Greenboot

Know your Native Small Mammals

Know your Native Small Mammals with Ian White
Friday 19 Oct from 5-8pm, Saturday 20 Oct 7-10am and Sunday 21 Oct from 10am-1pm

Can you tell a mouse from a vole? What is so special about dormice? Do owls eat shrews? Over 3 days you’ll have a unique opportunity to get to know the different mice, voles and shrews, how and where they live, the difficulties they face and how we can help. The course will include trapping and survey methods, identifying who has nibbled the nuts and what an owl had for dinner. This course is run by an expert member of the Hampshire Mammal Group.

Cost Ł25 (book your place with Hampshire Wildlife Trust)

Meet at Sparsholt Memorial Hall, Woodman Lane, Sparsholt for the first session.

3hrs First Session
60mins:	Setting traps in the field
60mins:	Welcome, introduction Types of survey
60mins:	Owl pellet analysis.

3hrs Second session
3 hours:	Checking traps in the field Small mammal ecology

Results of Small Mammal Trapping event at Ham Green: October 2007
(Grid Reference found using Get-a-Map)

3hrs Third session
3 hours:	Introduction to dormice Nut hunt

On completion of this course you should have a greater confidence to undertake a small mammal trapping session on your own. Traps can often be borrowed from the local Wildlife Trust, Academic institutions or Nature Reserves. The Mammal Society also run a Trap Loan system.

DON'T FORGET TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE LICENCED TO TRAP AND CONSIDER THE WELFARE OF THE ANIMAL AT ALL TIMES

Hampshire, along with many other counties, are seeking to generate Mammal Atlas's and any results from trapping sessions are very important to help build up our knowledge of small mammal distribution and ongoing work is required to watch population trends.

Join the Mammal Society the local Wildlife Trust the local Mammal Group and become a supporter of PTES to get information on mammals in Britain to see what you can do the help.

The photographer Steve Page has put together a photo record of the course.
If you want any pictures please contact Steve at sjapage@btinternet.com

	Available from The Mammal Society and nhbs Environment Bookstore An illustrated guide to distinguishing small mammals in the field and identifying them by their signs. The Manual also includes a small mammal skull key, standard recording forms and the addresses of county mammal recorders. This is the second edition and has been completely revised and contains several new illustrations
	Click on the image to download a: Key to the identification of small skulls
	Click on the image to download an: Identification Chart of British Small Mammals
	Click on the image to download an: Identification Guide to the small mammals of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly produced by the local Record Centre, ERCCIS
	Available from The Mammal Society Live Trapping Small Mammals 4th ed. by J. Gurnell and J Flowerdew The Mammal Society also maintain a support site for this publication
	Available from the Field Studies Council and Peoples Trust for Endangered Species Do you need a field guide to tracks, droppings, burrows or nests? Many British mammals are shy or nocturnal, which makes them difficult to see. This guide, produced in partnership with The Mammal Society, shows how field evidence like tracks, droppings, burrows, nests and feeding signs can be used to identify species.
	Available from The Mammal Society and nhbs Environment Bookstore The water shrew is one of our least known but most intriguing mammals. The Water Shrew Handbook is the first guide to British water shrews and covers their biology, ecology and conservation. It includes the latest national distribution maps from the Mammal Society's water shrew survey, and advice on carrying our local studies.
	Available from nhbs Environment Bookstore Pat Morris has spent 20 years researching both species of dormouse; as Chief Nutter he has organised two great nut hunts in order to find where hazel dormice are still surviving. Here you can find details of the main item of detective work. He has also managed re-introductions of dormice into suitable habitats and the results of these feats are included in the book. The reasons for the hazel dormouse decline are also discussed. To discover more about the Hazel Dormouse, there is current information on ecology, distribution, science articles and news at www.greenboot.co.uk