Elan Valley

There are over 20 species of mammal in Elan, most are nocturnal and wary of man and are therefore rarely seen.
Grey Squirrels are common and easy to see, they come originally from America and are larger and more adaptable than the native Red Squirrel. There are no records of reds since the 1960s.
There are only occasional records of Deer on the Estate.
Foxes mostly live alone and usually adapt old rabbit or badger burrows into earths which are used for shelter and for females to raise cubs in.
Badgers, Otters, Polecats, Mink, Stoats and Weasels are all members of the weasel (mustelid) family.
Badgers are strong burrowers and live in setts as family groups. As well as the main sett which is always in use, they may have other smaller setts in their territory which they only use occasionally.
Otters occur close to the Estate and they do use our rivers, reservoirs and lakes as fishing grounds for brown trout.
Polecats are uncommon outside of Wales and its bordering counties although the population is spreading. They are the wild cousins of domestic ferrets with which they will interbreed.
Stoats and Weasels are often confused, both are chestnut brown with a white belly but Stoats are larger, with a black tipped tail and the line where the brown fur meets the white fur is straight. Weasels have a shorter, untipped, tail and a wavy line between the brown and white.

American Mink escaped from fur farms mostly during the 1960s and 1970s, they bred in the wild and spread into the Estate by the late 1980s. They are found near to water where they prey on birds, small mammals and fish. Ground nesting ducks suffer from predation as the mink take eggs, chicks and adult birds. Water voles numbers have reduced nationally in streams and rivers where mink occur.
Moles are suprisingly common here even up on the highest moorland.
Hedgehogs are uncommon on the Estate. Their main natural predator in Britain is the Badger.
Rabbits are widespread but uncommon because they have many predators here including foxes, polecats, buzzards and kites.
Brown Hares are very rare and Mountain Hares do not occur here.
Small Mammals occur all over the Estate in every habitat.
Shrews are insectivores with very large appetites, they need to eat every 3-4 hours. We have 3 types of shrew, the Common, the Pygmy and the Water Shrew which has been found at Dol-y-mynach.
Woodmice are common especially in broadleaved woodlands on the Estate and provide an important source of food for Tawny owls. House Mice and Brown Rats are rare here.

There are also three types of vole, Bank, Field and Water Voles. Field or Short-Tailed Voles are an important source of food to many upland animals and birds of prey. Changes in their numbers can have severe effects on their predators. Water Voles are now probably extinct on the Estate due to predation by mink. They were last recorded at Pont-ar-Elan.

Whiskered, Natterer's, Daubenton's, Pipistrelle, Noctule and Long-eared Bats have been recorded on the Estate. Roost sites include tree hollows, natural caves, mines, houses, bird hides, railway tunnels and bat boxes.
Pipistrelles can be seen in Elan Village feeding on flying insects around the street lights in summer.
Daubenton's bats occur close to water, and often feed on insects over the reservoirs, especially Caban Coch and Dol-y-mynach.