has observed that poison ivy was "so attrac- tents of stomach, small intestine and cecum of one tive to rabbits that shoot not cov- animal. These practically every patches were covered with moist ered by snow was consumed." gauze and adhesive. The within 12 subjects, hours, Individuals normally sensitive to poison ivy showed strong reaction to the contents of the should be careful when and small a weak cleaning gut-shot cotton- stomach, cecum, intestine; reaction tails the to fur; and no reaction to muscle and blood. The during hunting season. Thorough washing with tests suggested that the dermatitiswas due to some- soap and water directly after handling such thing in the ingestia of the rabbit. To verify this, an animal is a helpful prophylactic procedure. stomach contents of this animal were removed, dried, and examined with a dissecting microscope. LITERATURE CITED It was seen that the main identifiable bulk of the MARTIN, A. H. S. ZIM AND A. L. NELSON. stomach contents consisted of finely ground golden- C., 1951. American Wildlife and Plants. McGraw-Hill, New rod, lespedeza, aster, and a small identifiable trace York. of 500pp. poison ivy. Patch tests of the dried stomach con- PETRIDES, G. A. 1942. Relation of hedgerows in winter tents made at this time continued to provoke a to wildlife in central New York. J. Wildl. Mgmt., 6: response. Patch application of fresh, pulverized 261-280. goldenrod, lespedeza, and aster failed to cause skin TRIPPENSEE, R. E. 1948. Wildlife Management. Mc- reaction. Graw-Hill, New York. 479pp. Since the observed lesions on the two workers were similar to those produced by severe ivy Received for publication July 27, 1959.

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