Mesocarnivore habitat use data in the Central Platte Valley, Nebraska, USA, using scent-baited motion-censored camera traps: comparing use of prairie-meadow edges to interiors

Baited camera traps were deployed through systematic and strategic sampling efforts to gather data on mesocarnivore use of meadow-prairie edge verse interior habitats as well as to gather information on the mesocarnivore community present within conservation properties in the CPRV, Nebraska. The database is presented as three Microsoft Excel documents. Page 1 entitled “Site Description & Sample Effort” describes all sampling sites providing: camera ID, the sampling method (transect vs. incidental), latitude and longitude, deployment dates for each site/camera (Date Start/Date End), a general habitat description (e.g.- Wet Meadow, Cottonwood Savanna, etc.) with notes describing the rationales for incidental camera placements (e.g.- Vulpes vulpes sign), whether the trap was baited or not (e.g.- Yes/No), and data notes on why data is missing or why some sites were discontinued (e.g.- Camera stolen, etc.). Page 2 contains the “Full Database” which again includes the Camera ID in addition to: whether the camera trapping site represents an edge (1), transitional (2), or interior habitat (3), the central standard time of the first photo documenting a mesocarnivore detection (e.g.- 1:37:00 AM), the moon phase at that time (e.g.- full moon, etc.), the species detected using scientific nomenclature (e.g.- Canis latrans), the number of individual animals of a particular species discernable from that series of photos (No. Individuals), the number of images taken during a series of motion censored photos, whether the photos demonstrated the mesocarnivore(s) interacting with our baiting station (Bait Interaction, 1 = yes, 0 =no), and a narrative description of the species’ behavior from the photo series. Finally, in page 3 of the Microsoft Excel document the metadata for the first two datasets is presented.