Hog Island VA Small-Mammal Trapping 1989-2020

This dataset contains information on long-term small mammal trapping on the Virginia Coast Reserve LTER. Four transects on Hog Island are included in the data, each of which was trapped at least twice each year, typically in the spring and autumn (note: Transect T2 was not trapped every year). Along each transect Sherman Live Traps were placed every 12.5 m along the transect, with an alternating offset of 2.5 m (to remove traps from the path running down the transect). This leaves a total inter-trap distance of 15 m. Traps were baited with peanut butter wrapped in waxed paper and were run sequentially for at least 3 nights in a row. Traps in areas that would experience tidal flooding were placed on styrofoam plastic platforms to provide flotation during high tides. Captured animals were individually tagged with numbered fingerling fish tags placed in the right ear, inspected for sex and sexual characteristics, weighed with a spring scale to the nearest gram and released at the point of capture.