A Terrestrial Furbearer Estimator Based on Probability Sampling

Abstract

I used probability sampling results to develop a new method of estimating furbearer abundance based on observing animal tracks in the snow. This method requires that good snow conditions be present during the course of the study and that all animal tracks intersected during the sampling process are observed. Good snow conditions are defined to be fresh snow of sufficient depth so that presnowstorm and postsnowstorm animal tracks can be distinguished. Two general sampling designs are presented : the first assumes that animal tracks can be observed and followed to both the animal's location at the end of the snowstorn and to its present location; the second assumes that the number of different animals encountered along a set of transects can be determined and that it is possible to get movement data from a random saple of radio-collared animals