Chapter 5 Threats
interbred with Red Wolves, jeopardizing efforts to reintroduce that species in eastern North Carolina (Bohling and Waits 2011) .
Like Coyotes, the Nine-banded Armadillo has spread throughout much of North America over the past 100 years. The range expansion is not likely due to climate change, but rather to how the lack of predators and land-use changes provide more open conditions. Their omnivorous feeding habits and fast reproduction also contribute to their spread. They compete with other ground-dwelling species, such as skunks and ground-nesting birds. Armadillos can also carry the bacteria that cause leprosy. Feral Swine can significantly impact plant communities and wildlife habitat because they root through the ground’s surface in search of food. Feral Swine destroy agricultural crops and other property and pose a substantial disease risk for both domestic swine and other wildlife. Pets are exotic predators in the environment, and when allowed to roam freely, they can significantly reduce small animal populations, especially birds, amphibians, and reptiles, by disrupting nesting and reproduction behavior or by killing wildlife. Dogs allowed to run off-leash impact disturbance-sensitive species such as ground-nesting birds and small mammals and are subject to conflicts and injury from interaction with wild animals. Cats are exotic predators and efficient killers that prey on wild animals. Even well-fed cats will kill small mammals, insects, birds, amphibians, and reptiles—some of which may be species of conservation concern. Exposure to rabies and distemper is a health threat to both dogs and cats when vaccinations are not kept up to date and the animals are allowed to roam freely outside. Support of feral cat colonies should be discouraged, because the number of cats can significantly multiply and impact local wildlife populations. Educating pet owners about the importance of keeping their domesticated animals on a leash or within a fenced yard, or in the case of house cats, keeping them inside to help minimize impacts to wildlife is an ongoing need. Invasive plants can alter the quality of breeding habitat for some species, such as songbirds, by impacting important demographic traits. For example, the loss of habitat can interfere with migratory patterns of species such as birds and fish, which can have significant impacts to the age structure and dispersal of species that tend to return to their area of natal origin (philopatry) (Ortega et al. 2014) . A few research studies have found that animal behavior involving acoustic signals (e.g., birdsong) can be impacted when wildlife abundance is reduced due to habitat degradation (Laiolo and Tella 2005, 2007; Laiolo et al. 2008; Barber et al. 2010; Ortega et al. 2014) . Some changes that may be subtle but will have long-term implications to local populations include increased song similarity and reduced song diversity that result from declines in the number of song models available for juveniles to learn (Laiolo and Tella 2005, 2007; Laiolo et al. 2008; Briefer et al. 2010; Ortega et al. 2014) . Single introductions of an invasive species may result in limited genetic variation to an invasive population, whereas multiple introductions of the species may result in an increase in genetic diversity and contribute to its success as an invasive species (Lucardi et al. 2014) . It is also widely
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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