Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 5:50 AM
Tricky charactors to photography!
This was taken the other day whilst accessing some of the localised voles. This vole was not captured or handled for this shot.
Cute for humans & also cute & edible for wild Barn Owls
The Barn Owls diet is made up of 83-85% of short-tailed voles, other rodents include shrew & woodmice etc.
A single Barn Owl requires 4-5 voles per day to stay healthy, a complete family of Barn Owls required in excess of 40+ voles per day for them all to survive.
Short-tailed Vole Info
Colour: Grey-brown above, creamy-grey underneath, rounded snout, less prominent eyes than mice & short ears completely covered with fur.
Length: Approximately 90-110mm; distinctive short tail.
Weight: Averaging between 20-40g.
Habitat: Rough grassland areas, woodland, hedgerows, dunes & moorland. Grass is the field voles only food source and shredded grass is used to make their nests, which are about 10cm in diameter. Nests are built at the base of grass roots, in underground burrows or even under discarded man made materials such as corrugated roof sheets.
Breeding Season: This begins in March/April and ends between October and December.
Young: Up to 5 are normally found in each litter and females will give birth to five or six litters per year.
Sorry, for some reason I put on my educational head lol.
D2X - Sigma 105 macro
ISO 640, F6.3, 1/250th sec
Small amount of fill in flash used
Taken handheld
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 7:53 AM
Hi Dean,
If you want to help voles as well as capture the image data that is helping to conserve the species, the below method I feel will help both parties. IMO there is no need to trap them & no need to handle them & stick them in a fish tank to get a photograph.
From experience, personally I think the easiest way to obtain natural shots without to much stress to small mammals such as Short-tailed Vole, Wood/Field Mice & Shrews would be put down in the open areas of rough grassland, lengths of corrugated sheets. Location I would suggest about 4ft out from a hedgerow or a stone wall or even set 4ft in to a woodland area.
These sheets will help to provide rodents brilliant cover from predators with the added bonus of creating good security to build their nests to raise young, brilliant for the conservation of the species & great for monitoring purposes. Leave the sheets down for about a week to two weeks & re-visit the site to inspect what's taken shelter. Don't rush to get an image as this is not important at this stage. Leaving the sheets for longer periods is a positive direction, the more stability you give them the easier the shot will become.
You should find when you eventually lift the sheets, (midday is a good time) there will be visible corridors & possibly a nest or two or even more nests.
Before lifting the sheets & disturbing the areas around the sheets, look at a position with good light to where the camera is to be positioned, stick to this point & metering off the grass next to the sheets, pre-focus on the top of the sheet, centrally & get someone to either lift the sheet gently for you or use a stick to prop the sheet up. You should find that when lifted, the vole(s) or other rodents will quickly scurry back & forth from the nest & along the open top corridors, after a short time they will scurry out from the sheet area into the surrounding grasses, if this happens the disturbance is too much. When this happens put the sheet down & move away & return in about two days time. My advice would be to do this a minimum of twice a week, not every day. The less disturbance the more chance they will attempt to breed under the sheets. Think of the Barn Owls that rely on their breeding success!
If nest(s) are located under the sheets & the nest is covered from the top with dead grass, you should acknowledge that there might be young in the nest, if the inside of the nest is visible then they are using it to sleep. It is very important not to touch the nest or the corridors with your fingers, the scent from humans can cause the young harm, the parents are likely to kill the young if this happens.
Always take care using the above methods, a lot can also be learnt from this method as it will take you closer to the world they live in.
Beautiful creatures!
I hope the above is of help
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 8:13 AM
Glad to be of assistance
I thought this would be of help, here is what a Vole nest looks like, remember not to touch the nest or the corridors under the sheet, notethe open corridor to the left of the nest.
Enjoy & respect them, they will teach you loads
Posted by Niall Riddell on January 26, 2007 at 8:45 AM
Hi Guys,
Great picture Vincent and interesting to hear how you got it.
An interesting approach to small mammal photography. I have used the "fishtank" method over the last few years with varying success. Its not actually a fish tank but a purpose built photography tank. Following some discussions and some experience I am currently constructing a new larger one.
I would recommend that if you go down this route you gain some experience and best practice on catching small mammals before you try it in order to minimise the stress to your subject. Your local Wildlife trust may be able to help or alternatively the Mammal Society.
You dont actually require a schedule one license (as these are for birds) however you may require a schedule 5 for some mammals (dormice). If you are doing any trapping you are advised to get a licence to capture shrews (available form English nature) as they are often caught during the trapping process. As insectivores more precautions need to be taken for trapping them; mainly provision of suitable food and bedding in the trap as well as frequent checks.
As you can see the whole process can become quite tricky for both you and the subject. My advice would be either follow Vincent’s minimum impact process or gather as much information as you can before embarking on this challenging project. Mail me (Niall at lyonimages.co.uk) if you want some further advice.
Niall
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 9:00 AM
Hi Niall
With the methods of a fish tank, the mammal would be classed as captive, even though its for a short period, what happens if the mammal as young?. Many on here I know are known to be anti captive shots as I have experienced. If the mammal shot could be taken in an environment it lives in, wouldn't that be better?
More work I know to get a wild mammal but more supportive IMO
Cheers for the info Vincent, and a great vole picture too.
Posted by Mark sellings on January 26, 2007 at 11:34 AM
great info and wholeheartedly agree with Vince's comments as I can't see any justification in trapping animals simply for a photo - I actually found bird feeding stations to be a great source of vole images, in particular the one at the River Dart Country Park in Devon - see photo (http://www.marksellings.com/content.asp?Content_id=252&Gallery_id=3)
Posted by Ian McGuire on January 26, 2007 at 12:15 PM
Great picture and good editorial, Vince - a great opportunity to remind us all about the food chain, especially for a bird that has suffered tremendously in the last year as a result of low vole populations.
Ian
Posted by John Chapman on January 26, 2007 at 12:24 PM
Hi Vincent
nice picture love the Title. Great information.
Posted by Rob Howard on January 26, 2007 at 1:43 PM
Hi Vince,
Great image of a Barnie takeaway!!
Interesting info regarding the Vole's, thanks for sharing.
It's weird because this evening I have been up to one of my nest boxes to collect pellets from the barn to see what they have been eating. I collected three from under the nest box, I will let you know what's in there.
Regards
Rob
PS Is there anywhere online that I can get a rodent skeleton ID chart
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 1:54 PM
WOW Didn't realise the info with this image was going to get this much interest, can only be a good thing! Thanks for the kind comments
Hi Rob, if the mods are OK with this, I will upload some pellet info on here later to help you, please feel free to use any of it if you wish & anyone else for that matter.
Vince
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Kestrel, Little Owl & Barn Owl Pellets
Could of been a better image but hey
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 2:39 PM
Identifying a Vole Skull
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 2:40 PM
Identifying a Shrew Skull
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 2:42 PM
Last one I promise (If this is to much & they need to be deleted please delete) Just trying to help
Identifying rodent teeth from the lower jaws
Posted by Mark Smith on January 26, 2007 at 3:10 PM
Thanks Vince, what a fantastic thread, I've not really thought about photographying small mammals just because they would have to be in a captive environment - something I try to avoid with my bird photography. This has been a real insperation.
Mark
Posted by Martin Dyer on January 26, 2007 at 5:08 PM
Great educational thread Vince - thanks for the time and effort you have put into this
Martin
Posted by Vincent Jones on January 26, 2007 at 5:16 PM
Cheers Martin lol, I seem to have had my teachers head on today I must remember to get out some time
I know ive already said it but great topic, i always tend to watch owls instead of photographing them, they are so fantastic to watch!!! Thanks again Vincent for the info.
Brian
Posted by John Varley on January 26, 2007 at 6:59 PM
Alll very interesting Vince - John
Posted by Rob Howard on January 26, 2007 at 9:11 PM
Hi Vince,
Thanks for taking the time to do that, my pellets are all fairly large so I think they are eating well!!
Discussion
21 repliesThis was taken the other day whilst accessing some of the localised voles. This vole was not captured or handled for this shot.
Cute for humans & also cute & edible for wild Barn Owls
The Barn Owls diet is made up of 83-85% of short-tailed voles, other rodents include shrew & woodmice etc.
A single Barn Owl requires 4-5 voles per day to stay healthy, a complete family of Barn Owls required in excess of 40+ voles per day for them all to survive.
Short-tailed Vole Info
Colour: Grey-brown above, creamy-grey underneath, rounded snout, less prominent eyes than mice & short ears completely covered with fur.
Length: Approximately 90-110mm; distinctive short tail.
Weight: Averaging between 20-40g.
Habitat: Rough grassland areas, woodland, hedgerows, dunes & moorland. Grass is the field voles only food source and shredded grass is used to make their nests, which are about 10cm in diameter. Nests are built at the base of grass roots, in underground burrows or even under discarded man made materials such as corrugated roof sheets.
Breeding Season: This begins in March/April and ends between October and December.
Young: Up to 5 are normally found in each litter and females will give birth to five or six litters per year.
Sorry, for some reason I put on my educational head lol.
D2X - Sigma 105 macro
ISO 640, F6.3, 1/250th sec
Small amount of fill in flash used
Taken handheld
If you want to help voles as well as capture the image data that is helping to conserve the species, the below method I feel will help both parties. IMO there is no need to trap them & no need to handle them & stick them in a fish tank to get a photograph.
From experience, personally I think the easiest way to obtain natural shots without to much stress to small mammals such as Short-tailed Vole, Wood/Field Mice & Shrews would be put down in the open areas of rough grassland, lengths of corrugated sheets. Location I would suggest about 4ft out from a hedgerow or a stone wall or even set 4ft in to a woodland area.
These sheets will help to provide rodents brilliant cover from predators with the added bonus of creating good security to build their nests to raise young, brilliant for the conservation of the species & great for monitoring purposes. Leave the sheets down for about a week to two weeks & re-visit the site to inspect what's taken shelter. Don't rush to get an image as this is not important at this stage. Leaving the sheets for longer periods is a positive direction, the more stability you give them the easier the shot will become.
You should find when you eventually lift the sheets, (midday is a good time) there will be visible corridors & possibly a nest or two or even more nests.
Before lifting the sheets & disturbing the areas around the sheets, look at a position with good light to where the camera is to be positioned, stick to this point & metering off the grass next to the sheets, pre-focus on the top of the sheet, centrally & get someone to either lift the sheet gently for you or use a stick to prop the sheet up. You should find that when lifted, the vole(s) or other rodents will quickly scurry back & forth from the nest & along the open top corridors, after a short time they will scurry out from the sheet area into the surrounding grasses, if this happens the disturbance is too much. When this happens put the sheet down & move away & return in about two days time. My advice would be to do this a minimum of twice a week, not every day. The less disturbance the more chance they will attempt to breed under the sheets. Think of the Barn Owls that rely on their breeding success!
If nest(s) are located under the sheets & the nest is covered from the top with dead grass, you should acknowledge that there might be young in the nest, if the inside of the nest is visible then they are using it to sleep. It is very important not to touch the nest or the corridors with your fingers, the scent from humans can cause the young harm, the parents are likely to kill the young if this happens.
Always take care using the above methods, a lot can also be learnt from this method as it will take you closer to the world they live in.
Beautiful creatures!
I hope the above is of help
I thought this would be of help, here is what a Vole nest looks like, remember not to touch the nest or the corridors under the sheet, notethe open corridor to the left of the nest.
Enjoy & respect them, they will teach you loads
Great picture Vincent and interesting to hear how you got it.
An interesting approach to small mammal photography. I have used the "fishtank" method over the last few years with varying success. Its not actually a fish tank but a purpose built photography tank. Following some discussions and some experience I am currently constructing a new larger one.
See here for my methodology Small Mammal Photography
I would recommend that if you go down this route you gain some experience and best practice on catching small mammals before you try it in order to minimise the stress to your subject. Your local Wildlife trust may be able to help or alternatively the Mammal Society.
You dont actually require a schedule one license (as these are for birds) however you may require a schedule 5 for some mammals (dormice). If you are doing any trapping you are advised to get a licence to capture shrews (available form English nature) as they are often caught during the trapping process. As insectivores more precautions need to be taken for trapping them; mainly provision of suitable food and bedding in the trap as well as frequent checks.
As you can see the whole process can become quite tricky for both you and the subject. My advice would be either follow Vincent’s minimum impact process or gather as much information as you can before embarking on this challenging project. Mail me (Niall at lyonimages.co.uk) if you want some further advice.
Niall
With the methods of a fish tank, the mammal would be classed as captive, even though its for a short period, what happens if the mammal as young?. Many on here I know are known to be anti captive shots as I have experienced. If the mammal shot could be taken in an environment it lives in, wouldn't that be better?
More work I know to get a wild mammal but more supportive IMO
Ian
nice picture love the Title. Great information.
Great image of a Barnie takeaway!!
Interesting info regarding the Vole's, thanks for sharing.
It's weird because this evening I have been up to one of my nest boxes to collect pellets from the barn to see what they have been eating. I collected three from under the nest box, I will let you know what's in there.
Regards
Rob
PS Is there anywhere online that I can get a rodent skeleton ID chart
Hi Rob, if the mods are OK with this, I will upload some pellet info on here later to help you, please feel free to use any of it if you wish & anyone else for that matter.
Vince
Could of been a better image but hey
Identifying rodent teeth from the lower jaws
Mark
Martin
Brian
Thanks for taking the time to do that, my pellets are all fairly large so I think they are eating well!!
Will let you know the results.
Regards
Rob
Thanks very much indeed for ALL your useful input in this thread, most interesting and very helpful.
Very best wishes
Phil