small mammals

Previously we proposed a new reconnaissance method for estimating the total abundance of small mammals in urban areas. The method includes placing plastic bottles with bait inside equal distances apart. In this research we examined two ways to improve the method: using bottles of smaller volume (0,25 liters instead of 0,5 liters) to increase the ergonomics and using opaque bottles to make them more attractive for animals. Bigger and smaller bottles with neck diameter of 38 mm were fastened in pairs which were set in a transect with a fi ve-meter spacing.

The purposeful studies of communities of small mammals (insectivores and rodents) on the left bank of the middle Ob within the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Ugra (Khanty-Mansiysk, Nefteyugansk, Surgut and Nizhnevartovsk districts) were carried out for the fi rst time from 2011 to 2020. Animal counts were carried out both in transformed and specially protected natural areas.