Took this picture of a water vole latrine (middle) in the section of the brook near Waymills. But there seems to be some sort of a footprint next to it that reminded me of two other photos I took near there a few months ago (top and bottom). Does anyone know what might have left that mark? There are water vole prints in the top pic, for scale.
I'd guess at dog. But they just seem to end, without going anywhere?
ReplyDeleteIt's weird, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'm asking lots of people who might know, and crossing my fingers like mad the prints don't belong to mink.
This is the mink:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.skullsite.co.uk/prints/Mink/mink.htm
Yours look tighter with a larger pad. You'll be able to judge the size with your egg-tuppence. But see what the experts say.
Yeah, I think I looked before, in March, and discounted mink because the prints looked too big. But I'm so far from being an expert. Otter look about right, and otter spraint's been found further down the brook in the country park, but this section's so small and shallow and urban it seemed unlikely.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we'll see what the people at Shropshire Wildlife have to say. I'm going to start taking coins with me when I go out voling!
This is a nice piccie of otter prints, and they do look similar to the fore ones.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/conservation/483249/484154/?lang=_e
We have some friends, albeit in the country, who had a large pool stocked with Orfe next to which ran a stream no more than a couple of feet wide and an inch or two deep in places. The otters didn't have much trouble finding their way up and clearing the pool out over a few days.
Whatever they turn out to be the creature doesn't seem to have fully got out of the water for whatever reason.