Wild Close ups of Bank Vole/Wood Mouse.

Testudo Man

Testudo Man

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Paul
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Tough going in the winter months, to find half sensible subjects for macro/close ups! Especially when it will be some weeks before our UK Reptiles/Butterflies show themselves! So approx a month ago, i decided to place some crushed peanuts/sunflower seeds in various areas on my garden rockery. It took a few weeks before any signs of Rodent/Mammal life would show up, but once again, the Bank Voles and Wood Mouse where still out there! Although no doubt, these "fresh faces" where the descendants of last winters visitors.

A couple of my images, all comments welcome, cheers Paul.

This 1st photo is not cropped at all, hand held, no flash, Jpeg...Nikon D7100 with Nikon micro/macro 105mm VR lens used. 1/200 F3.3 ISO 200, poor light.

One of the Wood Mouse.

Wood Mouse, in the rockery! (uncropped). 15th-January-2015. by Testudo Man, on Flickr


The next shot is cropped approx 50%, Hand held, Jpeg, Flash used, DIY diffuser. Same camera/lens as above. 1/200 F5 ISO 250.

One of the Bank Voles.

Bank Vole close up, in the rockery! 16th-January-2015. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
No sure why the 1st link is not showing??? I guess its Flickr messing about again?! It will probably show later on?

So, another Wood Mouse image, to make up for the "Fail".

This image is not cropped at all, same camera/lens combo, no flash, poor light. 1/160 F3.2 ISO 250.

Wood Mouse, in the rockery! (uncropped). 15th-January-2015. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
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Solo man said:
Liking the Wood Mouse Paul (y)
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Cheers Lee, the Wood Mouse is slightly more tolerant than the Bank Vole, when it comes to me being within approx 2 feet shooting distance of these fascinating creatures, but both species are always on "high alert", so the slightest movement from me, sends them running for cover...they do return though, eventually ;)
 
Very nice Paul, needs a touch warming up as they are all a tad on the blue side.
 
Nice set of images Paul, agree with Bryn about them being a little bit cool on colour balance.(y)

George.
 
Bill19 said:
Great shots! Spot on focus on those big cute eyes!
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Thanks for the comment Billy.

Tintin124 said:
Very nice Paul, needs a touch warming up as they are all a tad on the blue side.
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Cheers Bryn, you could be right, the Mouse images are on the cool/blue side(i was a bit chilled too, sitting out in the cold for hours). But i dont like to "overcook" my images, I'd rather the viewer saw them, as i did on the day, in the same conditions/poor light. Saying that though, i do confess these days, to dialing back saturation/contrast by approx 5%, I personally dont like the over edited look.
Hopefully, they stay around for Spring, when i can capture images of them, with a bit of sunshine/good light on the subjects.

Thanks for your opinion mate ;)
 
G.K.Jnr. said:
Nice set of images Paul, agree with Bryn about them being a little bit cool on colour balance.(y)

George.
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Cheers George, must be my old ancient Photoshop 6, causing the lack of colour/vibrancy in my images?! ;)

Seriously though, as i said to Bryn above^^^^^^, once we get some good light/sunshine on these critters, then Im sure they will show better. :)
 
Nice little rodent maybe a little on the dark side too?
A bit scary to see these mices next to your avatar. Are you sure you're not baiting them to give them as dinner to a snake?
 
Lemaildetom said:
Nice little rodent maybe a little on the dark side too?
A bit scary to see these mices next to your avatar. Are you sure you're not baiting them to give them as dinner to a snake?
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Thanks for that.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...it is strange how i photograph both Adders and Mice/Voles?! :whistle:
Of course, i would image that the main diet of a Viper berus, is that of the Wood Mouse/small rodents/mammals...but in all the years that Ive been photographing these wild creatures, Ive yet to witness/photograph a snake "taking" a mouse(or any other prey) at all. Ive seen/photographed/filmed most of the Viper berus behaviour, but 2 things elude me...The Adder giving birth to her live young...and an Adder preying on its victim.
You can check my Flickr Adder album if ya like, theres over 400 snake images to go through, you wont find a pic of such a thing!

No, for me, baiting is unethical...leave that to the "birders" on here. ;) Besides, its illegal in the UK, to "live feed" a snake. ;)

EDIT - just remembered, i do have a couple of pics of an Adder sporting a "prey bulge" but as you probably guessed by now...Im a man of ethics/morals..."If it dont occur naturally, then dont lower yourself an go for the easy, set up, fake shot".

All the best Paul.
 
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Great shots, did you just wait for them to come to you? I cant imagine it was easy just getting the camera pointing at them.
 
I really like these and I'm very envious. There are a family of rats I often see swimming in or by the lake n the valley near where I live, but whenever they are active it's either too early before sunrise or too late after sunset for me to get a reasonable quality image. I think I either need to camp out with a tripod and hope they keep still enough for a longer exposure or get a faster lens!

Lovely shots, and I think you are lucky to get these in your garden. If I put out some nuts for the local wildlife the only shots I would get would be of the resident grey squirrels who would clear them all out before anything else got a look in...
 
T0p cat said:
Great shots, did you just wait for them to come to you? I cant imagine it was easy just getting the camera pointing at them.
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Cheers for the comment.
Its far from easy, but my fieldcraft/skills from sneaking up on Butterflies/Snakes/Lizards probably help some.

Heres how i go about it - The Bank Voles are more wary than the Wood Mouse, whilst the Wood Mouse will eat in the open, the Bank Voles tend to "smash an grab", but any movement from me, and these little creatures will take off fast. I watch the rockery, from my kitchen window, i let them gain some confidence, by not disturbing them straight away. I wait for them to take off with some food for their storage/stash. This gives me a couple of minutes to quickly get out into the garden, to take up position(approx 2 feet/60cms) from where i know they will emerge from their tunnels under the rockery. I crouch down low, camera on and wait! When they return, they will not come out at 1st, but once they get used to a large dark object(me!) in front of them, they will eventually come out to feed. The camera shutter scares them at 1st, but they soon get used to that noise. Any movement/noise from me, and they will be gone in a flash, but they will return...eventually.
I sometimes set up 2 or 3 old paint cans next to the rockery, they are positioned at various angles, these can be sat on when I have to wait for some movement/action from the Rodents!! I can only crouch down low for so long! before the cramps start to work on my feet/knees! I suppose if I was smart, I would set up some sort of "Hide" that way I would be more comfortable...and warm!

TimmyG said:
I really like these and I'm very envious. There are a family of rats I often see swimming in or by the lake n the valley near where I live, but whenever they are active it's either too early before sunrise or too late after sunset for me to get a reasonable quality image. I think I either need to camp out with a tripod and hope they keep still enough for a longer exposure or get a faster lens!

Lovely shots, and I think you are lucky to get these in your garden. If I put out some nuts for the local wildlife the only shots I would get would be of the resident grey squirrels who would clear them all out before anything else got a look in...
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Cheers Tim, Whilst i live in a Suburban location, i do have an area beyond my garden fence, that consists of a mini woodland haven, which means i get a nice selection of wildlife all year round. These Voles and Mice make their way through tunnels/holes in the fence to get to where the food is at! I even had a Weasel thrash through my garden a couple of years back!
I also have some greedy Squirrels/Wood pigeons to contend with myself, but the trick is to crush the peanuts up to almost powder form, that way they cant gulp it down as quick!
These Voles/Mice are very common, i would think that most people will have them in(or near their gardens) all you need is a garden shed, and a bird feeder, and one day whilst watching the birds feeding on seed, you will catch a glimpse of a mouse/vole scurrying off fast, with the seeds that have fallen from the bird feeder/table. ;)
 
Just checked my Flickr "Furries" album, most of my Vole/Mouse images are shot in poor light! it must be a Winter/poor lighting conditions thing?!

But found one of my images from last February, and the sun was shining back then. ;)

Different camera/lens set up last year, this image i used Nikon D7000 with my old micro/macro 105mm 2.8D lens.



This image is not cropped...A Wood Mouse, tucking into the crushed peanuts...Cheers Paul.

Wood Mouse(uncropped). 22nd-Feb-2014. by Testudo Man, on Flickr
 
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