Small mammal survey results.

There are a wide range of mammals living around the surrounding countryside and no doubt in many people's houses. A number of large and small mammals have been identified using trail cameras including deer,badger,red fox polecat, mink, wood mouse and bank vole.  The group carry out a monitoring programme each 6 months on Wessex water land for small mammals which involves setting humane traps ( for which we have training and a licence) along 100m lines.has signed up to a national recording scheme for small mammals which involves setting humane traps along 100m lines. Setting the traps in the evening and then seeing what has been caught the next morning, before safely releasing them, is one of the popular events we have run for children in the village. The picture on the right shows some of the results we have sent off to the national recording scheme. In the recent past we have observed water voles in the Jordan and Osmington brook. They are generally quite shy animals although sometimes they don't seem at all perturbed by people watching them.A good way of detecting them is by laying out shallow trays filled with smooth soft  clay and putting them out in the evening and identifying what has run through them during the night.

Water Vole tracks.

The picture on the left shows some Water Vole tracks from an area we didn't know had voles in.Notice how the first and fifth toes stick out almost at right angles which are quite different to all other small mammal tracks. Also in the picture you can see a track from a Heron which several villagers have seen preying on the voles.
Rabbits were once a common sight but their numbers have significantly reduced following a deadly viral infection.  We haven't had any records  of Brown Hare which could often been seen in the fields along the valley to Osmington. One surprise was a dead Polecat found at the top of Plaisters Lane, which is the most common way people know they are in the area. Similarily hedgehogs, dead or alive,are a rare sighting in the area these days.
We will be carrying on with our surveys so reports of any unusual sitings are all welcome and should be fed back to John Newbould. If you wish to help us with our survey work please contact Colin Marsh.