Hens wanted

We caught our first hen of the season!

The primary objective for trapping in the springtime is to radio collar female sage-grouse. This is used along with radio telemetry to follow and monitor the hen as she is nesting and raising her chicks. The area that I am working in, called the SWIP is notorious for being hard to capture males and females. During this time of year, the hens are even harder to find and net compared to males because they do not roost near leks at night like the males and are more inclined to be more cautious and flush from further away. No female had been caught in the SWIP in the springtime since 2011. After a week of trapping we had only managed to capture 4 males and rarely have seen hens. The other crews on other field sites in Nevada had already managed to fill their quota of hens. That is why I was so proud to net my first hen on Tuesday night! She was a calm girl and did not flush when we approached. My crew lead and I were running up to it when John missed with his net gun, I quickly threw the long pole net and jumped on her. Hens are much smaller and docile compared to males. She was a sweetheart and did not try to peck at me while I was fitting the radio collar on her neck or taking her measurements. She was quickly processed and released.

Update: Since our first hen our crew has been able to capture three more females, including a feisty one who managed to escape out of the clutches of my crew leader. As of 4/01, John and I have caught 6 females including a time where we caught and processed 3 females in one night! In total our crew has captured and collared or fitted GPS backpacks on 15 females in the SWIP. 

Caught a hen! notice the radio collar around her neck