It's trapping time!

Hey everyone!

The first day of trapping allowed me to learn quite a few things!  Being on the field with the scientists here has really showed me how things work in the research world.  Check out the photo on the left.  It's a tin box!  Ok, maybe a bit more than that.  It's actually a mouse trap.  We set up over a hundred in an area that has been used for monitoring mammal numbers since the 1980s!  We will get our results starting tomorrow.  We will be doing this until early Friday. The white footed mouse are the main focus of the trapping for our first leg of research.  They have some interesting characteristics which help set up our traps correctly.  So my next journal question comes in two parts.

Journal #2: 

First Part:  With the following information below, where (in general) would you put your traps to have the best chance of getting some of the mice?  Assume your setting is a lightly dense forest.

Characteristics:  The white footed mouse has a long tail, big ears and very little body fat.  This means it is very agile, has a very high level of hearing and uses most of its food to make heat energy so that it stays warm.  

Second Part:  Looking at the picture, why do you think the shape of the trap is the way it is?  There is a good reason for it!  Also, there is a small hole on the back of the trap.  Why is that?