Did you know?

Red Squirrels

The Red Squirrel eats mainly seeds and nuts. It will also consume flowers, shoots, fungi and small invertebrates whilst building a cache of nuts and seeds that it will raid during the winter months.

Until the arrival of the grey squirrel, the red squirrel was the only type in Europe. They have a life span of approximately 7 years and make their homes in spherical nests (called dreys) at least 6 metres off the ground which are made from twigs and lined with leaves and mosses. Red squirrels do not hibernate (nor do greys) but they will spend a number of days in their drays in unfavourable weather. A Red Squirrel may use a number of dreys and they have a home range of 7 hectares.

Rodents

There are over 2000 species of rodent taking up over 40% of the mammal population. The key to their success is the ability to reproduce quickly and abundantly. Although the oldest rodent fossils date back 57 million years, the biggest rodent family (muridae - rats & mice) didn't appear until just 5 million years ago.

Rodents have continuously growing incisors. A gap called the diastema separates a rodents chewing molars from the sharp incisors. The diastema allows the lips to close behind the incisors and keep out inedible material whilst the rodent is gnawing.

Swallows

Swallows nests are made of layers of grasses and mud or small cow dung pellets. To protect them from disintegrating in the rain, swallows choose sites to build their nests such as a rafter in a barn or under bridges. There are around 100 different species of Swallow including the Martin which comes from the same family. Swallows feed on the wing and are extremely graceful in flight making abrupt changes in direction as they scoop up insects with their wide mouths. Swallows have long, narrow wings, forked tails and weak feet.

Toublesome Teeth

The front teeth (incisors) of rodents keep on growing and have to be worn down by chewing.

Cats

A cat can see six times better than humans in the dark

Ragwort

It is illegal to graze animals in fields with ragwort growing freely. Always report this if you notice it. Ragwort causes liver damage to equines and as it is ingested over a period of time it can result in a horse dying some years later from liver failure. This can so easily be avoided by horse owners being vigilant, however it seems many do not do so either because they are unaware of the longterm effects it can have or simply because they are too lazy to do anything about it. Freshfields founder Lesley Tarleton says 'I regularly see lots of fields covered in ragwort with horses in them and I always report it to the authorities'.