Interesting Mammal Sighting in Korea

I am an enthusiastic mammal-watcher, which is harder to be than a bird-watcher because mammals are more visually elusive. Tonight as I was walking through Yongji Park in Changwon, on the south coast of South Korea, I saw a mustelid mammal that might have been a feral ferret. But the coloration also matched the Siberian Weasel, which is indigenous to Korea although probably not common.

Now, a public park in Changwon would seem to be an unusual place to see this species, but the city is ringed by mountains which would be a more natural habitat for it — if it gets this far south; it is apparently more often encountered in North Korea. Does anyone have any ideas about this? Is it possible that I did see a Siberian Weasel? Or are feral ferrets sometimes sighted in Korean parks?

UPDATE: A respondent at Animal Rescue Korea said that she has seen similar mustelids on Jeju Island, which is off the south coast of South Korea.  So if the Siberian Weasel occurs there, it would probably occur in the Changwon area as well. The coloration of the animal that I saw did not remind me of any domestic ferret I have ever seen. The only other wild weasels found in South Korea are the Least Weasel and the Mountain Weasel, which are smaller and do not look like the animal I saw.

Alpine Long-eared Bats in the South of France

Over Easter I took my kids down to Toulon in the south of France to stay with my friends Jean-Michel and Mary Bompar http://bompar-photo-nature.fr/.

The weather wasn’t great. We tried to catch Pine Voles (and caught a lot of traps full of soil but no animals), Water Shrews and Snow Voles (again none of each). We were more successful with the bats though, catching my target – an Alpine Long-eared Bat (Plecotus macrobullaris) – near Andon. We also caught a couple of Daubenton’s bats, saw a lot of Roe Deer around Andon and in the Camp Militaire de Canjuers as well as what appeared to be a Polecat late at night (though they are apparently very rare in the area so it the fleeting glimpse could have been of something else). The military camp, about 30km west of Grasse, is an interesting area. It has been protected for about 50 years and no people live within the area so it is now very rich in wildlife. Wolves are resident and Lynxes are reported every year (mainly by jogging soldiers). The D25 runs through the camp but if you leave the road you run the risk of being arrested or flattened by a shell.

Thanks again to JM and Mary for their spectacular hospitality and for yet another (now the 10th) new mammal JM has produced for me over the past 2 years. Jon Mountain Long-eared Bat.

Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon

A free eBook from Project Gutenberg,

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19550

Published in 1884. Interesting on many different levels, IMO. Especially the cats.

John

seeing golden lion tamarin

Hi

Hi

At the risk of taking over this forum with requests for information, has anyone been to the golden lion tamarin reintroduction site near Rio? I’m quite keen to go if you seen them living naturally in the field, but not if it’s zoo like – they’re at my local zoo. (In birder jargon are they tickable? )

I’ve found a company that arrange visits, Brazil Eco-travel, but they haven’t responded to emails. I’d been keen to know of other ways you can arrange a visit.

Cheers

Steve

New Trip Report – Qinlings 2011

Coke, Som and Cokie Smith just got back from a very cold week in the Qinlings and saw a Panda along with many other things and took some great photos.

The report is here http://cokesmithphototravel.com/Panda_Tracking_in_the_Qinlings_.html

Jon

Mammal watching in the Carpathian mountains.

Hi all.

Has anyone tried Mammal watching in the Carpathian mountains, Romania? I know Naturetrek do a wolf, bear and lynx trip there. I’m doing it independently in June. If anyone has any advice on the mammals (or any other wildlife) I’d much appreciate it.

Cheers

Steve

http://www.freewebs.com/stevebabbs

A Hollywood Twitch

OK its birds… but the song remains the same. And I’m excited

jon

THE BIG YEAR – starring Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin, follows three avid bird watchers competing to spot the rarest birds at a prestigious annual twitching event. A comedy, needless to say. In movie theatres in fall 2011.
Trailer not yet available
The Big Year : IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053810/

Way Kambas Sumatra

Hi,

We are planning to visit next august Sumatra, but we cannot make up our minds yeat about Way Kambas..Way Kambas seems to hoast a lot of mammals, but we read quite a few negative reports about this place. First of all, the rangers at Way Kanan seem to walk only for certain hours during the day and are not willing to walk longer even if you would pay it. that means, you have to sit aorund from 8 to about 4  clock in the afternoon doing nothing…so some tourists have left this place rather disapointed. Most of them even did not see a lot – regardless of the reputation to be a very mammalian place!

the Satwa Eco Lodge seems to be more flexible and offers a variety of trips, but we haven’t heard anything about this lodge so far.

We would be very grateful for any information about this place! Thank’s for your help!

Carmen and Tobbe

New Trip Report – Estonia

At the very start of April I returned to Hiiumaa for a weekend to join the annual trapping survey for European Mink. Winter had lasted longer than usual and many of the rivers were still frozen when I arrived, but 2 days later had melted. Perhaps partly as a result of that we did not catch any animals (it certainly reduced the number of traps we set). I drove for 3 hours through the interior of the island on consecutive nights with a spotlight hoping to see a Lynx . I did find some fresh tracks but no Lynx. The only mammals were several Red Foxes, a few Red Deer and a Moose. Once again I stayed at the very nice Daagen House guest house. It seems February might be the best time to look for Lynxes. There is more fresh snow, and they are quite vocal as they are breeding. Many thanks to Madis Podra for organising the trapping and being such a great host. For more information on Estonian mammal watching then visit http://www.mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/palearctestonia.html Jon

Colorado Trip Report

I was in Denver for a few days last month. I wasn’t doing much in the way of mammal watching but did have a failed attempt to see Colorado Chipmunks around Boulder and south of Denver (it was still too cold I think to find them).

I did see briefly a Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel in Denver Zoo (which seems likely to be a part of a remnant population living there).

Other than that, some Bighorn Sheep, Elk and Red Squirrels around Estes Park & Rocky Mountain NP, and lots of feral Fox Squirrels in the Denver suburbs.

I updated my Colorado page with a little more information http://www.mammalwatching.com/Nearctic/nearctusacolorado.html

Jon