Farnboro John said:Polecat is really hard and I have only seen two ever, ona random sighting basis. Thye are now much more widespread than say ten years ago and you may wish to check out the Vincent Wildlife Trust/Mammal Society survey, especially the newsletters.
Wildcat is very very difficult but the consensus among people I have talked and e-mailed with seems to be West Coast, young pine plantations and "cairns" which more probably means tumbled scree slopes. Ardnamurchan is probably as good an area as anywhere to try and gives excellent prospects of Pine Martena and Otter as well: in summer the cetacean watching from Ardnamurchan Point can be terrific. On one trip (June 2004) I got 3 Minke Whales, 20+ Common Dolphins and a White-beaked Dolphin in an evening.
John
I think I have seen two road-killed Polecats, both on the same road (A66). Would much prefer to see a live one!
Had a brief trip to Ardnamurchan late last year, although I plan to return to explore the area in much more detail, hopefully ending in a night drive.
Spent much of my last visit looking for Otter with no success. However, wasn't too disappointed as it was my only dip of the holiday.
As for Wildcat, if I was lucky enough to see one, I don't think I would be confident enough to distinguish it fom a feral.
Cheers for the advice John. I will follow this thread with interest.
Andrew03 said:89! - shocking! Does black rat still occur - i'd a feeling i'd read it had gone from the UK?
Any possibility of posting the full list of 89ish?
Cheers
Andrew
Capercaillie71 said:That'll be a trip to Orkney then. Would it still count if it was in the claws of a hen harrier?
Black rat is still found on the Shiant Islands off Stornoway and in some docks - but is damn near impossible to see,
mikus said:Speaking of mammal 'brown jobs' ,- voles, shrews, mice etc. - I heard that distinguishing between them in the field is in a great deal of cases impossible, even when given good views, and most of the times hand examination and even using a sense of smell (when mice are concerned - and House Mouse is characteristic in that respect) is required!
Hence my question (and sorry for OT)- which is the best mammal guide (for the whole of Europe, not only UK) currently available? If I am ever to tick any voles, I need some really reliable literature, something which is a mammal equivalent of "Collins" or Jonnsson's bird guides. Is there at all a reliable mammal guide that covers all the mammal families?
BTW, there are 20 items on my Polish list - no bats, no shrews, no voles yet, but there is Common Seal, Grey Seal (seals are only accidental in Poland), Elk, Beaver, Otter, Chamois.