What every day item have you used in your fieldwork?
Ask a Biologist Monday 6/20/22
Answers from Biologists:
Coffee cans attached to paracord to get water samples when we can’t wade in.
Gatorade bottle to hold staples.
Coin envelopes to put hair samples in.
Ziploc/glad bags instead of expensive sampling plastic bags.
Ziploc bags. Perfect for containing amphibians and keeping them moist.
Pringles cans to weigh angry kestrels.
A spoon to dig up a gopher hole and and place a trap.
Altoid boxes for bird bands.
Cloth bag that sheet sets come in to hold gulls if I’m solo banding.
Floor buffer pads to collect algae samples.
Spoons to collect salamander eggs that lay in vegetation.
Pringles can to weigh birds.
Pillow cases to weigh ground squirrels.
Film canisters to carry color bands.
Sock to weigh birds.
Big yogurt tubs to weigh salamanders.
Pringles cans for Merlin weights.
Spotify for owl calls.
Pillow cases to handle small mammals.
Dish soap for insect traps.
Tupperware for floating eggs.
Pillowcases to transport snakes.
Ziploc bags for amphibian, fish, and aquatic invertebrate ID while dipnetting.
Plastic storage tote to weigh fish so they don’t flop off the scale.
Morton salt containers to measure snow density.
Cottage cheese containers to catch coyote urine from pups in hand.
Bottle caps make good butterfly food dishes.
5 gallon bucket for carrying everything and anything.
Pillowcases for weighing bobcats.
Toilet paper roll for weighing birds.
Crochet hook for filling nanotags.
Socks over geese’s heads to keep them calm while waiting for processing.
Cut up pantyhose to wrap bats for weighing.
Crown Royal purple bags to weigh birds.
Pop bottle to focal trap ground squirrels.
Lube to insert vaginal trackers into deer to tell when they have given birth.
Old burlap sacks for holding ducks.
Minutemaid concentrate can to weigh birds.
Plastic film canisters for insect collection/viewing.
Yoplait containers for weighing birds.
Gallon plastic bag to put snakes in for weighing (with air holes).
Turkey fryer to boil water for imported fire ant mounds.
Talenti containers for field sharps container. Great excuse to eat icecream too.
Yogurt tubs to weigh clams and snakes.
Dish tubs to hold clams.
Spoons to dig up turtle eggs.
Turkey basters to feed tadpoles.
Plant saucers make excellent food dishes for willdife rehab.
Snakes in pillowcases for ease of transport.
Gallon Ziplocs to weigh skunks.
Telescoping automotive inspection mirror for nest checks.
Tea strainers to hold bait for camera traps.
Ripped t shirts to pad t posts when we slide a pole over.
Urine sample cups to hold pollinators while surveying.
A large El Pato tomato can to prop tortoises on top so they can't run away.
Socks with toes cut off to cover lamb's eyes and keep them calm.
Cat litter containers to hold flying squirrels when removing them from trees.
Morton salt canisters to measure snow density.
Lint roller to remove ticks.
Mesh laundry hampers to hold snakes while processing.
Tupperware to hold frogs for weighing.
Toothbrush cases to hold pre loaded syringes.
Rain gutters for track tubes.
Giant plastic cups to weigh lizards ava fishing poles to catch them.
Yogurt tubs to carry bait.
Stubby (beer) holders to keep critters warm while pitfall trapping.
Hole puncher for adipose fin samples.
Eyebrow tweezers into bead organizer tray for scale samples.
Plumbing tubing and stainless steel straw to apply gastric radio tags.
Wine bottles for octopus dens.
Modified icecream tubs for passerine recovery warm up bins.
