(Lander, Wyo.) – Nongame wildlife surveys continue at Chain Lakes Wildlife Habitat Management Area (WHMA) on the west side of the Wind River Range. Nongame Biologist Anika Mahoney and Technician Frank Stetler have begun small mammal trapping and are targeting their search on two Species of Greatest Conservation Need, the olive-backed pocket mouse and the sagebrush vole, that are predicted to occur within the WHMA. Did they find them?
To increase the chances of capturing these rare species, the Lander Region of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is using information from recent research from University of Wyoming graduate student Kristina Harkins. She documented increased trapping success for the elusive pocket mouse using an uncommon trap and bait combination- a mesh-sided Havahart trap baited with birdseed. The granivorous pocket mouse seems to prefer bird seed to more commonly used baits, such as peanut butter and oats.
The first week of trapping in salt desert shrub habitat at Chain Lakes was a great success, resulting in 12 captures of olive-backed pocket mouse , and one capture of sagebrush vole, according to the Lander Region’s latest newsletter. Four additional and equally fascinating species were also captured: Ord’s kangaroo rat (Wyoming’s only kangaroo rat), the fierce northern grasshopper mouse (a primarily carnivorous mouse known to kill and eat animals larger than themselves, including other mice, and which ‘howl’ in territorial defense), the North American deer mouse (our most common mouse), and the strikingly patterned thirteen-lined ground squirrel.
In the coming weeks, trapping efforts will be focused in other dominant habitats within the WHMA, including sagebrush steppe and the unique riparian/dune/playa habitat surrounding the Chain Lakes.