Abstract
Rates of capture in live traps set for snowshoe hares ( Lepus americanus ) were used to index population trends of four mustelids ( Mustek frenata, M. erminea, M. vision, Mephitis mephitis ), three sciurids ( Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, Glaucomys sabrinus, Spermophilus franklinii ), and the porcupine ( Erethizon dorsatum ) at Rochester, Alberta, during 1965–1975. The Mustela species (weasels and mink) had a 10-year cycle synchronous with that of the snowshoe hare. About 81% of the annual variation in weasel numbers, as indexed by capture rates, was attributable to fluctuations of hares, voles ( Microtus and Clethrionomys ), and mice ( Peromyscus ). Onset of the cyclic decrease in hares was followed within 2 years by declines in sciurid, skunk ( Mephitis ), and porcupine populations that may have been a consequence of predator switching as hares became scarce.
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