Mainly Mammals 2019

This is the link to last years thread https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/all-creatures/196151/mainly-mammals-2018#pifragment-4271=26

A bit late starting this off, but here we go with a Coypu trying to hide in some reeds & then disappearing off. Photos from mid january.

All contributions welcome!

  • Oh what a shame for you Hazy, it's horrible when you see an animal distressed & can do nothing to help. I'm like you & may have been tempted to try & herd it around the outside, but I expect it's sense of direction was telling it to go back the same way it came. Dogs off leads are a problem for wildlife in most places. In the winter they chase flocks of birds, some of whom have flown thousands of miles & are probably exhausted. In the summer they can cause the destruction of the nests of ground nesting birds like Larks.
    Thanks for all the replies for our Coypu. They are a massive problem here & we see them all the time. They do a lot of trapping & in one season around our commune & the next one they trapped about a 1000. They undermine the roads seriously apart from tucking into the corn crops in the summer/autumn. They don't have any natural predators except perhaps foxes so it's an uphill struggle.
  • Hazel C said:
    . They don't have any natural predators except perhaps foxes so it's an uphill struggle.

    They sound like our grey squirrels !  

  • I keep saying that what they need to do is make Coypu pâté/stew/BBQ trendy things to eat, once they had a value the numbers would soon go down! LOL
  • Don't get me started on irresponsible dog-owners!!! Well done for doing whatever you could for the deer. I'm sure it will be OK after nightfall when they tend to be more active.
  • Unknown said:
    Don't get me started on irresponsible dog-owners!!! Well done for doing whatever you could for the deer. I'm sure it will be OK after nightfall when they tend to be more active.

    Thanks Nigel,   I have to say I couldn't wait for the park to close today !!     I'm sure it will be ok once it has time to get its bearings but I couldn't locate the hinds and other youngsters anywhere.

    On a brighter note,   later on in the park I managed to photograph a couple of Stags although, as always, they usually have their heads down grazing and refusing to look up  !

  • Hazel C said:
    I keep saying that what they need to do is make Coypu pâté/stew/BBQ trendy things to eat,

    People would probably start farming them again if they became popular!

  • Unknown said:
    I managed to photograph a couple of Stags although, as always, they usually have their heads down grazing and refusing to look up  !

    I've not really seen any antlered red deer stags recently with their heads up or down! 

  • Still no antlers (let alone Coypu or Beaver) but my third Roe Deer within a few days and an un-hindered view … remarkable

  • Lovely photo Nigel & as you say unhindered view of a hind! Confusing LOL

  • Lovely to see the Roe deer

    Unknown said:
    Still no antlers

    you're running out of time as all antlers will be shed shortly so hurry up and get to Tatton Park    LOL  !!

    post edit:  found an interesting article here with a few facts and pointers (pardon the pun)  lol