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What's new at the Museum

2 Posts tagged with the urban_wildlife tag
1
fox-cub-cropped.jpg
We have a family of foxes living in the Wildlife Garden. They've set up a breeding den, called an earth, tucked away under the garden shed in the private part of the Wildlife Garden.

And now, we've got our first foxcam set up to follow our foxy lodgers scampering around. There are about 3 to 4 little cubs that have been spotted so far. They come out to feed on earthworms, beetles and other tasty snacks.

As I write this blog in the afternoon, one cheeky cub comes out to pose as if to say 'hello, watch me, I'm on camera'. What a show-off!

You can use the foxcam day by day and get a glimpse of the fox cubs growing up. The Wildlife Garden staff tell me that they are most active early in the morning and early evening about 6ish. So we recommend catching up with the foxcam at these times to get a good glimpse, but then I just saw my cub in the middle of the afternoon. Also on camera, you may spot pigeons, squirrels and the legs of humans too.

Our Wildlife Garden fox cubs were probably born in late March. Over the summer months they will play, explore and gradually begin to fend for themselves by joining their parents on night-time hunts. By September the cubs should be fully grown.

For a sneak peak of a fox cub appearance on our foxcam, have a look at our YouTube foxcam clip from 26 April.



2072 Views 1 Comments 0 References Permalink Tags: urban_wildlife, british_habitats, urban_garden, wildlife_garden, urban_conservation, foxcam, naturecam, webcast, spring_animals, fox_cubs
0

It's sheep time

Posted by Rose Aug 28, 2009
sheep-wg.jpg
Our Greyface Dartmoor sheep have arrived

It's incredible to think that from this week we will have sheep grazing outside the Museum in our Wildlife Garden. Just 5 minutes walk from one of the busiest streets in London. But this has been happening since 1999. The sheep (usually 3 to 5 of them) arrive every year around this time in late summer. They graze and trample the fallen plant seeds into the soil, after the garden’s meadow and chalk lowland plants have flowered and seeded. They play an important role in the ecology of our garden.

 

And did you know that our sheep are named after Dartmoor tors? There’s Kitty, Little Mis, Honey, Bella and Huccaby. This year it’s Honey, Bella and her lamb who are visiting and I hope to meet them soon. We used to borrow our sheep from Freightliners Farm, but then an anonymous donor helped us buy our own.

 

Our sheep spend most of the year at the London Wetland Centre – our partner in this sheep grazing project. Lambs previously born to our sheep have been re-homed on farms in Somerset, Hounslow and Kent.

4943 Views 0 Comments Permalink Tags: urban_wildlife, london_parks_gardens, wildlife, british_habitats, green_flag_award, garden, urban_garden, wiildlife_garden_nhm


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