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The effectiveness of decommissioning roadside mineral licks on reducing moose (Alces alces) activity near highways: implications for moose-vehicle collisions

Roadside mineral licks form when road salt used to de-ice highways in winter runs off road surfaces and accumulates in roadside ditches. Some ungulates are attracted to these roadside licks as they seek to satisfy their mineral requirements. Within the distribution of moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) in North America, motorists often encounter moose visiting roadside licks in mid-summer, with many jurisdictions reporting summer peaks in moose-vehicle collisions (MVCs) at these locations. Our research used camera traps to monitor moose visitation of 22 roadside locations (including roadside licks, roadside ponds, and dry roadsides) in central British Columbia, Canada from December 2009–July 2020, tested the efficacy of treatment (decommissioning) methods used to reduce moose visitation to roadside licks, and roughly estimated decommissioning costs. Moose visitation to roadside licks was greatest from May–July. As we hypothesized, untreated licks were visited more often by moose than decommissioned licks, roadside ponds (absent of road salt), and dry roadsides. Decommissioning roadside licks by replacing or mixing lick waters and soils with materials, such as riprap, cedar mulch, pine logs, or dog (Canis lupus familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758)) fur and human (Homo sapiens (Linnaeus, 1758)) hair, is an effective and inexpensive means of reducing moose visitations to roadside areas and should increase motorist safety where roadside licks are visited by moose.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

The effectiveness of decommissioning roadside mineral licks on reducing moose (<i>Alces alces</i>) activity near highways: implications for moose–vehicle collisions

Roadside mineral licks form when road salt used to de-ice highways in winter runs off road surfaces and accumulates in roadside ditches. Some ungulates are attracted to these roadside licks as they seek to satisfy their mineral requirements. Within the distribution of moose (Alces alces (Linnaeus, 1758)) in North America, motorists often encounter moose visiting roadside licks in mid-summer, with many jurisdictions reporting summer peaks in moose–vehicle collisions (MVCs) at these locations. We used camera traps to monitor the moose visitation of 22 roadside locations (including roadside licks, roadside ponds, and dry roadsides) in central British Columbia, Canada, from December 2009 to July 2020. We tested the efficacy of treatment (decommissioning) methods used to reduce moose visitation to roadside licks and roughly estimated decommissioning costs. Moose visitation to roadside licks was greatest from May to July. As we hypothesized, untreated licks were visited more often by moose than decommissioned licks, roadside ponds (absence of road salt), and dry roadsides. Decommissioning roadside licks by replacing or mixing lick waters and soils with materials, such as riprap, cedar mulch, pine logs, or dog (Canis lupus familiaris Linnaeus, 1758) fur and human (Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758) hair, is an effective and inexpensive means of reducing moose visitations to roadside areas and should increase motorist safety where roadside licks are visited by moose. </jats:p

Esophageal dysfunction in Friesian horses: morphological features

Megaesophagus appears to be more common in Friesian horses than in other breeds. A prevalence of approximately 2% was observed among Friesian horses presented to the Wolvega Equine Clinic and the Utrecht University Equine Clinic. In this study, morphologic changes in the esophagi of Friesian horses with megaesophagus were compared with those of 6 control horses. Of 18 horses with clinically observed megaesophagus, only 12 animals had esophageal dilation at necropsy, usually involving the thoracic portion. Muscular hypertrophy of the distal esophagus was present in only one-third of the affected horses, indicating that this change is not the most relevant cause of megaesophagus in Friesians. Increased deposition of clumped and disorganized collagen was present in these clinically affected horses mainly in the non-dilated portion of the esophagus. At necropsy, a decrease in neural elements and elastin was present principally in horses with megaesophagus. Mild degeneration and necrosis of the tunica muscularis along the entire length of the esophagus were present in clinically affected horses and encountered only rarely in control animals. There were no significant differences among affected and control horses with respect to inflammation, mineralization, or the number of cells of Cajal. The increased occurrence of megaesophagus in the Friesian breed compared with other horse breeds, together with the presence of abnormal collagen in very young foals, supports the hypothesis that megaesophagus is hereditary in Friesians