The impact of attractants on pocket gopher trapping
Pocket?gophers?(Geomyidae)?have?an?extensive?impact?on?both?natural?and?agricultural?systems.?Trapping?is?a?tech-?nique?often?used?to?sample?and?manage?these?populations.?The?identification?of?an?attractant?that?increases?capture?rates?of?pocket?gophers?would?greatly?assist?researchers?and?pest?management?professionals?alike.?Therefore,?we?tested?the?attractiveness?of?four?attractants?(peanut?butter,?anise,?grapefruit?attractant,?and?carrot)?plus?a?control?(no?attractant)?using?uncovered?and?covered?trap?sets?to?determine?what?impact?they?have?on?visitation?and?capture?rates?of?pocket?gophers.?We?also?determined?how?the?impact?of?cover?status?and?attractants?differ?across?varying?weights?and?gender?of?pocket?gophers.?We?found?no?direct?effect?of?any?attracrant?on?visitation?and?capture?rates?of?pocket?gophers,?nor?on?the?gender?of?captured?individuals.?However,?when?no?attractant?was?used,?the?mtmber?of?pocket?gophers?captured?per?100?trap?nights?was?greater?when?trap?sets?were?uncovered?vs.?when?covered,?and?capture?rates?were?generally?high?and?consistent?when?using?peanut?butter?as?an?attractant.?Additionally,?we?noted?that?covered?trap?sets?that?were?baited?with?peanut?butter?yielded?heavier?pocket?gopher?captures?than?uncovered?trap?sets?using?this?same?attractant.?This?is?key,?given?the?difficulty?associated?with?capturing?older,?more?experienced?individuals.?Combined?with?data?from?a?previous?investigation,?this?suggests?that?there?is?no?advantage?to?using?any?attractant?when?utilizing?uncovered?trap?sets,?but?there?is?likely?some?benefit?to?using?peanut?butter?in?covered?trap?sets?[Current?Zoology?60?(4):?472-478,?2014].
Roger A. BALDWIN,Ryan MEINERZ,Steve B. ORLOFF - 动物学报(英文版)
文章来源： 万方数据
