Following the success of the first Living with Mammals Survey last year, Mammals Trust UK is launching the Living with Mammals Survey 2004 with the aims of dramatically increasing the number of participants looking out for mammals in their local area and making the wonders of British  wildlife  accessible  to  more  people around the UK.

As towns and villages spread deeper into the countryside, we need to ensure that these man-made  environments  are  also  able  to support our wildlife. Some of the mammals that have really taken to life in built up areas include grey squirrels and foxes but few people realise  how  many  other  mammals  might  be living quietly alongside them, some struggling to survive. Hedgehogs, for example, seem to be declining in large numbers in some parts of the country.

To understand the problems facing mammals in these environments, it is essential that we keep tabs on them from one year to the next so that we are able to tell quickly when populations are beginning to struggle. Help us this year by taking part in the Living with Mammals survey and keep an eye out for the mammals living in our backyard.

For at least eight weeks, from 1st April to the end of June, volunteers are asked to record sightings and signs of mammals they see in the green spaces around them including gardens, parks, allotments, churchyards, river banks, golf courses and playing fields. The survey is open to anyone in the UK with access to a green space within 200m of a building and does not require participants to have experience of recognising mammal species as they will be provided with an extensive full-colour booklet to help them identify what they see.

Last year more than nine out of ten people who took part reported the presence of at least one wild mammal at their site and many saw a number of different wild species including badgers, deer and shrews. Interestingly, more than half of all sites recorded the presence of foxes and hedgehogs and more than four out of ten sites recorded the presence of bats. One participant commented that she had been “delighted to discover just what a range of wildlife was actually living in the area”. To  take  part  in  this  exciting  survey,  simply  call  020  7498  5262  or  visit www.mtuk.org  for more details and to be sent a survey pack including a full - colour booklet on how to identify the mammals around you.

© 2004   Suffolk Naturalists' Society