Small Mammal Monitoring

While I was up on the cliff top this morning with Ollie I came across this curious box contraption. Helpfully it had a sticker on it explaining it was put there by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and that is was for monitoring small mammals. It seemed to be open at each end, so it's not a trap of any sort. I wonder if it is to do with the predation of the nests of cliff nesting birds, or just to see what little critters there are up there? Ollie doesn't qualify . . . !

In recent years there have been stoats found in the islands. No one is sure how they got here, as they certainly aren't native. A few were captured and relocated south of the Pentland Firth! The most interesting little mammal is by far the Orkney voles. Lovely little animals, but they can deliver a fearsome bite - even when you are trying to rescue them from being killed by pet cats!