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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Relative Efficiency of Two Models of Ugglan Special Live-Traps for Capturing Small Rodents in Boreo-Nemoral Forest

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Live trapping is an invaluable and commonly used technique for studying small mammal populations. There are several types of commercially available live-traps, but some models have been shown to differ in terms of species-specific efficiency. Such differences could lead to biased results, and knowledge of such bias is important when comparing results of different studies. The Ugglan Special live-trap is one commonly used type, and it is available in several different models. I studied performance of the two most common models (No. 1 and No. 2) to find out whether they differ in terms of overall efficiency and body-mass-dependent efficiency, when trapping small rodents. I used 48 traps of each model in boreo-nemoral forest during three years, which amounted to 3456 trap nights, during which 268 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) (26%) and wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) (74%) were captured. There was no difference in body mass between the animals captured by the two trap models. Model No. 2, however, was more e...