Trapping results:

Again, you have amazed me with your intelligence! I am going to recommend that Earthwatch starts bringing students here, not teachers!

You are absolutely right about the traps. We put the seeds and apple into the trap so the mouse or vole will smell the food and go into the trap. Then, as it walks into the tunnel to get to the food it steps on the lever and when it does that, the door closes behind it. Don't worry, this does not hurt them at all, and they have free food and soft straw to sleep in until I come and find him or her (we check our traps twice a day).

You were also right about voles. A vole is a mammal that looks very similar to the mouse. The differences are that a vole has a much shorter tail, smaller ears, and a bigger body.

Watch the next two videos for the results of our first day of trapping.



Do you think that I found any? Watch this next video to find out.



I actually had a very exciting day and ended up catching 3 different voles today (one I caught twice). I caught 2 girls (they were both pregnant) and one boy. My whole team caught a total of 11 voles (none of us caught mice).

When we catch the mice and voles we empty the trap into a plastic bag. Then we determine whether it is a boy or a girl, weigh it, and clip a little bit of it's fur. The reason that we clip the fur is so we know if the same mouse or vole comes into our trap again. We record the results in a scientific journal and reset the trap.



Once we catch the voles (or mice) we take them back to the exact place that we trapped them and release them into the wild. The reason that we do this is because they are territorial. Do you know what that means?



I have gotten a few comments asking me about climate change and how my work here is helping us to learn about that and I am so excited that you are thinking ahead. I am going to start talking about that soon but before I did I wanted to make sure you know exactly what I was doing then we can all work together from there.

Oh, and I saw the owl again but I was not quick enough to take a video or picture. I will keep trying though! I am also hoping to see other cool animals like a bear or a seal. Also, Ms. Baker's Class, I have seen many insects. Are there any that you are very interested in? Maybe I could take a picture for you.