On the ground news reports!

As part of the research being run to identify farming practices with a positive effect on hamster populations, we are currently assessing the benefits of planting a mixed-crop cover as soon as possible.  Here are two pictures taken in Altorf, in early September.  The cover is made up of clover, forage radish, sunflower and peas, planted on 18 July – and is working like a charm!  In some places, it has grown 1M20 high.

Multi-crop cover planted on 26 August, on one of the conventional, so-called control plots

Multi-crop cover planted earlier, on 18 July, on one of the experimental plots

It is not until the end of the experimentation process and the hamster monitoring that we will know whether there have been real benefits to the species.  However, the pictures already speak for themselves and there can be no doubt that the cover served as a reserve for many animal species!

Here is another picture, showing a litter of 4 young hamsters exploring their environment.  Let’s hope that the new cover will help them through the winter and that they will be part of the census campaign next April!