We'll update this section soon with our upcoming events. We're working on bringing you an exciting variety of topics over the next few months! All members will get details of events sent to them as soon as they're confirmed.

Our next talk will be on the 26th April. Elinor Parry from Devon Biodiversity Records Centre will be talking to us about the Devon Bat Survey. More details soon.

One of the most striking features on the faces of many mammals
are the presence of their long whiskers, or vibrissae. Primarily,
these are used for touch sensing, and can be employed to guide
behaviours such as foraging, navigation, and social interactions.
Most mammals have whiskers at some stage of their life, and these
have a common muscle architecture. While similarities in whisker
position and muscle architecture suggest a common mammalian
ancestor with whiskers, variations in morphology and anatomy
reveal that whiskers are also adapted to function in many species.
This presentation will describe similarities and differences in
mammalian whisker morphology and behaviour. We find that
whiskers are especially prominent in nocturnal, arboreal and
aquatic mammals, that also tend to move their whiskers.
Understanding more about differences in whisker form and function
will provide important insights into mammalian sensory biology.
​
Dr Robyn Grant is a Senior Lecturer in Comparative Physiology
and Behaviour at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is a
sensory biologist, studying the sense of touch in mammals and
birds. She works closely with museums and zoos to better
understand the functional significance of facial sensors.

Wednesday 28th April 2021
at 7.30pm
This event will be held online via Zoom
Members - £2.50        Non members - £4.50
Please follow the link to Eventbrite to book your place
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-walruss-whiskers-the-mouses-moustache-why-do-animals-have-whiskers-tickets-149585096049 

All profits we take will go towards the following:
The running of our talks
The Harvest Mouse Project
Our Small Grants Scheme
Maintaining equipment for members to borrow

An overview of the work that the DGHB Project has undertaken over the last 6 years. This includes:

• working with farmers to improve habitats for this rare mammal
• working with schools and communities to improve awareness
• research - including the Devon Bat Survey - a highly successful citizen science project

The talk will be in two halves. The first, an overview of the work of the bat project, and the second half will be looking in more detail at the work of the Devon Bat Survey and sharing some of the findings we have from it. 

Tuesday 9th March 2021
at 8pm
This event will be held online via Zoom
Members £2.50 - Non Members £4

Please follow the link to Eventbrite to book your place
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/devon-greater-horseshoe-bat-project-achievements-and-new-discoveries-tickets-141591605303

All monies raised through tickets sales will go towards the following:
The Harvest Mouse Project
Our Small Grants Scheme
Maintaining equipment for members to borrow
Costs associated with providing talks

Please let us know if you can no longer attend our event once you have booked a place as we have limited tickets available. This will allow us to offer your place to someone on the waiting list. 

In August 2020, the government made the momentous decision that the wild River Otter beavers would be permitted to remain in perpetuity and spread naturally into adjacent river catchments. This marked the first authorised reintroduction of a mammal back into the English landscape, and followed the successful conclusion of the 5-year River Otter Beaver Trial (ROBT), which was led by Devon Wildlife Trust, working closely with the University of Exeter, Clinton Devon Estates and Derek Gow consultancy.

This talk will outline the background to the Trial and the key findings that have enabled Defra to make this decision. It will include detail on the monitoring of the beavers, their health and welfare and their impacts on the environment of the River Otter. It will also discuss the management of conflicts that they bring, and these will be managed over the next decade, as well as their wider reintroduction into Britain and the upcoming Defra consultation.

Tuesday, 19th January 2021 at 8pm

This is an online event using Zoom

Members: £2.50 - Non Members £4

To book please follow the link below to eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/returning-the-eurasian-beaver-to-devon-and-englan-tickets-133471997337?fbclid=IwAR10qNkB6rG685_nQM5RcQBqsC3ch2oMasuovjGWDi7RF8-MJ5s5znSvzdA

​Five years ago, researchers from the University of Bristol began a radio tracking project to study a Barbastelle bat colony in the Bovey Valley on the east of Dartmoor. The Woodland Trust commissioned the work together with Natural England, and the researchers set out to firstly find the roost trees and then to track the bats to their foraging sites. The aim of this research was to provide the woodland managers with information that could improve the habitat management for the species which is an oak wood specialist. The project was also set up to engage with a team of local volunteers who took an active role in tracking bats through the hours of the day and night.

​The ‘Barbastelle Bats in the Bovey Valley’ talk is in three parts. Firstly Matt Parkins will look back at the initial stages of the project by revisiting a 2015 presentation, then he will describe how the knowledge gained from the research has led to an improvement of habitat management methods and the development of an additional modelling exercise that was designed to predict whether more undiscovered roosts may exist in the valley. The final part will be led by Tom Williams, where he will explain how he spent some time using recording equipment to discover whether that model would indeed find more locations where this scarce species roosts.

Further details of how to book onto this event to follow!

A new research project in Fingle Woods is studying how an area of woodland is recovering after the enforced felling of diseased larch. In this online talk, Matt Parkins (a dormouse ecologist) and David Rickwood (Fingle’s Site Manager), will describe the ways in which habitat management work is supporting the endangered dormouse and how this research adds to our knowledge of this endearing mammal.

Join them at the first online Fingle Lecture to learn more - the talk is free but booking is essential due to limited spaces. Book your ticket, which will contain details about how to join this virtual event.

4th August
19:30
​Free

To book please contact Charly Mead
Email: [email protected] or Mobile: 07795337409