II. Tracking and Trapping Reptiles and Amphibians

A. Searching 1. For Amphibians and Reptiles nothing works better than plain old leg work. a. Walking, flipping logs and rocks, looking in holes and hollow trees, etc. 2. Dip netting can work well for Amphibians a. Randomly scoop water and muck from the banks

3. Sound is another good species indicator.

B. Trapping 1. Several types of live traps can be made to capture Reptiles and Amphibians. a. Cover boards are boards place in the field to provide shelter for animals. 1. Lift to check periodically

b. Pitfall traps are holes with a glass, plastic, or metal jar in them. 1. Animal falls in and can’t climb smooth sides 2. Should be placed on trails 3. Partially cover the hole to protect the organism

c. Funnel traps are cone shaped openings leading to a containment area. 1. Animal finds way in but has difficulty finding way out.

c. Drift fences are similar to pitfall traps 1. Fabric fences are placed in the field along trails. 2. Animals follow fence-line and fall into large buried buckets on edges

C.Non-identifiers 1. Sheds can indicate the presence of a Reptile but hard to tell species. 2. Frogs can be detected through “plop counts” a. Walk banks and listen for frogs jumping into water. b. Record plops per distance