Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2009 | Page 64

life

COUNTRYSIDE, WILDLIFE & FARMING

Get cracking with
the Great Nut
Hunt!

Hibernating Dormouse - Photo by Hattie Spray

Join us and help save
endangered dormice

of this rare woodland mammal.

This October, members of the public are

People’s Trust for Endangered Species

discarded nut shells are easiest to find on

being asked to help save the rare hazel

(PTES) and supported by Natural England.

the woodland floor, before the leaf litter

dormouse by taking part in a nationwide

The Great Nut Hunt is run by the

To encourage would-be ‘nutters’ to take

“The best time to conduct the survey
is over the autumn and winter when

is too dense,” said PTES Chief Executive

survey of woodlands around the country.

part in the survey, PTES has hidden 21

Jill Nelson. “The survey uses simple

The Great Nut Hunt enlists the help of

specially-commissioned nuts, 20 in silver

techniques requiring no specialised skills,

the public to ferret out gnawed nuts to

and a single gold one, across counties in

making the Great Nut Hunt a fun activity

determine the distribution and numbers

England and Wales.

for young and old ‘nutters’ alike as

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