Hair Trapping

By Jason Mikelson

What are hair traps?

• They are traps that are for catching hair not the critter it self.

• The traps are lined with sticky material.

• We made all our hair traps by hand.

What can you do with a hair?

• Well you can curl hair• Dye hair• Cut hair• Style hair• Wash hair• And even grow hair

What we do with hair.

• Analyze the hair• Take microscopic

pictures • Attempt to identify the

hair by structure, pigment patterns and DNA

• Catalogue them

Why we decided to do this?

• Loren Ayres, a small mammal biologist from the DNR, gave us critters to work with.

• There are no current records of small mammal distribution so hair trapping is a good way to determine what critters are where.

• If we get a good design the DNR will use it to do their research.

Our hair traps

• The first traps were made of Tupperware and plastic pipe.

• The second trap was well thought out and made of wood.

• The third trap we built would collect hair and a footprint.

The first traps

• The traps worked but you wouldn't get a lot of hair.

• Lining the pipes with tape wasn't easy.

• One critter chewed a hole threw the wall of the trap

The second trap

• It was made of wood.• Multiple entry ways• Removable plastic

slides for sticky material.

• Flip doors so the critters can’t go out the way they came in.

• Worked well in field

More pics

The third trap

• It was designed to be rock solid.

• We also added track strips it to help identify the critters.

• Great field results from hair and tracks.

More pics

Test results

• If something passes through the traps it will leave hair.

• The early tests of trap three showed great numbers of tracks and hair.

• Tests are continuing.

What was learned

• If a critter is hungry they will go through anything to eat.

• A mix of Peanut butter and seeds worked well for baiting the traps.

• It took a number of trials to get the tape to pull hair every time.

• I remember what it was like to have pets.