Mammals
Mammals at Chesworth Farm
The farm attracts a selection of British mammals. The nearby urban environment provides the opportunity to support a higher number of Foxes than maybe found in the rural habitats. These use the farm as refuge, as feeding areas and, as the cubs venture further afield, a playground.
While our 90 acres of field and hedge do not provide suitable habitat for a Badger sett, it does provide foraging areas for this, our largest land carnivore. These come to areas notably high in worms, a principal food item for them. As autumn arrives, they will relish blackberries and other fallen fruit to help build up a winter fat layer.
Our largest visitors are deer. Resident and visiting Roe are more common. They are often seen in the closed-off fields and in summer they rest and sleep hidden amongst the areas of taller grass. The occasional visiting Fallow Deer is always a bonus.
The farm is host to a variety of small rodents, mice and voles. Britain’s smallest, the Harvest Mouse and the renowned sleepy-head, the Hazel Dormouse, are likely to be the rarest. The farm has a good population of Yellow-necked Mice and Wood Mice. Beneath the hedges and foraging throughout the fields are Bank Voles and the smaller Field Voles. The mice and vole populations can vary year to year and they are essential to keep our top predators well fed.
The Stoat and Weasel, are the cunning predators of this area. These sleek, agile creatures can often be spotted darting across paths and vanishing into the dense undergrowth. While both species are present, it’s the smaller Weasel, with its shorter tail, that is more commonly seen.
We have few Rabbits but, in the quieter evenings, these can be seen grazing in some of the field edges. bat population is currently limited to Brown Long-eared, Soprano Pipistrelle, Common Pipistrelle and Noctule. We hope to see the Daubenton’s, or Water Bat, return, hawking along the river.
Further Information
For more information on these and many other mammals search the following websites:
The Peoples Trust for Endangered Species
Illustration by Helen Joubert Design