Mammal Survey Eastern Rhodopes Bulgaria - De Zoogdiervereniging

A Longworth trap eaten by a Badger.which drenched several pitfalls. The use of Sherman traps proved fruitless as well. All animals caughtwere found in the Longworth traps.Due to the fact that traps were set secure during the day, there were less catch opportunities thanotherwise would have been the case. This was a conscious choice. Taken the low amount of catchesand in particular recaptures, it is not very likely that this was of great influence in the outcome. It almostcertainly accounts for the fact that there were no dead animals found in the traps, which is aremarkable outcome. However, there were also less catching opportunities becuse of some carelessness— quite a few traps were were left secure by mistake, while they should have been ready tocatch animals. There was also a high amount of false alarms, where no other creature (like a snail or agrasshopper) had been instrumental in closing the trap.On the first morning of the workshop, the area was surveyed from a hilltop near the Centre. After thesurvey, groups were formed and each group investigated a designated area to estimate its possibilities.For most sites no specific reasons were given why that location had been chosen for placing arow of traps. Taking down data about the live traps was done reasonably well. At location 3 the vegetationcharacteristics had not been written down, so they were recalled from memory. The forms onwhich catch data were written have proven their usefulness over the years. However, one should remainattentive to register data in a disciplined and regular manner. Mishaps occurred — wrong trapnumbers, illegible handwriting. It deserves recommendation to pay even more attention to this duringthe workshop. After every inspection round, the forms should be checked — whether they have beenreturned with the necessary data filled in. Also, the registration of GPS (Global Positioning System)co-ordinates deserves to get more attention in the future. More precise agreements on where co-ordinatesare registered and in what way this has to be done, should be made.34 Mammal Survey Eastern Rhodope Bulgaria