Mink

[Dunk Fairley]

No, before anyone else says it, the Bank Vole colonies are not in your local phone book!!!

[Chris Plumb]

Sorry Dunk - the point I was making is that nowhere on any EA literature I've seen - or on their site does it mention about reporting sightings of this pest. And yes I'd much rather see voles - they don't try to steal your luncheon meat...

 

I'll certanly be reporting them in future.

 

Chris

[Dunk Fairley]

You're quite right. For some reason, the EA are pretty slow about communicating things like this to us. Considering we are probably the best people out there for looking to see what's going on, it's a bit poor.

 

It probably wouldn't take much to notify sites such as this one, regarding issues such as notifiable species, but they obviously haven't thought about it.

 

You can usually pick up dribs and drabs about what's going on, if you have a look at Wildlife Trust websites. As well as that, you can get yourself onto your local trust mailing list, usually by visiting one of their HGs, where they often have displays about what they are getting up to. My own WT office in Kent, is really quite interesting and chock full of usefull info and books about the environment.

 

Anyway Chris, no need to apologise, I wasn't talking to enlightened souls, such as yourself.

[Dunk Fairley]

Let's not forget the Colorado Beetle of course! Still a notifiable species.

[Peter M]

What about the signal crayfish, can this be culled now?

[Chris Plumb]

Peter Martin:

What about the signal crayfish, can this be culled now?

I believe they're trying - certainly on the Kennet.

 

 

Chris

[Dunk Fairley]

It's like with any "alien" species. It's illegal to stock them into the wild, so therefore it's illegal to return them to the water, if you catch one.

 

With Crayfish, there's a problem with trapping in that the traps are indescriminate. They trap the native species as well, which of course we don't want to harm. It can take a trained eye to tell the difference, especially where juveniles are concerned. If you want to have a go at trapping them, it's best to contact your local EA office for guidance. Rules can vary a bit, usually you'll need to be licenced. The licence is not hard to get, it's really just a written permission to trap, with an assurance (that you must stick to!) that only Signal Crays will be taken. No other species are permissable, eels frequently get into cray traps, these must be returned unharmed.

 

Added to that, you MUST contact the Riparian Owner of the water where you want to trap them. The Riparian Owner, is the person who OWNS the angling rights to any piece of water. With some waters, you'll find that they are council owned. Often, they welcome people who want to trap crayfish, but only if they have EA consent.

 

Once trapped, you have a marketable commodity.

[monkeyboy]

As far as I know you can capture signal crayfish and eat them,with permission from the EA! I hate mink but love voles. You often here a little screech and never see it again! Shame for such a beutiful little timid creature.

But dont forget that some anglers often mistake them for RATS, and kill them!

[Dunk Fairley]

One of my favourite angling memories, goes back to the 70s. I used to fish Billing Aquadrome, near Northampton. One night, a family of voles came out and were "playing" just a few feet away. They were fully aware of my presence, but didn't seem to care. They really are quite bold, which is one of the ways you can tell.

 

When you watch a Rat, it (usually) seems to skulk around, as if it feels guilty. I know they can come into your Biv and nick your food etc, but they scarper pretty quick once disturbed. Water voles don't seem to be worried, they don't nick your grub and sometimes get quite close.

 

For those who live in or near Maidstone, there's a colony living up the river Len in Mote park. Usually out at Dusk in the summer. They seem happy to put up with me when I've been fishing there.

 

I've not seen Mink along the Medway for a few months now (I've frequently seen them in the winter before), the EA seem to have got on top of the little blighters.

[Steve Burke]

There's a very large population of water voles at Wingham - indeed we've even been ask to donate some to other nature reserves. In fact the banks of one of the sidestreams of the river is riddled with water vole holes every few feet.

 

They really are cute little creatures and I've even had one taking sweetcorn off my boot. Hopefully this year I'll get one to eat from my hand.

 

The bad news is that mink have been sighted a few miles downstream. With a bit of luck they'll stay there otherwise our water vole population will well and truly crash.