Question for the wildlife experts

[Diablo]

Interesting, I saw the same yesterday on the C7. Field Vole I reckon. But could also have been a Stoat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_vole

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mammals_of_Great_Britain

On C7 youre near Brooks/River..There are Mink down there(American variety)...Similar to Stoat but thicker and Darker...I`ve seen several in around ditches down there.

 

[Norman Baker suck my lozenge]

Stoat,vicious buggers are they.

 

[Stat Brother]

We are so blessed living in Sussex.

On my ride today I was lucky enough to be in touching distance with half a dozen pheasants, a few rabbits and at least 2 foxes.



Granted they were somewhat one dimensional, but hey you can't win them all.

 

[The Oldman]

Honestly, I've never seen one before, hence my confusion as to whether they actually lived round these parts. It was like greased lightning, just shot over the road in the sunshine, and scarpered into the hedgerow. I'm genuinely excited about it

I think my getting excited about wildlife sightings is a sign of getting old, by the way. I was working the other day when I spotted an absolutely huge buzzard sat on a fencepost around the Haywards Heath ring road. I've seen plenty in the air, but never one that big, or that close up. It must have been almost a foot tall. I made my colleague turn the car around twice so we could keep coming back and admiring it

One of the joys of becoming a little more mature in years is that. You begin to appreciate things which never bothered you. In those bewildering first 3 or 4 decades of life. Enjoy.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

We are so blessed living in Sussex.

On my ride today I was lucky enough to be in touching distance with half a dozen pheasants, a few rabbits and at least 2 foxes.

Granted they were somewhat one dimensional, but hey you can't win them all.

I was informed yesterday by one of the wise folk of this board that the vast majority of pheasants found around these parts aren't wild as such, but have been bred in captivity, and are released out there to provide sport for those who like to spend their days off shooting furry and feathery things.

I'm not convinced there's a lot of sport in shooting a pheasant, as they are amongst the dimmest creatures on the planet (witness the way they approach the side of a road, look up to spot you approaching in your car, and then strut right out on to the tarmac anyway). It hardly seems a fair contest.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

One of the joys of becoming a little more mature in years is that. You begin to appreciate things which never bothered you. In those bewildering first 3 or 4 decades of life. Enjoy.

That is exactly it. I can quite easily find pleasure now in the sort of small earthly joys that completely passed me by for thirty odd years, such as a carpet of bluebells on a woodland floor in May. It follows therefore, that a split second glance of a never-seen-before example of (what turns out to be) quite common local wildlife has absolutely made my day

 

[Algernon]

Did it look like this: http://www.badtaxidermy.com/viewpost/258/Mine!

 

[BN9 BHA]

Sorry it's the best I could do