Videos

Coming soon...

Otters (Lutra lutra)

Chinese water deer

Water voles (Arvicola amphibius)

Odd Fox Behaviour? | Recorded in Swansea on the 8th May 2016

I have often read that red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are territorial mammals and thus mark the areas that they occupy by leaving faeces in conspicuous places, without burying them. I was surprised therefore to record footage of this young fox cub returning to its faeces shortly after defecating, in order to bury it... A behaviour which I have not come across until now, other than the theory that food and scats are sometimes buried together to deter thieves.

One possible answer to this phenomenon could be that cubs are at risk of infanticide by unrelated adult foxes, and therefore may want to hide their scent in order to reduce the chance of being detected (?).

Inquisitive Fox Cubs | Recorded in Swansea on the 8th May 2016

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a widespread and adaptable animal, residing in even the most urban areas.

Here, a pair of playful cubs explore the surroundings of their breeding earth (the collective name given to the burrow and den), located on a busy university campus.

Adult females (vixens) tend to give birth to one litter a year, each comprising four or five cubs. Born in early spring, the cubs start life with dusky grey/brown fur and do not moult into their characteristic reddish coat until they are four-five weeks old.

Cubs tend to stay with their mothers until autumn, when they will begin exploring further away from the earth. Some juvenile foxes will remain with their parents to help rear the next litter, whilst others may disperse to find new territories if their natal one is fully occupied.

A Fox Cub on a Mission | Recorded in Swansea on the 7th, 8th and 9th May 2016

In May 2016, I installed a trail camera outside the entrance of a fox den. The recordings revealed that the den was being occupied by a vixen and her young cubs.

One particular cub caught my attention - an inquisitive and very bold female, identifiable from a black mark mid-way down her tail. Every night she was the first to surface and she seemed to have a mission. She spent hours diligently collecting human litter (cardboard, foil, you name it..) before carefully depositing it inside the den entrance.

Perhaps she thought the litter was unsightly and was trying to hide it from view… or perhaps she was playing a prank on her siblings who would later have to battle past the rubbish to get out of the den… who knows - but maybe it’s a message to us humans to dispose of our waste properly.

Hedgehog in my Back Garden | Recorded in Cambridgeshire on the 29th August 2015

The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) has suffered major declines in the UK over recent decades, making them less frequent visitors to back garden. I was lucky enough to capture footage of this hedgehog in 2015 whilst monitoring a cat flap as part of my BSc dissertation which researched the movement of domestic cats.

If you would like to help monitor hedgehogs in the UK, check out this website: www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-our-hedgehog-street-campaign/

Muntjac

Foxes


Badgers

Shearwaters at Sunrise | Filmed off the coast of Malta

In 2014, I had the privilege of volunteering with Sharklab Malta, a registered non-profit, voluntary organisation dedicated to elasmobranch (sharks, skates, rays and chimaera) research and public outreach.

One morning in July, a group of us woke before sunrise to go shark chumming (attracting sharks to a boat using bait in the form of fish offcuts). As the sun rose above the horizon we were greeted with the beautiful sight of Scopoli's shearwaters (Calonectris diomedea) skimming over the waves.

The Scopoli's shearwater is the more common and larger of the two species of shearwater native to the Mediterranean waters around Malta. The species forms large rafts out at sea during the breeding season from the end of February to October, but the majority of the population spends the non-breeding season in the Atlantic, for example, in areas off the east coast of Brazil and the west coast of Africa.

It was definitely worth waking up early to see the shearwaters... however, our day was made even better when we later caught sight of a blue shark - likely attracted to the bait being dragged behind the boat.

A Meerkat Pup's First Emergence | Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) on the 16th March 2013

A subordinate meerkat (Suricata surricatta) prematurely brings a pup above ground before being ticked off by the dominant female of the group. Note the submissive grovelling noises made by the subordinate meerkat before the dominant female (wearing the VHF collar) takes charge of the situation by administering a headbutt.

Meerkat pups tend to be born by the dominant female of a group (also known as a mob, gang or clan) and subordinate 'helper' meerkats assist in their upbringing. Pups are blind for the first two weeks of life and do not usually leave the burrow for a further week after gaining sight. The pup shown in this video is almost certainly only a few days old - far too young to be out in the open!

Sun Worshipping Meerkats | Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) on the 16th March 2013

What a Bunch of Posers: A Group of Meerkats Warm Themselves in the Early Morning Sunshine | Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) on the 16th March 2013

The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) has evolved many adaptations to endure the harsh Kalahari Desert environment. With temperatures easily plummeting to -7°C on winter nights, meerkats depend on specialised coping strategies to warm up quickly in the mornings.

One such coping strategy is demonstrated in this video: the meerkats are standing on their hind feet in order to expose their stomachs to the rising sun in the east.

Meerkats' stomachs are characterised by a patch of dark skin which is only sparsely covered by fur. This combination of dark skin and reduced fur density improves absorption of heat from the sun's rays, allowing meerkats to warm up more quickly before they commence foraging.

Meerkats Sorting Out a Family Argument | Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) on the 8th March 2013

We all have our own methods of sorting out family disputes... meerkats choose to sit on one another and hip slam anyone who dares get too close.

Like Trying to Herd Cats | Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) on the 4th March 2013

During my time as a six month Research Assistant at the Kalahari Meerkat Project, one of my duties was to weigh wild meerkats - a task which wasn't always as 'simples' as one might hope...

Wild meerkats would much rather sit on you or fall asleep in a starfish position, than be manhandled by a human in order to be weighed.

Did you know, the name 'meerkat' derives from 'meer' meaning lake, and 'kat' meaning cat? Although the meerkat is a feliform ("cat-like" carnivore), the species actually belongs to the mongoose family, and being a desert animal, it rarely ventures near lakes.

Despite the fact that meerkats and cats are from completely different families, they are not dissimilar in their stubbornness when you're trying make them do something that they don't want to do - for example,  getting on the weighing scales.

A Meerkat Role Capturing a Millipede | Filmed at the Kalahari Meerkat Project (South Africa) on the 4th March 2013

Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) can't afford to be fussy eaters if they're to survive the harsh conditions of the Kalahari Desert. Although primarily insectivores, meerkats have developed strategies to eat some of the desert's most toxic species. Here, a meerkat rolls a millipede through the sand in order to remove its toxic coating before eating it.