The Last Stand

As a lot of you know I have been photographing water voles for a good chunk of the year, but no more as the vole population has crashed because a female mink has moved in and wiped out the lot. The conservation body knew about the mink problem well in advance but it was to little to late. I don't blame them because I could of done something myself but again to late. For me it is very sad as I spent so much time with these guys and I really didn't want it to end. This picture for me is my favourite from the whole project as you can sum up in a picture this beautiful mammals plight, the look over the shoulder, is it a last look or a plea for help, I hope not but time is running out for these Guys.

Danny Green

What a sad tale, makes me want to go out there and hunt mink . The shot expresses the story extremely well.



Tim

What can you say, it will be a sad day if we lose all our water voles, it really is a fantastic picture and such a shame you have lost the chance to take more pictures of these fantastic little creatures.

Cheers
Brian

http://www.brianmcgeough.com/

Another stunning Vole image- A sad story but the vole is not alone as man destorys wildlife around the world

Def a stunner, I like this very much, how sad for them to have been wiped out that way, hope something can be done about the mink problem, I would hate to think that the only way to see animals like Water Voles will be in a museum or captivity.

Beautiful image, great composition and a sad story

Hello Danny
A very poignant image and disappointing story. I am told that mink are extremely easy to trap due to their inquisitive nature, so it does seem silly that more is not done to control them .
Best wishes
Phil

Danny

Maybe you should submit an account of this project together with it's sad ending and a portfolio of images to English Nature / BBC Wildlife magazine, not for material gain but to highlight the problem to the world at large, then maybe somebody will take notice and do something about the mink!?, I feel like doing a similar thing with all the dead roadkill badger pics that I hold on file

Terrible story, stunning image.

Good solid photo.

I find it bewildering that mink can be let to go about their destructive ways when ppl know they are there. They are possibly the easiest carnivore to trap....all it takes is a couple of minutes and a tin of tuna in oil to set a live catch cage trap and a couple of minutes a day to check it, how hard is that????????

John,

Thats bits not hard at all.. but recently in speaking to a nice countryside warden, well, they "just couldn't do" the disposal bit.

Its easy to kill a mink and when it's done empty the dead mink under the reset trap and then there's no need for bait as the smell of the dead one attracts others in the area.

If a warden can't cope then he/she shouldn't be in the job in the first place.

Great image - everything else has been said



dennis

A very, very nice image. Tragic story.

Wonderful image Danny and the story only adds to the power of it. No nits from me whatsoever on this.

Regards

JohnS

Hi Danny

Sad story that unfortunately is repeated in many parts of the country. Locally they are doing well on the river Wylye but in our town park where they were common and very tame only three years ago, they have all but disappeared.

Love your image, nice composition and a great pose!

David

Another great image Danny, I've really enjoyed this series.

As everyone says sad story the decline of the Water Vole. Oxford Uni had planned to do a study locally, but the voles they released got wiped out by mink so they moved the project to the London Wetland centre.

Gavin

Hello John

I totally agree with your comments, Tom which you know has more experience at these things than me said it was like banging your head against a brick wall. The problem is if water voles are going to survive in this country it is going to be on places like this sight and if these issues are not taken seriously then it really is doomed to extinction. Conservation organisations are great at telling the Indians to protect Tigers, Africans to protect Elephants, Chinese to protect Giant Pandas etc etc, but if we can't even protect our water vole population why should they listen to us. We have reached a state of over managed reserves for the benefit of people so they can have a pleasant walk around but have lost the plot to protecting our native wildlife. Tom asked to put a trap down but couldn't because of the politics involved and now well no more water voles.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments.

Danny

A superb shot to accompany a very sad tale.

hi danny,

superb image, but tinged with such a sad story. to know that we are watching an actual extinction take place and are all sitting back doing nothing about it is perverse. NGO's are typically there to survive and get funds for their own survival and more often than not make matters worse, as can be seen here......not allowed to lay a trap...how absolutely proposterous.

without wishing to sound 'war mongering', you need to make a fuss about this, for the sake of a british species going out. you have the material, the proof, probably more so than the 'officials' involved in the 'conservation'.

make a film, do an article, write to papers, start a pressure group, whatever it is, do it. sorry maybe i'm going on a bit, but being out there watching this c*^p go on on a worldwide scale makes me fume. don't just accept this as the way of the world, it is possible to make a difference. to justify what i'm saying, i had a meeting yesterday with a VIP (can't say to much just yet) on having a documentary i am making possibly being adopted on a very big scale on shark conservation, and was something i started as a small private project. i'll be happy to email you with any details if you decide to take something up.

mark

A superb image Danny but such a sad story. Shame on those who could have saved these wonderful creatures but who didn't. It's very upsetting and I agree with writepic that their failure/refusal to act should be bought into the public domain somehow.