Loire Valley Nature: Mammals

Showing posts with label Mammals. Show all posts

Roe Deer – Capreolus capreolus

Although common and probably stable in numbers, Roe Deer (Chevreuil) are rarely seen in the summer months, but their tracks are often encountered on muddy forest trails and their cough or barking alarm call heard through the trees. Sometimes in soft ground or when the animal has been running, the hooves splay out. It is often not easy to tell Roe Deer tracks from the other common cloven hoofed wild mammal, Wild Boar, but good prints can be distinguished because of the way the quite sharply pointed tips of the Roe Deer hoof 'slots' point inwards and Wild Boar hoof 'slots' are set further apart.

Roe Deer tracks in the Fôret de Preuilly

In the winter they are quite commonly encountered, bounding across open fields, grazing or even sitting in small groups in the open. Their coats are exactly the colour of the ploughed soil, but as one or two always sit bolt upright as lookouts, rather resembling gigantic rabbits, they are fairly easy to spot. The white tail flashes of the females are also very visible as the animals graze or on bouncing rumps until they disappear into the nearest patch of woodland. They are classified as game (gibiers in French) and can be hunted from October to February by anyone with a licence to do so.

Adult males are called 'bucks' (brocards) and females 'does' (chevrettes). The young are called 'fawns' (faons). Only the bucks have antlers.

The French website Oiseaux du Vercours et de Rhône-Alpes has an excellent page on Roe Deer.

A sunflower crop protected from Roe Deer and Wild Boar by an electric fence.

A buck in friends' garden near Chaumussay, May. The photo was taken through a window, hence the flare of a reflection.

Buck, early morning, June, Forêt de Preuilly. Photo courtesy of Kathy Walter.

A doe grazing in the valley of a small stream, surrounded by forest.

A buck in the grounds of the Domaine de Candé, which is managed as a nature reserve.

Another buck, also at the Domaine de Candé

European Pine Marten Martes martes

Scientific Name: Martes martes (Mustelidae).

English Name: European Pine Marten; Pine Marten; Pineten; Baum Marten; Sweet Marten (Weasel family).

French Name: Martre des pins (='pine marten'); Martre (='marten'); Marte (='marten'); Marte des pins (='pine marten').

Photo courtesy of Kathy Walter.

5 Key Characters:

weighs about 1.5 kg, with a body about 50 cm, bushy tail 25 cm.
brown silky fur with a cream bib and chocolate brown nose.
partly arboreal but bound quickly across the ground too.
mainly nocturnal and crepuscular.
rounded ears.

Lookalikes: Beech Marten Martes fouina, which is more rarely seen and has a white bib which divides to extend on to the front legs and a pink nose.

Habitat: Heavily wooded areas, usually sleeping in hollow trees. Carnivorous, their diet consists mainly of small mammals, birds, insects, frogs and carrion, but they will also eat berries, birds eggs, meat, nuts and honey. Much less likely to be seen near human habitation than the Beech Marten.

Status: Abundant. Their biggest threat is from humans, either directly or indirectly. The species may be killed by vermin control measures (and may or may not be the target species). It is legal for professional hunters to trap and shoot them and their fur is still valuable. It is illegal to poison them. Loss or fragmentation of woodland has also impacted on their population.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

In the Forêt de Preuilly, early morning, June. Photo courtesy of Kathy Walter.

Lesser Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus hipposideros

Scientific Name: Rhinolophus hipposideros (Rhinolophidae).

English Name: Lesser Horseshoe Bat (Horseshoe bat family).

French Name: Petit rhinolophe (='Little crested nose'); Petit rhinolophe fer à cheval (='Little horseshoe crested nose'); Petit fer à cheval (='Little horseshoe').

5 Key Characters:

a very small bat (about 4cm long and weighing about 7g).
hangs with wings wrapped around body, looking rather like a shell.
very distinctive nose with 'leaf'.
flies throughout the night, from about half an hour after sunset.
echolocation frequency around 110kHz.

Lookalikes: Greater Horseshoe Bat Rhinopholus ferrumequinum, which is much bigger.

Habitat: Caves (abandoned underground limestone quarries); roofspaces of country houses and stables (summertime); cellars, tunnels, chimneys. They like cool temperatures and high humidity for hibernation. They eat insects such as midges, moths and caddis flies.

Hibernation Period: September-October-November-December-January-February-March-April-May.

Status: Protected. Population in decline, mainly due to disturbance of roosting sites, to which they are very sensitive.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

A Lesser Horseshoe Bat hibernating amongst the stalactites in a privately owned cave (abandoned underground limestone quarry) in Preuilly-sur-Claise.

Evidence (droppings all over the floor) of bat occupation in an abandoned bathroom in the roof space of a chateau. The photo was taken in February when the bats were absent. This room is a summer maternity roost for Lesser Horseshoe Bats.

The maternity roost in the chateau bathroom. Photographed during the summer survey June 2016 by Kathy Walter.

Greater Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum

Scientific Name: Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Rhinolophidae).

English Name: Greater Horseshoe Bat (Horseshoe bat family).

French Name: Grand rhinolophe (='large crested nose'); Grand rhinolophe fer à cheval (='large horseshoe crested nose'); Grand fer à cheval (='large horseshoe'); Grand rhinolophe obscur (='sombre large crested nose').

5 Key Characters:

the largest horseshoe bat in Europe.
echolocation frequency strongest at 81 kHz.
distinctive 'noseleaf', pointed above and horseshoe shaped below (used for focusing the echolocation signals).
about 65 mm long with a 400 mm wingspan.
grey brown on the back, grey white underneath.

Lookalikes: Lesser Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus hipposideros, which is smaller.

Habitat: Hunts over pasture, deciduous woodland, gardens and scrub. Roosts in cellars and abandoned underground quarries (caves) as well as roofspaces in the summer if the building has suitable cellars for winter hibernation and nearby hunting grounds. Their diet is mainly Noctuid moths (in summer) and dung beetles (in spring), but they also eat wasps, flies (such as crane flies in autumn when the bats need to fatten up prior to hibernating) and cockchafers.

Active Period: April - September.

Status: Widespread and not uncommon. The population is probably stable, but threatened by habitat fragmentation, intensive forestry and agricultural management such as cattle feedlots and grubbing up hedges, declines in insect populations due to pesticides such as Ivermectin (which affects larvae in cattle dung), disturbance of underground and attic roosts.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Roosting during the day in the cellar of a privately owned chateau. The bat was aware of our presence -- it has drawn itself up a bit on its legs. It is very important not to disturb roosting bats too much when surveying, but it is inevitable that they are aware of your presence during a summer survey as they are not in torpor like they would be in the winter. Be as quick and quiet as possible. Photo courtesy of Kathy Walter.

Hedgehog – Erinaceus europaeus

Hedgehogs (Fr. Herissons) are common, especially in gardens, but declining. These nocturnal
animals are rarely seen except as roadkill (which in the summer is a
distressingly frequent occurrence). They can sometimes be encountered in
gardens very early in the morning, and their presence is usually given away
by their grunting and snuffling calls (hence the 'hog' in the name). They
hibernate in the winter, and it is quite common for people to set up a
hedgehog gîte ('sty') in their gardens for them to overwinter in. Gardeners like encourage their presence as their diet consists mainly of snails and slugs.

The Société Français Orchidée has a couple of nice pictures of Hedgehogs in Vienne (no, I don't know why there is a Hedgehog page on the Orchid Society website either...)

A young hedgehog snuffles about on the lawn at the Chateau of Cheverny.

In our driveway.

Hunting

The main hunting season is September to February. Game in French is gibier and furred game such as rabbits, deer and boar are gibier à poils. Waterfowl is gibier d'eau, and the third category of game are the very controversial oiseaux de passage (migrating birds). Hunting is la chasse. The exact start and end dates for the hunting season varies from département to département but here in Indre et Loire, the general opening date is 9am on 19 September. Conversely, the angling season ends on 19 September.

The rules are many and precise.

Some species have a more restricted season than the general dates (e.g. hares and partridge).
Hunting underground is only allowed by specialist registered clubs.
In order to allow the population to rebuild, hunting hares is not allowed everywhere.
Hunters are not allowed to put out grain to attract boar unless they have a special licence.
Hunting is generally only allowed from 9am to one hour after sunset (with some exceptions e.g. waterfowlers are allowed to be in position two hours before sunrise).
Nuisance species e.g. coypu, can be hunted on any day of the week, within the usual hours, without any prior notification to the authorities.
Hunting is not permitted when it is snowing (with some exceptions e.g. waterfowl on open water).
It is forbidden to buy or sell certain game (e.g. woodcock).

Further Reading and References:
Where the Wild Boar Are, a blog post on Days on the Claise about the wild boar population and hunting practices here.
Hunt Signage Explained, a blog post on Days on the Claise, detailing the rules concerning the various signs you will see regarding hunting.
La lutte contre les nuisibles, a blog post on Days on the Claise, detailing the rules concerning the hunting of species declared as vermin (in English).
Stopping Hunting on Your Land in France, a blog post by Chris Luck on French Wildlife and Beekeeping.

A chaise de chasse ('hunt chair') in the Forêt de Preuilly. Hunters with guns stand in the chaise, waiting for wild boar to be driven within range by beaters and dogs.

Chasse réservée means that unless you have permission from the owner you can't hunt there. In practice it usually means the land is reserved for the local communal hunt.

Technically chasse gardée means that hunting is the main activity undertaken on the land, and it is managed to maintain a good population of game. Non-hunters are not welcome on this land as they will disturb the game. Hunters need the permission of the landowner to enter. In practice it is often used as a means of withdrawing land from hunting ie never giving permission for hunters to enter, or by private individuals who hunt but do not allow others onto their land.

The signs indicate private property, restricted hunting and mushroom gathering forbidden.

A game proof fence on a private hunting estate.
Part of the pack of Anglo-Francais Tricoleur hounds at the Chateau of Cheverny.

Greater Mouse-eared Bat Myotis myotis

Scientific Name: Myotis myotis (Vespertilionidae).

English Name: Greater Mouse-eared Bat (Vesper bat family).

French Name: Le Grand murin (='the large mouse like bat').

5 Key Characters:

strictly nocturnal.
only active during good weather.
the largest Vesper bat (13cm long, weighing 30g)

Lookalikes:

Habitat: Hunts in wooded areas, roosts in the attics of big buildings and caves (abandoned underground quarries), sometimes males will use hollow trees. Feeds on moths and beetles such as chafers and ground beetles, which they catch in flight or on the ground.

Hibernation Period: Winter.

Status: Protected. The species' internal navigation system is affected by light pollution. Its population is in decline.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Bat Surveying in Indre et Loire

All bat species are protected in France. To monitor their population they are surveyed twice a year in Indre et Loire. The surveys take place in January when the bats are hibernating and in June, when they are breeding. To participate you must be a member of a bat conservation group and be accompanied by at least one person with a 'bat licence' as it is illegal to disturb bats. Surveys around Preuilly-sur-Claise are organised by Virginie Culicchi and Jean-Claude Jacques on behalf of the Groupe Chiroptères d'Indre et Loire. Bat is chauve-souris in French.

A bat hibernating in a cave (abandoned limestone quarry).

This privately owned 14th century chateau is home to half a dozen species of bat, both in the cellars and in this tower. There is a lot of evidence of bat occupancy (ie bat poo) in upper rooms of the tower. The bats use the tower mainly as a summer roost. In the winter you need to look for them in the cellars.

Sandstone caves (abandoned underground quarries) on the estate of a privately owned chateau, occupied by half a dozen species of bat.

This privately owned chateau is the winter hibernation site for 7 species of bat, mainly in the cellars and stables and the maternity roost for at least one species, in the roofspace of the chateau itself. It is one of the best sites in the Touraine for bats.

Beetle elytra (wing cases) on the floor of a cave (abandoned underground quarry) is a sure sign a large species (Greater Horseshoe or Large Mouse-eared bat) has been roosting here and feeding. The beetle remains mostly belonged to Dor Beetle. Finding signs of bat activity is as important as seeing the bats themselves when surveying.

References and Further Reading:

Bat Surveying in the Touraine Loire Valley, a post from our daily blog Days on the Claise.

Hanging from the Ceiling, from Days on the Claise.

Bats Spurn the Belfries, from Days on the Claise.

Daubenton's Bat Myotis daubentonii

Scientific Name: Myotis daubentonii (Vespertilionidae).

English Name: Daubenton's Bat (Vesper bat family).

French Name: Le Murin de Daubenton (='Daubenton's mouse like bat').

5 Key Characters:

small to medium sized (50mm long, weighing 10g).
often flies very low, over water.
pale underneath, rich brown on top.
pinkish nose and face, with bare skin around the eyes.
echolocation calls at 45-50kHz, delivered like a machine gun firing short bursts.

Lookalikes: Whiskered Bat Myotis mystacinus, which has a black nose.

Habitat: Humid underground sites such as under bridges, in tunnels, caves (abandoned limestone quarries), cellars, moated chateaux. In the winter they hide in crevices. They eat insects such as mosquitoes, crane flies, moths and even sometimes crustaceans.

Hibernation Period: October-November-December-January-February-March-April.

Status: Protected. Reasonably abundant and population stable, possibly increasing.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Hibernating in the cellars of a chateau.

Badger Meles meles

Scientific Name: Meles meles (Mustelidae).

English Name: Badger (Marten family).

French Name: Blaireau.

5 Key Characters:

grey above, black below.
head striped black and white.
heavyset, with short legs.
short tail.
long snout.

Lookalikes: None.

Habitat: Woodland.

Behaviour: Nocturnal. Ambles or trots, bounds heavily if needs a burst of speed. Likes water, does not climb well. Generally lives socially. Very wary. Can be quite noisy and vocal.

Status: Abundant but not seen often except as roadkill. Hunting is allowed.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:

Active badger sett in a roadside bank near Chaumussay.

Active badger sett under mature trees and a causeway into a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise. This is their path up and over the causeway.

Hole dug by badgers under the wall of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise. This point is roughly where the residential part of the chateau ends and the stables begin.

Badger activity under the wall of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise.

Badger hole inside the stables of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise. This hole is on an external wall.

Badger holes under an internal wall of the stables of a privately owned chateau near Bossay-sur-Claise.

Badger hole on the edge of a field near Braslou. The tunnel goes down about a metre then takes a sharp right turn. Some sizeable chunks of stone have been excavated.