I am working on population dynamics and reproductive ecology of a small desert marsupial (20-30g). This species is a bit difficult to mark. At present I am using ear knotching but I am looking for a more accurate way to do it. Do you have experience using this technology for small mammals?
I have used PIT tags on seasnakes, but not on small mammals. Reptiles are very resistant to infection and if they do, they usually survive and the wounds heal, even after a considerable amount of time, say several weeks. I would imagine that if you are working on small mammals in the wild and that you would release immediately post-tagging, the risk of infection and possibly also maggot-wounds would exist. So, I think, tagging with the least risk of post-release trauma would be preferable, especially if they are endangered species. Would you use temporary cages and see that the wound heals before release?
Thanks for your response Abdul,
In seasnakes, do you need to surgically implant those PIT tags ? I have read that for some mammal species the implantation procedure is simpler. The transponders are really small and they can be implanted subcutaneously with a syringe; I imagine that the wound would be very small and the risk of infection and post release trauma would be low with this procedure. However as I do not have experience with this I probably need to see first how the animals respond to this kind of tagging.
Biggest problem is, tht you may read tag from very close distance only. Or, maybe there are improvements in this kind of tools? If possible to reat PIT from 3-4 m, then count me in!
hello, I'm PIT tagging squirrels (~250-700g), I've only done 27 plus 10 recaptures but the recaptures are checked and there's no sign of entry damage/infection. One didn't read on recapture and we couldn't feel it (I'm anaesthetising them), however the behaviour of this individual was unusual and way outside 'expected' home range. I have had PIT readers made for this project where the aerials are around a baited hair tube to attract the animal. I'm having challenges with the power source as it's 24V and power hungry - 60Ah will last about 15ish days, even with a timer to switch off at night time. They seem to read only 5-7cm from the aerial - def not 3-4m!! And hello Linas from the GPS conversation!
yes, hello! I intended to use PIT tags to root vole - and realised, that even with paired reader I will spend days and weeks in 3-5 ha plots :(
So, waiting technical progress. However, your idea to pair reader with baited place is good - I may rethink design. just, what is price for 1 reader? still high?
yes, it is high, about £800, but that was for data logger and aerial, in this case the aerial was about £150 of the £800, so theoretically you could have different aerials for different circumstances (like me getting them made up onto the bait tubes) and reuse the data loggers... but there's also a lot of additional costs - I needed sealed batteries (to be able to transport on a quad in and out of wood) and deep discharge (as opposed to leisure batteries) so they were quite pricey (£120 each) then waterproof boxes, timer, connectors, chargers etc! If you wait a few weeks I can let you know if it works!!
Hello, great question, and one we am asking ourselves too.
I am particularly encouraged by the great work done at Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology. It appears their hurdle is one on attachments, which they solved nicely, but hey also managed to make the process inexpensive:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/RFID
Having feeders/bait stations/lures etc, appears to be the key here. Still investigating this avenue, but if anyone can see major flaws with this particular approach I'd appreciate hearing those.
Chris
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/RFID
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