Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2014 | Page 62
COUNTRY LIFE
The big tree plant
D
Gift to Nature is responsible for a variety of conservation sites
around the Island, it is their mission to not only care for the
Island’s wildlife but encourage everyone to get out and explore
our fantastic countryside.
uring the past two years Natural
Enterprise have helped Islanders plant
over 3,000 trees in ‘The Big Tree Plant’,
a joint project with Spectrum Housing
Association.
The Big Tree Plant is a national project, launched
to increase the number of trees planted in towns,
cities and neighbourhoods throughout England.
The target is to see one million trees planted by
2015, with over 800,000 already planted.
It’s not too late to take part in the Big Tree
Plant. There are still a number of oak, maple,
disease-resistant elm, hazel, wild service and walnut
to be planted across the Island this winter, helping
to make our neighbourhoods more attractive,
healthy and wildlife-friendly places to live.
Any groups, schools or community organisations
interested in participating in the planting should
contact Tracy Underwood on 01983 201565 or
email [email protected].
I
n the course of my surveying work it
is still always a real pleasure to see a
dormouse, writes Tracy Underwood.
I’m lucky enough to be licensed
to survey for dormice – as a European
Protected Species it is an offence to
survey or handle them without being
licensed.
Before I started surveying I’d never seen
a dormouse, as they are secretive little
creatures, mainly nocturnal, and arboreal
- living in trees and rarely venturing to
ground level except to hibernate.
Their distinctive ginger colour, furry
tails and endearing large eyes make
them distinguishable from other small
mammals such as wood mice and voles.
They spend half the year in hibernation,
usually October or November until May,
safely tucked up in a tightly-woven nest
tucked in at ground level, at the bases
of trees and hedges, under logs and
rockeries, etc. Their name is derived from
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the French word ‘dormir’ as in ‘to sleep’.
Once they emerge in the spring they
will then remain off the ground and are
unlikely to venture across open areas.
They feed on different food sources as the
season progresses, starting with buds and
young leaves, then tree flowers, fruits and
aphids, berries and nuts.
Female dormice tend to give birth
mainly in July and August to a litter of
four or five young who will remain with
their mother for up to two months.
In order to survive hibernation these
youngsters will need to have reached a
weight of 15g by late October.
In terms of lifespan, assuming they
survive hibernation and predators then a
dormouse can live up to 5 years.
Gift to Nature manages a range of
conservation sites across the island
– for further information please visit
gifttonature.org.uk or follow us on www.
facebook.com/gifttonature