A two week study of the home range and habitat use of radio-tagged Singing Mice in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, staring 27 April 2016.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "A two week study of the home range and habitat use of radio-tagged Singing Mice in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, staring 27 April 2016."

Shavonne O’Connor’
5 years ago
Views:

1 A two week study of the home range and habitat use of radio-tagged Singing Mice in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, staring 27 April 2016.

2 Singing Mice (Scotinomys) are found in montane cloud forests of Central America. They weigh about 15 grams (1/2 ounce)

3 The study was carried out by Dave Ribble (right), and Galen Rathbun (left) assisted.

4 The Monteverde Cloud Forest we worked in is located above the town of Santa Elena, Costa Rica, at about 1600 m (5200 feet) elevation.

5 Dave was associated with the Monteverde Biological Station, which was on the edge of the forest.

6 Lynn Rathbun emerging from the forest on the trail from the Singing Mouse study site - about 1/2 kilometer (1/3 mile) from the biological station.

7 Dave setting a Sherman live trap in Singing Mouse habitat

8 The most commonly seen animal on the forest floor was this millipede

9 Dave checking traps in late afternoon - Singing Mice are supposedly active during the day, unlike most rodents.

10 Dave sexing a newly captured live Singing Mouse

11 Galen and Dave at Dave's kitchen (laboratory) table preparing radio-collars for the Singing Mice

12 Dave holding a Singing Mouse while Galen carefully slips a radio-collar over the head.

13 Dave releasing a Singing Mouse at its capture site.

14 A radio-collared Singing Mouse. The mice "sing" with a high-pitched call that sounds like a bouncing ping-pong ball.

15 Morning light and lingering mist at the study site were magical.

16 Dave radio-tracking Singing Mice, with a trap at his feet, and pointing to the upper reaches of their stream-side habitat.

17 Nights and mornings were wet with mist, while thunder storms dominated afternoons and evenings at the study site.

18 Radio-tracking after dark during a sudden and violent thunder shower was challenging.

19 Galen radio-tracking Singing Mice, which entailed using the directional receiving antenna to home in on the tagged mice.

20 Singing Mice were only trapped and tracked on the forest floor - Dave is pointing to an odd exception.

21 This mouse was located in a tree, courtesy of a Side-striped Palm Pit Viper (mouse is the mid-body bulge!), which is often arborial. The 50 centimeter (20 inch) snake is venomous.

22 Like the pit viper, the forest is dominated by green - with an occasional splash of color.

23 Dave recording data in a notebook while Galen radiolocates the mice off the forest trail (the dry creekbed in this case).

24 A Howler Monkey watches as we depart the forest after our short study of the Singing Mice.

25 A two week study of the home range and habitat use of radio-tagged Singing Mice in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, staring 27 April 2016.

26 Singing Mice (Scotinomys) are found in montane cloud forests of Central America. They weigh about 15 grams (1/2 ounce)

27 The study was carried out by Dave Ribble (right), and Galen Rathbun (left) assisted.

28 The Monteverde Cloud Forest we worked in is located above the town of Santa Elena, Costa Rica, at about 1600 m (5200 feet) elevation.

29 Dave was associated with the Monteverde Biological Station, which was on the edge of the forest.

30 Lynn Rathbun emerging from the forest on the trail from the Singing Mouse study site - about 1/2 kilometer (1/3 mile) from the biological station.

31 Dave setting a Sherman live trap in Singing Mouse habitat

32 The most commonly seen animal on the forest floor was this millipede

33 Dave checking traps in late afternoon - Singing Mice are supposedly active during the day, unlike most rodents.

34 Dave sexing a newly captured live Singing Mouse

35 Galen and Dave at Dave's kitchen (laboratory) table preparing radio-collars for the Singing Mice

36 Dave holding a Singing Mouse while Galen carefully slips a radio-collar over the head.

37 Dave releasing a Singing Mouse at its capture site.

38 A radio-collared Singing Mouse. The mice "sing" with a high-pitched call that sounds like a bouncing ping-pong ball.

39 Morning light and lingering mist at the study site were magical.

40 Dave radio-tracking Singing Mice, with a trap at his feet, and pointing to the upper reaches of their stream-side habitat.

41 Nights and mornings were wet with mist, while thunder storms dominated afternoons and evenings at the study site.

42 Radio-tracking after dark during a sudden and violent thunder shower was challenging.

43 Galen radio-tracking Singing Mice, which entailed using the directional receiving antenna to home in on the tagged mice.

44 Singing Mice were only trapped and tracked on the forest floor - Dave is pointing to an odd exception.

45 This mouse was located in a tree, courtesy of a Side-striped Palm Pit Viper (mouse is the mid-body bulge!), which is often arborial. The 50 centimeter (20 inch) snake is venomous.

46 Like the pit viper, the forest is dominated by green - with an occasional splash of color.

47 Dave recording data in a notebook while Galen radiolocates the mice off the forest trail (the dry creekbed in this case).

48 A Howler Monkey watches as we depart the forest after our short study of the Singing Mice.

Monteverde Tours & Activities 2018

Monteverde Tours & Activities 2018 Index Monteverde Biological Reserve...3 Horseback Riding...4 Sky Tram, Walk, Trek...5 Hanging Bridges...6 Night Hike Tour...7 Don Juan Trapiche Tour...8 Don Juan Coffee