Richmond Beavers and Rickety Rafts

Richmond Beavers paid a visit to Foxglove last night and caught a plethora of pond life, including tadpoles, sticklebacks and water boatman.  

Today Colin has been making his way around all of the bird feeders and vole platforms, before lending a hand and his expertise in making mink rafts.

A mink raft serves to encourage American mink (Neovison vison) to leave evidence of their presence.

The American mink was first  introduced to our shores for fur-farming, with the first wild, non-native populations establishing through multiple escapes many decades before the well publicised mass releases by animal rights activists during the 1990s.

The voracious mink continue to be a threat to native Water Vole and ground nesting bird populations, which is why we carefully monitor their populations.