We present a noninvasive sampling approach to efficiently collect hair samples from elusive small mammals, as shown for the American pika. We demonstrate the utility of this method by extracting DNA from sampled hair and amplifying several types of molecular markers commonly used in studies of wildlife ecology and conservation.
Henry, P., Henry, A., Russello, M. A. A Noninvasive Hair Sampling Technique to Obtain High Quality DNA from Elusive Small Mammals. J. Vis. Exp. (49), e2791, doi:10.3791/2791 (2011).