Feasibility study on using a detection dog to localize hibernacula of Vipera berus
Madita Schemel, Sascha Buchholz, Jelena Mausbach · 2026
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Description
Madita Schemel, Sascha Buchholz, and Jelena Mausbach test in 2026 whether a trained dog can sniff out winter dens of the European adder. The snake is critically endangered in Germany, and its dens sit in peatlands slated for rewetting. Flooding a hidden den can wipe out a local group.
Line-up tests bury shed skins and droppings under varied depths and soils for the dog to find. Field trials then check the dog under real search conditions. A pilot asks whether scent learned from samples transfers to live adders at known dens. Visual surveys and tracking collars, the standard tools, are invasive or coarse. A keen dog could guard dens at far lower cost and stress.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Madita Schemel, Sascha Buchholz, Jelena Mausbach |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 42 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |