Volunteers needed to record garden wildlife for nationwide ‘Living with Mammals’ survey

A wild rabbit, one of the many species recorded during PTES’ Living with Mammals survey. Photo: Paul Bunyard

The annual ‘Living with Mammals’ survey, run by wildlife charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) records how wild mammals are faring in all corners of the country.

Volunteers are urged to record sightings of mammals spotted in their gardens, local parks, and other green spaces to help PTES to understand the changing environment better, and encourage urban wildlife to flourish.

Volunteers simply need to record sightings of any wild mammal or the signs they leave behind such as footprints or droppings, however big or small, in a garden, allotment, or public green space such as parks, playing fields and cemeteries, each week online at the website at ptes.org/lwm.

David Wembridge, Mammal Surveys Coordinator at PTES explains: “Recording which mammals you see is vital to conservation.

"Living with Mammals has been running for over 20 years and with the long-term dataset we have so far, we’re building a nationwide picture of where different species are living and how their numbers are changing.

"We’re lucky to have so many volunteers that take part every year, but more help is always needed. If you can spare some time each week, we hope you’ll join us in trying to help save as many of our much-loved species as possible.”

Since Living with Mammals began in 2002 thousands of dedicated volunteers have surveyed almost six thousand sites (5,571) across the UK, and have submitted over a third of a million sightings or signs of wild mammals to PTES. This includes some of the UK’s most well-known mammals such as hedgehogs, foxes, grey squirrels, and bats, but also some of the less-common mammals such as otters and pine martens.

Last year rabbits were only recorded at one in ten sites, a third of the number being seen when the survey first began. In contrast, bats were reported at a larger number of sites than seen in the past five years, and hedgehogs had their best year yet.

To take part in Living with Mammals 2023 visit: ptes.org/lwm, and share your mammal photos using the hashtag #LivingWithMammals.