Small Mammal Trapping at Fish Slough

Not knowing much about what small mammals are present in Fish Slough, I set out some Sherman live traps to see what I could get. It has been demonstrated that 84% of the species present in an area can be captured over the first three trap nights, but a fourth night only increases the estimate by 2%, so I left the traps out for three nights and two days. Since the weather isn't very hot during the day this time of year, I left the traps open during the days as well as nights. The traps were baited with peanut butter and oats and cotton balls were provided for bedding.

I ended up capturing 10 individuals of 4 species: Sorex vagrans (vagrant shrew, 2), Microtus montanus (montane vole, 1), Reithrodontomys megalotis (western harvest mouse, 3), and Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse, 4). Not a bad selection for the middle of winter! The shrews were a particular surprise, since they're not often captured in box-style traps.

Sherman trap	Sorex vagrans
Microtus montanus	Reithrodontomys megalotis
Peromyscus maniculatus	cute mousey face

Midwinter Bald Eagle Count

Today we helped cover some survey routes for the Midwinter Bald Eagle Count, a national effort currently coordinated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The 2 feet of snow along one of our three routes turned what we expected to be an easy drive into an unexpected 6-mile hike through the snow, but it beats sitting at a desk all day! We ended up seeing two striking adult bald eagles and one juvenile.

There's one! Adult bald eagle at Tinemaha Reservoir viewed through a spotting scope

cool rodent tracks in the snow