hoytshooter4
02-21-2006, 09:54 AM
Hey all,
It's been quite a while since i have posted on here, mostly because i have since pulled up my trapline for the year. But now I am starting trapping up again-this time for rabbits. Before you start typing a response that reads something like "it is illegal to trap rabbits in MI" or something of the sorts let me explain. I'm a senior at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. Currently i am enrolled in a wildlife management class. As a project we are trying to determine how many eastern cottontails we have on campus and what types of cover they're utilizing.
Due to a recent boom in development on campus there has been a tremendous loss of flat, brushy areas that the rabbits like to hang out in--resulting in a sharp decline in their populations on campus. So far I've spent many hours in the library looking up journal articles on rabbit behavior/habitat/food sources etc. in order to type up a paper describing to the proffessor everything we can find out about the cottontails. Finally we get to the fun part--we just put out 5 live traps yesterday in hopes of catching some rabbits so we can fit them with a radio collar so we can determine what habitats they're using on campus.
I'll post pics in a later post hopefully along with some photos of some captures. I'm expecting we might catch some squirrels, coons, etc. along with some rabbits based on bait choice--but all other animals have to be released in accordance with the permit we obtained from the University to trap on campus. SORRY ABOUT THE LONG POST!! but yeah pics will be up soon hopefully we can get some results!!
It's been quite a while since i have posted on here, mostly because i have since pulled up my trapline for the year. But now I am starting trapping up again-this time for rabbits. Before you start typing a response that reads something like "it is illegal to trap rabbits in MI" or something of the sorts let me explain. I'm a senior at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI. Currently i am enrolled in a wildlife management class. As a project we are trying to determine how many eastern cottontails we have on campus and what types of cover they're utilizing.
Due to a recent boom in development on campus there has been a tremendous loss of flat, brushy areas that the rabbits like to hang out in--resulting in a sharp decline in their populations on campus. So far I've spent many hours in the library looking up journal articles on rabbit behavior/habitat/food sources etc. in order to type up a paper describing to the proffessor everything we can find out about the cottontails. Finally we get to the fun part--we just put out 5 live traps yesterday in hopes of catching some rabbits so we can fit them with a radio collar so we can determine what habitats they're using on campus.
I'll post pics in a later post hopefully along with some photos of some captures. I'm expecting we might catch some squirrels, coons, etc. along with some rabbits based on bait choice--but all other animals have to be released in accordance with the permit we obtained from the University to trap on campus. SORRY ABOUT THE LONG POST!! but yeah pics will be up soon hopefully we can get some results!!