Authors

Julia M. Hazel

Document Type

Honors Project

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Hensley

Degree Award Date

Spring 2003

Keywords

Home Ranges, White-footed Mice, Peromyscus leucopus, Live Trapping, Mark and Release Methodology

Disciplines

Animal Sciences | Biology | Laboratory and Basic Science Research

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment is two-fold : primarily to gain experience designing and conducting a field experiment involving the handling of live specimens, and secondly to determine if a difference exists between the home ranges of male and female white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). A trapping grid was set up in a Bridgewater woodlot, consisting of the proper habitat for P. leucopus. Thirty traps were set and then checked daily over a two-week period. However, no mice were caught leading to the suspicion of a major limiting predator acting on the mouse population. Spot trapping was also conducted in a Northern Virginia woodlot, using the same traps and methods, except on a smaller scale and shorter duration. Trapping was successful in this woodlot, causing a comparison of the two woodlots to be performed to determine the cause of the absence of mice in the primary woodlot.

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