Refinement of a trapping method increases its utility for pocket gopher management

Abstract

Trapping is a useful and effective tool for managing detrimental pocket gopher populations, and methods to increase its effectiveness are in high demand. The Gophinator trap previously proved more efficient than the Macabee trap, primarily because of its ability to capture larger pocket gophers. However, the Macabee is still widely used given large stockpiles of these traps by land managers and pest control operators. The addition of a cable restraint to the front of the Macabee may be sufficient to keep larger individuals from escaping capture, thereby allowing trappers to more effectively use this common trap. Human scent may also impact trap success by deterring pocket gophers from entering trap sets. Therefore, we tested the capture efficiency and visitation rate of trap sets when using both Gophinator and modified Macabee traps to determine the potential utility of these trap designs. We compared these results to a previous investigation to better define the potential usefulness of the cable restraint on the Macabee. We also tested the impact of human scent on capture efficiency and visitation rate to determine the potential relevance of eliminating human scent from trap sets. Gender and weight of captured individuals were used to determine their potential impacts on capture efficiency and visitation rate. We found that the Gophinator was a more effective trap than the modified Macabee because of its ability to capture larger pocket gophers more efficiently. However, the modification did appear to increase capture efficiency of larger individuals when compared to the standard Macabee, suggesting that this modification could be used to increase the effectiveness of trapping programs when Gophinator traps are unavailable. Glove use had no impact on capture efficiency or visitation rate.