CON-113 Wildlife Field Techniques

This course focuses on field techniques employed by wildlife professionals. Topics include proper animal handling, various capture techniques, measuring and tagging, telemetry, camera traps, sampling protocols and basic research design. Mammal and bird techniques will be emphasized with some reptile and amphibian techniques covered as appropriate.

Credits

3

Department

• Environmental Conservation and Horticulture

Semesters Course Will Be Offered

• Fall
• Spring

For more detailed course information view the Course Outline

CON 113: Wildlife Field Techniques

Department

Environmental Conservation and Horticulture

Course Description

This course focuses on field techniques employed by wildlife professionals. Topics include proper animal handling, various capture techniques, measuring and tagging, telemetry, camera traps, sampling protocols and basic research design. Mammal and bird techniques will be emphasized with some reptile and amphibian techniques covered as appropriate.

Credit Hours

3

Contact Hours

Lecture	3
Lab	0
Other	0

Grading Scheme

Letter

Semester(s) Course Will Be Offered

Fall, Spring

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate proper equipment usage and animal handling and care techniques for each capture method employed.
2. Collect data and perform basic calculations (e.g. mean, range).
3. Graph data collected in field work to drive decision making.
4. Write protocols for the various field techniques employed in class.

Topic Outline

1. IACUC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) and other ethical animal handling considerations
2. Animal capture techniques
   1. Bird banding
   2. Small mammal capture (e.g. mouse, gray squirrel)
3. Non-capture techniques
   1. Tracking
   2. Camera traps
4. Equipment usage (e.g. compass, GPS, radio telemetry gear)
5. Elements of a research project
6. Analysis and graphical representations of collected data