Seed moisture has been shown to influence the rates of seed cache removal by rodents. Although the precise mechanism is not known, this knowledge might prove useful in field applications. We examined whether moistened bait would increase trap success in desert rodent populations. We placed traps 15 m apart in grids within a 500-ha study area and randomly baited traps with either dry or moistened seeds. We found that traps baited with moistened seeds had 34.9% higher success than traps baited with dry seeds (n = 190, χ2 = 5.389, df = 1, P = 0.020). Our results suggest that application of water to dry seed bait can lead to increased trap success for desert rodents.
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1 December 2007
MOISTENED SEEDS INCREASE RODENT TRAP SUCCESS
John C. Tull,
Michael W. Sears
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Western North American Naturalist
Vol. 67 • No. 4
December 2007
Vol. 67 • No. 4
December 2007
bait
Heteromyidae
live-trap
rodent
seed moisture
small mammal
trap success