Automated recordings of body temperature from free-ranging yellow-bellied marmots

Abstract

A simple, portable system for the automatic collection and storage of radio-telemetry data is described. Data on the deep body temperatures of two yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) are reported for 3 days. The advent of radio-telemetry has initiated the development of few automated recording and tracking systems (Cochran et al. 1965, Cochran 1967). While telemetry methods provide the potential of gathering vast amounts of data on the behavior and physiology of animals, most of these data are not collected or used because datagathering techniques are inadequate. This paper describes the design of a portable, self-contained receiving and recording system for the automatic collection of telemetered data and reports some data retrieved by that system. The study was supported by an NSF Grant to K. B. Armitage, the University of Kansas. 1Present address: Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. advent of radio-tel metry has inithe development of ew automated ding and tracking systems (Cochran l. 1965, Cochran 1967). While telemetry ods provide the potential of gathering METHODS Our design criteria were as follows: (1) portability; (2) low maintenance; (3) 100200 m range; (4) high reliability. A block diagram of this system is given in Fig. 1. An incoming signal from a temperaturesensitive, pulsed transmitter (Pauley et al. 1968) is received by a portable receiver (Shirer and Downhower 1969). The receiver runs continuously; its output is connected to a battery-operated, portable tape recorder. (The tape recorder should have a capstan drive and an effective AGC (Consumer's Reports 1969) through a switching circuit controlled by a windup clock.) The switching circuit turns on the tape recorder for about 80 seconds every 30 minutes and allows the output from the This content downloaded from 40.77.167.51 on Tue, 04 Oct 2016 05:07:34 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 640 Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 34, No. 3, July 1970