National Mammal Week is here!
Yes, its finally here! This is the week where we go all out to raise awareness of Britain's mammals and the conservation issues they face.
This year's event runs from Friday 18 through to Sunday 27 October and our theme for 2019 is #MammalsMatter.
From tiny bats to prowling wildcats, all of Britain’s mammals matter. Very sadly the Mammal Society’s 2018 Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals found that 1 in 5 wild land mammals are at risk of extinction. From this review we created the UK’s first Red List, which features some of our most iconic species such as, wildcats, red squirrels, water voles, hedgehogs, and barbastelle bats. Each day of National Mammal Week we'll be highlighting the plight of one of these at-risk species.
Blogs
Each day's blog will go live at 8am!
Water voles - Saving Ratty by Merryl Gelling
Barbastelle bats - Flying bat, hidden roost by Kieran O'Malley
Seals - Seals in Sussex by Stephen Savage
Lesser white-toothed shrews - Shrewly awesome by Carl Knight
Wildcats - Touch not the cat [without] a glove by Roo Campbell
Hedgehogs - Hedgehog hotspots by Patrick Wright
Cetaceans - The ocean’s deepest secrets – my time with beaked whales by Frazer Coomber
Eurasian beavers - Building bridges (and dams) by Roisin Campbell-Palmer
Greater horseshoe bats - Did the bat cross the road? by Domhnall Finch
Dormice - Dreaming of dormice by Lorna Griffiths
Competitions
This year's big competition is our Design a T-shirt Competition!
The competition is open to primary school age children and teens, with two age categories: 4 – 11 years and 12 – 18 years. The idea is to use the Red List species as inspiration to create a bright and eye-catching design for a new Mammal Society t-shirt. The two winners will see their design available on the Mammal Society’s Teemill store and will also receive a t-shirt with their very own design on! Designs must be received on white A4 paper by midnight on 10 November and the winners will be announced on 11 November. So, get creative for conservation this National Mammal Week and remember, Mammals Matter! More information, T&Cs and entry forms can be found here.
We're also running a Walk This Water Way Competition!
This fantastic prize bundle could be yours if you take part in our Walk This Water Way survey! Simply complete at least one survey before midnight on the 24 October and you’ll be entered into the prize draw. For every survey you do, your name will be entered into the draw. So the more you survey, the more chance you have of winning!
The winner will be announced on Friday 25 October. Click here for more information about Walk This Water Way and T&Cs for the competition.
Prize bundle contents: a Mammal Society tote bag, eco-friendly bamboo coffee cup, cuddly otter toy and Mammal Society water shrew handbook!
Mammal Mapper challenge - could you be our 2,500th mammal recorder?
In order to understand the current conservation and population status of British mammals we need as much data as possible. To this end we are encouraging as many people as we can to download and regularly use our Mammal Mapper app. We currently have around 2,300 users across Britain who have submitted a combined total of over 3,500 transects and over 11,000 individual sightings. This is fantastic but we need more!
If you live, or holiday, in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales we are particularly interested in receiving your records from these regions.
The app is both easy to use and free to download AND if you are our 2,500th user you will win a Mammal Society tote bag (see picture above) and pin badge! What are you waiting for? Click here to download the app today!
Be sure to keep an eye on social media for some special competitions, there will be prizes! Look for #MammalsMatter and #MammalWeek.
Special Offer!
To celebrate National Mammal Week, NHBS are offering a 10% discount on Mammal Society books until the end of October.
Titles include: Britain's Mammals 2018; Live Trapping of Small Mammals; The Water Vole Mitigation Handbook and many others. To see the whole range and make an online purchase click here.
Other things to look out for during National Mammal Week:
The launch of Mammal Photographer of the Year 2020
Opening of registrations for University Mammal Challenge 2020
Keep an eye on our National Mammal Week page as we'll update it throughout the week.