Chicago Tribune

Lincoln Park Zoo hunts small urban mammals, but that's only the beginning of an elaborate process

CHICAGO - It was a perfect day to trap a vole. The sun was out on this summer Thursday, and its shine seemed especially bright on Chicago's Northerly Island, an oasis of native plantings surrounded on three sides by the reflective surfaces of Lake Michigan. A slight breeze ruffled the waist-high grasses. In the distance men with weed whackers worked to keep the restored prairie from getting a little too wild.

On top of a hill, beneath a stalk of grass tied with a colored flag, Lincoln Park Zoo wildlife researcher Matt Mulligan leaned over and picked up a small metal box. It had heft, at least more than these Sherman Traps do on their own. And it had movement inside.

Mulligan pushed open the trap door, just a tad, and

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