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Each session has focused on one or two species for which protocols and data collection sheets have been developed, then tested and refined by the following group. In addition, routine monitoring (for example, Longworth live-trapping and badger censusing) has been carried out by every group.

Training was provided primarily in the field while carrying out routine monitoring, building on introductory lectures and seminars from scientists involved in particular areas of research. The accuracy and reliability of techniques, such as live-trapping or field-sign transect surveys, in estimating animal abundance was assessed and calibrated and validated wherever possible.

How did they do?
The contribution made by volunteers to each project

Small mammals
Badger Censusing
Deer Dropping Counts
Squirrels: Tree Damage

Small Mammals

It takes a single scientist around 2 hours to lay out a 25 point trapping grid, more in dense woodland, but with 12 volunteers it only takes about 30 minutes.

Checking all 50 traps twice a day is also a lengthy operation when working alone. By checking to see which traps are triggered and bringing them to a central processing location volunteers can save a professional scientist many hours each day.

In terms of checking traps and handling and identifying the small mammal occupants, volunteers vary in confidence and ability—but on the whole are no different to even the most qualified academic when approaching a new task for the first time.

And at the end of the trapping session collecting, cleaning and maintaining traps is expedited in direct proportion to the number of helping hands. In all, volunteers bring a great deal to this activity.

On the whole volunteers take such particular care to handle the animals competently that very few escape (the biggest worry). They weigh and fur-clip (to identify recaptures) the small mammals accurately and record the data clearly.

The task that requires the most training, and input from the scientific staff, is assessing the mouse/vole sex accurately, particularly with juveniles—but this improves with experience.

“Volunteers can help not only with pure research, but also with practical conservation initiatives”.

Badger Censusing

The most obvious advantage that having volunteers makes to a researcher trying to estimate sett activity and badger numbers is that it makes it possible to collect data for several setts at once. The volunteers identified cubs and adults with good accuracy, particularly after watching video footage from the first evening and having the behavioural hallmarks of cubs pointed out to them by experienced researchers. The failure to accurately estimate numbers of badgers present at the sett was in no way a failing on the part of the volunteers—but a reflection of the crudity of the direct observation method itself—though clearly this remains a powerful tool for determining if badgers are present at a sett.

Badger Gates
The contribution volunteers made to this practical initiative was massive.

The old adage that: “many hands make light work”, was never more appropriate. Footprint identification was achieved accurately and with no major difficulties, the sand traps proving to be an excellent technique in this instance.

The volunteers also brought compassion and concern to the entire operation and were genuinely striving to make the gates both safe (with no sharp edges) and useful so that the badgers could continue to access their important foraging sites unimpeded.

The fact that 3 out of 4 gates are now actively in use on every evening is testimony to volunteer effort. This proved to be a very effective use of the volunteers efforts and enthusiasm.

Deer Dropping Counts

Volunteers contributed a great deal to deer dropping counts. Having a team to survey each quadrat was a great advantage. Alone, a researcher would need to divide the quadrat into 10 strips each 1m wide and work through the square systematically. With more people they could simply line up and form a continuous surveillance line, thus doing away with the need to take multiple sweeps across the quadrat.

The volunteers results compare well to other estimates from this site, performed by experienced scientists and stalkers, indicating that the volunteers were not missing pellets. The only major variation between the 2 estimates was for roe deer, suggesting that perhaps some fallow droppings may have been counted as roe, but this is a difficult distinction to make in some instances even for the most experienced deer researcher.

NEW INITIATIVE

How effectively can deer droppings be discriminated to species by volunteers?

How beneficial is training and how much training is necessary to improve the accuracy of dropping identification?

In association with WildCru deer researcher Stephen Ellwood we will explore these questions by presenting known droppings from the 3 deer species along with sheep and rabbit to volunteers as they progress through 3 levels of training:

No training.

Basic introduction to dropping identification

Detailed workshop on deer droppings.

We will note if accuracy improves and try to quantify the optimal level of instruction so that instructive material can be developed for censusing deer on a larger scale.

Squirrels: Tree Damage

Twelve volunteers working in 4 teams of 3 managed to cover over 500 trees in 3 hours—a task which would have taken a scientist working alone a couple of days to complete.

Volunteers very quickly memorised the characteristics of the trees they needed to be able to identify and recorded the extent of squirrel damage accurately.

Sample Volunteer Itinerary

Principle Investigators: Chris Newman & Christina Buesching

Day 1	17.00 - 18.00 hrs. Arrive at Hill End: Introduction, barbecue and trip to pub.
Day 2	09.00 hrs. Introductory talk about Mammal Monitoring at Wytham. 10.30 hrs. Set out a longworth trap grid at 2 sites; one ancient woodland, one coniferous plantation. Bait traps. 13.15 hrs. Lunch 14.00 hrs. Examine badger gates and lay sand to reveal footprints. 16.00 hrs. Check Longworth traps. 17.30 hrs. Badger watching and census work 19.00 hrs. Return to Hill End for evening meal.
Day 3	09.00 hrs. Check traps, record and release small mammals at both sites. 11.00 hrs. Check sand traps by badger gates. 12.30 hrs. Lunch 13.15 hrs. Set-up replicated deer quadrats for dropping counts 14.30 hrs. Check traps and move them to replicate sites. 17.30 hrs. Badger watching and census work. 19.00 hrs. Return to Hill End for evening meal. 21.00 hrs. Lamp-transects for eye-shine (weather permitting) / or talk by Christina.
Day 4	09.00 hrs. Check traps, record and release small mammals at both sites. 11.00 hrs. Survey bird boxes for bat occupation with Rob Strachan. 13.00 hrs. Lunch. 14.00 hrs. Continue bat work. 16.00 hrs. Check longworth traps. 19.00 hrs. Return to Hill End for evening meal. 21.00 hrs. Lamp-transects for eye-shine ~ if not done previous day / or talk by Christina.
Day 5	09.00 hrs. Check traps, record and release small mammals at both sites. 11.00 hrs. Meet badger researchers to survey local fields for holes 13.30 hrs. Lunch 14.30 hrs. Lunch & Trip into Oxford to the Natural History museum. 18.00 hrs. Return to Hill End for evening meal {go to pub}
Day 6	09.00 hrs. Check traps, record and release small mammals collect in traps. 12.00 hrs. Return to Hill End for discussion, lunch and departure.

	Working with volunteers This is a critical objective of the study. The efforts of amateur naturalists are invaluable for mammalian conservation and species monitoring in the UK and finding the best ways to collect, analyse and archive broad scale census data is a priority for this project.
How did they do? Sample Volunteer Itinerary