This year we’re excited to announce that we’re running a poetry competition the celebrates the theme of National Mammal Week – Harvest Mice and Other Wildlife Under the Radar!
The Harvest mouse, Britain’s smallest rodent, is thought to be in decline due to habitat loss and changes in farming practices – unfortunately we don’t know much about the British population of Harvest Mice according to our 2018 Review (Review of the Population and Conservation Status of British Mammals).
This is where the theme of National Mammal Week 2021 comes in! Our aim is to promote people to record better data on species with the least reliable population estimates, so we can have a better idea of their population (where they are found and what habitat they prefer), and can therefore implement better strategies to manage them.
To raise awareness about this over National Mammal Week we wanted to involve as many activities as possible from the arts, to baking, to games and outdoor activities, which is why we thought of a poetry competition!
The Competition!
For our poetry competition we want to gather as many poems as we can about Harvest Mice and other wildlife under the radar – this could be wildlife that we have a lack of data for (please see the list of animals below), those that are declining in population or those that may fall under the radar as they are not a charismatic popular species.
So let your imagination run wild and get your poetry hats on as we try and raise awareness for wildlife under the radar!
Your poem can take any form from limericks to haikus, but we ask you stick to a 200 word limit. Please note your poems do not have to be this long! If your poem is written then please send it in a word document to media@themammalsociety.org. If it is spoken word then please send us a link to the video. We thoroughly look forward to your entries!
Our poetry competition will run from the 27th of October until the until 22nd of December and T’s & C’s apply. We hope to display a selection of you poems after the competition has finished.
There will be a shortlist of poems and then a prize for the winner and smaller prize for runner up. The prize for the poetry competition is a Harvest Mouse T-shirt kindly donated from Teemill! Click here to see what you could win.
The Judge!
To kick the competition off we invited Chloé Valerie Harmsworth (nature poet, writer and artist) to create a poem for our theme. Click on the video below to view her spoken word poem – Hang On in There.
Chloé Valerie Harmsworth is a nature obsessive creative conservationist from Hertfordshire. She expresses her passion for the natural world and its incredible wildlife through poetry, stories, articles, artworks and photographs. Her aim is not just to celebrate, but to inform and encourage – inspiring others to connect with their environment and ultimately protect it. Her book on woodlands is due out in 2022. You can see more of her work on Instagram and her website.
Extra Info!
To kickstart your poems below is inspiration about the habitats Harvest Mice are found in and what other wildlife is at risk.
Where is the harvest mouse found;
- Grasslands
- Arable fields (cereal crops)
- Hedgerows and margins
- Reed beds
- Road verges
What species found in the same habitat are also under the radar;
- Weasel
- Brandt’s bat
- Noctule bat
- Barbastelle bat
- Pygmy shrew
- European mole
- Common shrew
- European rabbit
- Brown rat
- Stoat
- Bank vole
- Hedgehog
- Hazel dormouse
- Field vole
- Wood mouse
- House mouse
- Common pipistrelle
- Soprano pipistrelle
- Brown long eared bat
- Yellow necked mouse
- Red fox