Validation of a Noninvasive Technique for the Assessment of Physiological Stress in Coyotes (Canis latrans)

6 Introduction 7 Materials and Methods 12 Study Location 12 Study Animals 12 Sample Collections 13 Plasma and Fecal Hormone Extraction 14 Radioimmunoassays 15 Calculations 17 Plasma Sample Statistics 18 Fecal Sample Statistics 18 Results 19 Plasma Cortisol 19 Fecal Cortisol Metabolite 20 Fecal Corticosterone Metabolite 21 viii Discussion 23 Literature Cited 26 3. DEGRADATION OF GLUCOCORTICOID METABOLITES IN COYOTE SCATS: IMPLICATIONS FOR FIELD STUDIES 48 Abstract 48 Introduction 49 Materials and Methods 52 48 Introduction 49 Materials and Methods 52 Sample Collection 53 Hormone Extraction 53 Radioimmunoassays 54 Calculations and Statistics 56 Results 57 Cortisol 57 Corticosterone 58 Discussion 60 Literature Cited 63 4. CONCLUSIONS 74 Literature Cited 77