David A Eads

Flea abundance and body condition data for black-tailed prairie dogs on sites treated and not treated with “FipBit” fipronil pellets, South Dakota, 2018-2020

Flea abundance and body condition data for black-tailed prairie dogs on sites treated and not treated with “FipBit” fipronil pellets. We sampled prairie dogs at Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and Badlands National Park, South Dakota, USA. We sampled fleas from live-trapped prairie dogs during June–October 2018, May–October 2019, and July-August 2020. Prairie dogs were sampled before and after FipBit treatments. We anesthetized each prairie dog with isoflurane and combed it thoroughly for 30 seconds to dislodge fleas, which fell into a plastic bin. Fleas were counted and allowed to recover from anesthesia and placed back on prairie dogs, to minimize any removal effect. We weighed prairie dogs with...

Categories: Data; Tags: Cynomys, Ecology, Environmental Health, Flea, Plague, All tags... Prairie dog, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Disease, Yersinia pestis, biota, disease vectors, Fewer tags

Data on Utah prairie dog body condition and reproductive success, Awapa Plateau, Utah, USA, 2013-2016

Data on body condition and reproduction of Utah prairie dogs at 5 colonies on the Awapa Plateau, Utah, USA, June-August 2013-2016. Utah prairie dogs were live-trapped and sampled on 5 colonies. We recorded the age (juvenile/adult) and mass (nearest 5 grams) of each prairie dog and marked its ears and body with metal tags and passive integrated transponders, respectively, for permanent identification. We measured each prairie dog's right hind foot length (nearest millimeter). We indexed each adult prairie dog's body condition as the ratio between its mass and hind-foot length. Prairie dogs were allowed to recover from anesthesia and released at their trapping locations. We indexed prairie dog reproduction, by colony...

Categories: Data; Tags: Cynomys, Ecology, Prairie dog, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Utah, All tags... Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Disease, biota, capturing (animals), population dynamics, Fewer tags

Data on the effects of deltamethrin and fipronil on black-tailed prairie dog ectoparasites, South Dakota, USA, 2018–2019

Data were collected to investigate effects of deltamethrin and fipronil on ectoparasites from black-tailed prairie dogs in South Dakota, USA. In late-July 2018, we treated 3 sites with 0.05% deltamethrin dust and 5 sites with host-fed 0.005% fipronil grain. Three non-treated sites functioned as experimental baselines. We collected ectoparasites before treatments (June-July 2018) and after treatments (August-October 2018, June-July 2019). We combed ectoparasites from live-trapped, anesthetized prairie dogs. Trapping on treated and non-treated sites occurred simultaneously or nearly simultaneously in each year. Detected ectoparasites were counted and placed back on the prairie dogs from which they were collected to...

Categories: Data; Tags: Cynomys, Flea, Louse, Mite, Plague, All tags... Prairie dog, South Dakota, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), United States, Yersinia pestis, biota, Fewer tags

Data on flea control using fipronil grain bait with black-tailed prairie dogs at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2020-2021

We collected fleas from colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2020-2021. Specifically, we tested fipronil grain for flea control on two colonies: Colony A in 2020 and Colony B in 2021. To assess on-host flea numbers (in 2020 and 2021), we anesthetized trapped prairie dogs (and their fleas) with isoflurane in induction chambers for processing. We combed each individual with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We released all animals, after they were recovered from anesthesia, at the location where they were captured. To assess off-host flea numbers (in 2021), we used a plumber’s cable to insert a 20- by 20-centimeter flannel-cloth as deep as possible...

Categories: Data; Tags: Badlands National Park, Cynomys ludovicianus, Ecology, Fipronil, Flea, All tags... Plague, South Dakota, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Disease, biota, ecology, Fewer tags

Data on flea control using FipBit fipronil bait pellets with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2020-2021

We live-trapped black-tailed prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, 2020-2021. We anesthetized trapped animals (and their fleas) with isoflurane in induction chambers for processing. We combed each individual with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. The total flea count from an individual prairie dog was considered an index of flea abundance. We released all animals, after they were recovered from anesthesia, at the location where they were captured. Data were collected on sites treated with fipronil "FipBit" bait pellets for systemic flea control with prairie dogs. Sites were treated with FipBits containing 0.68, 0.71, or 0.83 milligrams of fipronil per FipBit. The...

Categories: Data; Tags: Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Cynomys ludovicianus, Ecology, Fipronil, Flea, All tags... Plague, South Dakota, USGS Science Data Catalog (SDC), Wildlife Biology, Wildlife Disease, biota, ecology, Fewer tags