Weasel crop up occasionally and an in April 2015 I observed two Stoat playing in the undergrowth bit nothing since. In recent years Otters have been more evident with the latest record being just the end of the tail captured by my trail cam last month and in January 2015 saw a single shot of a disappearing Polecat. There are of course my resident Badgers who continue to do well. Mink seem to be very much on the decline, I haven't seen one in years but their footprints are still evident.
I began to look through the web at ideas of how to improve my understanding of these species. The large mustelids are pretty simple, they show up on my main camera trap quite well but weasels tend to move so fast that good images are hard to get. In my research I came across some information on the Vincent Wildlife Trust about their work using a Mostela to look at weasels, stoats and small mammals (Vincent Wildlife Blog).
The mostela is a Dutch invention designed by Jeroen Mos of the Dutch Small Mustelid Foundation. I read through this wealth of information and downloaded the specifications for this intriguing device.
A mostela is essentially a box with a guttering pipe entrance in which a camera trap is placed. Details of the design can be found here: Design.
From the plans I ordered some marine plywood from WoodSheets, they are a bit pricey but they cut the wood to shape and delivered. I ordered a section of guttering, hinges and clasps. I put it all together but didn't make as much of the interior, leaving the camera free.
Next came siting the mostela. I took it down last weekend and put it in place, setting the camera and covering it in leaves.
I came back this weekend to swap out the camera card and see what I had got.
Whilst I didn't get any weasels or stoats I did get another of the sites under recorded species - the Common Shrew. I hear these regularly in the summer but rarely see them but these curious mammals certainly had a look around. A single shrew visited on three separate nights.Wood Mice also visited on three nights and during the day it recorded a nosey Wren snooping about. (Ignore the date stamp I foolishly set it to 2019 and not 2020).
This is all good news as it looks as if it will help monitor the other small mammals, I m interested if it will pick up the vole species I know are present but this might mean relocation, which is difficult given the recent storms as there are few places I could leave the mostela where it wouldn't get swept away by rising flood water. The rodent and insectivore visits are good news as well because their scent trail should encourage the other predator species to investigate.
I plan to move the mostela about every few weeks and will leave it unbaited. I need to check camera positioning and focus but for the time being I am pleased with results. I will keep you all posted on what I find.
