One important phase of the cottontail life history study in Kern County, California, involves the use of radiotelemetry equipment for determining daily, seasonal, and annual movement along with home range requirements. In purchasing, assembling, and testing biotelemetry equipment for this project, difficulties have been encountered in four main areas; available money, equipment, interference, and attachment. The aim of presenting these problems is not to discourage the use of radio-telemetry, but rather to enlighten future users to the existence and means of alleviation. The cost of the components for assembling this system is given along with an estimate of assembled value. The types of receivers, antennas, and transmitters are discussed. Three types of interference were experienced in the initial field testing. The first relates to the use of the 27-28Mc range by citizen band operators. Secondly we discovered that the extreme heat caused the desirable pulsating signal to become a steady tone. Machinery and metal objects were responsible for further interruptions in our transmissions. Changes in frequency and adaptations in equipment should eliminate these transmission problems. Attachment of the transmitter to the rabbit is done with a collar. The transmitter is secured to the collar by using nylon reinforced tape in conjunction with electricians tape.
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