Ch 7 – Wildlife Marking Techniques



Ch 7 (old book)– Wildlife Marking Techniques 26 August 2009

Ch 13 (2005 Book)

Figure numbers and pages refer to old book unless stated otherwise.

Mark Selection

- animals must often be marked for individual recognition for a particular study

- must meet professional and humane standards

- must allow study objectives to be met

- things to consider before you decide on mark selection—

o period of time mark must last

o distance at which animals must be identified

o the need for individual recognition

o how quickly animals must be marked

o time available for identifying marked animals

o effect of mark on the animal’s behavior and survival

- a desirable marking techniques should meet the following criteria—

o involve minimal pain, stress

o produce no adverse effects on behavior or survival

o display good retention and durability characteristics

o be easy to recognize

o be easy to apply

o be easy to obtain and assemble

o be relatively inexpensive

Marker Retention

Temporary Marks – streamers, adhesive tapes, nocturnal lights, and marks lost during subsequent molts; feather and fur clipping, dyes, and paints – all lost eventually

Semipermanent Marks

Some tags and collars- some can last the life of the animal- depends on durability of the material

Permanent Marks – branding, tattooing, ear notching, toe clipping—marks last a lifetime, but scarring, tearing, or aging might reduce their effectiveness

Might use a combination of permanent and non-permanent marks (e.g., on prairie dogs, we ear tag for permanent marking and use hair dye for short-term recognition)

Marker Recognition

Do you need to recognize animal from a distance?

Will you need to recapture animal in order to see the marker?

Marks can be made for individual or group recognition

Make sure markers are colorfast, fade resistant, etc.

Species-Specific Attributes

Consider behavioral and anatomical features of a species

You do not want to influence behavior or survival of animal

Certain ways of marking are usually used with particular species – e.g., leg bands on birds as opposed to toe-clipping in mice

Adverse Effects

Proper design, fitting, and testing of markers on captive animals beforehand is often helpful

Beware of interfering with animal’s behavior/mating rituals, icing or entanglement

Marking Permits

Appropriate federal, state, provincial permits must be obtained before capturing and marking

Marking Techniques for Mammals

Tags - for ear, web, flippers --- see Fig. 1, p. 142

- usually made of metal or plastic and stamped with identifying numbers

- tags must be applied properly so as not to cut off circulation

- must not impede movement

Neck Collars and Related Bands – see Figs 2, 3, p. 143

(New book = Figs. 2, 3, 5, pages 344-345)

- may be fixed in size or expansible to allow for growth

- made of various materials

- must not impede feeding, circulation, or breathing or cause entanglement

- sometimes expansible collars are used if the animal is young and growing

Arm Bands

Bats – attach bands to forearms – see Fig. 4, p. 144

- avoid banding during hibernation because it is energetically critical period; in the past, banding during hibernation has contributed to a decline in bat numbers because the bats do not have enough fat stored to withstand being disturbed

Dorsal Fin, Back, and Related Techniques

Discovery marks, small stainless steel projectiles with identifying information stamped on them, have been used to mark commercially valuable species of whales since the 1920’s

Projectile is shot from shotgun and embeds in whale; marks are subsequently recovered in harvested whales and have provided information on movement and growth

Discovery marks are not visible on live whales, so their use will decline with reduction in whaling activity

Spaghetti tag – modified discovery tag – a strip of vinyl is attached to an anchor rivet behind the head of the mark

Spaghetti tags – have been used to mark large numbers of small cetaceans without the need to capture them (also used on manatees)

Dorsal fin tags – various methods to hold them on include bolting tags on right through the fin

- problems with dorsal fin tags include migration of the tags, injury to the dorsal fin, and covering the tag with algae

Tapes, Streamers, and Bells

Colored streamers made from plastic, nylon, and nylon-coated fabrics have been used to visibly mark ungulate species by attachment to ears, horns, Achilles tendons, or to other marking devices

Secured by such methods as steel barbs, nylon darts with adjoining flukes, umbrella anchors, and anchor rivets

Bells have been used on deer and collared peccaries to facilitate locating them; however, must be careful that bells do not attract predators

Transponders

PIT = “passive integrated transponder” tags – (New book = Fig. 14, p. 355)

Transponder tags consist of an electromagnetic coil and a custom-designed microchip that emits an analog signal when excited by a scanning wand with electromagnetic energy

Tags are implanted subcutaneously with a spring-loaded syringe

Chip is activated only when energized, so it can last a long time

Disadvantage is that you have to be close to animal to get a reading, maybe even recapture it; however, you can put a reader tube inside burrow, nest, etc. to get reading.

Mutilation

Branding –

hot branding – seldom used today (painful, can cause open wounds, infection)

freeze branding = cryo-branding – branding irons are supercooled, often in mixture of dry ice and 95% methanol (-67-77 C) or liquid nitrogen (-196 C), then placed on a shaved and washed are of the skin

- epidermis is temporarily frozen (about 20-30 seconds), destroying the

pigment-producing melanocytes in the hair follicles cause regrowth of white instead of colored hair

Tatoos –

Best results when tattooing lightly pigmented areas that are essentially hairless

Disadvantage – often have to have the animal in hand to read tattoo

Often used along with other more conspicuous methods of marking

Tissue Removal

Toe-clipping – used to individually mark small mammals; must be careful to limit the number of toes/foot clipped so as not to impede movement, grooming, etc; infection can set in – in some animals, antibiotics or other preventative treatment might be necessary

Disadvantage – can’t distinguish if toe was cut or lost due to accident, injury, etc

Ear punching, clipping – small portion of tissue is cut and/or removed; must be careful of infection; never for use on animals with higly-specialized ears (e.g., bats, seals)

Punched holes or slits cut into foot webs have been used beavers and nutria; probably could also be used on muskrats

- marks are permanent, but unclean cutting can result in scar instead of hole

Fur removal (in a particular pattern) – mechanical clippers, chemical substance, heat

Dyes and Paints

Used as temporary external markers to identify mammals at a distance

Can be applied directly to immobilized or trapped animals or from a distance with a paint-pellet pistol

Nyanzol, Rhodamine B, and picric acid dissolved in ethyl or isopropyl alcohol – used to mark terrestrial mammals

Rhodamine B – when consumed orally, it acts as an internal marker, coloring gallbladder, gut, feces, urine, and oral and urogenital openings - can be used as a nonquantitative method for tracing bait consumption

Read about other internal markers

Particle Markers

Fluorescent pigments – powder is placed on fur of small mammals; particles fall off as they move around; you can trace their movements my using a UV light at night to follow the trail because the particles give off a glow

Microtaggants, small, plastic particles that are coded by means of colored layers, have been tested and proposed as a means of identifying acute toxicants in digestive tracts and baits without chemical analysis

Chemical Markers

Certain members of the tetracycline group of antibiotics (given orally or intravenously) combine with calcium in the bones and teeth of mammals to produce a characteristic yellow fluorescence under UV light

Radioactive Markers

Before using a particular isotope, you must consider its availability, type of radiation, energy levels emitted, physical and biological half-life, radiotoxicity, and metabolic characteristics

Nocturnal Tracking Lights

Light sources attached to animals allow them to be visually tracked at night – can be chemical, electrical, or radioactive types of light – sometimes used with radiotelemetry

Evidence suggests that the use of optical light sources does not increase risk of predation, but the potential does exist

Bats – constant light source may cause undue stress

Natural Markings

This works best when numbers of animals are limited, they occupy a well-defined area, and where minimal immigration occurs

Sometimes used when it is difficult to capture/handle animals or is not desirable for some reason

Rhinoceros – they have used ear markings, shape of horn, wrinkle pattern, sex, and size

Giraffe – coat patterns

Primates – facial features along with other characteristics

Dolphins and whales – fin notches, color patterns, scars, and callosities

Marking Techniques for Birds

Leg bands often used – see Fig. 9, p. 150 (New book = Figs. 7, 8, p. 345)

States and provinces are required to use their own bands for resident game birds, but bands for migratory birds are issued by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service

Wing Markers

Commonly used on birds - see Fig. 10, p. 151

Neckbands and Collars

See Fig 11, p. 152

Have been used on geese, swans, sandhill cranes, ring-necked pheasants, and scaled quail

Not appropriate for ducks – they have been associated with how retention and high marker-related mortality

Tags

Nasal Tags – nasal discs and saddles have been used extensively to mark waterfowl – see Fig. 12, p. 152 (New book = Fig. 9, p. 347)

Back Tags – designed to lie on the back – usually attached by a harness whose straps pass around each wing base (New book = Fig. 10, p. 348)

Web Tags – used on wood ducks that were too small for a leg band – they attached fingerling fish tags to the center of the web of newly hatched young; someone else used the technique to mark pipped eggs of ground-nesting species

Mutilation

Feather clipping – done in various patterns; must be careful it does not affect flight

Tissue removal – punch holes in web of penguins; disadvantage is bird must be recaptured to read the marks

Toenail clipping – used on eastern kingbirds and eastern phoebes, tree swallows, and house wrens

Tattooing - in birds of prey, has been used on underside of the wing close to body- visible only when wing is opened; Nestling startlings – tattoo dots were placed on abdomen- not legible after feathers grow back

Freeze Branding - does not seem to be widely used – someone used it on the premaxillae of ducklings – suggested as a temporary marker for ducklings

Dyes, Paints, Inks

Marks are usually temporary and lost during the following molt

Food dyes have been injected into eggs to temporary mark the soon-to-be hatchling

Human hair dye – used to mark golden eagles

Airplane paint – has been used

Must be careful the material used is not toxic and does not affect behavior, flight, mating rituals, etc

Feather Imping and Similar Techniques

Imping is the insertion of a colored feather into the clipped shaft of a bird’s feather; a double-ended needle or cement secures the feather

Retrices usually used, but remiges can be imped if the replacement feather closely matches the clipped feather

Not satisfactory for passerines – can’t see marker very well, few color combinations, time involved

Waterfowl – painting with airplane paint works better

Particle, Chemical, and Radioactive Marks

Read—similar to use in mammals

Nocturnal Tracking Lights

Read – similar to use in mammals

Natural Markings

Particular plumage or bill patterns can be used to ID individuals

Egg Markers

Colored plastic tape attached to apex of egg – has been used to mark ring-billed birds

Marking pens have been used on eggs from a number of species – but the toxicity has not been studied- use with caution

Marking Methods for Amphibians and Reptiles

Read this section – mostly the same methods used in birds and mammals:

Natural Markings

External Marks

Branding

Hot Branding

Chemical Branding

Freeze Branding

Laser Marking

Tattoos

Tissue Removal

Toe/tail Clipping

Skin Transplantation

Shell Notching - turtles

Scale Clipping and Related Techniques

Tagging

Jaw Tagging – used on toads, some snakes – not widely used it seems

Neck Collars and Related Bands

Web/Flipper Markers

Leg Bands

Body Tags and Related Techniques - read

- turtles – tags fastened through holes drilled in carapace

Tapes, Streamers, and Bells

Trailing Devices

- turtles –attach spool of thread on their backs and trace movements

Dyes and Paints

Internal Markers

Stains

Particle Markers

Radioactive Markers

Transponders

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