Longworth Traps - Day 2
Today was the second day on the Longworth traps. Some of you did a fine job solving my math problem from yesterday! Congratulations Bug and Smiley! Here's a breakdown of my notes from yesterday:
A hectare is a quadrat of land 100m x 100m (that means 100 meters wide and 100 meters long or a square piece of land with congruent sides 100 meters long), roughly 2.4 acres. There are 11 people in five groups (A-E). Each group spaced themselves equidistant along one 100 meter side of the grid. 100 divided by 5 groups means we were about 20 meters apart. The groups then walked parallel lines - what scientists call a transect - down the 100 meters length of the grid. As the groups walked they tried to stay lined up as they walked through the thick woods of the quadrat. Because each team built and loaded 20 traps and were leaving 2 traps at each stop they knew they'd need to make 10 stops. 20 divided by 2 = 10; 100 meters divided by 10 = 10 meters.
Today my team and I (Team B) checked the 2 traps at each of those 10 locations on my team's 100 meter transect. We were excited to see that two of those 20 traps doors were closed! Can you see on my note pages I uploaded where I entered that data? How many traps were investigated today for possible mammal captures? This is what science in the field looks like. Kind of looks like what you all do everyday in science, doesn't it?
Take a look at my pages and interpret my table of data. What is it telling you? What questions do you hav
e of me that I could possibly answer tomorrow?
I know that a lot of you are asking questions that I have not had a chance to answer yet. There is so much happening here and I am learning so much every day that it is hard for me to keep up. Have patience and please think of this when posting your I-I comments: focus your I-I on the posting you are commenting on. If you are asking questions that do not go with the subject of my posting I am not going to be able to address your inquiry right away!
p.s. I hope and expect to have a little mammal in my trap tomorrow and should have some video to share with you of me taking it out and measuring it. Until then, check out this YouTube link to see an explanation of what you will hopefully see me do soon. The person in the video is one of our primary investigating scientists Dr. Buesching. Scruffing a Vole
posted by Mr. Gasteazoro @ 4:30 PM
9 Comments:
I found some signs that a Beaver was there. They will help you find the Beaver.Beaver scat is made up entirely of wood chips. The oval pellets are 1 to 1 1/4 inches in length and 3/4 of an inch in diameter. They would most likely be found in route to or near Beaver chews if found at all since Beavers spend the majority of their time in water(from http://www.northwoodsguides.com/animal_scat_notes.htm#Beaver)
Beaver ~ A beavers tail may reach up to16 inches in length and 4 to 5 inches in width. Contrary to popular belief Beavers do not use their tails as shovels in building their dams. Their tail is used as a brace to help support them as they stand to gnaw a the base of trees. Known for their dam building abilities Beavers are found almost anywhere there is water with an abundance of Poplar or other deciduous softwoods nearby. Beavers are herbivores and do not eat fish as some people tend to believe. They form colonies consisting of the male, female and their offspring.Their lodge, which which is made from branches, sticks and mud serves as their den. The den is cone shaped usually a short distance from the shoreline. An underwater entrance leads above the water line to a dry sleeping area. The den area may be lined with leaves and grasses.Beavers mate for life usually from January through March with the female giving birth three and one half to four months later to 2-8 young called kits. The young remain with their parents until about 2 years of age at which time they will be forced out of the family group and relocate to another body of water. A Beaver may live up to 16 years of age in the wild, they will relocate often to another waterway as the wood supply for food is diminished. Beavers store branches and twigs underwater in a food cache near their lodge for food to be used during the long winter months. Just before sunset is the best time to witness Beavers checking their dams and patrolling their ponds. When alarmed a Beaver will slap it's tail sharply on the water surface to alarm others in the colony of nearby danger(from the same site).
Mrs. Styx and I were looking at your field data sheet and we were wondering what the "T" column means. We think the "T" column measures the length of time it takes the mouse or vole to leave the trap. Could you explain the "T" column?
how can you tell a male from female and how do you tell if a female is pregnet
We found out that voles are nocturnal in the spring-fall but in the winter they come out in the morning and night. We also found out that white-footed mice/deer mice are nocturnal all year around. Since Nova Scotia is transitioning from winter to spring voles will probably be out in the morning and night that is why we found equal captures in the A.M and P.M. Most of the day catches will probably be voles and most of your nighttime catches will be mice because the voles will be tired from the day. We found out some of the mouses diet that includes berries, nuts, seeds and insects. We were wondering what is the voles diet? We thought you could investigate this in Nova Scotia.
In your Longworth Trap video you said that there is an escape hole for shrews. And we wondered why you didn't want to capture them. So we did a little research and found out that there are three types of shrew in Minnesota that you might encounter as well. They are the pygmy shrew, the short tailed shrew and the masked shrew. We are wondering could you measure the hole in the back of the trap so we can figure out what types of shrew might be able to escape. We are still working on figuring out why you don't want the shrew. Can you give us any more hints?
I've been researching about the predators of the voles. I found a website with Ms. Styx, but it wasn't one that had so much about the predators of voles.
Can you tell me the predators of the voles?
More from me later!
Great day of comments! Very impressive - this is making me very excited for tomorrow's video-conference.
I'll do my best to answer a few of your inquiries:
1. Can you tell me the predators of the voles?
Voles are low on the food chain so they have several predators. BOPs (Birds of Prey) love them but because they live in thick underbrush they can avoid those predators. Another predator is the coyote which can find them easily.
2. We are still working on figuring out why you don't want the shrew.
The shrew is "unwanted" but the shrew hole is built in because the shrew is so small they must constantly forage and eat all day long to maintain their energy and body heat for survival. If we are only checking the traps twice per day the shrew would likely die. They are able to make there way through the hay and leaves/pine needles that is packed in the trap and out the door.
3. We were wondering what is the voles diet?
Another good question. Voles have a similar but not identical diet to the mouse. Mice will eat insects or just about anything they encounter if they are hungry enough but voles are strict vegetarians. Seeds, grains, grasses, etc.
4. MarG, nice topical comment because we go investigating and observing beaver habitat tonight! I'm very excited and hope to have some awesome footage for you all tomorrow!
I saw in your notes the differences between the mice and voles, but I thought in the previous video you were setting the traps specifically for the mice. I'm wondering if the voles will help determine climate change too or just the mice. I also was still wondering why you aren't interested in the shrews. Finally, based on what I could tell from you notes you only checked two traps today. I'm wondering if you'll check two different ones tomorrow and if you reset the traps you checked today?
Stevo and I (Ry Ry) were wondering why it is called the Longworth trap so we did some research. We found out that the Longworth traps have been around since the 1930s. This information tells us that this type of trap has been around for a long time and probably working very well. We are still wondering if you and your team have used any other different types of traps to catch rodents?
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