Marquage collectif de rongeurs sauvages au moyen de fluoromarqueurs vitaux des tissus calcifiés

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Fichet, Élisabeth, Pascal, Michel
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1989
• Subjects: Animal Science and Zoology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z89-125; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z89-125

To evaluate the efficiency of collective marking of riparian populations of rodents in the field, baits coated with either fluorescein (0.5 g/kg) or xylenol orange (2 g/kg), two vital fluorochromes of bones, were distributed on a 1.5 km riverbank. A system of traps was monitored for 20 consecutive days after marking. A total of 98 Myocastor coypus, 26 Ondatra zibethicus, 13 Arvicola sapidus, 3 Rattus norvegicus, 5 Apodemus sylvaticus, and 2 Microtus arvalis were trapped. Examination of thin cross sections of the mandibula and the incisor (I 1 ) of all trapped rodents showed that specimens of all species but one, M. arvalis, were labelled. The phalanx, easily taken without killing the animal, was rarely marked. However, analysis of marking topography on the incisor and knowledge of its growth seem to indicate that marking diagnosis without killing the animal is possible by simple removal of a fragment of the tooth. In M. coypus and O. zibethicus, the analysis of marking rate in relation to trapping schedule and animal age showed that the marking method is usable with these species and that young animals are more frequently and clearly labeled than older animals. Moreover, the two species proved to have an entirely different strategy with respect to the trapping schedule, which leads us to question the reliability of a trapping schedule in the study of dispersion phenomena in rodents. The possibility of using this collective marking method to address certain problems in population biology is discussed.