Abstract
Small mammals are increasingly of conservation concern, and addressing management questions like distribution and habitat associations for many species has been limited by low detection rates. Recently, three novel camera trapping designs for small mammals (Mostela, Small Mammal Box, and Baited Post) have been pioneered for camera-trap-based small mammal monitoring. However, these techniques have not been comparatively assessed. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of these three designs at capturing images of small mammals in forest edge habitats of the southeastern United States. Across all methods we generally were only able to identify larger bodied small mammals (> 25 cm in length) to species, although the percentage of mammals we successfully identified down to species was greatest for the Mostela. The Small Mammal Box and Mostela recorded more small mammal species on average than the Baited Post, and the Small Mammal Box had five times more mice detections than other techniques. Latency to detection varied by species, with mice ( Peromyscus sp.), opossums ( Didelphis virginiana ), and rabbit ( Sylvilagus sp.) visiting the Small Mammal Box 1 to 8 days earlier than the Mostela and the Baited Post. While no single technique enabled us to identify all small mammals encountered down to species, we suggest the broader use of Small Mammal Boxes and Mostelas, particularly in combination with traditional capture designs, could enhance monitoring and ultimately fill knowledge gaps for small mammal species in this region.