Mark-Recapture Wildlife Techniques Capturing Pitfall Trap the use of a pit in the ground into which an animal falls and cannot escape. The ecologist's pitfall trap consists basically of a glass, plastic or metal container, sunk into the soil so that the mouth is level with the soil surface. Many ground dwelling animals fall into the trap and are unable to escape. Pitfall w/ Drift Fence Seining Electrofishing Funnel Traps Hair Snare The barbed wire snags their hair, and scientists collect and send it to the lab. In the root of each collected hair is enough DNA for geneticists to identify species, individuals and sex. Sherman Traps Nets Snares Marking PIT tags Toe - clipping Toe Clipping Scale Clipping Shell Marking Visible Tags Radio collars/ transmitters