Research

Home / Resources / Research

Participate in Research

Researchers are interested in studying wildlife and wildlife rehabilitation and they need our help. Click on one of the below studies to learn more and see what you can contribute!

Plains Spotted Skunk Distribution and Threats

Mange Trends in North America

Comparative Ocular Study

Plains Spotted Skunk Distribution and Threats

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is assessing if the plains spotted skunk should be federally protected. We would like to know if you have ever encountered plains spotted skunks in your rehabilitation work and, if so, why the animals were brought to you (e.g., car strike, dog attack, orphaned young), so that we can learn more about the distribution of the subspecies and the threats they face.

We are asking wildlife rehabilitators in Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, or Wyoming to share any of the following plains spotted skunk information that you may have to assist in this process:

1. County-level location from which plains spotted skunk patient(s) originated. This is the locality that the animal was found, not the address of the finder or the wildlife rehabilitator providing care.

2. Reason for admittance (e.g., hit by car, dog attack, orphaned young, canine distemper). 

3. Any condition notes related to the patient while in your care.

4. For patients that were released or relocated, county-level release location and year of release.

Submission instructions and complete Request for Information (includes images of the plains spotted skunk and similar species)

 

We are wildlife disease researchers looking to combine records from rehabilitation centers across the US and Canada of animals that have been treated for sarcoptic mange (mite Sarcoptes scabiei) to assess patterns in mange cases through space and time. Records of mammals that have not been affected by mange are also sought to act as a reference. We are hoping for records with information including: species, pick-up location, year, month, mange afflicted, mite identification information (if available), symptom descriptions, among others. Facilities/rehabbers with >2 years of records are of particular interest, as we hope to compare trends through time. Please feel free to contact Drs. Christopher Kozakiewicz and Alynn Martin at northamericamangeproject@gmail.com with questions or comments.

Comparative Ocular Study

The Comparative Ocular Pathology Laboratory of Wisconsin is looking for specimens for their research library. They are specifically looking for formalin – fixed heads of recently dead (no more than three hours) of the following:

  • Paddlefish eye

Please contact Dick Dubielzig at dubielzr@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu or visit http://www.vetmed.wisc.edu/pbs/dubielzig/pages/coplow/advice.html for more information.    

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.