What is the best method of marking Apodemus sylvaticus to identify individual mice ?
142897
Ear notching is simple and allowed as long as it's done following standard humane procedures. See the page linked below, there's a good survey of standard procedures:\nhttp://www.ccac.ca/en/CCAC_Programs/Guidelines_Policies/GUIDES/ENGLISH/V2_84/CH22_2.HTM\n\nPIT tagging is good, although it is more expensive\nhttp://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aibs/bio/2004/00000054/00000005/art00012
793092
Your rabbits will need to be naturally paired as described on  this web page, or a means test may be more appropriate. The section on experimental design may be helpful also.\n\nhttp://www.tnstate.edu/ganter/BIO%20311%20Ch%209%20PairedSample.html#RandSamp\n\nAlso see\n\nhttp://www.bmj.com/statsbk/13.shtml\n\nand\n\nhttp://www-micro.msb.le.ac.uk/1010/1011-20.html
478585
you cant tell sex till light changes ..or you till\nchange light artificially.They wont get pollinated unless you plant them near pollinating marujuana male which chances are low in the wild.Just put them outside and pluck those males as they appear
187472
You do it like this:\n\nStop and stare at small noises for no apparent reason.\n\nApproach well know articles of clothing with a fully fluffed tail.\n\nWhen a mouse actually appears, completely ignore it.\n\nWait until other household member is sick of hearing mouse noises and sets trap.\n\nKeep a close eye on trap.\n\nWhen trap successfully does its job, proudly trot through house with mouse (and trap) in mouth. If early morning, deposit it in middle of bed. \n\nYell bloody murder when mouse is taken away and thrown outside. (Other neighborhood cats will take credit!!!)
244891
stick your finger in front of its mouth and find out
28768
Here is a great website for that sort of research. It has a taxonomic chart with hyperlinks to information, pictures, sounds, and specimens. There are more than a dozen phylums of 'worms' represented with many photos to help with identification. \n\nhttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/classification/Animalia.html
759955
Maybe.\n\nSerum protein electrophoresis generally separates the proteins into five distinct bands.  For such different creatures, I would expect the population of the various bands to be fairly different, and therefore it would be a good tool to distinguish between those different species, I suppose.\n\nIf, on the other hand, you wanted to compare SPECIFIC proteins in these different creatures, electrophoresis would probably be a poor way to get a good sample.  I'm thinking the right kind of chromatograph or a targetted binding reaction would be better for that.
735901
I have collected biological specimens in South Carolina and I found not shortages of the species you mention. I suspect either the habitat in your area is not suitable, or perhaps they are casualties of insecticides or rodenticides. We often cruised the roads that at night and found both the spotted as well as the striped skunk. Chipmunks are diurnal and they were very common in most areas and home owners hated them. Here's a bit more detail on them. Eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius)\n  This is one of the smallest skunks, (about 1/2 the size of a house cat), with short legs, and a long, bushy tail with a white tip. It has a black coat with 4 broken white stripes, and a white patch on the nose, and front of the ears. The average total length is 470-563 mm average weight being 450-700 grams. This species mates by April, and 2-6 young are born during May or June. The male gives no care to the young. This species is nocturnal, and they climb trees more than other skunks. They are quicker and more alert, also. There is no true hibernation, just short inactive periods in the winter to conserve body fat. Several may den together in the winter. They have a characteristic handstand defense mechanism which makes the skunk appear larger. Striped skunks are easily recognized by their characteristic colors and pattern. The fur is black with a white stripe that begins as a triangular shape on the top of the head, forks into two stripes that travel down the sides of the back, and usually merges again near the base of the tail. Another white stripe runs from the base of the snout between the eyes and ends on the forehead. Stripe width and length vary with each individual. Stripes sometimes occur on the tail, but more often the tail is composed of both black and white hairs intermixed. Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) is about the size of a domestic cat, with a small head, small ears, short legs, and a long, fluffy tail. Feet are plantigrade with five partially webbed toes. Claws are longer on the front feet to aid in digging.\nChipmunks. About twenty-five species fall under this title, native to Europe, Asia and North America. The common species of the United States is the Eastern chipmunk Tamias striatus.\nThe name stems from the loud chip sound that they make, in addition to a rapid trill sound. They are also called the striped squirrel or ground squirrel. However, the name "ground squirrel" is more usually kept for the genus Spermophilus - though Tamias and Spermophilus are only two of the 13 genera of ground-living sciurids. \nThough they are commonly depicted with their paws up to the mouth, eating peanuts, or more famously their cheeks bulging out on either side, chipmunks eat a much more diverse range of foods than just nuts. Their omnivorious diet consists of grain, nuts, birds' eggs, and insects. Come autumn, many species of chipmunk begin to stockpile these goods in their burrows, for winter. Other species make multiple small caches of food. These two kinds of behavior are called larder hoarding and scatter hoarding. Larder hoarders usually live in their nests until spring.
847581
I work with experimental mice and we have a variety of colours, including black, brown, tan, black with tan bellies, grey and even nude and thats just in the room I look after! The colouration is dependent upon the strain and what they are testing. We have one strain that are a knock-out (knocks out a particular gene expression) where we get offspring from black parents that are white, black, grey and brown! If you are talking about just "typical" lab research for students at school, they would use mice that are accessable and it could be that this was simply the available stock. Additionally, it is easier to take blood samples from the tail vein of a white mouse than a dark one, so students would probably be trained with white animals.\nThe reason you think that only white rats/mice are used is that is what the media portrays. It is the same thing as everyone thinking that all research requires pipetting - have you noticed that whenever there is a story about medical research they always show someone pipetting? This isnt the case at all! It could also be that old video's use a lot of albino animals.\nHope this helps!
603427
A very popular method is RF tagging. Small Rf tags are atatched to the ear or the smaller ones are implanted under the skin of the livestock. this is a painless and less tramatic method and allows for additional security.\n\nThe RF tag is a simple small transmitter that when activated by a low frequency signal, transmits a number back to the reciever. This is even used to locate a particular animal on farms that deploy it.
966880
This one:\nhttp://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/NorthAmerica/images/Beaver2003SEG.jpg
1175271
http://www.digimorph.org/specimens/Odocoileus_virginianus/\n\ntry here, make sure you have Quicktime
751539
wild field mouse.I can out run them
1132320
Post a message on the crytozoology website with information on your photo. They will help you.
462296
We use transgenic mice all the time.  Your question is a bit vague though.
504462
do an image search for sweden and beaver.\n\nyou'll see.
26724
We did one on zebra mussels when I was in college.  Very easy, just created a tank that had a light source and a darkened area to determine which area they would be more attracted to.  Not sure if you have the resources to complete the resource though.