Carnivorous Mammals of Hazeldell Meadow State Nature Preserve, Pulaski County, Kentucky.

Hazeldell Meadow State Nature Preserve is a rare ecosystem located within the Highland Rim region of south-central Kentucky. It is the only state-protected site of its kind. This preserve is comprised of two distinct plant communities, including wet flatwoods and a wet meadow. To date there is only one published study on mammals in the preserve. This was a general survey using cameras with bait stations. Here we present the results of a second study specifically surveying carnivores that ran from 3 September 2022 to 26 March 2023. Stations were set up with cameras attached to trees in the wet flatwoods habitat and aimed at other trees with attractants that included twenty commercially prepared baits and lures. This study demonstrated the value of using scent lures in addition to food baits when doing surveys on carnivorous mammals. A total of 37,193 images were taken with 525 showing nine species of carnivores. The six most photographed and videoed species were raccoons, coyotes, domestic dogs, striped skunks, bobcats, and red fox that comprised 98% of carnivore images. The remaining nine images were of a long-tailed weasel, American mink, and a domestic cat. This study is the first documenting these three species, along with domestic dogs, in the preserve. The results serve as baseline data for comparisons to future surveys to show potential changes in the carnivore community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]