Small Mammals in Woodlands

One Tuesday evening in an Exeter hotel conference room, some of Fingle’s volunteers were getting together. As members of Devon Mammal Group (more at home in the woods but comfortable enough in the carpeted suite), they had come to listen to Professor Fiona Mathews, Chair of the Mammal Society, talk about hedgehogs. They learned about the perilous status of the species in the UK and the urgent need to find out, with greater accuracy, more about their declining population. Fiona answered many of the prickly questions about this concerning subject but left some hanging in the air – more research is required. As the talk ended, the rush to go and chat to the speaker began. Conversation soon turned to how woodland volunteers could help with the need to update information about wild mammals. As a researcher, Fiona has to make do with old data from 10 or 20 years ago and, in her line of work, she needs recent, fit-for-purpose data.

by Matt Parkins Note: this data from Fingle Woods has been sent to the Mammal Society and will become part of the national dataset for woodland mammalsReview of the Population and Conservation Status of British MammalsSmall mammal population information:Wood mouse - Apodemus sylvaticusBritish population estimate 39,600,000 (stable)Bank vole - Myodes glareolusBritish population estimate 27,400,000 (stable)Hazel dormouse - Muscardinus avellanariusBritish population estimate 930,000 (declining)