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In all cases, we recommend avoiding multiple fine-scale stratification rules, and particularly rules not
supported by scientific data. For instance, there is no evidence, particularly in the summer, that lynx use
specific topographic features preferentially. Lynx telemetry locations are not found adjacent to creeks or
on flatter topography more than expectation within the study areas. Employing such rules in landscape
stratification radically reduces the ability to infer the sample to the landscape (because so much of the
landscape will be outside of the strata) without any direct evidence that the rules will increase the
sampling efficacy.
Working in conjunction with other survey efforts
Hair snagging can be used to compliment other survey methods, such as snow tracking. For instance, if
snow tracks were found in an area, particularly where lynx were thought to be absent, then placing a
grid across the area would potentially validate the snow tracks. If individual DNA identification was
performed on the samples, the addition of a hair survey could provide information concerning the
number of lynx in the area. Using snow tracking as a pre-sampling method to determine grid
placement in no way invalidates the protocol. In many areas this is a very sensible approach.
Non representative placement of transects, or even individual scent stations can sometimes provide
useful information. For instance, if a lynx is known to exist within a specific drainage, one might want to
specifically sample the drainage to try to determine whether the lynx is still present, or to obtain a
sample of its DNA for research purposes. Similarly, scent stations can be used as a double-sampling
method to directly validate snow tracks (as camera sets have been used in the past). These non-
representative surveys, however, are entirely exterior to the National Survey Protocol, and we are doing
no testing which can directly be used to indicate their efficacy. Additionally, as mentioned above, these
data are extremely limited in their utility. They cannot, for instance, be used to infer anything about
habitat relationships, the spatial extent of a local population, or the absence of lynx within a specific area.
We therefore strongly recommend that these methods only be used to answer very specific questions in
very specific areas. In most cases, laying a grid of transects across an area of interest will provide more
usable information and is a better allocation of resources.
