Small is Beautiful – a talk by Dr. Johnny Birks
- Thursday, November 3rd
7:00PM - 9:00PMSmall is Beautiful – a talk by Dr. Johnny Birks
The White Hart Hotel
South Street
ExeterSmall is beautiful – why are we neglecting our smaller mustelids?
A talk by Dr Johnny Birks & a select mammal auctionThis talk will explore the troubled history and current status of four poorly understood members of the weasel family: stoats, weasels, polecats and pine martens.
Drawing upon experience gained from recent work with The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Johnny will describe efforts to improve our knowledge of their ecology and distribution, and will ask why these attractive mammals have been so neglected by researchers.
Johnny is chairman of The Mammal Society (DMG is affiliated) and an ecological consultant. There will be a short question and answer session about the role of The Mammal Society and local groups and about being a consultant. Johnny is a lively speaker & an entertaining and fascinating evening is guaranteed!
Auction – going, going, gone…
There will also be a small, select auction of mammal related goods
to raise funds for The Mammal Society including:- a picture donated by Simon Drew (internationally recognised artist)
- otter photograph
- books and other quirky items.
DMG members £1.50 Non members £3.00
To book please call Kate Hills (née Stokes) on 07411870236 or email khills@southwestwater.co.uk by Wednesday 2nd November
BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL AS NUMBERS ARE STRICTLY LIMITED
Mammal Society responds to government announcement on badger culling
The Mammal Society has responded to the government's announcement earlier today that pilot culling of badgers to control bovine TB may begin next year: http://www.mammal.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=386:badger-cull-response&catid=53:news
2011 AGM and Otter Talk
The 2011 Devon Mammal Group Annual General Meeting will take place at the White Hart Hotel in South Street, Exeter on Thursday May 26 at 7pm, and will be followed by a talk by Dr. Daniel Allen.
Dr. Allen is the author of the recently published book “Otter”. He will be talking about his lifelong enthusiasm for otters, sharing lively anecdotes from folklore, traditions, popular literature and television and discussing the ongoing challenges otters face around the world. His PhD was on otter hunting and he is an affiliate member of the ICUN/SSC Otter Specialist Group.
Signed copies of “Otter” will be available to purchase for £9.99 (cash sales only please).
Space is limited so booking is essential for members and non-members. Please book via our website contact page (you will receive confirmation).
Costs: DMG Members – Free, Non-DMG Members – £3
New study suggests climate change may be linked to earlier deer rut
New research by Cambridge and Edinburgh universities shows that Red Deer on the Scottish island of Rum are now rutting earlier in the season than in the past. Studying the breeding records of over 3,000 individual deer over a 38-year period, scientists identified 6 key events in the rutting process which are now occurring between 6 and 12 days earlier than they did when the records begun.
The researchers believe this may be linked to warmer weather in the winter and spring leading to longer growing seasons for the plants that make up the deer's diet, allowing them to gain weight and be ready for rutting sooner.
Have any DMG members noticed seasonal mammal activity occurring earlier in the county? If so please let us know via the contact page and we'll include your comments in our next newsletter!
BBC article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-12190450
And the original journal article for those with an ATHENS login or similar: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02382.x/abstract
Rat populations in oil palms – a Malthus connection?
DMG member Brian Wood will be giving this talk to the Devon & Cornwall branch of the Society of Biology at 2pm on Saturday 11th December. The talk looks at the population dynamics of rats in palm oil plantations, and relates these to the dynamics of human populations.
This is an open event, and any interested DMG members are welcome to attend.
The talk will be held at the Biocatalysis Centre, Streatham Campus, University of Exeter.
Dormice on the A38
One of our members kindly let us know about a piece on the BBC's "The One Show" which looks at a Dormouse population living on the central reservation of the A38 in the Haldon Forest area. If you're interested you can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer here. The piece on dormice begins at 22 minutes into the video.
Bats and Windfarms
We now have a confirmed venue for next week's talk by Dr. Fiona Matthews - the boardroom at the White Hart Hotel in South Street, Exeter. The talk will begin at 7pm and is open to all - no need to book. Admission is free for DMG members, and £3 for non-members.
There is a small pay-and-display car park behind the hotel, or alternatively the Magdalen Street car park is just a few minutes walk away.
Hope to see you there!
Devon deer in the news
A Red Deer stag, possibly the largest wild land mammal living in the UK, has been killed by hunters in North Devon. The stag, which had been nicknamed the "Exmoor Emperor" by local wildlife photographer Richard Austin, was believed to weigh more than 135kg (300lb) and stood nearly 2.75m (9ft) tall at the tips of his antlers.
Shooting Red Deer during the rut is legal, and it is most likely the stag was killed by a licensed marksman rather than poachers. For more information read the BBC article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-11624253
Devon's deer also made it onto BBC Radio 4's "Saving Species" programme yesterday when wildlife expert Chris Sperring and Forestry Commission ranger Ian Parsons paid a visit to Haldon Forest to watch the Fallow Deer rut, and find out how the deer affect the management of the forest. If you're interested, you can listen to the programme on the BBC's iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vhfx0
Tale Valley Trust – Autumn Newsletter
The Tale Valley Trust, a charitable organisation dedicated to the conservation and regeneration of the Tale Valley in East Devon, has recently published its Autumn newsletter.
This edition may be of particular interest to DMG members as it contains pieces on the trust's work with water voles and red squirrels.
The newsletter can be read here: TVT NEWSLETTER AUG 2010
Autumn Events
We're pleased to announce the first of our autumn/winter events for 2010.
7pm, Tuesday October 26th
Dr. Paul Chanin, an internationally known mammal ecologist with extensive experience in consultancy, surveys, training and research, will be talking about new surveying methods for old favourites - dormice and otters and two rarer species - pine martens and red squirrels.
Free for DMG members, £3 for non-members. This will be at our usual venue, the Ley Arms in Kenn.
7pm, Tuesday November 23rd
Dr. Fiona Mathews, Lecturer in Mammalian Biology at the University of Exeter will be giving a talk on "Bats and Windfarms". Following on from the success of Hugh Warwick's Hedgehog talk at this year's AGM we are hoping to hold this event in central Exeter. The venue hasn't been confirmed yet, so please check back closer to the time for more information.
We're currently planning more events for the following months, so watch this space!
