Friday 11 was our last morning at Gunnersbury Triangle. Still no shrews or voles, sadly but many wood mice – over the 5 days, 42 were captured & marked and 4 escaped before marking. Many of the 14 wood mice on our last day were returners but we had 5 new arrivals and one frequent flyer […]
Vole Patrol 5 – out with the old, in with the new Read More »
How can you tell if a wood mouse visits a trap more than once? In my previous post, I referred a bit cryptically to clipping fur for identification purposes. You may be wondering how that works. Well here goes. We divide the mouse’s back into 6 areas: left and right at shoulder, middle and rear.
Vole Patrol 4 – how can you tell if a wood mouse visits a trap more than once? Read More »
And so Monday morning dawns – the first night that our traps have been catching any visitors. We gather at 0630, a little blurry eyed and slightly feeling the cold, to see who had been tempted in by the snacks & warm bed. Huma, our project leader, was full of energy & enthusiasm – impressive given that
Vole Patrol 3 – who’s been sleeping in our traps? Read More »
8 of us gathered at Gunnersbury Triangle on 3 March for the next phase of our Vole Patrol experience. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we were serenaded as we worked by robins, wrens & a song thrush. This time, we were placing 32 small traps on the reserve to see what went in
Vole Patrol 2 – trapping Read More »
I joined the Vole Patrol last week. “What’s the Vole Patrol?”, I hear you ask (I have very good hearing). It’s a research project set up by the London Wildlife Trust (with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund) on 9 sites in west London. One of these is Gunnersbury Triangle, the London Wildlife Trust reserve on Bollo Lane in
