Surveys

Neighbours, however good, don’t always rub along smoothly and sometimes the attentions of our wild ones can be unwanted. But lethal pest-control methods are often indiscriminate and don’t necessarily solve the problem. Kevin Newell, from Humane Wildlife Solutions, looks at the more humane and ecologically-minded alternative to discourage rats in your garden. Sadly, when someone …

Britain’s water voles are in trouble. The arrival of non-native American mink and loss of suitable habitat have led to them becoming one of our fastest declining mammals. The key to halting the decline and conserving this species is understanding where water voles currently are, where they are doing well, and crucially, where they have …

Rabbits: abundant, small to medium-sized herbivores – or as one account puts it, a little ungenerously, ‘food-chain fodder’. But there’s more to rabbits than food for foxes and stoats and buzzards. These unassuming grazers are landscape engineers, a talent that wasn’t appreciated until we almost lost them. Arriving in Britain Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), like their …

From the arboreal to the aquatic Fifteen species of rodent make up about a quarter of the wild terrestrial mammal species in Britain. They’ve filled a wide range of niches, from the arboreal (red squirrels and hazel dormice) to the aquatic (water voles and beavers), and many are familiar urban neighbours. Most conspicuous are red …

Press release: Looking for wildlife during lockdown: Wildlife charity calls for volunteers to record mammal sightings in their gardens, aiding national conservation efforts Although much of life has been placed on hold during the current lockdown, those who are now based at home can do something positive to help Britain’s wildlife, without having to leave …

Conservation needs you “One of the most important things in conservation is socialisation, awareness and education with the local people” Anna Nekaris, Little Fireface Project In many instances, for conservation to work it has to involve local communities, it has to resolve the conflicts that sometimes arise between wildlife and humans, it has to recognise …

National Water Vole Monitoring Programme starts 15 April 2018. We are calling on all wildlife enthusiasts to help monitor signs of the UK’s disappearing water voles as part of our annual National Water Vole Monitoring Programme. Affectionately portrayed as Ratty in childhood favourite Wind in the Willows, water voles were once a common sight along …

The UK’s housing crisis is often high on the news agenda, but this August, a more rustic type of accommodation, home to the UK’s smaller, spikier residents, is taking the spotlight. This week, the first ever national Hedgehog Housing Census has been launched by Hedgehog Street, a nationwide campaign set up by ourselves and the British Hedgehog …

Wood pasture is an important habitat, positively teeming with life and vital to preserve. Characterised by big old trees growing in open pasture-land, wood pastures are often derived from medieval hunting forests and old wooded commons. The splendid trees they often contain are some of the oldest living things in our country, providing a direct …

The UK’s first ever black dormouse has been discovered in the Blackdown Hills by National Dormouse Monitoring Programme (NDMP) volunteers. One of Britain’s most threatened mammals, the hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) is typically a golden brown colour. In the 1970s, researchers chanced upon a black dormouse in Germany and recently a few more examples were found …

Climate change is already reshuffling the UK’s wildlife calendar, and it’s likely this will continue into the future, according to new research published today in the journal Nature. The results suggest that seasonal events -such as the timing of flowering in plants and breeding in birds – are generally more sensitive to temperature change, than …

The results are in! We are delighted by the response to the first year of our National Water Vole Monitoring Programme, with 188 sites surveyed and data submitted online. This was well over our initial target to survey 100 sites in the first year, so a big thank you to everyone who took part and …