Occasional Papers 
Museum of Texas Tech University 
NUMBER 185 15 December 1998 
ASSESSING MEDIUM-SIZED MAMMAL ABUNDANCE AT 
FORT HOOD MILITARY INSTALLATION USING LIVE-TRAPPING 
AND SPOTLIGHT COUNTS 
Cody W. Edwards, Robert C. Dowler, and Darin S. Carroll 
INTRODUCTION 
Fort Hood Military Post is located in central Texas 
in Bell and Coryell counties. It lies approximately 93 
km north of Austin, Texas, and 63 km southwest of Waco, 
Texas. The reservation encompasses approximately 
87,800 ha (339 square miles; 217,000 acres) and is in 
the southern portion of the Cross Timbers and Prairie 
Vegetational Area (Gould, 1975; Severinghaus et al, 
1980). This area of central Texas also is recognized as 
occurring in two distinct geographic regions: the 
Lampasas Cut Plain and the Blackland Prairie. The 
Lampasas Cut Plain is that portion of the Edwards Pla¬ 
teau drained by the tributaries of the Brazos River. It is 
characterized by grass-covered low hills and oak-juni¬ 
per woodlands consisting of Ashe juniper (Juniperus 
ashei ), blackjack oak (Quercus marilandica ), and post 
oak ( Q. stellata ) with thin, stony soils and narrow val¬ 
leys cut in Lower Cretaceous limestones. The Black- 
land Prairie extends from the Red River southward to 
near San Antonio. This region is underlain by Upper Cre¬ 
taceous clays and soft limestones and is characterized 
by mixed grasslands dominated by little bluestem 
(Schizachyrium scoparium ), big bluestem (Andropogon 
gerardii ), yellow Indiangrass (<Sorghastrum nutans ), and 
sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula ) often associ¬ 
ated with stands of sugar hackberry (Celtis laevigata) 
and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa). Trees such 
as pecan (Carya illinoinensis ), American elm (Ulmus 
americana), and red ash (Fraxinus pennsvlvanica ) are 
dominant in riparian habitats along major waterways 
within the Blackland Prairie (Kutac and Caran, 1994). 
Major plant communities on Fort Hood are conif¬ 
erous woodland, deciduous woodland, mixed woodland, 
and savannah. The first three community types can be 
subdivided further on the basis of canopy cover of over 
or under 50%. The woodland plant communities make 
up ca. 57% of the vegetation of the military reservation. 
Savannah areas account for ca .38% and the remaining 
5% is developed land. (Department of the Army, 1979). 
Fort Hood lies between two climate zones, the 
humid subtropical region to the east and the semi-arid 
region to the west. Tropical maritime air masses pre¬ 
dominate throughout the late spring, summer, and early 
autumn months while polar air masses frequent the area 
in winter (Department of the Army, 1979). Daily tem¬ 
perature variations in August generally range from 21°C 
to 37°C with readings over 38°C possible. January tern- 
