Garden Mammals on My Patch

RECORD's theme for this weeks My Patch campaign is garden mammals.

MY PATCH Week 3 - Mammal Theme

These are often the most elusive garden visitors and we usually only know they're around because we notice signs, like poo or footprints. There are 108 UK species of mammal, from field voles (most numerous with ~60 million) to the Greater Mouse Eared Bat (only 1 individual!).

1 in 5 mammal species face a high risk of extinction in the UK and some have declined by up to 66% in the last 20 years! Recording garden mammals can help scientists understand what's happening to their populations which informs decisions on how to protect them.

Owl Pellets: has anyone ever tried dissecting owl pellets? You can find the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about owl pellets here.

Mammal poo - not everyone's favourite topic, but its often the main evidence that mammals have been visiting a garden. If you know any young mammal detectives with a particular interest, we have a downloadable activity here perfect for them. They might also enjoy learning the basics of mammal detecting here.

QUIZ of the WEEK: Mammals

Sadly no prizes but email info@record-lrc.co.uk with your answers!

1) How many mammal species do we hold Cheshire records for from the last 10 years?

2) What is our most commonly recorded mammal in the last 10 years?

3) What was our most commonly recorded bat species in the last 10 years?

4) Can you name these mammal footprints?

5) Can you name these mammal faeces?

A reminder of how to join in My Patch

Upload your garden wildlife sightings here OR email info@record-lrc.co.uk if you'd prefer

You can find resources and useful links on this page of our website.

Where you can, we'd love you to share our posts, news etc. about the campaign with your contacts and encourage as many people as possible to get involved. You can also post your own sightings with the hashtag #MyPatch to help spread the word and share with others what you've been up to.

Small Mammal Survey Training

Alan Smail, the Ranger at Brotherton Park and Dibbinsdale Local Nature Reserve, is sponsoring a short training course on Small Mammal Surveying.

Ron Warne will be running the course which will be held in the reserve's Visitor Centre on the morning of 12th May 2018.

Ron will set up the traps on 10th and 11th with a view to having some real animals to experience.  He expects to have completed the session by lunchtime.

The number of places will be limited to give everybody some 'hands-on' experience with the equipment and animals.

If you would like to attend, please contact Ron directly via email to book a place.  If this session is over subscribed there will be a further one in conjunction with the Wirral Tree Wardens a little later in the Spring/Summer.

Biology Week 2016: Vote For Your Favourite UK Mammal

This year a coalition of over 50 wildlife organisations completed a stock take of our native wildlife. The resulting State of Nature 2016 report concluded that it is not too late to save UK nature, but if we are to do so then we must act now. Over half of the species examined in the report have declined since 1970, while more than one in 10 species are at risk of extinction.

This Biology Week, the Royal Society of Biology is asking you to choose your favourite mammal to raise awareness of their conservation needs. There are a total of 101 different species of mammal in and around the UK. Alongside The Mammal Society and People's Trust for Endangered Species this was narrowed down to a top 10 and now it's over to you to choose the UK's favourite mammal.

Choose from water vole, red squirrel, bottlenose dolphin, Scottish wildcat, otter, soprano pipistrelle, beaver, pine martin, hedgehog or fox.

Go to www.rsb.org.uk/get-involved/biologyweek/favourite-uk-mammal for more information.

Small Mammal Trapping at Butterfly Park

Mammal trapping had not been carried out here before so it was with great interest that the Longworth traps were collected on a bright autumn morning. Ron and Sarah had put out un-set traps baited with birdseed on two previous nights so that small mammals could get used to them. On the Saturday evening they added slices of apple or carrot, fly pupae (in case insectivorous shrews were trapped) and hay bedding to each trap and set them. Left overnight a small mammal entering one would cause the door to close behind it and it would then spend a cosy night with plenty of food and moisture from the apple.

Half of the traps were sprung and these all contained woodmice (Apodemus sylvaticus). Each individual was carefully shaken out into a bag, removed by holding it gently by the scruff of the neck, sexed, checked for parasites and then weighed. 5 females and 6 males were identified, ten were juveniles weighing 14-18g and one adult male weighing 24g. All the woodmice were carefully returned to their habitat. No shrews or voles were trapped although leaving traps out in the daytime could have produced different results.

Trapping enables the species present to be recorded and if carried out at regular intervals can show population changes. If the animals that are trapped are marked by cutting off a small section of their fur in a particular area they can be identified if they are trapped again. If this is done on several individuals and trapping is repeated this enables the total population numbers to be calculated.

It was lovely to learn about this technique, to see these small mice at close quarters and learn about the value of monitoring their populations.