We were lucky enough last weekend to be visited by Dr. Mark Hows from the Cambridgeshire Mammal Group who set up some small mammal traps on the reserve to survey which species we might have here.
Children in the group were able to clamber into reeds and hedges to check which traps had triggered and might contain a creature, and we got a good range of species including a Harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) which was a very special little find!
Luckily we had some excellent photographers in our group who managed to catch some great pictures of the morning's surveying - and here are just a few of the cutest ones!
Pygmy shrew (Sorex minutus) trying to escape the hands of his captor, by Simon West
Bank vole (Myodes glareolus) by Simon Hummerstone
Harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) being examined, by Gill Merritt
Harvest mouse (Micromys minutus) returning home, by Simon West
Wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) venturing back onto the reserve, by Gill Merritt
It's good to know we have a nice variety of mammals thriving on our reserve and we plan to do this surveying more regularly in order to build up our records. Look out for our next event if you or your family would like to get a chance to see some cute rodents up close.