We have to check the traps morning and evening every day, rain or shine, to make sure that no
animals are trapped for very long. We also take pains to cover the traps with grass so they don't get too hot and to include food for each type of animal that might find their way into the trap. So the traps contain hay for warmth and comfort (store-bought Timothy hay in fact), bird-seed for the mice, a slice of apple for water (since most small mammals get all their fluid from their food), and a little bit of raw hamburger for the insect eaters that might come in - like the short tail shrew which is too chubby to fit out of the "shrew escape hole" (shown above). The researchers used to use maggots, a favorite food of shrews, but apparently they were not the favorite of volunteers, so thankfully they switched to a more human-friendly food.
Today, when checking our traps, we all had quite a shock - ALL the traps that we had set near the edge of the woods had been busted open! I have this theory that the same chipmunk that we caught yesterday spent the night roaming the edge of the woods and raiding all the traps for food. I can only imagine the little critter, with his pack of other 'rebel chipmunks', strutting about the edge of the forest, intimidating the mice and voles, cracking their knuckles and laughing maniacally as they tore apart all the traps. One of them showing off his trimmed rump fur (which Chris has clipped so we could identify animals that had already been caught) with pride. Of course, I might be anthropomophizing here, but hey, it was quite the event!
And lo and behold, two traps were still intact, with the door flaps shut. When Christina and Alice opened them, we found not just one, but BOTH of them had chipmunks in them! The same little guy from yesterday, which I have now nick-named Kegi (after the National park that the team visits on Sunday), and a new one (obviously recruited from the 'hood).
We should call him Hegi.Kegi was much calmer than yesterday, and pretty much just took the weighing in stride. When we caught him (again) that evening, he seemed almost relaxed, just waiting to take off and tell his little chipmunk buddies about his adventures. And don't worry, he won't suffocate in that plastic bag, it's open at the top.
Searching for animal signs in quadrats 
We also spent time doing 10 meter by 10 meter quadrats in the woods, to look for deer droppings. As you might remember from our earlier experience in the meadows, where we didn't find any deer droppings, we were beginning to wonder whether there 
really were deer in the area. But our first quadrat yielded 10 droppings, which was very exciting. After that, however, we found fewer (perhaps because certain members of the team seemed predisposed to setting their 'random' quadrats in the middle of the most dense brush-covered swamps. I know I would not be hanging out in such an unfriendly place as that if I were a deer!). You can see from our headnets that the black flies were out on this day. They are only a problem in the early Spring - usually May - the rest of the teams this year will have many fewer bugs to contend with. But, then again, we revel in our toughness (and ability to look stylish in bug-nets)!
Transect clearing
Alice and I especially enjoyed today's afternoon task of clearing an abandoned 4-wheel drive track. With hand saws and clippers in hand we attacked the downed trees and young saplings that had overgrown the trail. Chris and
Christina hoped to make a trail that they can use to reach deeper into the forest to do transects and quadrats. In addition, having a relatively wide trail would allow observers to see animals over a longer distance than if one had to peek through the forest. It was hard work, but very rewarding as we could see the broad trail being formed behind us.
No comments:
Post a Comment