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7 traps on the western edge of the grove - a
mature woodland and open grassland border.
10 on the edge of the glade - border between
young trees and open grassland.
All the above locations are used by the public
and their dogs.
11 around the feeding station - near the temple
mainly brambles and young trees (scrub)
10 in Chalet Wood - a quiet young woodland with
brambles.
Nearly all the traps were set under brambles.
Early next morning, having been joined by some
of the local conservation group we went
collecting the traps. Nothing at all had been
caught in the grove and dell areas and we were
all beginning to wonder if there were any small
mammals in the park at all. However, when
leaving the dell area Alf found the remains of
a woodmouse in a large plastic lemonade bottle
that someone had discarded.
At last in the feeding station area we found
our first small mammal, a woodmouse, followed
by another three nearby. The glade produced
only one sprung trap, but it contained a
different species, a bank vole. Chalet Wood
proved to be the best area with shrew, bank
vole and a woodmouse. While no real
conclusions can be drawn from such a limited
survey I think it is fair to say that the small
mammals keep away from the most disturbed
areas.