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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

John's Mammals 2019 (1 Viewer)

I was just thinking about a trip to see the Wild Boars in the Forest of Dean. This year seems unusual in that we can't find any clues on the Internet of any sightings. Perhaps the threat of Swine Flue reaching the UK and the continude calls for their numbers to be controlled are the reasons for this. Do you think I'm understanding the situation correctly guys?
 
I was just thinking about a trip to see the Wild Boars in the Forest of Dean. This year seems unusual in that we can't find any clues on the Internet of any sightings. Perhaps the threat of Swine Flue reaching the UK and the continude calls for their numbers to be controlled are the reasons for this. Do you think I'm understanding the situation correctly guys?

I'm heading there tomorrow for a long weekend which will include a fair bit time looking for boar. I don't have any specific gen but suspect you are right. As well as the ongoing cull, I have also seen concerns raised about certain boar becoming tame - possibly due to feeding - all of which may also contribute to a lack of info being made readily available. Anyway they are certainly still there in great number and a search online (eg 'Forest of Dean Wildlife Photography' group on Facebook) will produce plenty of recent pics, including of 'humbugs'. I'm just going to spend time in likely areas and hope for the best!
 
Those locals who are pro-boar certainly tend not to give information out generally (though they will usually help obviously genuine wildlife watchers on site) because the public will feed boars which then usually results in the Forestry Commission killing them due to the immense over-hype of their dangerousness.

At least some people there have a fair idea that the FC don't have the manpower or the gen to do any realistic culling of the population: it also seems to be the case that they still don't know to within any reasonable limits how many are present, so defining a management quota is to say the least difficult. Their spread out of the Forest is limited by them then being on farmers' land where they can be legally and relatively easily shot - and are.

IMHO the excess population should be box-trapped and released in those forests currently lacking them. For instance, in the New Forest it is constantly lamented that the ponies eat the acorns and get sick so pigs have to be released in the forest to reduce the problem. Well doh..... piglets like Haycorns.... let some boar get at them. That would also force the chavs to improve their dog husbandry, to the benefit of all (except the aforementioned chavs, but who cares?) Anyway, it won't happen as long as we have a Tory government intent on annihilating all wildlife either with horse dog and gun, or concrete and fracking.

Good luck at the weekend. I assume you have identified some places to look, if not pm me.

Cheers

John
 
Thank-you for the informative post John. We hope the Boars will continue to prosper. I'm sure we all agree, they certainly make a spring trip to the forest very enjoyable. Phil
 
Only my second sighting of an opossum. It was this morning by the garage. It had discovered and enjoyed very much the paper wasp nest that I have removed from the garage attic last fall. These photos taken from perhaps 30 feet away but it let one of us walk as close as 10 feet. It finally spooked when it heard a red-tailed hawk screeching up in the air.
 

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Some mammals from Louisiana from my trip in March,

Cotton Deer Mouse, Southern Short tailed shrew, Opossum, Coypu


Mark
 

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Yellow Necked Mouse

Yellow Necked Mouse from a few weeks back, caught in my Garage.

Mark
 

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Some bits from a recent trip to Scotland

Red Deer, Roe Deer, Feral Goats, Common Seals and Red Squirrel


Mark
 

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On Sunday the cat brought a bunny into the house. I managed to catch it and let it free again. It had a few scrapes but seemed OK. Photo just before I set it free again.

Yesterday it was in the back yard and I was close enough (no camera) to see it was the same one based on the scrape on top of the head. It bounced away just fine.
 

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Today was a rodent day.

We went to Battleship Cove at Fall River, MA today. I often see fun stuff. Once got the best photo of a mink there a few years ago.

Today there was a pair of Groundhogs. Critters like the shone wall that lines the side of the river.

At home the hard bunny and a chipmunk collecting maple tree seeds on the driveway.
 

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Today was a rodent day.

We went to Battleship Cove at Fall River, MA today. I often see fun stuff. Once got the best photo of a mink there a few years ago.

Today there was a pair of Groundhogs. Critters like the shone wall that lines the side of the river.

At home the hard bunny and a chipmunk collecting maple tree seeds on the driveway.

Nice photos! The bunny looks more hare than rabbit: what are the options where you are?

A quick google suggests that is USS Indiana?

Cheers

John

PS: I've been neglecting the thread, sorry. I have a few pix to put up this week.
 
I've driven 3,000 miles in mostly rural southern Britain since the start of January and yet only saw my first roadkill hedgehog yesterday a mile from home. While it can be considered great on one hand that I'm not seeing any roadkill, it's also a sign of the times that they are so much more scarce these days that it's taken this long to see any Hedgehog roadkill. How long before the go extinct in the UK?

On another note, I recently watched a Stoat hunting, it seemed to be randomly wandering about, before suddenly picking up the scent of an unseen (to me) young Rabbit. The Stoat launched itself onto the Rabbit from about 18" away and grabbed it by the back of the head/neck. Quick as a flash, another unseen Rabbit, adult this time, appeared from the nearby scrub and kicked the Stoat off, the young Rabbit had been silent (to me) during the encounter. The Stoat trotted off and seemed to continue on its way. Three minutes later, with the young Rabbit still where the initial attack had taken place, the Stoat returned and again launched itself onto the Rabbit from about 18" away. This time the Rabbit squealed and once again the unseen adult shot out of the nearby scrub and kicked the Stoat off. Unlike the first occasion, this time the Rabbit took up a hot pursuit of the Stoat and I was able to watch for two minutes as the brambles and Gorse shook where they were chasing about unseen to me. When the bramble movement finally stopped the Stoat reappeared about 20 yards from the young Rabbit and headed off away from its potential meal. I waited around for ten more minutes but saw no further sign of the Stoat. The young Rabbit was bleeding heavily from its head and clearly in the last throes of life from the two attacks so the best course of action was to put it out of its misery.
I've often seen Stoat carrying prey but in forty years this was the first time I'd actually seen an attack, the whole Rabbit protecting the youngster was an added bonus to the sighting.
 
Nice photos! The bunny looks more hare than rabbit: what are the options where you are?

A quick google suggests that is USS Indiana?

Cheers

John

PS: I've been neglecting the thread, sorry. I have a few pix to put up this week.

Thanks!

It's the USS Massachusetts BB-59 at https://battleshipcove.org/

Now that you mention it, it may be a hare. Hares are unusual here where I live near Boston MA. Typically we have Eastern Cottontails. But Snowshoe hares do exist. We are much more likely to see them in Maine.

This is definitely a cottontail taken yesterday on the other side of the yard a few minutes before the other.
 

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Here is a snowshoe hare from 2014 in Maine. They tend to have a flatter face than cottontails.
 

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Culture day at the National Gallery in London today: took the opportunity to ride the Underground hunting for House Mice.

Found one at a classic hotspot for them: North end of Northbound platform on Northern Line at Tottenham Court Road. Typically dark London Underground form.

John
 
Did some bat surveys in May had 9 species, Soprano and common Pipistrelle, whiskered, daubentons and Natterer's bats, serotine, noctule, barbastelle and brown long eared bat.

Mark
 

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