memorys

     I remember snipe hunting when I was a kid.  My favorite time was when I was at my friends house spending the night, and his mom and dad asked if we all wanted to go snipe hunt.  Of course, we yelled yes!
     The critical time to hunt snipe is dusk.  In our preparations we found all the brightest, shiniest, and glow in the dark items and cloths we could find.  Dressed to the "nines," we went out for the hunt.  We had flashlights, streamers, a net, a bag, glow sticks, pots and pans to clang together to call a snipe in.  Out into the night we went, and what a sight we were!
     Well, I don't remember catching a snipe that night, but I remember half the neighborhood coming out to watch us try.  I remember them shouting encouragement, and laughing.  What a great time.

     Little did we know that how we were hunting the snipe was the way researchers do it for real.

The snipe hunting tradition has continued in wildlife research, with updated tools and techniques.  For example a 1959 report from the Illinois Natural History survey outlines the snipe-hunting method (they call it “night-lighting”) using a truck driven through a field with a generator-powered bank of spotlights, with a trapper riding on the hood carrying a long-handled net.

Scientists use a spotlight and large net to capture birds at night. Variations of this technique are still used in the field.  From blog:  http://blog.nature.org/science/2014/01/14/the-snipe-hunt-myth-and-reality/