News

We have been working in partnership with Warwickshire Mammal Group since 2023 to undertake small mammal surveys on campus. Small mammals are vital links of the food chain, and are also often used as indicators of habitat quality and complexity. However, as they are notoriously difficult to observe, small mammal surveys are often conducted using humane live trapping methods, such as using Longworth traps.

As always, we placed the Longworth traps along a transect the night before, with the nest box area stocked with a variety of food items (fresh fruit, grains, and maggots for shrews) to cater for the needs of all species we expected to find, and hay for bedding. We placed 21 devices in hedgerows around the field off Spine Route to gain a better understanding of what species inhabit this area. Part of the survey site was an overgrown hedge, which has become too mature and woody over time hence resembling more of a strip of woodland rather than a hedge. There are plans to restore this essential habitat and wildlife corridor by hedge laying later on this year, and with this survey we aimed to collect data on small mammal presence before the works, which then will be compared to the results of a repeat survey after the hedge has been restored.

Unfortunately, during this survey we did not find any small mammals. This could be the result of the reduced small mammal activity caused most likely by the bright moon and clear sky, with the recent dry and hot weather as a contributing factor, or in fact an indication that the habitat in its current state is not suitable for small mammals.

We are grateful for the Warwickshire Mammal Group’s continued help in conducting small mammal surveys on campus. The Group is one of the Mammal Society prize winners of 2025 for their outstanding work not only with us but across the region of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull.