One hundred dogs were placed with sheep producers in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming during summer 1987 through summer 1988 as part of the APHIS-ADC livestock guarding dog program. Mortality as of February 1990 from culling and accidents is 39% and was evenly split between the first and second year of life. The 60 dogs currently working were rated as follows: 78% good, 12% fair, and 10% poor. All dogs rated good or fair were judged to have reduced predation or helped to keep predation minimized. Success of the dogs was breed-related but did not differ between pasture and rangeland sheep operations. About 50% of the producers who participated in the program either have purchased or plan to purchase additional guarding dogs.

Information about the effectiveness of livestock guarding dogs for reducing coyote predation on sheep was gathered from livestock producers in the Animal Damage Control Livestock Guarding Dog Program and in Colorado. Eighty-two percent of the producers contacted reported that the performance of their dogs remained the same or improved during 1993 compared with previous years. Eighteen percent of the producers reported a decrease in their dog's effectiveness, but most still felt the dogs were a benefit to their livestock operation. Most producers who noted a decrease in effectiveness attributed it to an apparent increase in the number of coyotes and/or an increase in their predatory activities on livestock.

Salmon poisoning disease (SPD) was tested as a potential method of lethal control for coyotes (Canis latrans). Fresh fish containing the agents for SPD was fed to 72 captive adult coyotes. Coho (Oncorhunchus kisutch) and steelhead salmon (Salmo gairdneri) from Oregon hatcheries were the principal species of fish used. Coyotes that ate the fish developed observable signs of SPD in a mean of 8 days. The overall rate of mortality was 50%, and death occurred in a mean of 20 days from consuming fish. Coyotes that died from SPD lost a mean of 32% of their body weight during the course of the disease. Other coyotes were fed preserved fish samples or administered oral or intraperitoneal treatments of lymph node matter from coyotes that died from SPD. In light of the relatively low rate of mortality observed, feeding coyotes fish to cause death from SPD appears to be a method of questionable value for controlling numbers of adult coyotes in areas of livestock production unless fish with a highly virulent strain of the SPD agent can be obtained.

Recent decades have seen dramatic increases in resident populations of urban western Canada geese throughout the United States, including locations in the Puget Sound in western Washington. By 1987, populations of urban Canada geese grew to problematic levels in the greater Seattle area, and caused such extensive damage that the Seattle Metropolitan Area Waterfowl Management Committee (Seattle Metropolitan WMC) was formed. The Seattle Metropolitan WMC was comprised of 15 representatives from cities and jurisdictions in the greater area, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, and the University of Washington. The Seattle Metropolitan WMC worked with state and federal wildlife agencies, advocate groups, and the public to identify their concerns, determine the extent of the problem, and formulate management options. Non-lethal management options, including relocation, were implemented in 1989. Egg-oiling was initiated in 1993. Relocation efforts were phased out after 1995, and the first substantial lethal removal was begun in 2000. Other management actions taken by the Seattle Metropolitan WMC included harassment, exclusion, repellents, habitat modifications, and public education. In 1998, escalating urban Canada goose problems in another area of Puget Sound precipitated the formation of a second committee, south of Seattle, involving Thurston County and the cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Tumwater. Using a slightly different approach than the Seattle Metropolitan WMC, management officials opted to hold a public meeting to solicit input and participation from individuals, groups, and agencies. Attendees were encouraged to serve on a steering committee which, when formed, included city and county officials, park managers, state and federal wildlife biologists, hunters, advocate groups, and citizens. Over the next 18 months, the committee identified problem areas, considered public concerns, reviewed management options, and utilized volunteers to count geese. From these efforts, a Resident Canada Goose Management Plan was developed. The plan, which was implemented in 2000, identified population and program objectives utilizing a full range of management options. The Seattle and Thurston County programs each were successful in reducing urban Canada goose problems. In Thurston County, a fully integrated approach including population reduction through lethal control was implemented in the first year. An immediate reduction in goose problems was evident, and the plan objectives were achieved within 4 years. In the Seattle area, goose damage problems were not substantially reduced until after the implementation of lethal removal in 2000. By 2003, the fourth season involving lethal removal, the number of urban geese and their associated damage had been reduced by approximately 60%. In both locations, the need for lethal removal declined during successive years of the program. Animal rights groups were vocal and took action to prevent lethal removal, but public demands for removal grew during the late 1990s as goose problems worsened. Although controversial at first, public and media support grew as facts came to light and Canada goose conflicts were reduced.

DRC-1339 (CPTH, 3-chloro-p-tolouidine) is an avicide registered to reduce local populations of selected bird species at feedlots, dairies, and staging areas near rice fields, and to prevent livestock depredation. Additionally, two registrations are specifically for controlling gulls and pigeons. U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services personnel historically have used a variety of methods to estimate take, including counting carcasses and quantifying reduction in bird activity. Because this avicide is slow-acting and birds usually succumb away from the bait site, carcass recovery provides poor estimates of take. Because of natural variability in bird numbers and activity, quantifying reductions in bird activity is also a poor gauge of efficacy. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture APHIS Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center developed and continue to adapt and refine a model using a bioenergetics approach to estimate consumption and the resulting mortality from DRC-1339 bait consumption. The model estimates take for the major baits used under the feedlot and staging area labels for European starlings, blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, and common grackles. Consumption of homogeneous baits (rice, cracked corn, fat pellets) has been well characterized, and take (i.e., mortality) is accurately predicted in the model. However, predictions of take when french fries were used as a bait for controlling starlings at feedlots in Washington State were less accurate. Thus, we modified the model to capture the feeding behavior of birds using this highly heterogeneous bait by removing the dependence on bait mass and simplifying the calculation of dose ingested. The modified model calculates dose directly from the amount of DRC-1339 per calorie consumed instead of from the DRC-1339 concentration per bait consumed. In this paper, we compare estimates of take based on french fry bait mass distributions and caloric contents determined for five different french fry bait types.