Western England and North Wales – creating woodland habitats and supporting our wildlife
North Wales and Western England are lucky to provide habitats for some of the UK’s rarest of wildlife including Water Voles Dormice and Red Squirrels.
To find out exactly what is happening in your county, why not visit the following your local Wildlife Trust websites:
North Wales Wildlife Trust
Cheshire Wildlife Trust
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
Shropshire Wildlife Trust
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
Birmingham & Black Country
Hereford Wildlife Trust
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
Red Squirrels need protection
Once common in woodlands throughout Britain, a glimpse of the red squirrel is now rare.Your best chance to see a Red Squirrel is in Scotland and the North of England – but there are a few in North Wales too. The Red Squirrel is one of the most endangered mammals in the UK and much is being done to support their survival.
The Grey squirrel is largely to blame for the demise of his Red cousin. The Grey eats more, adapts better to broadleaf woodlands and carries the Squirrel Pox Virus. This is deadly to the Red who becomes very lethargic, develop lesions and die within 2 weeks of contracting the disease.
Did you know we put Red Squirrel Boxes on Natures Nest Egg farms that have squirrels? We also encourage them to stay by planting Hazel and woodland trees?
You can see Red Squirrels in Wales at Hiraethog Forest in Denbighshire – it has the largest population of Red Squirrels within Wales and supports other important species such as Black Grouse, Nightjars, Otters, Water Voles and Small pearl-bordered fritillary. You will also find Red Squirrels at Coed y Brenin in Gwenedd.
Find out more about Red Squirrels in Wales at the Wales Squirrel Forum.
The largest single species conservation project in the UK.
With £1.2M funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund Red Alert North England (RANEng) set up a new project called Save our Squirrels (SoS) which is working to secure the future of Squirrel Nutkin and his friends. SOS is a partnership of conservation organisations, woodland owners, universities and the general public to protect the Red Squirrel. It includes the Wildlife Trusts for Lancashire, North Merseyside and Manchester. For a full list of partners involved in this project click here.
If you visit the north of England or south Scotland there are lots of places to find them. Top tip from Cumbria’s happy hens: Dodd Wood near Keswick has lots of Red Squirrels and Ospreys too!
How do I recognise a Red squirrel?
Well, you shouldn’t use colour as a guide – instead look for ear tufts – you only see them on Red Squirrels. And look at the tail too, Grey Squirrels have white tips that create a white ‘halo’ around the edge of the tail – Red Squirrels don’t have this. Red Squirrels are also smaller, slender and shy – whereas the Grey squirrel is very bold.
What do Red squirrels eat?
Woodlands offer great protection and an abundance of food. The most important part of their diet are tree seeds like pine seeds, beech nuts, acorns and hazel nuts. They also eat fungi, flowers, berries and shoots which are all available at different times of the year.
Interesting links for Red Squirrels:
UK bio diversity action plan for the Red Squirrel(pdf 157.2KB)
Did you know there are Red Squirrels on many of our northern Natures Nest Egg Farms?
The Water Vole facing extinction
Did you know that they are nearly as rare as hen’s teeth?
Lovingly named "Ratty" from Wind in the Willows, the Water Vole was once common place on the banks of our burns, their demise has been catastrophic in recent years and they are now the fastest declining mammal in the UK.
National surveys show they have been lost from more than 89% of sites they inhabited sixty years ago. Predictions for the water voles future are bleak, based on the current population declines it is possible that the water vole may become extinct in the UK by 2016.
On a positive note what is being done to help them?
Like the Red Squirrel, the Water Vole is one of the top UK species identified for a UK wide bio diversity action plan. The Regional Wildlife Trusts have selected this species as a conservation priority and has developed an action programme of survey, habitat improvement, and mink control and monitoring to help save this beautiful animal which is part of the freshwater habitat in Britain.
What does a Water Vole look like?
The Wildlife Trusts have created a leaflet called ‘Know Your Vole’(pdf 233.6KB) which you can download.
There is also another interesting and colourful Fact File created by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust which you can download here(pdf 316.3KB)
Report a siting
Now you know what a Water Vole looks like, you can help preserve this rare creature by reporting a siting which you can do online: ‘Know Your Vole’ reporting a siting on line.
Interesting links for Water Voles:
Find your local action plan for Water Voles
Useful documents:
Press release from the Wildlife Trusts
The Hazel Dormouse is an endangered woodland creature
Dormice are one of the top ten protected species in the UK. They love eating hazelnuts – hence the name!
Like Natures Nest hens, dormice love woodland areas so we are keen to help support them. There is a UK Bio Diversity Action Plan for their survival. If you would like to see what your area is doing to protect the dormouse please click this link.
What do they look like?
They are easily recognised because they have large eyes and are bright golden in colour. Their small bodies are around 6-9cm with a 5 – 6cm tail and they are the only small mammal to have a thick bushy tail. Adults weigh only 15 – 26 grams but can get up to 43g before hibernation.
Where do they live?
Most dormice live in deciduous (broad-leaved) woodland and thick hedgerows. We don’t know their exact distribution, but they are found mainly in the southern counties from Cornwall to Kent northwards to Herefordshire and Northamptonshire. There are a few scattered records in the Lake District and Northumberland. Dormice are found scattered throughout Wales. There are some in the Wyre Forest of Worcestershire and they have recently been reintroduced to Cheshire . They do not occur in Scotland.
To download an interesting fact sheet about Dormice please click here(pdf 338.8KB)
How do they live?
The Dormouse is a strictly nocturnal species that hibernates during the winter. It therefore spends 3/4 of its life asleep – behaviour which earned them their sleepy reputation in Lewis Carroll’s Adventures of Alice in Wonderland.
They can be found in woodland and overgrown hedgerows. Dormice climb amongst tree branches in search of food, rarely coming to the ground. Depending on the season, they feed on flowers, pollen, fruits, insects and nuts. During the day they sleep in a nest, often in a hollow tree branch, deserted bird nest or nest box.
They can raise one or occasionally two litters a year, each usually of about four young. The new-born dormice stay with their mother for the first 6-8 weeks. The breeding season and success depends very much on the weather. Dormice are able to lower their body temperature and become torpid, so saving energy, if food is short or weather prevents them foraging.
Protection and conservation
Surveys show that dormice have declined in Britain this century. Loss and fragmentation of ancient woodlands, climatic difficulties and suspension of coppicing are all probably connected with this. Woodland coppice management creates good conditions but cleared areas and wide rides may interfere with the movements of dormice, because the animals live almost exclusively in the trees.
Nest boxes, put up with the entrance facing a tree trunk, are attractive to dormice and help survival and breeding success. Re-introductions of dormice are often suggested, but these require suitable (large) areas of woodland habitat and long periods of supplementary feeding.
Are there dormice in my local wood?
Dormice are small, secretive and nocturnal and so are unlikely to be seen except by accident. The best way to find out if they live in your area is to look for signs of their presence such as nests and remains of food – mainly hazelnuts. If you do see one why don’t you visit www.greatnuthunt.org.uk and register your siting!
Dormice construct their own nests from shredded honeysuckle bark woven into a ball, which they often surround with layers of leaves. It is a messy structure roughly the size of a grapefruit, without any definite entrance. Nests may be close to the ground, but have been found as high as 22 metres. You may find them in places like low bramble bushes or thick undergrowth beneath trees with edible fruit such a hazel and sweet chestnut. Nibbled nuts can also be used to identify the presence of dormice. Small mammals have characteristic ways of opening hazel nuts. The hole in a nut opened by a dormouse, has a smooth inside surface with tooth marks around it on the shell surface.
Useful links
Join the search for Dormice who love hazel nuts
There’s a Warwickshire project to protect Dormice
Reintroduction of Dormice in Cheshire