The hamsters are out!

The equipment (cameras, photo traps, and a radio-identification* system, photos 1 and 2 below), rolled out on the CNRS site in the LIFE ALISTER Project, showed us that the first hamsters came out of hibernation, at the beginning of April.

They seem to be in good physical condition, and we think we’ll have good news for reproduction this year!

Photo 1: a new feed trough made by the CNRS (Nicolas Chatelain, the MIBE team), allows us to identify each hamster, as well as the day and time when it came to the feed trough.

Photo 2: a wildlife crossing in the parcels, equipped with a radio-identification* system to identify hamsters and note the day and time they crossed through.

These two devices, set in a 3,000 m2 parcel (see previous article), will firstly allow us to improve our knowledge on the behaviour of the species when it comes out of hibernation, and improve the effectiveness of wildlife passages in Alsace, which currently do not allow small mammals to use them safely, and be sheltered from their natural predators.

* Electronic systems to read subcutaneous chips (or transponders) implanted in hamsters before being released in the parcel. Transponders allow animals to be identified electronically. These are small electromagnetic devices of only a few millimetres, implanted subcutaneously with the animal’s ID number.