Detection dogs made Georgia weasel survey 33 times more effective

Finding a long-tailed weasel in Georgia's forests can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. The small predators are elusive, move quickly and leave little evidence of where they spend their time. For years, that difficulty made it difficult for researchers to determine where the weasels live, how many there are and how their populations are changing. But the change is now happening. According to a report by Phys Org, a new study from the University of Georgia has offered a surprisingly simple way to improve those odds: letting detection dogs lead the cameras to the weasels. The research, published in Wildlife Letters, combined specially trained dogs with remote cameras to track the animals across Georgia. According to experts, the approach improved detection rates and cost a fraction of traditional survey methods.