I see dead things......

Every morning on the way to work I witness first hand the carnage from the night before.  Most common road kill victims are usually badgers and muntjac deer, with foxes and rabbits close behind. Occasionally a barn or tawny owl has been dazzled by headlights when hunting the road verge and bitten the dust. Strangely enough, road casualties are evidence of a healthy population - rarely, if ever, do I see any dead hedgehogs, which is a real indication of their decline. Today I saw a dead polecat on the Amersham road - the first this year. Seeing dead ones opn the road is about the only way to see one - they are very wary and secretive. Incredibly they were virtually extinct in the UK with a few strongholds in Wales. Over the last couple of decades they have gradually spread eastwards and in 2009 a pair bred at College Lake reserve in Buckinghamshire and I was lucky enough to see the kits coming to this pond to drink. Like most other mustelids, they are great hunters...and they don't smell great, but the youngsters certainly have the cute factor........