{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,29]],"date-time":"2026-07-29T22:56:36Z","timestamp":1785365796545,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725840000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["scijournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Pest Management Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Globally, human\u2013wildlife conflicts continue to increase, owing to human population growth and expansion. Many of these conflicts concern the impacts of invasive non\u2010native species. In the UK, the invasive, non\u2010native grey squirrel <jats:italic>Sciurus carolinensis<\/jats:italic> negatively affects tree health and has caused the decline of the native red squirrel <jats:italic>Sciurus vulgaris<\/jats:italic>. Oral contraceptives are being developed to manage the impacts of the grey squirrel. To be effective, contraceptives will need to be deployed at a landscape scale, and will require a delivery system that is practical and economically viable. Understanding grey squirrel feeding behaviour is important so that delivery methods can be designed so that a sufficient number of\u00a0target individuals receive an effective contraceptive dose at a time of year that will ensure their infertility throughout peak times of breeding. The main aims of this study were to assess how sex, season, squirrel density and bait point density influenced; (1) the probability of a squirrel visiting a feeder and (2) the amount of bait consumed from feeders. Field trials were conducted on six woodland populations of squirrels in three seasons, with four days of bait deployment via purpose\u2010designed squirrel\u2010specific bait hoppers with integrated PIT\u2010tag readers. It was possible to deliver multiple doses on most days to most male and female grey squirrels, with bait deployment more likely to be effective in spring, immediately before the second annual peak in squirrel breeding, followed by winter, immediately before the first peak in breeding. The results from this study could be used to design methods for delivering oral contraceptive baits to grey squirrels in the future and the methods used could be applied to other small mammal species and other bait delivery systems. \u00a9 2024 Crown copyright and The Author(s). <jats:italic>Pest Management Science<\/jats:italic> published by John Wiley &amp; Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. This article is published with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the King's Printer for Scotland.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/ps.8379","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T05:42:19Z","timestamp":1725860539000},"page":"5597-5607","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["An assessment of seasonal bait uptake by individual grey squirrels to develop a delivery system for oral contraceptives"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"80","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8300-8953","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarah E.","family":"Beatham","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Wildlife Management Centre, APHA  York UK"},{"name":"Conservation Ecology Group, Department of Biosciences Durham University  Durham UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philip A.","family":"Stephens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Conservation Ecology Group, Department of Biosciences Durham University  Durham UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dominic","family":"Goodwin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomotors Ltd. 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