User talk:Amethyst Leeman/sandbox

1) "Eastern Woodrat Photos and Facts." ARKive. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. <http://www.arkive.org/eastern-woodrat/neotoma-floridana/>.

2) Monty, Anne-Marie, and Eldhamer, George A. "POTENTIAL THREATS AND MONITORING." Conservation Assessment for The Eastern Woodrat, (Neotoma Floridana) and The Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma Magister)(2002): 18-19. Http://www.fs.usda.gov. May 2002. Web. 6 Nov. 2016. <http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm91_054316.pdf>.

3) Guilliams, Brandi. "Neotoma Floridana (eastern Woodrat)." Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan, 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. <http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Neotoma_floridana/>.

4) Blankenship, Karl. Woodrats’ Habitat, Food and Population Reduced to Fragments (1998): n. pag. Web. 6 Nov. 2016. <http://www.bayjournal.com/article/woodrats_habitat_food_and_population_reduced_to_fragments>. *(Journal)

5) Merritt, Joseph F., and RuthAnne Matinko. "Ecology." Guide to the Mammals of Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, PA: U of Pittsburgh for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 1987. 188. Print.

6) Stanesa, Lindsay. "Allegheny Woodrat." BioKIDS - Allegheny Woodrat. The Regents of the University of Michigan, 2002. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. <http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Neotoma_magister/> — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amethyst Leeman (talk • contribs) 11:09, 5 December 2016 (UTC)

Comments on Bibliography

Amethyst: Don't ignore the primary literature. There are several journal articles in our spreadsheet. Check out Cudmore, Holbrook, Durden, Castleberry, and Clark.Njclum (talk) 23:52, 26 November 2016 (UTC)

Rough Draft

Amethyst Leeman Outline 11/20/16

One of the most common parasites that infest the Eastern Woodrat is the Botfly larva. Adult botflies lay their eggs outside the entrance of the Woodrat’s den. These then attach themselves to the Woodrat’s fur when it runs out of the den in search for food. Once the eggs hatch, the botfly larvae penetrates the skin, getting lodged into the Woodrat’s neck, chest, and inguinal area. The larvae grows, lodged inside the rat’s body, until it is about an 18 millimeter pupae and creates a 15 millimeter in diameter cyst. Even with this enormous sized pupae, the Woodrat does not seem to show any obvious discomfort. Botflies infest approximately 16% of Eastern Woodrat population.

Raccoon carry an intestinal parasite known as the raccoon roundworm. Raccoon roundworms can be found in the feces of raccoons. Woodrats carry the raccoon feces that are infected with the roundworm to their nests and ingest it. Once the roundworm is transmitted to the Eastern Woodrat, the larva migrates itself to the brain of the Woodrat, resulting in death of the rat.

Eastern Woodrats typically feed off the acorns of oak trees. Gypsy Moth caterpillars affect Eastern Woodrats by eating the oak leaves, resulting in acorns that the Woodrats would eat. The decline of acorns results in the decline of Eastern Woodrat population.

      The most commonly known predators of Eastern Woodrats are the great horned owl, spotted skunks, long-tailed weasels, red foxes, raccoons, and timber rattlesnakes, along with other various snakes. Woodrats try to avoid predators by being mostly active at night and hiding in their large dens during daylight.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amethyst Leeman (talk • contribs) 23:44, 27 November 2016 (UTC) 

Peer Review-Kayla M Demers I went over your information and it seems very solid! I went through and just fixed a couple words that may of not meant to be there or were misspelled. I'm not sure if its because of the topic you have there isn't very much information on this subject, and that causes it to seem a tad bit short. But overall if thats the amount of information you could find then it all looks wonderful to me! It's also unclear to me what subject you were taking part of, is it predators to some sort? A "Title" would be greatly appreciated so we could know your subject! Another thing I'd like to point out is using the word enormous. I feel as if that word is more personally, and should be more vague. Though it is enormous to the woodrats, it's not enormous to us. I think something more along the lines of large or even going without using the word entirely! — Preceding unsigned comment added by KaylaMDemers (talk • contribs) 02:19, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Comments on Rough Draft

Hi Amethyst. Good work so far. I'm glad that you added in the paragraph on predators; I would move this paragraph to the top of your section. Don't forget that you will need to include citations for the information you present. Include scientific names for parasite species if available, and provide links to them. Are the woodrats intentionally retrieving and ingesting raccoon feces, or is this accidental? If intentional, why? Also, I assume you are saying that Gypsy moths defoliate the oak trees, which reduces acorn production and therefore impacts the woodrat. Is this a regional effect or are all woodrats heavily dependent on acorns? If so, you might indicate where this has been documented.Njclum (talk) 01:26, 4 December 2016 (UTC)

Final Draft on Predators and Parasites Among Eastern Woodrats

Amethyst Leeman (talk) 11:45, 5 December 2016 (UTC)== Final Draft on Predators and Parasites Among Eastern Woodrats ==

Amethyst Leeman 12/4/16

Predators and Parasites Among Eastern Woodrats

The most commonly known predators of Eastern Woodrats are the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), the spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius), the long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata), the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus), along with other various snakes. Woodrats try to avoid predators by being mostly active at night and hiding in their large dens during daylight. “Juveniles are highly susceptible to predation by snakes while in the den before weaning” (http://www.fs.fed.us).

Great horned owls usually eat animals “that live on land and have backbones and their diet depends on what kind of prey is available” (bioKIDS). If the great horned owl is living in either the southwestern United States or fields/deserts, then they usually prey on young rabbits, small rodents, like the Eastern Woodrat, as well as insects. “Great horned owls hunt by perching on a branch, searching for prey. Once they see their prey, they swoop down from the branch and catch the prey,” (bioKIDS) in their talons.

One of the most common parasites that are found to infest the Eastern Woodrat is the Botfly larva. Adult botflies lay their eggs outside the entrance of the Woodrat’s den. These then attach themselves to the Woodrat’s fur when it runs out of the den in search for food. Once the eggs hatch, the botfly larvae penetrates the skin, getting lodged into the Woodrat’s neck, chest, and inguinal area. The larvae grows, lodged inside the rat’s body, until it is about an 18 millimeter pupae and creates a 15 millimeter in diameter cyst. Even with this largely sized pupae, the Woodrat does not seem to show any obvious discomfort. Botflies infest approximately 16% of the Eastern Woodrat population.

Raccoons carry an intestinal parasite known as the raccoon roundworm. “Many small mammals, like the Eastern Woodrat, forage for seeds at the defecation sites, known as latrines, of raccoons. “Woodrats may ingest the nematode eggs while collecting dried raccoon feces” (http://www.fs.fed.us). Woodrats carry the raccoon feces that are infected with the roundworm to their nests and ingest it, accidentally when they eat foods that may contain raccoon feces or when they are storing the feces for a later use. Once the roundworm is transmitted to the Eastern Woodrat, the larva migrates itself to the brain of the Woodrat, leads to a lack of energy, loss of muscle control, and death of the rat.

“B. procyonis is a mortality factor in woodrats in Indiana (Johnson et al. 1997), New York (McGowan 1993a), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania (LoGiudice 2000). The B. procyonis infection rate of raccoons in the midwest and northeastern United States is 68-82% (Kazacos and Boyce 1989). Therefore, large quantities of infected feces are present in the environment. Eggs remain viable for at least 5-6 years” (http://www.fs.fed.us).

Eastern Woodrats typically feed off the acorns of oak trees. Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar dispar) caterpillars affected Eastern Woodrats, “in 1966 in the lower Mississippi River Basin, (http://www.fs.fed.us)” by eating the oak leaves and defoliate the oak trees, which reduces acorn production and therefore impacts the woodrat population. Not all woodrats are heavily dependent on acorns, however the species found never the Mississippi River are. Along with gypsy moth caterpillars, sudden oak death (SOD) can affect the acorns as well. “SOD is an introduced fungus that can result in the death of mature oak trees, and is thought to spread via airborne spores that thrive in the warm, humid climate of south-eastern USA” (ARKive.org).

There are many predators and parasites the population of the Eastern Woodrat. Great horned owls (Bubo virginianus) and spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius) consumes these small rodents. Along with parasitic raccoon feces, of which affect and feed off of the brain of the woodrat. And the botfly larva, that penetrates the skin and lodges itself inside the body of the woodrat.

Citations

1) "Eastern Woodrat Photos and Facts." ARKive. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. <http://www.arkive.org/eastern-woodrat/neotoma-floridana/>.

2) Monty, Anne-Marie, and Eldhamer, George A. "POTENTIAL THREATS AND MONITORING." Conservation Assessment for The Eastern Woodrat, (Neotoma Floridana) and The Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma Magister)(2002): 18-19. Http://www.fs.usda.gov. May 2002. Web. 6 Nov. 2016. <http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm91_054316.pdf>.

3) Guilliams, Brandi. "Neotoma Floridana (eastern Woodrat)." Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan, 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. <http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Neotoma_floridana/>.

4) Stanesa, Lindsay. "Allegheny Woodrat." BioKIDS - Allegheny Woodrat. The Regents of the University of Michigan, 2002. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. <http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Neotoma_magister/> Amethyst Leeman (talk) 11:45, 5 December 2016 (UTC)