Improved bait and trapping techniques for chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii): overcoming reduced trap availability due to increased densities of other native fauna.

The populations of several native medium-sized mammals have increased in abundance in response to an extensive fox control program in southwestern Australia. In particular, the woylie (Bettongia penicillata), established sufficient densities in some forest areas between 1996 and 2005, that they saturated the traps used in several long-term monitoring studies. As a consequence, less abundant and/or less readily caught species were likely to be excluded from traps and may have been inadequately represented in surveys. In a series of comparative trials within several Western Australian native jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) forests, this study tested an alternative lure for cage-traps that could be used in the presence of abundant woylies to improve capture rates of chuditch, Dasyurus geoffroii, and possibly other native vertebrates. Compared with 'universal bait' (peanut butter and oat-based), the 'chuditch bait' (meat meal and fish oil-based) increased chuditch capture rates up to 800% by reducing woylie capture rates by about 50% or more: the species diversity and capture rates of several other vertebrates were also greater. Other associated trapping techniques to improve chuditch survey efficiency are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]