Tracking tunnels
These are probably the cheapest and least invasive method of monitoring small animals. The principle is simple. Place a tasty treat in the middle of the tunnel. On either side place strips of masking tape coated with a charcoal paste and beyond that, plain paper. An animal walks across the charcoal past, which act as a harmless ink, has a snack and walks out leaving footprints on the paper as evidence of his visit. We bought the first tracking rtunnel from the NHBS and later found instructions on the internet on how to make them.
We bought a ready-made tunnel and food-grade charcoal powder to make the ink from the nhbs website.
We found the tracking tunnel instructions on the People’s Trust for Endangered Species quite easy to understand and follow.
The short flute corrugated plastic in the right sized sheets to make the tunnels are available from MDP Supplies
Feeding/observation stations
Having found hedgehog footprints in the very early days of tracking, we decided to provide a hedgehog feeding station. We also decided to make a box suitable for monitoring small mammals. We bought our boxes and Ben from IG Maintenance was on hand with the skills and tools required to adapt the boxes for us. He cut a 5″ square opening in the hedgehog box and 4 small circular holes in the mammal box.
We found some super tough boxes made from recycled plastic at The Plastic Box Shop.
Trail cameras
To observe what entered our boxes, we bought some trail cameras. As we didn’t need cameras capable of identifying rare species at great distances and would be using them in public spaces, we decided to stick to the lower end of the market so that it wouldn’t be too great a financial loss if one needed replacing. The larger camera works well out in the open and the mini cameras suit the confines of the boxes. We bought Toguard H20A mini cams plus a standard size Ceyomur and have another camera on loan from Ben at IG Maintenance.