Use of Hair Tubes to Detect Small-Mammal Winter Activity in a Northern Forest Habitat

We used hair tubes to examine the winter activity of small mammals in relation to coarse woody debris and snow cover in a deciduous forest woodlot in western New York State during the winters of 2006 and 2007. Hairs trapped on sticky tapes in baited hair tubes were used to identify mammal species. During the winter of 2006, a higher proportion of baits was removed from hair tubes sites 2 m away from logs, relative to hair tubes adjacent to logs, while significantly more baits were removed from hair tubes adjacent to logs in 2007. A significantly greater proportion of baits was removed from log and open sites combined in 2006 than in 2007. However, in 2007, a higher proportion of hair tubes with baits removed also had mammal hairs on their tapes. The higher proportion of baits removed from hair tubes in 2006, and the increased proportion of baits removed from sites near logs in 2007, was most likely due to reduced snow cover in 2006. Hair tubes offer several advantages relative to live traps in the study of winter small-mammal activity. They are simple to use, do not require handling animals, eliminate trap-related mortality, and can be used at any spatial scale, including the landscape level. Finally, they employ low-cost materials, and can be adapted to a range of conditions and target species.