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We often report on GPS tracking devices used to track wild animals. That’s a pretty common use case of GPS tracking devices, so it makes sense that we would often mention it. However, Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the New York State Museum, has found a different use case for GPS tracking devices: tracking fishers. More specifically, Kays has been tracking the behavior of fishers in urban and suburban settings in order to see if there are any significant differences.

In a recent article in The New York Times, Kays writes about his experience tracking fishers as they traverse through neighborhoods and other suburban environments. On the differences between suburban fishers and urban fishers, Kays writes: “Once we download the GPS data from their collars for the first time we have a pretty good idea where to go looking for them again. Bob may be our most urban fisher yet; there are very few wooded gullies and bits of forest around his capture site in the Albany suburb of Latham.”

The implication here is, of course, that the differences are obvious. This type of difference is, however, an incredibly subtle detail that comes only after years of studying the minutae of a topic. However, GPS tracking data doesn’t lie, and is likely an incredibly valuable resource for researchers such as Kays.

This is just one of the many examples of GPS tracking that’s done on humans, rather than animals, for research purposes. Hopefully, once the research is finished, Kays will release the GPS tracking data with his findings.

Article Written by Greg Minton