Trapping events took place over four weekends in both the fall (September-October) of 2014 and spring (March-May) of 2015 in order to account for the fluctuation of populations associated with the seasons. A single weekend trapping event surveyed both a rural and urban site for two consecutive nights and mornings. Coupled urban-rural sites were kept consistent in both the fall and spring, though the order in which the four paired sites were surveyed in the fall were inverted in the spring to reduce order influence on results. Trapping events were not scheduled during full moons, as previous studies indicate that small vertebrate herbivores limit activity in order to reduce exposure to nocturnal predators. Additionally, trapping events were not scheduled during weekends with severe weather predicted (i.e. thunderstorms or temperature below 40 degrees Fahrenheit) in order to minimize rodent mortality risks. Traps were scattered within a 20,000 m2 area at each site and placed in key habitat types in order to ensure maximal herbivore capture rates. Initial trapping efforts revealed optimal trap placement to be under native plant cover such as palo verdes (Cercidium spp.), mesquites (prosopis spp.), creosotes (Larrea tridentate), etc. At each site for two consecutive nights, 100 Sherman folding traps (7.62 × 8.89 × 22.86 cm) and 8 larger wire traps (17.78 × 17.78 × 17.78 cm) were set and baited with a mix of rolled oats and toasted oat cereal, totaling 216 traps set per night due to urban-rural site pairings. Within the set 20,000 m2 area of each study site, four equal quadrants were visualized. Sherman traps 1-25 were placed within quadrant one, Sherman traps 26-50 were placed within quadrant two, etc. Each quadrant also contained two larger wire traps. Traps were set in the late afternoon of the first and second day, and rodents were identified to species the following mornings. Small rodents were identified using Kays and Wilson’s Mammals of North America (Kays and Wilson, 2007). All traps were closed after the identification of small rodents on the first morning and were kept closed throughout the day until set and baited again that same afternoon. This was done in order to minimize trap mortality associated with the heat of the day. To target diurnal rodents, the order in which the traps were collected on the first morning was reversed on the second morning; this allowed the traps to be open for an extra 2-3 hours of daylight while data was being obtained from its pair.