NEW METHODS FOR STUDYING THE ACTIVITY OF SEMIAQUATIC MAMMALS

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A new method for studying the activity of semiaquatic mammals using digital portable voice recorders has been developed. Previously, actographs and night-vision devices were used to study semiaquatic mammals near their burrows. This method allows the mammal activity registration directly in the burrows. The use of voice recorders makes it possible to accurately determine whether the burrow system is inhabited or non-inhabited. In addition, it has become possible to identify the day-night time intervals during which the animals are the most or least active. The new method was tested on the Russian desman (Desmana moschata). Therefore, to identify the burrows in which the recorders were to be installed, the burrows were probed. A probe is a pole pointed at one end with a T-shaped handle at the other end. The researcher's task is to detect the entrance to the burrow, usually under water. And then the direction of the underground passage is determined by means of the probe. For this purpose, the ground is pierced to detect the hollows in the burrow with the probe starting from the burrow entrance (the probe falls through unevenly). At a distance of 2–3 meters from the burrow, in some cases largely depending on the burrow length, the ground is dug up above the burrow in the form of a small well, 10–15 cm in diameter. A digital voice recorder was placed vertically in this well, so that the microphone was directed down towards the burrow. Desman noises can be characterized as short series formed as a sequence of contiguous short peaks of 15–25 seconds with 5 second interruptions formed by regular waves of breathing and its movement noises. Desman noises differ by mean amplitude and duration on oscillograms. As a rule, the noise audibility ranges from 1 to 3 minutes.