At the beginning of May, young people from Okehampton took part in an exciting opportunity to help Devon Wildlife Trust in Pullabrook Woods. DWT are releasing a number of Pine Martens to several sites in Devon and young people from Room 13 were able to lend a hand setting up camera traps which are aimed at surveying squirrel numbers and help build a picture of the impact of the Pine Martens on local populations.
The young people helped Dan, the Pine Marten Field Officer, to find the locations for the camera’s - site them on a suitable tree, carefully aimed at a good spot on the woodland floor. The young people then baited the area with a mixture of corn and nuts, entered the correct settings into the camera and finally secured it to the tree with a strong locking cable.
The young people have been really engaged as the first pictures captured by the cameras started to get sent through to us by the DWT team and we can see deer, foxes, badgers as well as squirrels caught in their natural setting, both in daytime and night time. A special thanks to our main contact, driver, organiser and all round font of all knowledge - Adrian Fowles!
Check out some of the photos from the camera traps set up by the young people…
