Then again, this time last year I'd had hedgehogs in the garden already for a month, whereas it's only two nights ago they returned to the garden. So I'm hoping it's just down to the cold weather. The hog above is one I marked last year when he was only a juvenile, and it's Y-Boy. He seems a good size and in decent condition post-hibernation.
The sad rodent picture at the bottom is a mystery mammal I found in the bin where I store my bird food. There's at least one other still alive and at large, and they're a golden-orange colour with quite pointed noses, about half the size of a wood mouse. Debate among wildlife friends boils down to whether it's a juvenile bank vole or a harvest mouse. I've kept the body and I'm going to see if I can extract the skull cleanly for proper ID. If it did turn out to be harvest house, that would be astonishing.
1 comment:
Well, good luck with the mystery rodent ID! Not for the squeamish... Reddish fur and pointy nose suggest harvest mouse, (though the tail may be a bit short?)
My water voles seem to have gone back indoors - it's been pretty cold here in East Anglia too. I have seen a black squirrel on one of the college lawns though - a 'genetic mutation' of the greys, that started further south.
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