In 1961, the Colorado Department of Fish, Game and Parks established a
permanent trapping grid in the area south of Far View Ruins (Fig. 1). The
grid was constructed and used by Mr. Harold R. Shepherd, Senior Game
Biologist, and his assistant, in the summers of 1961 and 1962, in a
study concerning the effect of rodents on browse plants used by deer.
The Department of Fish, Game and Parks allowed me to use the grid during
1963 and 1964, and also permitted me to use its Sherman live traps.
The grid is divided into 16 units, each with 28 stations (Fig. 2). Traps
at four stations (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) are operated in each unit at the same
time, with two traps being set at each station. The traps are moved each
day in a counter-clockwise rotation to the next block of four stations
(2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) within each unit. The stations are arranged so that on
any given night, traps in adjacent units are separated by at least 200
feet. As a result, animals are less inclined to become addicted to
traps, for even within one unit they must move at least 50 feet to be
caught on consecutive nights.
[Illustration: FIG. 2: Diagram of trapping grid for small mammals,
showing units of subdivision. Trapping stations were numbered
in each unit as shown in unit A.]
Traps were carefully shaded and a ball of kapok was placed in each trap
to provide protection against the killing temperatures that can develop
inside. In spite of these precautions, mice occasionally succumbed from
heat or cold. The traps were baited with coarsely-ground scratch feed.
Mammals trapped in the grid were inspected for molt, sexual maturity,
larvae of botflies, anomalies, and other pertinent data. Each animal was
marked by toe- and ear-clipping and then released. Four toes were used
on each front foot, and all five toes were used on each hind foot; two
toes were clipped on the right front foot to signify number nine. The
tip of the left ear was clipped to signify number 100, and the tip of
the right ear was clipped to signify 200. If 300 or more animals had
been captured, the tip of the tail would have been clipped to represent
number 300. A maximum of 799 animals could have been marked with this
system, which was used by Shepherd. I continued with it, starting my
listings with number one.
Only two mice were caught that had been marked in the previous season by
Shepherd.
Live traps were operated in the trapping grid from July 9 through
October 25, 1963, and from June 25 through August 21, 1964. Traps were
rotated through all stations five different times (35 days) in 1963, and
twice (14 days) in 1964. Approximately three man hours were required
each day to service and rotate the traps to the next group of stations.
By the autumn of 1964, a total of 282 mice had been captured, marked and
released; these were handled 817 times. In 1963, 235 mice were caught
for an average of 20 captures per day; in 1964, 47 mice were caught for
an average of 9 captures per day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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