Ectoparasites of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) in Germany and their health impact

Parasites & Vectors

Table 5 Results of the generalised linear models testing the influence of sampling month, sampling year, sex, age, weight and health status on the number of ticks and number of fleas infesting European hedgehogs.

Variables tested in GLM model	GLM Model A: ticks^a				GLM Model B: fleas^a
Variables tested in GLM model	Estimate	SE	Z	P	Estimate	SE	Z	P
Intercept	4.45	0.61	7.25	< 0.001*	5.37	0.56	9.60	< 0.001*
Sampling month (reference month: January)
February	0.11	0.52	0.21	0.834	-0.37	0.48	-0.77	0.440
March	− 0.56	0.51	− 1.11	0.268	0.22	0.46	0.48	0.635
April	− 0.20	0.45	− 0.45	0.653	− 0.99	0.41	− 2.39	0.017*
May	0.02	0.44	0.05	0.962	− 1.23	0.41	− 3.03	0.002*
June	− 0.52	0.48	− 1.08	0.282	− 0.91	0.44	− 2.08	0.038*
July	− 0.21	0.47	− 0.44	0.662	− 1.05	0.43	− 2.42	0.016*
August	− 0.39	0.50	− 0.77	0.441	− 1.13	0.46	− 2.46	0.014*
September	− 0.62	0.49	− 1.27	0.203	− 1.19	0.45	− 2.65	0.008*
October	− 1.46	0.48	− 3.06	0.002*	− 0.01	0.43	− 0.03	0.975
November	− 0.56	0.46	− 1.21	0.228	− 0.09	0.42	− 0.22	0.828
December	− 1.79	0.54	− 3.29	0.001*	0.07	0.49	0.13	0.894
Sampling year (reference year: 2018)
2019	− 0.32	0.28	− 1.15	0.251	− 0.26	0.25	− 1.05	0.295
2020	− 0.52	0.28	− 1.85	0.065	− 0.39	0.26	− 1.51	0.130
2021	− 0.70	0.39	− 1.78	0.074	− 0.54	0.36	− 1.49	0.137
Sex (reference: male)	− 0.08	0.15	− 0.54	0.591	− 0.25	0.14	− 1.78	0.075
Age (reference: subadult)	0.47	0.27	1.75	0.081	1.03	0.24	4.22	< 0.001*
Weight	0.00	0.00	− 1.12	0.262	0.00	< 0.01	− 1.97	0.049*
Health status (reference status: not impaired)
Moderately impaired	− 0.55	0.42	− 1.31	0.191	− 0.71	0.39	− 1.83	0.067
Severely impaired	− 0.43	0.43	− 0.99	0.324	− 0.47	0.39	− 1.18	0.237

GLM Generalised linear model, SE standard Error
*Statistically significant at P ≤ 0.05
^aBoth models were significantly different from a null model. Model A: Chi-square = 38.0, df = 19, P = 0.006. Model B: Chi-square = 68.6, df = 19, P < 0.001

ISSN: 1756-3305