CMG Birthday and Atlas Launch

Fantastic fun was had by all on the 10th October 2009 as CMG celebrated its 10th birthday with an autumn fete at Tremough campus, Penryn. The sun shone and more than 300 adults and children enjoyed an array of mammal-related games and activities and learnt more about the fabulous mammals living in our county. The main focus of the day was to launch the Cornwall Mammal Atlas Project which aims to collate as many sightings and records of mammals across Cornwall as possible by 2011. Cornwall Mammal Group chairman Dave Groves said “The Atlas will help conservation professionals to monitor changing distributions, but we also hope that it will be interesting and useful to anyone who wants to find out more about the fascinating and charismatic wildlife of Cornwall”. The atlas will only be possible if people send us records of their wildlife sightings. The fete was opened by local wildlife photographer, David Chapman, who presented a selection of his wonderful mammal photographs. Over 40 children entered the Art Competition, and the quality of their British mammal drawings made judging very difficult indeed! First prize in the under-8 age category was won jointly by Lachlan and Lucus Royle for their wonderful hedgehog. The over-8 category was won by Zoe Aldridge from Penryn College for her fantastic sketch of a bat. Huge thanks go to the many people who helped make the event a success, particularly the University of Exeter’s Tremough campus for hosting the event, St John’s Ambulance for providing first aid cover, The Mammal Society, many friends from Port Navas for allowing us to borrow their games, and of course the people who baked cakes and helped man stalls on the day. We would also like to thank all those who contributed such generous prizes for the raffle: these were David Chapman, The Eden Project, Fourth Element, Dave Groves, John Macadam, The Lost Gardens of Heligan, The Maritime Museum, Messy Play, Miss Peapods, Mylor Boat Hire, Orca Safaris, Rick Stein and the Falmouth Bookstore, St Micheals Spa, Strawberries and The Tamar Otter and Wildlife Centre. Finally we would like to thank all the visitors who came along on the day and made it all worthwhile!