NHBS In the Field – Mammal Footprint Tunnel

Footprint tunnels are a useful, cost-effective, non-invasive tool for presence/absence surveying of small mammals. Food left in the centre of the tunnel encourages passing animals to walk over the ink pads, leaving their footprints on the tracking paper. With the use of a guide, the mammal in question can then be identified from the footprints left behind.

There are a number of benefits of using footprint tunnels. As they are non-invasive, the tunnel can be set up and left without fear of harming animals and are a good way to assess a site prior to in-depth species studies. They are also quick to check compared to other methods. For example, although camera traps are also useful for presence/absence studies, it can be time consuming to sift through captured images and videos.

As is useful for any piece of equipment, footprint tunnels (and their replacement materials) are very light (55g), and so are easy to take out into the field. However, as they are quite long (119.5cm) they can be cumbersome to transport. Despite this, transportation is made easier due to their ability to be flat packed – their plastic construction allows for them to be folded easily.

The NHBS Mammal Footprint Tunnel comes flat packed with helpful assembly instructions. When assembled, the tunnel is wide enough to fit a full sheet of A4, saving you the trouble of cutting paper to size to use in the tunnel, and is large enough to allow access to animals such as hedgehogs but not larger mammals, such as foxes or badgers.

In addition to the kit you will need eight paperclips per trap, masking tape, some vegetable oil to mix with the included charcoal to make the ink, and some bait (chopped unsalted peanuts or dog/cat food is recommended).

Our work building is situated alongside the river Dart, only separated from the riverbank by a small wall and we wanted to find out what mammal species we have in the vicinity of our building. So we field tested a single NHBS Mammal Footprint Tunnel and here we share what we found and our thoughts on the tunnel.

How We Tested

The above image shows the kit contents: to the left is the tracking plate and on the right is the flattened prism that forms the tunnel. In the top right corner are the pins that secure the tunnel to the ground, charcoal, paper and masking tape (please note, paper, masking tape and vegetable oil are not included in the kit).

To set up the tracking plate, a sheet of A4 paper is placed at each end and secured with tape (ordinarily the paper would be secured with paper clips as is suggested in the instructions). Then we put several strips of masking tape across the centre of the tracking plate to create a large area of tape. The ink (a mixture of charcoal and oil) was painted on the two grey strips across the centre and bait was placed in the central area between the two ink pads.

Pictured is the tracking plate with the paper and masking tape attached.

We first set up the trap next to a bird feeding station – we already knew that the feeder is visited by voles and squirrels, and so would be an ideal place for us to put the footprint tunnel to the test! Although the feeder is raised, we opted to put the tunnel on the floor so that it was accessible to small mammals. As the tunnel was not placed on soft ground, bricks were used to secure the tunnel in place rather than the metal pins included in the kit. For bait we used bird seed as this is what the animals are used to eating at this particular location. The trap was left here for one (wet) night.

The first location that the tunnel was set was next to a bird feeder known to be visited by squirrels and voles.

The first tunnel set up, secured by bricks.

The second set up was just outside of our office alongside the wall that bordered the river. We hoped that this area would be patrolled by a number of small mammals, particularly hedgehogs as they have been seen here before. We baited the tunnel with cat food and the trap was left for three nights over the weekend – being outside office hours, we hoped disturbance would be minimal during this time.

The second placement of the tunnel

What We Found

The inner tracking plate was slightly fiddly to insert into the assembled prism tunnel, and we found that it was much easier to assemble the (pre-bent) prism round the tracking plate rather than sliding the tracking plate in. We used masking tape to secure the paper rather than paper clips as is suggested; this was beneficial when trying to get the tracking plate inside the tunnel as it was more secure than using paper clips.

In order for the bait to stay in place in the centre of the tracking plate the bait needed to be inserted after the tunnel was assembled. And so, because of the length of the tunnel, placing the bait into the tunnel was a little awkward. We found using a trowel to insert the bait made access easier, especially when trying not to disturb the ink.

In the first set up we were pleased to see that a vole had visited our tunnel and that the recording paper had stayed relatively dry despite the very wet weather. Sadly for our second attempt our bait of cat food was eaten by a cat!

Vole footprint tracks from first sighting. The photo is taken to scale of an A4 paper (the page filled the photo).

Our Opinion

The Mammal Footprint Tunnel is an easy-to-use, lightweight monitoring device and a great tool for many small mammal presence/absence studies. Due to its simplicity and low cost, it is ideal for students or for those involved in public engagement.

Despite its light weight, its size makes it a bit of an awkward shape to carry, both when assembled and when flat packed. However, its ability to be flat packed allows for multiple tunnels to be transported without any additional difficulties. Placing ink on the outer edges of the paper may result in more footprints- in our experience something seemed to enjoy munching on the paper before getting to the actual bait. Getting the ink to the right consistency takes some trial and error, but we would recommend using less oil to achieve a thicker ink so that any footprints left behind are as dark as possible so that they are easier to identify.

The pins were sufficient in securing the tunnel and saved it from being blown away by the wind, but a medium-sized mammal (a cat in our case!) could move the trap when secured in soft soil, so this is something to bear in mind when situating your trap.

Overall this is a very easy-to-use, affordable tool and we would highly recommend it as an effective presence/absence surveying method for small mammals.

The Mammal Footprint Tunnel is available through the NHBS website.

To view our full range of mammal surveying equipment, visit nhbs.com. If you have any questions about our range or would like some advice on the right product for you then please contact us via email at customer.services@nhbs.com or phone on 01803 865913.

NHBS In the Field – Pettersson U-series USB Ultrasonic Microphone

The Pettersson U-series microphone is a powerful ultrasonic USB microphone that is designed to be plugged into a smartphone, tablet or laptop to listen to and record bats. The microphone is available in two options: the u256, which has a sample rate of up to 256kHz and the u384, which has a sample rate of up to 384kHz. Both models use a MEMS ultrasonic microphone for its high sensitivity, low noise and ultra-low power consumption. The units themselves are pocket sized and feature a robust aluminium outer casing, making them ideal for taking out into the field. They connect to your device using a micro-USB connector but can be converted to connect to USB-C, lightning connector, or USB by using an adapter. Once connected, they can then be used alongside a variety of apps for viewing and recording bat calls.

How We Tested

We tested the Pettersson u384 with a fully charged Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 using the Bat Recorder app from the Play Store. The app instantly recognised the microphone when plugged in using an Arktec Micro USB to USB-C adapter. We took the device out on a warm early September evening around the time of sunset and chose a footpath which included some open areas and some wooded areas to allow the microphone to detect bats as we walked through differing habitats.

What We Found

The Pettersson u384 produced beautifully clear recordings with little noise. The Bat Recorder app worked perfectly with the Pettersson u384 , producing wonderful live sonograms and making it easy to record calls and look back over previous recordings. We recorded noctule, soprano and common pipistrelles on our short bat walk, and it was clear that the microphone was picking them up from at least 15m away when the bat was flying towards us. When listening out loud, we had to ensure the listening mode was on ‘Heterodyne’ rather than ‘Frequency Division’, so as to avoid audio feedback when the volume was high, but listening through headphones was easier and meant there was no risk of feedback.

Our Opinion

The Pettersson u384 is an excellent quality microphone that produces low-noise, professional recordings. It has the advantage of being small and incredibly easy to transport – working alongside a device that most people already carry with them on surveys and bat walks. The Bat Recorder app was easy to navigate and very well made, although it would have been nice if the £5.49 cost of the app was already incorporated into the cost of the detector, or if the detector came with its own app for convenience, but Pettersson do state that the recorder works with multiple recording apps. We would recommend that live audio is listened to through headphones to avoid interference and help preserve the clean and crisp recordings that the detector was capable of. Overall, the Pettersson u384 is a fantastic USB microphone that would be a great asset to any bat worker or ecologist.

The Pettersson U-Series USB Ultrasonic Microphone is available through the NHBS website.

To view our full range of bat detectors, visit www.nhbs.com. If you have any questions about any of our products or would like some advice then please contact us via email at customer.services@nhbs.com or phone on 01803 865913.

An interview with Derek Gow: Bringing Back the Beaver

Derek Gow has written an inspirational and often riotously funny firsthand account of how the movement to rewild the British landscape with beavers has arguably become the single most dramatic and subversive nature conservation act of the modern era.

Derek has taken time to answer a few questions about his new book and the role beavers can have in restoring nature.

Could you tell us a little about your background and where the motivation for this book comes from?

I was born in Dundee in a council house. My grandfather’s generation had been farmers but my parents were not. I have always had a huge interest in nature which developed as I grew older. In time I began a career in farming and while aspects of this life were appealing, I became less enamoured with the impact of farming on the natural world and the savage repercussions of its consequence. I read all Gerald Durrell’s books when small, attended his field course on Jersey in 2000 and from that point on, initially as a manger for several wildlife centres focused on native wildlife and then ultimately, on my own farm, began to pioneer opportunities for wildlife restoration.

You have a clear affection for beavers; will a more emotive dialogue help spread the idea of restoring nature to a broader base, or do you think the science will win hearts and minds?

I think it’s a combination of both. You need science to back a case for their sentient restoration on the back of all the credible good they do, but you also need people to feel emotionally linked. They are the most wonderful of creature’s – creators of landscapes which are brim-full of life. They are caring for their offspring and while savagely territorial with other beavers, are commonly as individuals, largely benign. We did appalling things to them in the past and in effort to forge a better future I see no harm in explaining to people just how critical it is that we consider other species as individuals of worth and importance with characters as well.

There are so many organisations involved; some still going, some now inoperative: DEFRA, IUCN, SNH, EN, NCC, CLA etc. How do you manage to reach a consensus across all those organisations, and do you think the voice for restoring nature needs streamlining?

Yes it needs streamlining, but we need to be much bolder and much less deferential. In the commercial world if individuals or organisations perform poorly then they are dismissed or they disappear as entities. In nature conservation we are way too good at ignoring duffers and making excuses for their mistakes. This situation however uncomfortable is simply no good and at a time of ecological crisis potentially fatal. We must be bullish in our approach to progress while still retaining what reasonable allies there are. The pace of restoration should be swift rather than slow. There is no reason whatsoever for delay.

The activities of beavers such as: felling trees and potentially flooding arable land sound quite alarming to a lot of people. How are those issues addressed when proposing to reintroduce beavers?

Simple. We published a management handbook in 2016 which you chaps help sell and promote. Beavers are a very well understood species in both continental Europe and North America all we need to do is co-opt the sensible programmes of management and understanding which have been applied there to here, stop gibbering and making up excuses and move on. There is nothing they do which we can’t counteract if we wish to do so. A wider programme of education to promote better understanding is an essential first step.

Beavers seem to be a benchmark to define our future relationship with wild creatures. Does your campaign stop at beavers, or would you like to see other ‘lost’ species reintroduced to Britain?

I think that lynx should be restored with reasonable haste if living space which is suitably large with an adequate abundance of prey sufficient to maintain a viable population exists. I think wildcats must be restored in England and in Wales. Other candidates would be species like the great bustard, wild boar, golden, white tailed eagles and common crane; in a wider range, the burbot, black stork/more whites, vultures and many other amphibians, reptiles and insects. I think a dialogue should begin about learning to relive with the wolf now. If we want to have future forests which the deer can’t destroy we will need this predator very much.

Does Brexit and the eventual demise of the Common Agricultural Policy offer any hope for a more nature sensitive approach to farming in the UK?

Yes it does. We can do it our way now but we must recognise that very much good has come from the EU habitats directive and that our way should seek to exceed and surmount this legislation and not just become a tawdry box ticking exercise in excuse manufacturing and prevarication.

With beavers now established in Devon on the River Otter, how do you see that project developing in the next five years?

The beaver population there will expand for sure to number many 100’s over time. Many other rivers should become the focus of further reintroductions as a result of the excellent field work and research carried out on the Otter by a broad range of partnership bodies. The project and its results demonstrate quite graphically that beavers are entirely tolerable in a modern cultural English landscape with a degree of low level intervention and that their engineering activities enable an abundance of other wildlife to flourish.

Have you any projects you are currently involved in, or planning that you can tell us about?

Together with a range of other organisations I am working to form a wood cat project which will culminate in the reintroduction of the wildcat in Devon. The old English name was the wood cat and those of us involved think therefore that this is a more appropriate escutcheon. Next year I will be releasing white storks on my farm and rewilding over 150 acres of land which I own. In March 2021 I will complete work on a new book for Chelsea Green titled The Hunt for the Iron Wolf which will detail the history of this species in the UK.

Bringing Back the Beaver: The Story of One Man’s Quest to Rewild Britain’s Waterways
By: Derek Gow
Paperback | January 2022

Derek Gow’s inspirational first-hand account of beaver reintroduction across England and Scotland.

Derek Gow is a farmer and nature conservationist. Born in Dundee in 1965, he left school when he was 17 and worked in agriculture for five years. Inspired by the writing of Gerald Durrell, all of whose books he has read – thoroughly – he jumped at the chance to manage a European wildlife park in central Scotland in the late 1990s before moving on to develop two nature centres in England. He now lives with his children, Maysie and Kyle, on a 300-acre farm on the Devon/Cornwall border which he is in the process of rewilding. Derek has played a significant role in the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver, the water vole and the white stork in England. He is currently working on a reintroduction project for the wildcat.

Browse more books about this keystone species

Bat Detecting for International Bat Night

The weekend of the 29^th-30^th August was the 24^th International Bat Night. Organised by Eurobats, this annual celebration of bats saw events taking place all around the world in an effort to educate and inspire people about these fascinating flying mammals.

To mark International Bat Night, a small team from NHBS ventured out to an area of local woodland with a selection of bat detectors. The site we visited has been managed for the past two years by Steve and Tamara Davey, with the aim of maximising biodiversity. They are also ensuring the continued provision of habitat for certain species including seven recorded bat species, Nightjars and Woodcock. (Read more about how they are supporting nature in our recent interview or on the Woodland Wildlife website).

We arrived at the woods just before 7pm and were treated to a brief tour of the woodland as the light faded. Steve showed us the areas where the conifer plantation had been thinned, allowing more light to enter. In these areas there have already been increases in native plants and there were many seedlings present from native trees. He also showed us where he had planted a hedgerow boundary, with the intention of creating more commuting corridors for both bats and other wildlife. The second part of the woodland consisted of immature sitka spruce trees, some of which have now been cleared to make way for native trees, shrubs and plants.

In the two years that Steve and Tamara have been managing the site, the biodiversity of the plot has increased and the area is abundant with birds, small mammals and insects. Following advice from the Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project, they have also created three ponds, and this is where we spent most of our time on International Bat Night.

We used a selection of bat detectors including the Song Meter Mini static recorder, which was useful as it could be left to record while we kept our eyes on the skies watching bat movement and behaviour. We also used some handheld detectors including Magenta Bat 5s, an Anabat Scout and an Echo Meter Touch 2 which was extremely popular with the group due to the visual representation of the sound along with the incredibly useful auto-ID function.

During the evening we detected common pipistrelles, soprano pipistrelles, Noctules and Leisler’s as well as a suspected Nathusius’ pipistrelle and a Barbastelle that are awaiting ID confirmation from recorded files. Although the night was chilly, there were lots of moths and other flying insects that the bats were feeding on, and we enjoyed listening to pipistrelle feeding buzzes and watching them hunt and catch insects above us in the tree canopy.

The evening was extremely enjoyable and it was a great opportunity to see the work that Steve and Tamara have been doing on their land. The range of bat species we heard is testament to the quality of habitat that they have created and it was a great place to celebrate the 2020 International Bat Night.

Improve your UK field skills with online ID resources

During lockdown and social isolation, many of us appreciated how important nature is to our happiness and wellbeing. It also gave us an opportunity to connect with local wildlife and develop or brush up on our identification and field skills.

While a good field guide is invaluable for this, there are also a huge number of really useful online resources available to help with identifying wild plants and animals. In this article we have listed a few of our favourites, covering plants, butterflies and moths, amphibians, birds, mammals and invertebrates.

We have also included links to ongoing citizen science projects for each; if you’re regularly taking note of the species you find then why not contribute this information to an organisation that can use the data to monitor biodiversity and inform conservation decisions.

At the end of the article you will find a couple of apps that can be used to record, identify and share your general wildlife findings.

PLANTS

Identification

Plantlife’s Plant and Fungi Species – Allows you to select the time of year, flower colour and habitat to narrow down your search.

Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) Flora Search – A more in-depth key that allows you to select information relating to the plant’s location, habitat and structure in order to identify your specimen.

Makaques UK/Irish Flora Key – A new interactive key to the flora of the British Isles, this in-depth database includes information on 3221 native and introduced species.

Citizen Science Projects

BSBI New Year Plant Hunt – Start the year with a plant hunt, and help the BSBI to study how our wild and naturalised plants are responding to changes in autumn and winter weather patterns.

National Plant Monitoring Scheme – This habitat-based plant monitoring scheme provides robust and much-needed data on changes in our wild plants and their habitats.

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Identification

Butterfly Conservation’s Identify a Butterfly – Search the database using criteria such as location, size, colour and markings or search using an A-Z list of species names.

UK Butterflies Identification – Includes an extensive database of butterfly photographs, including those of immature life stages.

Butterfly Conservation’s Identify a Moth – Search the database using criteria such as location, size, colour and markings or search using an A-Z list of species names.

UKMoths – A comprehensive database of 2261 moth species found in the British Isles.

Citizen Science Projects

Butterfly Conservation Recording and Monitoring – This Butterfly Conservation page contains details of all of their current volunteer monitoring projects.

National Moth Recording Scheme – Covering over 900 species of macro-moth, this scheme hopes to benefit nature conservation, public understanding and ecological research.

Big Butterfly Count – this annual, UK-wide survey aims to assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amount and type of butterflies (and some day-flying moths) we see.

AMPHIBIANS and Reptiles

Identification

ARG UK Identification Guides – Download a helpful range of ID guides covering amphibians and reptiles, including guides to eggs and larvae to improve your field skills.

Citizen Science Projects

National Amphibian and Reptile Recording Scheme – Includes a range of different surveys suitable for volunteers.

Amphibian and Reptile Record Pool – The Record Pool allows users to submit UK herpetofauna sightings and makes the data available, locally and nationally, for conservation purposes.

BIRDS

Identification

RSPB Identify a Bird – This bird identifier lists 406 species of UK birds and allows you to search the database using a combination of physical and behavioural characteristics.

BTO Bird Identification Videos – This series of videos will help you with identifying some of the trickier species.

Xeno-canto – A comprehensive database of bird sounds from all over the world.

Chirp! Bird Songs UK & Europe – This app will help you to identify and learn bird songs. (Available for iPad and iPhone only).

Citizen Science Projects

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch – Take part in the world’s largest wildlife survey and help the RSPB to find out how our garden birds are doing. Takes place annually in January.

BTO Volunteer Surveys – On this webpage you will find a list of current BTO surveys, schemes and projects, available to suit a wide range of field skills and expertise.

MAMMALS (including bats and cetaceans)

Identification

Mammal Society Species Hub – Find out more about the UK’s 90 species of mammal, including bats and cetaceans.

Bat Conservation Trust UK Bat Information – Learn about the 18 species of bat found in the UK and download species information sheets for each.

Citizen Science Projects

Mammal Society Record Submissions – Report your mammal sightings on this page or using the Mammal Mapper app.

PTES Living with Mammals Survey – Record your sightings of mammals and help to protect their future.

PTES Water Vole Monitoring Programme – Survey a regular site or report a one-off sighting of a water vole and help protect the UK’s fastest declining mammal.

PTES Mammals on Roads Survey – Submit sightings of any mammals (dead or alive) that you see on the roads.

INVERTEBRATES / BUGS

Identification

Buglife’s Identify a Bug – Handy questionnaire to help you identify and find out more about your invertebrate specimen.

Freshwater Habitats Trust Freshwater Creatures – Learn more about our freshwater creatures (also includes information about aquatic mammals, amphibians, fish and birds).

Citizen Science Projects

Buglife Surveys – Get involved in one of Buglife’s projects, including surveying for the Northern February red stonefly and recording invasive species found in pot plants.

UK Glow Worm Survey – Submit your glow worm sightings using this online form.

PTES Great Stag Hunt – Help guide future conservation action for stag beetles by recording your sightings.

Riverfly Partnership Projects – Find out more about all of the Riverfly Partnership’s ongoing monitoring projects. Options are available for a range of skill and experience levels.

Apps

iSpot – Created in collaboration with the Open University and the OpenScience Laboratory, iSpot is a community-based app that allows you to record and share your wildlife sightings and get feedback from other users regarding any identification queries that you might have.

iRecord – This app enables you to get involved with biological recording by contributing your species sightings along with GPS acquired coordinates, descriptions and other information. Data is then made available to National Recording Schemes, Local Record Centres and Vice County Recorders (VCRs) to help with nature conservation, planning, research and education.

iNaturalist – This site and its two apps (iNaturalist and Seek) helps you identify the plants and animals around you, while also connecting you with a community of naturalists, citizen scientists and biologists to help map and share observations of biodiversity across the world.

30 Days Wild Activities – Hedgehog Watch

Hedgehogs are abundant in urban and suburban areas and can frequently be found in gardens, as these provide safe, accessible spaces for them to forage and rear their young. They are most active between April and September with the main mating season occurring between May and June. Female hedgehogs give birth during June and July, although some will go on to produce a second litter later in the summer. All of this means that now is a great time to look for hedgehogs – and if you’re taking part in the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild Challenge, then this will also contribute to your month of wild activities.

If you’re lucky enough to have hedgehogs in your garden, why not take the time to record their behaviours for Hedgehogs After Dark. This project, organised by Hedgehog Street, aims to learn more about the ways in which hedgehogs are using our gardens and the behaviours that they are showing through the spring and summer. Until Sunday 26th July you can submit your observations to their website and have the chance of winning an exclusive hedgehog hamper in their prize draw. Visit their website for lots of information about the different behaviours they are interested in and how to submit your findings (you will need to register as a Hedgehog Champion to do this).

Keep reading for some top tips on making your garden attractive to hedgehogs and how to watch them, either with or without a trail camera.

Is your garden hedgehog friendly?

There are several things that you can do to make your garden more attractive to hedgehogs:

• Improve access – Gardens are only useful for hedgehogs if they can access them. Plus, hedgehogs move long distances throughout the night to find enough food, so creating networks of gardens that they can move between is important. By cutting a 13cm diameter hole in the bottom of a fence or removing a brick from the base of a wall, you can help to provide access and link your garden with surrounding ones.

• Provide shelter – Try to keep some areas of your garden wild and overgrown, as this will provide secure nesting and feeding spaces. An artificial hedgehog home will also provide a safe and warm space for hedgehogs to overwinter and for a female to birth and raise her young in the spring and summer. Try not to use pesticides or slug pellets in the garden, as these are poisonous to other animals as well as slugs.

• Provide food – Make sure that there are lots of worms, beetles and earwigs in your garden by growing wildflowers and providing log piles. Leaving areas of the garden which are overgrown or making a small wildlife pond will also help to encourage a diverse range of invertebrates. (Make sure your pond has sloping sides or piles of rocks to allow any animals to escape.) You could also provide a shallow dish of fresh water along with good quality hedgehog food, meaty dog or cat food, or dry cat biscuits.

Tips for watching hedgehogs

Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so the best time to watch them is during late evening. Throughout the night they can travel up to 2km searching for food and/or mates. (This great video shows radio-tracked hedgehogs moving between gardens in a suburban area of Brighton). If you have a suitable window looking out onto your garden, then you can watch them from the warmth of your home. Make sure that you turn any inside lights off and keep noise to a minimum. If there is no illumination from street lights, visibility will be best at twilight (before complete dark) and around the time of the full moon (provided it isn’t too cloudy).

If you can’t watch the garden from a window, then wrap up warm, get into stealth-mode and venture outdoors. As with any wildlife-watching endeavour, the most important thing is to be still and quiet. It might also help if you can get low to the ground which will provide a hedgehog-level view of their activities. Don’t be tempted to try to get too close to them, however, and never attempt to pick them up or interfere with their natural movements.

Using a trail camera to watch hedgehogs

One of the best ways to view the hedgehogs in your garden is using a trail camera. If you’re lucky enough to own one of these, then setting it up to record at night is a great way to see if any hedgehogs are around and, if so, what they’re getting up to. Here are some tips to maximise your chance of getting great footage:

• When siting your camera, think about where the hedgehogs are likely to be moving around. If you have a hole cut in your fence and you know that hedgehogs are using it to access your garden, then you might want to point your camera towards this. Similarly, if you have provided any food or water, then setting your camera up near to this is a great way to capture footage of them feeding.

• Position your camera low to the ground. Think about the size of the hedgehog and where it is most likely to trigger the infrared beam.

• Set your camera to the highest sensitivity setting. If you find that it is triggering far too much, particularly in the absence of any animals, then you can always reduce this later.

• As you’ll be recording hedgehogs mostly in darkness, having a camera with invisible night vision LEDs could be a bonus, as these will not startle the animals. Plus, models with adjustable night-time illumination (or which adjust automatically) will give you the most control over your image quality.

[The Browning Strike Force HD Pro X is one of our bestselling trail cameras for hedgehog watching and is used by lots of great projects, such as London Hogwatch. For more information or advice about trail cameras, please get in touch with us and chat with one of our experienced ecologists.]

No hedgehogs?

Maybe you don’t have a garden, or you have one but haven’t seen any hedgehogs using it. You can still view lots of great hedgehog videos on the Hedgehog Street YouTube channel. Or, if you use Facebook, why not watch this talk by ecologist and hedgehog fan Hugh Warwick, recorded for the Summer Solstice ‘Wonderland’ Festival this spring.

The NHBS Guide to UK Small Mammal Identification

Small mammals are charismatic animals, but often elusive. They are rarely seen as more than a passing glimpse of a small scurrying creature. Although sadly often viewed as pests, small mammals are an important part of our ecosystems.

In this blog we will focus on some of the most common, native species of rodent and insectivore in the UK, providing key characteristics that will help you to identify them in the field.

Mice

There are four species of mice in the UK. All have relatively large eyes and ears and long scaly tails with little or no hair.

Wood mouse/Field mouse– Apodemus sylvaticus

Identification: The wood mouse is a ‘stereotypical’ mouse in terms of appearance and has a chestnut-brown back and white belly. Long tail, large ears and big eyes. Moves quickly by hopping/jumping.

Size: 8-10cm with a very long tail of up to 10cm.

Habitat: Often found in woodland and fields but also common in a variety of other habitats. Generally the most often caught in small mammal surveys.

House mouse – Mus musculus

Identification: Grey–brown all over including the undersides.

Size: 7-9cm with a tail of up to 10cm.

Habitat: Commonly associated with houses, buildings and barns, although also found in the countryside. This species is one of the more commonly spotted due to its cohabitation with humans.

Harvest mouse – Micromys minutus

Harvest Mouse by Charlie Marshall via Flickr

Identification: A very small mouse with golden fur and white undersides. Its long tail is prehensile and can be used as an extra ‘limb’ to hold onto vegetation as it climbs.

Size: The UK’s smallest rodent; roughly 5-7cm in length.

Habitat: Lives in long vegetation such as reed beds, marshes and roadside verges. Builds small, round nests made of intertwined grass stalks.

Did you know? The average adult harvest mouse weighs roughly the same as a two pence piece!

Yellow-necked mouse – Apodemus flavicollis

Yellow-necked mouse by Teemu Lehtinen via Flickr

Identification: This species looks almost the same as the wood mouse in appearance, except that the yellow-brown colouration on its back continues around in a band across the neck.

Size: 9.5-12cm, very slightly larger than the wood mouse. Tail 8-12cm in length.

Habitat: Woodland, hedgerows and gardens; range is restricted mainly to southern Britain.

Voles

In comparison to mice, voles have much shorter and more rounded snouts. They also tend to have smaller ears and eyes in proportion to their body size. There are three species of vole native to mainland UK: two of these species – the bank and field vole – appear very similar and are easily confused.

Bank Vole – Myodes glareolus

Identification: Red-brown upper coat with a pale cream/grey underside. The bank vole’s tail is about half the length of its body. This is an important distinguishing factor for comparison with the field vole which has a proportionately shorter tail.

Size: 9-11cm, tail length 3-7cm.

Habitat: The bank vole is often found in hedgerows, heathland, grassland and woodland, as well as in more urban areas.

Field Vole – Microtus agrestis

Identification: The fur of the field vole is more yellow-brown than the bank vole. It is often described as ‘cooler’ in colour. The underside is creamy-grey. Its tail is about a third of the length of its body (shorter proportionately when compared to the bank vole). For this reason it is also known as the short-tailed field vole.

Size: 9-12 cm in length (not including tail).

Habitat: Ungrazed grasslands and areas of tussock are the preferred habitat, although this adaptable mammal will find a home wherever grass is available.

Did you know? The field vole is estimated to be the most abundant mammal in the UK, although it is rarely seen. Look out for small round tunnels in areas of long grass. You may even find a ‘lawn’ at the entrance with shortened grass and piles of grass cuttings.

Water Vole – Arvicola amphibious

Identification: Dark brown fur and a hairy tail which is about half the length of the head and body. Characteristic bright yellow teeth.

Size: Up to 22cm in length excluding the tail. Roughly rat-sized (double the size of the field and bank voles).

Habitat: As the name suggests, this vole spends much of its life in the water. They live in burrows alongside river canals and are most often spotted swimming.

Did you know? When startled, water voles dive into the water making a characteristic ‘plop’ sound. So, be sure to keep an ear out when walking alongside rivers.

Shrews

There are four species of shrew native to the UK, although only three are found on the mainland. The other – the greater white-toothed shrew – is found only on islands such as Guernsey, Alderney and Herm.

Shrews tend to be smaller than most other species of small mammal found in the UK, and have a distinctive long pointed snout and very small eyes and ears.

Common shrew – Sorex araneus

Identification: Fur is three-toned, transitioning from dark brown on the back to paler brown to white on its undersides. The common shrew has a tail which is roughly half the length of the body; this is shorter, proportionally, than that of the pygmy shrew.

Size: 4-8cm in length, tail 2.5-4.5cm.

Habitat Widespread across a variety of habitats including gardens, hedgerows, grassland and woodland.

Did you know? Common shrews have a very high metabolism and must eat every 2-3 hours in order to survive.

Pygmy shrew – Sorex minutus

Identification Two-toned fur going from a grey-brown upper to an off-white belly. The pygmy shrew has a longer and wider tail in proportion to its body when compared with the common shrew; roughly two-thirds of its body length.

Size: 4-6cm in length, tail 3-5cm.

Habitat: Widespread across a variety of habitats including hedgerows, grassland and woodland.

Water Shrew – Neomys fodiens

Identification: Black/dark brown fur on top, with a very contrasting pale grey underside. Often have little silver ear tufts and white hairs around the eyes.

Size: 6-10cm, the UK’s largest shrew species. Tail 4.5-7.5cm.

Habitat: Usually found near streams and wetlands. If you see a shrew swimming, it is most likely this species! They even swim underwater to hunt for prey.

Did you know? The water shrew is a venomous mammal. Its saliva can paralyse even larger prey such as frogs and newts.

Other

Hazel Dormouse – Muscardinus avellanarius

Hazel dormouse by Frank Vassen via Flickr

Identification: Golden fur, big ears and eyes. The most characteristic feature is their incredibly fluffy tail. This means that they are sometimes mistaken for a young squirrel.

Size: 6-9cm, tail 5.5-7cm.

Habitat: Dormice are arboreal, meaning that they spend most of their lives in trees, although they return to the ground to hibernate during winter. Despite their name, hazel trees are not a habitat requirement – although they are often preferred. Found in coniferous, deciduous and mixed woodland.

Did you know? The hazel dormouse is not technically a true mouse. They are related to both mice and squirrels but are classified in their own separate family.

30 Days Wild Activities – Bat Walk

The hours around sunset are the best time to see and hear bats. Image by O Haines.

Looking for some inspiration for activities during 30 Days Wild? Why not take a stroll around sunset and see if you can find some bats. If you have a bat detector then you can also listen to the ultrasound calls they produce and have a go at working out which species you’re seeing and hearing. Plus, an evening walk also gives you a chance to see what other nocturnal animals are out and about – owls, foxes, badgers and toads are all more active at night and, if you’re lucky and in the right place, you might also be fortunate enough to hear a Nightjar.

What you need:

The Echo Meter Touch 2 connects directly to your phone or tablet.

• Bat detector – For beginners, a heterodyne detector is a great choice as they are economical and easy to use. Simply tune it to the frequency that you want to hear and then listen through the speaker or with a pair of headphones. If you want something a little more advanced, the Echo Meter Touch 2 connects directly to your phone and lets you view and record the bat calls, as well as suggesting the most likely species that you’re listening to. (If you don’t have a bat detector, you can still go for a walk at dusk and look for bats flitting beneath the trees and across the surface of the water).
• Torch – Not for seeing the bats but for finding your way safely in the dark!• Warm clothing and sensible footwear – Make sure you have enough warm clothes for when the temperature drops after sunset, and footwear that’s suitable for the chosen terrain. A thermos with a hot drink is also a good idea!
• Guide to bat frequencies – If you’re less familiar with bat detecting then a list of the frequencies at which you are most likely to receive the strongest signal for each species is a good thing to have with you. This simple pdf can be printed out to carry with you, or why not take a look at this guide from the Bedfordshire Bat Group for more detailed information on identifying bats using a heterodyne detector. The FSC Guide to British Bats is also a good choice and provides lots of information on identifying bats in flight.

When to go:

Bats are most active from April to September and the best time of day for seeing and hearing them is around sunset. If you’re walking to a location where you will be using your bat detector or hoping to see bats, then make sure you set off with plenty of time to get there before the sun sets. And don’t forget your torch – even though it will be light when you set out, you’re likely to need it on the way home.

Where to go:

Woodlands, parks and gardens are all good spots to look for bats. Image by O Haines.

Parks and woodland, especially those with aquatic areas such as ponds and lakes, are great places to find bats. If you can find a walk that covers a variety of habitat types then this will increase your chances of seeing/hearing more than one species. Make sure that the route you choose is safe and accessible and that you know where you’re going – places can look very different at night than they do in the day and it’s easy to lose your sense of direction if you’re not on a clearly marked path.

If you don’t want to venture far from home, then you can also look and listen out for bats in your garden. Near hedges or trees is usually a good place to focus your attention.

What to do:

The Magenta Bat 5 is ideal for bat walks

Once sunset is approaching, simply turn your bat detector on, keep as quiet as you can and watch and listen for any bats. The earliest species to emerge tend to be the pipistrelles and noctules. Of these, common and soprano pipistrelles are the most frequently seen. For this reason, it is worth setting your detector to 45 or 55kHz (or switching between the two periodically) to see if you can pick up any sounds. If you can see bats flying but don’t hear any sounds at these frequencies, then try scanning through all frequencies slowly to see which produces the most significant and clear response.

If you are near water and see bats skimming the surface, then these are likely to be Daubenton’s bats. As with the common pipistrelle, Daubenton’s bats produce the strongest echolocation signal at around 45kHz. (They also tend to emerge later than pipistrelles, so you may have to wait until later in the evening to catch a glimpse of these!).

Once you become used to using your detector, you will become accustomed to the different types of noises produced by different species and, in combination with where and how the bats are flying, will become more confident in deciding which species you are looking at and listening to.

Find out more:

If you want to find out more about bats, the Bat Conservation Trust website is a great resource and offers information on all 18 species of bat found in the UK. They also provide a list of local bat groups and coordinate the National Bat Monitoring Programme. Surveys cater to different levels of experience and knowledge and are fun and rewarding to carry out. Some don’t require any equipment, so you can take part even if you don’t own a bat detector.

Head over to nhbs.com for our complete range of bat detectors and take a look at our blog post for more tips for beginners.

The RSPB website is a great place to hear common bird songs and will help you to distinguish between different types of owls. The most common species you are likely to come across are Barn Owls and Tawny Owls. You can also hear an example of a Nightjar call on the website.

Author Interview: Neil Middleton, Is That a Bat?

Neil Middleton is the owner of BatAbility Courses & Tuition, a training organisation that delivers bat-related skills development to customers throughout the UK and beyond. He has studied bats for over 25 years with a particular focus on their acoustic behaviour. Neil is the lead author of the popular Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland (2014) and in 2016 he wrote The Effective Ecologist which tackles the challenges facing ecologists as they endeavour to perform to the highest standard within their working environment.

His latest book, Is That a Bat?, published in January, provides a technical, yet accessible, guide to understanding and categorising non-bat sounds. Including a downloadable audio library, this ground-breaking book is designed to help bat workers be more confident in analysing their recordings, and also discusses the wider conservation benefits of studying non-bat sounds.

We recently caught up with Neil to chat about the book and about nocturnal sounds and their analysis.

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Where did the idea for this book come from? And do you feel that this is a subject/area of study which has been largely overlooked?

The idea came from a number of different directions during the years prior to my starting work on this project. As someone doing lots of sound analysis for bats and also seeing the kind of queries that would get sent to me, it was apparent that bat workers spent at least some time, unproductively, trying to work out what species of bat it was, when it turned out not to be a bat at all.

Additionally, whilst working in darkness we often hear other sounds that get ignored or written off as ‘of no interest’. These sounds (eg a Schedule 1 bird species) could actually be very relevant to the project we are working on and the reason why ecologists are being sent to a site in the first place. Saying ‘I don’t know. It’s not a bat, so it doesn’t matter’ isn’t really the best approach to take. When people see something, they tend to react more positively, as opposed to when they hear an unfamiliar sound. In darkness, however, sound is usually all you get. So, this put ‘in the frame’ the thoughts I had regarding audible sound encountered during darkness.

Finally, I had been asked many times over the years, questions such as, ‘do mice make high frequency sounds?’ Until relatively recently I didn’t have a proper answer to that question and probably, to be honest, didn’t even think that I cared or that it mattered when it came to doing bat work. I could not have been more wrong. Not only mice, but all of our small terrestrial mammals make ultrasonic sounds that can get picked up by bat detectors, and many produce sounds that are quite similar to some of the echolocation pulses or social calls produced by bats.

Having written this book (and completed the immense amount of research that it has inevitably involved) do you now find yourself looking at and treating your own recorded data differently?

Oh yes, most definitely. I am now very nervous about being certain about anything slightly unusual. When I deliver presentations, I often use the expression, ‘You only know what you know’. I feel this underpins my whole thought process now, as it also follows therefore that ‘You don’t know what you don’t know, and how much there is still to find out’. I honestly think, in some respects, we are only scratching the surface when it comes to our knowledge of bat-related sound, as well as all of the other species and things that make noise within a bat’s soundscape. I think we are sometimes far too sure of ourselves for our own good.

Following on from that, it also has consequences to our, sometimes misguided, reliance on automated classifiers. I get quite unsettled when I hear some people talking about complex stuff (eg separating Myotis species with high degrees of confidence) in such an authoritative manner. I have always preferred a more cautious approach, and even more so now. If anything, having now done this project, I would say that I have backtracked, in some respects quite far, from stuff that I once thought I knew reasonably well.

How do you feel about auto-ID software? Do you have concerns that it gives users a false sense of confidence in their results? And do you feel that, as technology becomes more advanced, it might be at the expense of expertise in both fieldcraft and analysis?

To answer the last part of this question first, yes on both accounts. I go into quite a lot of detail within the book as to why I think this way. The pages in the book regarding these areas were written and revisited many times during the process. When I look at my first draft of those pages (which I still have) it is interesting for me to see the journey I have been on and how my thinking changed during the process.

My viewpoint on automated classifiers at the start was quite negative in all respects. In some respects, the classifier challenge isn’t related purely to bats. If only it was, it would be so much easier. I was horrified to find classifiers confidently identifying lots of non-bat-related sounds as bats. This was the point for me where this work moved well into the ‘essential reading for bat workers’ category, as opposed to a ‘nice to know’. I remember that day extremely well. I was in a hotel room, near Gatwick, doing analysis of harvest mouse calls. They looked a bit like common pipistrelles, and the three classifiers I used that day all agreed! After publication, I was especially pleased to see that some of the reviews have very much labelled it as ‘essential reading’, for a number of reasons (ie not just the scenario discussed here).

But putting all that aside, for the moment, my final conclusion (for the time being?) is that there are definitely better classifiers than others, and there are different ways in which classifiers do things that will produce different results. I also feel that classifiers used sensibly, by experienced people (ie those who possess all the ‘essential’ knowledge), with audits in place, can be extremely powerful and useful. However, just like a human, a classifier has got so many things loaded against it arriving at the right answer (much of which is discussed in the book). So, it is fair to say that classifiers can come up with completely wrong answers. It is also fair to say that humans, even with experience, can also come up with completely wrong answers.

Therefore, neither approach is perfect, but the thing I now feel strongest about isn’t the classifiers themselves but, firstly, the lack of training people get in understanding how these systems work ‘behind the scenes’. And secondly, the lack of technical knowledge and experience of bat-related acoustics demonstrated by some of those who use these systems. I think it is too easy for organisations to give this important and often complicated work to junior members of the team, furnishing them with classifiers etc. It is then as easy for an inexperienced person to use these systems, write reports and influence decisions that are being made, without they themselves (or their bosses) appreciating that perhaps they or the classifier is getting it wrong (back to ‘You only know what you know’). Ultimately, during any project, the human decides (or at least they should). They decide what classifier to use. They decide the methods to use. They decide to blindly accept what the system is telling them, or not. They decide to do a proper manual audit of the results, or not. They decide what goes into a report and whether or not to be cautious with their interpretation. In the book I say something along the following lines:

‘Our bat detectors and associated software should be regarded as educated idiots. Very intelligent, but on occasions totally lacking any common sense. There is one part of the process, however, where ‘common sense’ needs to be applied. This is the part where a human decides what to do next. You need to keep pressing that ‘Common Sense’ button before jumping in with wrong conclusions and inappropriate decisions.’

Too many people blame a classifier for making mistakes, when in fact we should perhaps be collectively looking in the mirror. It is a tool, and like any tool there are right ways and wrong ways, right times and wrong times, to use it. ‘It’s a bad workman who blames his tools’. I think if you use a good classifier appropriately, and the methods/results are audited by an experienced person, the combination of the two, each allowing for the other’s weaknesses, can work well.

Do you think that increased awareness of the other noises recorded during bat surveys has wider implications for conservation? For example, can you provide us with a situation where bat survey recordings might be useful for other species/purposes?

Definitely. This is one of the main threads within this work and the examples are numerous. We live in a country which, relatively speaking, isn’t that diverse when it comes to night-time species (bats, other mammals, birds, insects…). But even in the British Isles we have bush crickets, moths, birds, shrews, voles etc that can all be identified either audibly or from the analysis of bat detector recordings. Now take this approach into more diverse parts of the world. We haven’t really begun to scratch many of the surfaces, as far as I can tell. Even just looking at the UK, I don’t believe for one second that ‘Is That A Bat?’ is anywhere close to the total picture of what we may encounter acoustically during darkness. There is so much more to find out and this knowledge will almost certainly lead to better decision making and associated benefits for conservation.

Bat survey technology is constantly progressing, and there is a lot of recording equipment and analysis software on the market. It’s not surprising that it can be confusing for even the most experienced ecologist. What advice would you give to an aspiring bat worker who wants to gain experience and skill?

Listen and learn from lots of different experienced people. Take all of their thoughts and blend these with your own developing technical knowledge and experience. Understanding how bat echolocation works and how this links to behaviour is an essential foundation that should be in place before someone begins to attempt to identify bat calls to a species or group level. For example, the answer is often as much to do with where a bat is (relative to surroundings), as it is to do with what a bat is.

Be wary of anyone who tells you they can identify every bat call, or that the system they use is always right. Don’t be afraid to just call it what you know it is (eg Myotis), as opposed to trying to always get it diagnostically to species level (eg it’s a whiskered bat). In any case, for some jobs you won’t need to know the precise species on every occasion. Why risk your credibility when there is no reason to do so. When you start appreciating the reasons why you can’t identify every bat, you are beginning to become an experienced and respected bat worker. People who don’t really understand this subject are afraid not to identify everything. People who really understand this subject know that everything can’t be identified (not at this stage anyway!).

What was the most interesting, bizarre or unexpected non-bat sound you came across during the research and writing of this book?

I think my favourite is the Long-Eared Owl juvenile call, when slowed down 10 times. This is something many bat workers do with bat calls in order to make them audible, and with an unusual recording it might be how you would first listen to it before realising that it’s not a bat. It still makes me smile, for no scientific reason whatsoever. It just reminds me of ‘Casey Jones & The Cannonball Express’ (the whistle from his steam engine). I know some of your younger readers will need to Google ‘Casey Jones’.

Finally – a question we ask all our authors – what is next for you? Do you have plans for further books?

Yes, two others. But I am scared to say too much at the moment for a number of reasons, including that once you say out loud what you are doing, the pressure is then piled on to get it done. I am just recovering from this one! So, I need some time to carefully consider which of the two ideas comes next and how to marry up the huge amount of time it takes to produce a book with other commitments.

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Also by Neil Middleton:

Social Calls of the Bats of Britain and Ireland
#212405
Brings together the current state of knowledge of social calls relating to the bat species occurring within Britain and Ireland, with some additional examples from species represented elsewhere in Europe. Includes access to a downloadable library of calls to be used in conjunction with the book.

The Effective Ecologist
#226648
The Effective Ecologist shows you how to be more effective in your role, providing you with the skills and effective behaviours within the workplace that will enable your development as an ecologist. It explains what it means to be effective in the workplace and describes positive behaviours and how they can be adopted.

NHBS: In The Field – Song Meter Mini Bat Detector

The SM Mini Bat is the latest addition to the ultrasonic range of acoustic recorders produced by Wildlife Acoustics. This passive bat detector offers comparable versatility and quality to the highly successful SM4 Bat but at a much lower cost and a smaller size of only 12cm x 13cm. These impressive detectors also feature an easy to use configuration mode through your smartphone or tablet over Bluetooth.

In mid-March we deployed an SM Mini in a rural location in South Devon to record any emerging bats, as the spring season got underway. Our aim was to find out how easy setup is when using the Mini Configurator app and to get an example of its recording quality. Originally our plan was to retrieve the detector after a period of three weeks, however the developments around Covid-19 meant that it was unsafe to do so. Therefore in this blog we will cover our experiences with setting up and deploying an SM Mini. Once social distancing rules are lifted we will provide a follow on update with our recordings.

We used a 32 GB SDHC card, however the SM Mini Bat can support SDXC cards of up to 1TB. The SM Mini Bat comes with a built-in microphone and when powered using 4x lithium-ion AA batteries it will record for up to 30 ten-hour nights. You can add an additional acoustic microphone to record birds, amphibians and other species when not using the ultrasonic microphone.

Setting Up

The SM Mini is designed to be used with a companion app called Mini Configurator. This free app allows you to easily configure the SM Mini’s recording settings before deployment as well as check the status of your detector while it’s in the field.

When powered on the SM Mini Bat emits a constant Bluetooth beacon, and when you are within range of this beacon the Configurator app will automatically detect the recorder and display it in the recorders screen of the app. You can now press the status icon on the app and view the current status of the detector, including SD card capacity, battery life, recording mode and number of recordings taken.

To set up or edit an SM Mini’s recording schedule you must pair the detector with the app. The first step in this process is to hold down the PAIR button on the SM Mini for three seconds, which prepares the device to be paired (indicated by the green flashing Bluetooth light). On the Mini Configurator app a ‘pair’ icon will then appear next to the detector’s name, and once pressed the app will be paired with this detector. Once paired the SM Mini synchronises its time and date to your location and a new ‘configure’ icon will appear next to the detector, which grants access to the SM Mini’s recording settings. These settings include the recording schedule (e.g. an hour before sunset through to sunrise), recording format (zero crossing or full spectrum), minimum trigger frequency and recording length.

What we found

Setting up an SM Mini and getting to grips with the Configurator app can seem daunting at first, but with the quick starter guide and Wildlife Acoustics’ helpful online tutorial videos, we found it to be a relatively straight forward process. The app has a simple user interface with clear graphics and together this really helps make navigating the app easy. This was a welcome change when compared to the issues that new users can have when navigating the older style LCD menus on previous detectors.

The beacon status system has also proved incredibly useful whilst we have had the detector deployed. Since the social distancing restrictions came into place, we have been unable to access the detector. However we were able to guide the owners of the land where the detector is deployed, through the process of installing the app and checking its status for us. This has been incredibly helpful as we can see whether we have recorded any bats in its current location, as well as whether the batteries need to be replaced.

Despite its small size we were still able to run a python lock around the detector, however as our location was a private residential area we were not concerned about theft and so opted for using a few cable ties to secure the detector in place.

Our Opinion….so far

The SM Mini Bat offers a user-friendly passive bat detector building on previous iterations in the Song Meter bat detector range. Its small size means it’s much easier to store and transport, and it is much more discreet when deployed in the field, compared with other detectors. Being unable to add an additional external microphone is a limitation to keep in mind, however for us this wasn’t an issue.

We will post a follow up blog once we are able to retrieve our detector and access our recordings.

The Song Meter Mini Bat Detector is available to order from the NHBS website. For assistance with any queries regarding our range of bat detectors, please do not hesitate to contact our team of Wildlife Equipment Specialists on 01803 865913 or equipment@nhbs.com.

How We Tested

What We Found

Our Opinion

How We Tested

What We Found

Our Opinion

PLANTS

Identification

Citizen Science Projects

BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS

Identification

Citizen Science Projects

AMPHIBIANS and Reptiles

Identification

Citizen Science Projects

BIRDS

Identification

Citizen Science Projects

MAMMALS (including bats and cetaceans)

Identification

Citizen Science Projects

INVERTEBRATES / BUGS

Identification

Citizen Science Projects

Apps

Is your garden hedgehog friendly?

Tips for watching hedgehogs

Using a trail camera to watch hedgehogs

No hedgehogs?

Further reading

Mice

Wood mouse/Field mouse– Apodemus sylvaticus

House mouse – Mus musculus

Harvest mouse – Micromys minutus

Yellow-necked mouse – Apodemus flavicollis

Voles

Bank Vole – Myodes glareolus

Field Vole – Microtus agrestis

Water Vole – Arvicola amphibious

Shrews

Common shrew – Sorex araneus

Pygmy shrew – Sorex minutus

Water Shrew – Neomys fodiens

Other

Hazel Dormouse – Muscardinus avellanarius

Recommended reading/guides:

What you need:

When to go:

Where to go:

What to do:

Find out more:

Further reading:

Setting Up

What we found

Our Opinion….so far