I was just wondering what mammals you see around your area. Strangely enough there seem to be even more mammals easily visable in the cities than in the countryside.

At home i live in a village, so we are surrounded by fields, where there are a lot of rabbits, but also a fair number of deer. We often get hedgehogs in our garden at night. There are also of course a lot of smaller mammals such as mice and voles, which my cat takes great pleasure in bringing home Here in Exeter the university campus is full of squirrels, but is also apparantly home to a number of badgers, although i am yet to see them.

This post was last modified: 17-02-2007 09:59 AM by bex.

That's very true, many animals such as foxes are moving into the towns because they can find food there fairly easily.

We see lots of mammals around here, my favourite being deer and bagers. I'm lucky to live right by a woodland area so I see a fairly wide range.

When I last visited the UK, I saw virtually no mammals other than domesticated animals, although I did spot a water vole in Bridgewater Canal, in Lancashire. I did go out evenings to see if badgers could be spotted near to my cousin's farm in Clynderwen, Wales. I never did get to see any (other than a badly smashed one on the side of the road), but did get to see the setts.

Kingfisher

There are many mammals in my place but what I love most is Dolphin.
I even saw it in the water when I travelled by ship. These dolphins are awesome to look at.

This post was last modified: 19-02-2007 01:08 PM by Xeract.

I am yet to see a dolphin in the UK, i've seen them in other countries but not here. Does anyone know if there are any places where you are fairly likely to see dolphins in the UK?

Incredibly enough, there are a few places in the UK that are listed as having dolphins:

• Durlston Head - Dorset, England
• Prawle Point - Devon, England
• Porthgwarra - Cornwall, England
• Cardigan Bay - Cardigan, Wales
• Moray Firth - Inverness, Scotland
• Loch Gairloch - Wester Ross, Scotland

Mind you, I'm not guaranteeing anything.  You would undoubtedly want to take your best binoculars or a telescope with you for viewing...

Kingfisher

The waters off the south west are an excellent place to catch sightings of dolphins, they are off in these parts.

Have you seen some, then? Is there a particular time of year when they are more likely to be seen?

Kingfisher

I don't know about mj but I've never seen the dolphins myself. However I know for a fact they are reasonably common. I saw a program on TV which showed them coming very close to the coast in Scotland. You could see them from the shore.

I think seeing a dolphin would be an all time great for me. We watch the valley & have , foxes (killed 6 of my rabbits) wild rabbits, squirrels (seem to be everywhere). We have deer in the river valley & they have been here for years apparently , I never knew that but as my husband is a fireman they have seen them in the early hours. There has been more sitings lately also even some on a school field in the middle of Farnworth. I keep trying but they yet allude me. I have seen now ....is it a weasel or a stoat??? it was very small ... I saw it on the road & my niece caught a glimpse of it behind my fence. I thought that was my rarest spot yet. Would like to see a hare, I like hares.

Just found this site... I love it.
Not exactly at home but saw a Wild Cat chasing a rabbit on Ardnamurchan in NW Scotland many years ago and in the last few years have seen dolphins, otters and Pine Marten also on the west coast. Also Golden and Sea eagles.There are regular sightings of Minke Whale, Basking sharks and even Orca round the West coast of Scotland. Seen a fox at home!! That's why we go away!

Hi Pebble, welcome to the forums!

I would love to see Orca and minke whale, I've seen basking sharks before but they are still an amazing sight. I'm interested to hear more about the wild cat you saw, do you have any idea what type it was?

Hello Pebble! You must be in a wild part of Scotland to see Golden Eagles, and in the western part if you are seeing sea eagles. Have you gotten close to the sea eagles? I hear that in some parts of Scotland they will come very close to the boats of fishermen.

Welcome to Wildlife UK!

Kingfisher

Spot on re location... N W Highlands of Scotland. At Plocton you can take a Sea Eagle watching boat trip as seen on TV a couple of years ago. Re the wild cat, it was a Felis Silvestris grampia. Not sure of ethics of putting links on here but if you google "scottish wildcat" you will find a dedicated web sith that looks as if it will be good when finished. The Golden Eagles we saw on a boat trip north of Lochinver.

Links are fine, Pebble!

I will have to think about a sea eagle watching trip when I finally get to Scotland!  Where I live, my husband and I call the Bald Eagle the 'Skagit County Common Eagle' in jest--in the winter there are scads of them--one in every tree it seems.  They feed on the spawned out salmon.

http://www.skagiteagle.org/Wildlife/phot...-photo.htm

The fifth photo down is the one that I like best.  It's hard to believe that not that many years ago the Bald Eagle was in danger of going extinct.

Pebble, you are also fortunate to have seen Golden Eagles.  I have only seen them seven or eight times in my life.  They are not nearly as numerous here as the Bald Eagles.

Kingfisher