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Survey tips

AggieTiff

AggieTiff

Cornstar
I'm a studend at Texas A&M, and I'm currently helping a friend of mine conduct a species survey for his herp class. We currently have about 20 traps set up at a range site, and tonight is the first night that we'll be going out in the dark to check traps and see what we can find. I was just curious if anyone had any tips for the best times to look or any other advice that might make this survey even more effective.
 
No snakes, but...

We did find an alligator that lives out there around the pond, as well as an endless supply of ground skinks. There were also cricket frogs, bull frogs, and a narrow mouth toad, all of which are pretty common around here.
 
I would think the best time for "trapping" snakes would be to leave the trap set up from afternoon until afternoon the next day. Many species are not only nocturnal but also come out in the morning and evening hours.

bmm
 
That is what we did, only we had them out there for more than just a day at a time. We have had them out there for the last three weeks straight, and would go out there daily to check them and look around as well. This was just the first time that we were going out at night to see what we could find.
 
The ones we used...

were made of a metal screen that is rolled into the shape of a cylinder. They are inverted on the ends and form a funnel. The snake, lizard or whatever that decides to crawl in there does so and then cannot escape. I am not sure however on a website...these at least are pretty simple to operate.
 

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or another trap design that has been seen to work in many cartoons... it's very simple... snake goes for the bait, you pull the string, the box falls.... although with this design you do need more patients... or just very long string
 

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Filovirus,

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" - Chris Farley in Tommy Boy

Also, make sure that the trapper is not under the box when the string is pulled. I saw that once in a cartoon.

AggieTiff,

Any idea where you can purchase those fancy traps or how much they cost?
 
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Hmmmm....

We borrowed these traps from the university...I'm not too sure where you'd be able to buy them at. You could probably call any public university that has a wildlife program and ask someone there (a professor of herpetology, for ex). That would be my best suggestion. There are other different kinds of traps as well besides this design, so that is something you could inquire about too. :)
 
Cav,
Those traps in the pic's look just like a minnow trap. Used for catching fishing bait. You should check your local bait and tackle store, or some online sporting good stores. I bet you can find them pretty cheap, and I know they have all different sizes.

Hope that Helps...

Ken
 
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