The long hot summer continued as the team met on the first Tuesday in August and were joined by Jenny’s granddaughter, and trainee volunteer, Hazel.
A very different day was planned as we had been tasked to assist Ranger Charlie (Community Green Space Officer) in removing Dormouse footprint tunnels around the park. Before meeting up with Charlie, there was a little time to undertake a couple of tasks of litter picking and tidying around the cafe.
Litter Picking
Jenny and Hazel set off towards the play area to collect any rubbish that had somehow missed a bin!
Tidying Around the Café Area
On the shady side of the café where the council’s mowers couldn’t access, overgrown vegetation was cut back and removed.
Dormouse Footprint Tunnel Removal
The tunnels had been monitored for a period of time by the Rangers and evidence of Dormice in Beggarwood Park had been recorded. It was now time to remove the tunnels and after being briefed by Charlie we set off as a team in search for the tunnels that were secured in low horizontal branches.
There were 45 tunnels to collect and fortunately Charlie had their locations mapped out on her phone or it would have been a very difficult task to find them with the trees now in full leaf. Even though all tunnels had been checked before, they were checked again on removal but sadly no fresh footprints were found.
Charlie was very grateful for our assistance as it would have taken a lot longer on her own and the team learnt a lot about the elusive Dormouse and even learnt about reusable cable ties!
The Dormouse is mostly found in a copse or thick hedgerow. Generally sleeping during the day, it’s nocturnal, so not often seen. It often nests high up in trees in a small globular nest of twigs, moss and grass. The Dormouse goes into semi-hibernation for nearly half of the year from around mid October. The diet of a Dormouse varies throughout the season from young leaves and early insects in the spring, through to blackberries and elderberries in the summer to hazelnuts and acorns in the autumn. Mainly found in Southern England, its name can be traced back to the fifteenth century, and can be considered to embody the verb dorm = to doze.
…and Finally
As is work party tradition, once our work is complete for the day we decamp to The Holly Blue for a coffee and chat.
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