Working with The Vincent Wildlife Trust, Croome hopes to discover more about these elusive creatures.
“We’re particularly interested to find out more about stoats and weasels that live in the garden areas, working in partnership with the Vincent Wildlife Trust, who are experts on these mammals, we’re hoping to get some evidence of them at Croome.” Katherine Alker, Croome’s Garden and Outdoors Manager
Lizzie Croose, Mustelid Conservation Officer for The Vincent Wildlife Trust, visited Croome in May to install seven monitoring boxes, called ‘Mostelas’ at various points in the garden so that we could monitor activity.
The ‘Mostela’ was developed by The Dutch Small Mustelid Foundation and comprises a wooden box with a plastic tunnel running through it and a camera inside, trained on the tunnel. When an animal enters the tunnel, the camera is triggered and records a video or photo. They look like wooden cases, and have been hidden amongst the plants so they are well camouflaged. They are harmless to the animal so if spotted, visitors are asked not to disturb them but cover them with grass if possible.