Trapping

Traps are designed to catch animals for a variety of purposes (food, removing nuisance animals, transplanting, research, etc.) If traps are set they should be checked regularly either within hours or at least daily. In order to successfully trap an animal their natural behavior should be known.

Types of Traps Exterminating Arresting Confining Glue/Poison

Exterminating Traps These traps kill the animal and usually work quickly. Many are known as Victor traps. They are used to control pest. They include snap traps, conibear traps, and snares.

Snap Traps

Victor Gopher Trap

Victor Mole Trap (Harpoon trap)

Victor Mole Trap (Scissor trap)

Conibear Trap

Arresting Trap Keeps the animal in place. These traps typically do not hurt or kill the animal. Most mortalities are caused by stress. These include mist nets, cannon nets, snares, and steel leg hold traps.

Mist Nets

Leg-hold Trap (Long Spring)

Leg-hold Trap (Coil Spring)

Confining Traps Captures the animal in an enclosed area. These traps typically need to be baited. These include Sherman box traps and Havahart traps. Both of these are for small mammals. Culvert traps are used to catch bears.

Cage Trap

Sherman Traps

Hancock Suitcase Beaver Trap (Bailey Suitcase Trap)

Culvert Trap

Harp Trap

Glue Traps & Poison Traps Glue and poison traps are hazardous b/c they are non target. Pets can accidentally get injured with both these traps. Glue traps should not be used b/c they are inhumane. They immobilize an animal which can not be removed from the tray.

Sampling – population estimate technique where only a few individuals are caught and data is applied to the entire population. Mark – Recapture is a sampling technique where a sample is taken, individuals are then marked and released, and another sample is taken within a short period of time.

Purposes Biologists use trapping to: conduct population surveys assess species richness attach tracking devices do health checks on specific individuals.

Assumptions of Mark - Recapture 1. Animals are not trap happy 2. Animals are not trap shy They all have the same chance of getting caught every time Marks are not lost Animals do not die or leave the area

Bergman’s Rule Principle applied to warm-blooded animals stating that within a species body size increases as latitude increases. This is b/c larger animals have a lower ratio of volume to surface area. Surface area is where heat is lost, so larger animals lose less heat than smaller animals.

Allen’s Rule This principle is also based on heat loss from surface area. This principle states that appendage length decreases as latitude increases. Legs and ears get shorter as the climate gets colder.