Effects of fipronil bait pellets on two cricetid species: Potential implications for plague mitigation and wildlife conservation.

Overview

Authors: David A. Eads^1,2, Marc R. Matchett³, Travis M. Livieri⁴, Richard A. Bowen⁵, Airn E. Hartwig⁵, Stephanie Porter⁵, Mary L. Wright⁶, Jason Fly⁷, Madisen Hartlaub⁴, Phillip Dobesh⁸, Paul Roghair⁷, Eddie Childers⁷, John P. Hughes⁶, Michelle L. Hladik⁹, Gregory P. Dooley¹⁰, Brian J. Smith¹¹, Rachel A. LaCasse¹¹, Kristy Bly¹², Dean E. Biggins^1,6

ORCID iDs: David A. Eads, Marc R. Matchett, Travis M. Livieri, Stephanie Porter, Eddie Childers, Michelle L. Hladik

Institutions: Fort Collins Science Center; United States Fish and Wildlife Service (United States); Colorado State University (United States); National Park Service (United States); Badlands National Park (United States); US Forest Service (United States); United States Geological Survey (United States); California Water Science Center; National Institutes of Health (United States); National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (United States); World Wildlife Fund (United States)

Journal: International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife, volume 30, article 101239

Dates: received 8 January 2026; accepted 19 May 2026; published online 22 May 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101239 · PMID 42255718 · PMCID PMC13235477 · OpenAlex W7162109406

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only

Categories: mouse (organism), other (organism), clinical / translational (subfield)

Methods: Statistics, Machine learning, Preprocessing, fMRI & imaging

Keywords: Cricetid, Fipronil, Flea, Mouse, Plague, Pulicide

Topic: Insect and Pesticide Research (Insect Science, Agricultural and Biological Sciences), according to OpenAlex

Funding: National Park Service; NPS; U.S. Forest Service

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 60 references in the paper

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of fipronil bait pellets on two cricetids that commonly occupy colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus; BTPDs): western deer mice (Peromyscus sonoriensis) and northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster). In one experiment, bait pellets (0.96 mg fipronil/bait) were applied at 75 baits/ha to three 1.44-ha plots on a BTPD colony. Mouse abundance declined by 70% from before to 6-10 d after treatment. In a second experiment, bait pellets (0.46 or 1.52 mg fipronil/bait) were applied at 125 baits/ha to four plots (0.85-1.86 ha) on two BTPD colonies; two non-treated plots were baselines (1.09 and 2.06 ha). From before to 11-15 d after treatment, mouse abundance declined by 51%- 67% on the treated plots vs. a decline of 9% on the non-treated plots. Mouse survival from before to 11-15 d after treatment was 51% lower on the treated plots. In a third experiment, bait pellets (0.84 mg fipronil/bait) were applied at 125 baits/acre on two 1.44-ha plots on a BTPD colony; two 1.44-ha non-treated plots were baselines. Mouse survival from before to 30-44 d after treatment was 45% lower on the treated plots; the abundance of deer mice on the treated plots remained similar from before to 30-44 d after treatment, perhaps due to juvenile recruitment and/or immigration. In a laboratory experiment, 33 deer mice offered one bait pellet (0.86 mg fipronil/bait) consumed 27% of their bait, on average (range = 0-100%). Over 3 d, deer mouse mortality was estimated at 53%; mortality increased with fipronil dose, which averaged 11 mg fipronil/kg body mass (range = 3-46 mg/kg). Brain samples were available from 31 deer mice; all tested positive for fipronil sulfone, the primary mammalian metabolite of fipronil, at 19 to 61,205 ng fipronil sulfone/g. Additional experiments could determine if these findings scale up to larger landscapes.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.

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Data

Datasets cited

figshare:31640755 — at figshare; found in the references

Versions

The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.

Version 2, 28 September 2026

Authors: added David A. Eads (0000-0002-4247-017X); Marc R. Matchett (0000-0002-4339-0542); Travis M. Livieri (0000-0001-9092-7499); Eddie Childers (0009-0006-9432-5595); Michelle L. Hladik (0000-0002-0891-2712); removed David A. Eads; Marc R. Matchett; Travis M. Livieri; Eddie Childers; Michelle L. Hladik

Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 19 authors, 6 keywords, 3 funders, 28 references.

Cite

This paper

Eads, D. A., Matchett, M. R., Livieri, T. M., Bowen, R. A., Hartwig, A. E., Porter, S., Wright, M. L., Fly, J., Hartlaub, M., Dobesh, P., Roghair, P., Childers, E., Hughes, J. P., Hladik, M. L., Dooley, G. P., Smith, B. J., LaCasse, R. A., Bly, K., & Biggins, D. E. (2026). Effects of fipronil bait pellets on two cricetid species: Potential implications for plague mitigation and wildlife conservation. International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife, 30, 101239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101239

BibTeX

@article{eads2026effects, author = {Eads, David A. and Matchett, Marc R. and Livieri, Travis M. and Bowen, Richard A. and Hartwig, Airn E. and Porter, Stephanie and Wright, Mary L. and Fly, Jason and Hartlaub, Madisen and Dobesh, Phillip and Roghair, Paul and Childers, Eddie and Hughes, John P. and Hladik, Michelle L. and Dooley, Gregory P. and Smith, Brian J. and LaCasse, Rachel A. and Bly, Kristy and Biggins, Dean E.}, title = {{Effects of fipronil bait pellets on two cricetid species: Potential implications for plague mitigation and wildlife conservation}}, journal = {International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife}, year = {2026}, month = may, volume = {30}, pages = {101239}, publisher = {Elsevier}, issn = {2213-2244}, doi = {10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101239}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101239}, pmid = {42255718}, pmcid = {PMC13235477} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Eads, David A. AU - Matchett, Marc R. AU - Livieri, Travis M. AU - Bowen, Richard A. AU - Hartwig, Airn E. AU - Porter, Stephanie AU - Wright, Mary L. AU - Fly, Jason AU - Hartlaub, Madisen AU - Dobesh, Phillip AU - Roghair, Paul AU - Childers, Eddie AU - Hughes, John P. AU - Hladik, Michelle L. AU - Dooley, Gregory P. AU - Smith, Brian J. AU - LaCasse, Rachel A. AU - Bly, Kristy AU - Biggins, Dean E. TI - Effects of fipronil bait pellets on two cricetid species: Potential implications for plague mitigation and wildlife conservation T2 - International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife J2 - Int J Parasitol Parasites Wildl PY - 2026 DA - 2026/05/22 VL - 30 SP - 101239 SN - 2213-2244 PB - Elsevier DO - 10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101239 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101239 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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