Wildlife Visitation on a Multi-Unit Educational Livestock Facility in Northwestern Georgia

Wildlife visitation of livestock facilities results in economic losses through feed consumption and a potential for disease transmission through fecal contamination of feeds and associated facilities. In order to assess wildlife visitation among livestock-management teaching units on a college campus, we monitored feeding and feed-storage areas via direct observations, live-trapping, and motion-detecting cameras. We also examined visitation patterns and fecal contamination and consumption of grain-based feed and hay. Nine species of wildlife visited the livestock units during the course of the study. Birds and Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer) were the most frequent visitors in less-enclosed facilities, and rodents, Didelphis virginiana (Virginia Opossum), and Procyon lotor (Raccoon) were mostly documented in more-enclosed facilities. Birds visited daily throughout the year, but documented visitations by Raccoons, Virginia Opossums, and White-tailed Deer occurred only during summer months. Marmota monax (Groundhog) were present each month except for January, February, and March. Of 827 feed samples examined, 16.8% were contaminated by wildlife feces, primarily from birds. Grain-based feed was consumed or removed more frequently than hay, and loss declined during the winter and increased in spring and summer.