Kangaroo Rats

I will do one quick entry.

In the words of my FEHA data sheets "Capture Method: Ground Hand-grab"

While in Canada I did a few kangaroo rat surveys. The Ord's Kangaroo Rat lives in southern Alberta in approximately three dune systems. This means the Ord's is VERY rare. On these three dunes, however, they can be seen hopping around pretty readily.

Since they are so rare, a major goal of the surveys is population monitoring. The general procedure when you go out "k-ratting" is to catch them, check for a PIT tag and put in a PIT tag if the rat is lacking one, (then check for parasites, take some measurements, take some pictures and have fun.) The PIT tag is a little chip under the skin that can be scanned in order to identify the rat. It functions more or less like a bird band, but with slightly flashier technology. From the rate of recaptures and a bit of a Bio101 background knowledge (which I will try to remember to write about later) it is possible to get a pretty good estimation of the total population of rats.

When I asked how you catch a kangaroo rat, I had a vision of a live trap or something in my head. The response was no, you just grab them. I didn't believe the k-ratters, but it's true. They just bounce around the dunes looking stunned to see you when you approach. From this observation I started to formulate theories as to why this is not the most successful species in Canada, but it appears that they only stand around stupidly for humans. When an owl approaches, the evasive maneuvers come out, and the kangaroo rats out perform nearly every time.

My new favorite mammal.