Results
In the fall of 1999 Discovery Club members set 133 small Sherman traps on seven sites on six different weeks. Fourteen animals were trapped and released. |
 X-Ray Shrew |
First Trap Day:15-Oct-99
Last Trap Day: 19-Nov-00
Last Trap Day: 19-Nov-00
Because this was our first year, we started monitoring past the time of peak small mammal activity. Next year we hope to start at the begining of September.
Site Summary
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Site Name Key
BR = Broome Grass CR = Reed Canary Grass PR-L = Prairie Grass Long PR-S = Prairie Grass Short PRDP = Punk Racer Duck Pond SD = Sedges SF = Cup Flower | Map of Marsh |
Catch Summary
This table shows the data we collected in our small mammal monitoring program in the fall of 1999. The table lists the animals in the chronological order that they were caught. ST-shrew is short for the Short-tailed shrew, MV is short for meadow vole. We had no animals that were trapped twice. Notice that the Reed Carnary Grass was the only site where we failed to trap any animals.
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Our first experiment demostrated how important it is to let the animals acclimate to the traps. We baited 24 unset traps and checked them after 50 hours, 32 hours and 8 hours and noted how many had missing bait. You can see that the longer we keep the traps out the more bait is taken. From this result we decided to bait our unset traps on Wednesday morning, rebait and set on Friday morning and then check for animals on Friday afternoon. We avoided setting traps over night because of the problem with hypothermia. Because of their high metabolism, small mammals must eat constantly to keep warm.
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 | This graph shows how the number of successful trappings varies with the length of time given for acclimating. Out of 24 traps we set per day we rarey caught more than four animals.
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This graphs shows the results from our track tube studies. Notice that the lowest track density was found on the same site where we failed to trap any animals. This confirms our finding that the Reed Carnary Grass provides the poorest habitat for small mannamls at Patrick Marsh Wildlife Area.
For raw data in Excel format click here
For raw data in Excel format click here
What we caught
Short tailed shrew or Blarina brevicauda
The short tailed shrew is found from northern Canada to central Nebraska and Georgia. They eat nearly three times their body weight each day, mostly worms and insects and plant material. This shrew stores beetles and snails for the winter. They are found any where there is enough vegetation for cover, but especially in bushy bogs and marshes.
Meadow Vole or Microtus pennsylvanicus
This is the most widespread vole. It ranges from Alaska to the Atlantic Coast and south as far as New Mexico and Georgia. The meadow vole eats fresh grass, sedges and herbs in the summer and grains and seeds in the winter. They do not show storage behavior. They are found in meadows, lowland fields, grassy marshes and along rivers and lakes.