The safety of the food supply is a primary consideration of farmers, wholesale and retail establishments, and ultimately consumers. In 2006, a major outbreak of food-borne illness in the U.S. caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7contaminated bagged spinach resulted in 3 deaths and over 200 illnesses. Studies have shown that cattle and some commensal wildlife are known sources of E. coli O157:H7, but limited investigations on small mammals and deer have shown minimal prevalence of this bacteria. In 2007, with oversight from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, produce industry representatives developed the Commodity Specific Food Safety Guidelines for the Lettuce and Leafy Greens Supply Chain, known as the Metrics. These have led to significant uses of rodent control techniques including baits, traps, buffer strips and vegetation clearing in areas around leafy green production. One of the major issues regarding these strategies is that the target rodent species is generally unknown. Growers are faced with complying with buyers’ interpretations of the Metrics or losing the sale of their crop. Until we provide better information on the occurrence and type of rodents in and around leafy green crops and food safety, we will have limited ability to help growers use cost-effective and environmentally acceptable methods to protect crops from potential rodent contamination. Rodent control experts need to provide specific strategies to help growers with the important issue of rodents and their association with crops and food safety.

Olfactory communication appears to be an important aspect of the biology of most ground squirrels. Several scent-producing glands have been described as having scent-marking behavior. Although the adaptive significance of these glands has not been determined, possible functions are discussed. The potential of using pheromones in an integrated ground squirrel management program is discussed.

This paper reviews the Vertebrate Pest Conference’s beginnings, why it started, and assesses its success in meeting the goals articulated during the opening Conference in 1962. Probably moreso than any other state, California has a diversity of agriculture that gives every vertebrate a chance to become a pest, even those that didn’t originally live in the state. This, and the hard work of Conference founders, made California a logical place to develop a first-rate Conference on all aspects of vertebrate pests. At the first Conference, over 80% of attendees were from California. At the 24th Conference, this had changed with over 40% attendees from other states and almost 10% from other countries. During the first Conferences, the presentations were mostly about current control methods for various vertebrate pests. Now, the topics have shifted to deal more with specific aspects of control such as non-target impacts, pesticide metabolism, etc. The Conference Proceedings have evolved from a collection of 25 “how-to” papers in the first Proceeding to over 75 peer-edited papers in the 24th. Many of these papers, especially in the more recent Conference Proceedings, are cited throughout the international vertebrate pest control literature. Another trend has been the publication of multiple-authored papers. This represents the important goal of the Conference of getting people together to discuss and work on understanding all aspects of vertebrate pest control. It is clear, just by looking around at the audience and reviewing the program for the 25th Conference, that the VPC is doing exactly what the founders envisioned, and in my opinion, it is an unconditional success!

This paper discusses cost recovery strategies for vertebrate pest control research and extension programs. It gives an historical background using California examples about how these programs have been supported in the past. Current situations and future trends in supporting research and extension in the vertebrate pest area are also discussed.

Over the last twenty-five years, sheep numbers have been declining in Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, at the same time the number of predators has increased. With the removal of most chemical control methods, livestock producers have had to turn to other methods of preventing livestock losses. The objective of this project was to survey livestock producers to determine the levels of predation, type of predator involved, and the management methods being used to reduce these losses. This information is essential to develop a sound extension program to help livestock producers better deal with the predator problem.