Discarded beverage bottles have been recognized as a source of mortality for small mammals since the 1960s. We walked 4.34 km of moderately to heavily traveled highways and interstate interchanges near Newport News, VA, and counted discarded bottles and vertebrates trapped inside. We found 10,681 bottles, for an average of 2461 bottles/km. Greater numbers of bottles per km were found along heavily-traveled roadways than along moderately-traveled roads. Although only 4% of bottles trapped vertebrates, 795 vertebrates were found in those bottles with an average of 183.2/km of roadway. Most animals killed in bottles were Blarina brevicauda. Other casualties included Peromyscus leucopus, Microtus pinetorum, Mus musculus, Sorex longirostris, Cryptotis parva, lizards, and plethodontid salamanders. Although we found no rare or endangered species, similar numbers of bottles likely occur in areas with species of shrews, rodents, or salamanders whose populations are declining.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 June 2004
Discarded Bottles as a Cause of Mortality in Small Vertebrates
Russell A. Benedict,
Mary C. Billeter
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE