Romania

Last year I received a message from friend and mammal expert Zsolt Hegyeli. He just caught two Hungarian birch mice and a Grey dwarf hamster in Romania, and invited us for more small mammal trapping if we would like to. Well, that was a no-brainer! The Hungarian birch mouse is an extremely rare species, only known from a few locations in Hungary and Romania. We already spent a week in the field for this species in 2021 but without luck. And Zsolt’s catch of the Grey dwarf hamster was the first one in more than 50 years in Romania. So yes, we planned a trip to Romania for those two rare species, hoping to see at least one of the two.
We started the trip with a mole-rat survey in the southern distribution range of the Mehely’s blind mole-rat (Spalax antiquus), an endemic mammal species for Romania – and the only one. After mapping the presence of the species by driving around while looking for moulds, we also caught an individual for a DNA sample. What an amazing creature! And way bigger than the Nannospalax species I saw before.
After three days dedicated to the mole-rats, we headed to the spot for the Hungarian birch mouse (Sicista trizona) and started digging in pitfalls. Pitfalls are the way to go for this species as they don’t enter live traps. During the second night of trapping, something unexpected happened: we were checking the pitfalls when suddenly Zsolt saw a birch mouse running in front of us! A couple of seconds later, we were looking at one of the rarest mammals in Europe, caught by hand. Unbelievable!
The next day we said goodbye to Zsolt and drove to the border with Moldavia for the Grey dwarf hamster (Nothocricetulus migratorius). We used the same trapping method as for the birch mouse: a lot of pitfalls. No luck during the first three nights, but the fourth night was beyond any expectations: we caught three dwarf hamsters! Luck was on our side this trip! After a photo shoot, measurements and DNA samples, the animals were released back into their habitat.
Before and after the small mammal quest, we also spent some time looking for local newts and fish. And so we ended a very succesful and pleasant trip.
A huge thanks to Zsolt for everything!!