Radio Telemetry and Fluorescent Pigments: A Comparison of Techniques

I compared daily home ranges determined with fluorescent pigments and radio telemetry by tracking deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe. No differences were found (P > 0.05) when each method was used independently on the same group of 10 deer mice. When deer mice were tracked with both methods simultaneously, fluorescent pigments delimited areas that were larger than those of radio telemetry. Comparison of home ranges determined with fluorescent pigments revealed that deer mice wearing radio collars traveled over larger areas than deer mice not wearing radio collars (P = 0.038) when data were analyzed by the modified minimum-area method. However, there were no effects of radio collars (P > 0.05) when data were analyzed by the minimum-area, ellipse, and maximum range-length methods. Fluorescent pigments provide an accurate, inexpensive, and simple method for tracking deer mice in sagebrush steppe.