Innovative mammal conservation
The small mustelids (weasels and stoats) are among our hardest mammal species to study. Monitoring them has proved challenging as they do not leave easily visible field signs and are generally elusive and rarely seen. Without robust and reliable monitoring methods, it is almost impossible to collect any data on weasels and stoats. They have Read More
21st May 2018
What kind of professional journey has led you to where you are today? Lucy: I have worked in both conservation science and conservation delivery and have always been interested in mammal ecology and conservation. I did a PhD at the University of Aberdeen in small mammal ecology on set-aside agricultural land, before working for the Read More
27th April 2018
I started camera trapping about five years ago for my own enjoyment to look for polecats on the Mawddach Estuary. A few years later, I started volunteering for the Mammals in a Sustainable Environment project, where we were monitoring hair tubes and camera traps at Cwm Mynach to look for red squirrels. Cwm Mynach has Read More
11th April 2018
It was not long after VWT’s Henry Schofield had undertaken some radio-tracking of Bechstein’s bats in 1997 from a Sussex ‘swarming’ site, that the Dorset Bat Group had some money available to purchase some bats boxes. Henry found that the bats he tracked (males) often roosted high in the trees. Looking back, it’s probably a Read More
3rd April 2018
From the early feasibility stage of our Pine Marten Recovery Project through to the post release monitoring of the pine martens, discussions with local farmers have been continual. Our conversations primarily concern the pine martens, but range widely over topics such as anecdotal observations of wildlife, predator/prey/livestock interactions, land use – both current and historical, Read More
16th March 2018
Although I have been volunteering with the Pine Marten Recovery Project (PMRP) for two years, I am yet to see a pine marten (and not for the lack of hours looking for them!). Radio-tracking is the task I most often help out with for this project and each session tends to follow a similar pattern… Read More
1st March 2018
Polecats are currently faring well in Britain, as the population continues to recover and spread across parts of the country following a severe historical decline driven by predator control. However, can the same be said for polecats in the rest of Europe? The status of the Western or European polecat (as ‘our’ polecat is officially Read More
20th February 2018
My second anniversary of working for the Vincent Wildlife Trust was spent mostly heading north on the M6 en route to the Highlands for the third and final year of pine marten translocations to Wales. It was not dissimilar to my first day with the Trust, which was spent heading south en route to head Read More
20th October 2017
Last year we did ‘a year in the life’ of one of our much-loved translocated martens, ‘Miss Piggy’. She managed to make herself a firm favourite with all of the PMRP staff over the first year as she was so well-behaved and followed the expected patterns of a newly translocated animal – unlike some of Read More
17th July 2017
In early March, we received a phone call from the producers of ‘Big Week on the Farm’ asking the VWT to take part in this year’s show to discuss the pine marten live on RTÉ One! The programme celebrates the start of spring every April, running nightly over the course of a week. There are Read More
26th June 2017
