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#FieldworkFriday: Capture & Release

Summer 2013 I completed the 2nd field season of an ongoing Capture-Mark-Recapture project for African Giant Pouched Rats (CM) Cricetomys ansorgei (formerly C.

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Summer 2013 I completed the 2nd field season of an ongoing Capture-Mark-Recapture project for African Giant Pouched Rats (CM) Cricetomys ansorgei (formerly C. gambianus) in Morogoro, Tanzania.

I capture rats, take measurements, give them an individual identifying microchip, and then release back into the wild. It's pretty simple. Sometimes I see them again, sometimes I don't. So far, it's the females that I catch over and over again in a given area. Males are captured (and re-captured) less frequently.


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DNLee is a biologist and she studies animal behavior, mammalogy, and ecology . She uses social media, informal experiential science experiences, and draws from hip hop culture to share science with general audiences, particularly under-served groups.

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