Diurnal live trapping in desert environments requires thermal protection from high temperature extremes. However, internal trap temperatures under cardboard shades have not been reported in the literature. We tested 3 shade designs commonly used by biologists during diurnal trapping: two A-frame designs with different cardboard colors, brown and white, and a cardboard box tube. Trap shade treatments were tested from 21 April to 7 July 2007 with temperatures (?C) recorded hourly with a datalogger. There was no difference in internal trap temperatures between the shade configurations when ambient air temperatures reached approximately 30?C, but as the trapping season progressed, residual heat stored in the desert landscape led to higher internal live trap temperatures.
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