Birds are starting to claim territories for the forthcoming breeding season, now that the days are starting to get longer again. It’s quite incredible how birds can detect the smallest of change in the length of daylight hours, but now we are past the longest day, 22nd December, male birds are now starting to lay claim to their territory in Snape Wood.
If you watch and listen, you can already hear woodpigeons, collared doves, great tits, blackbirds, wrens and robins giving out the breeding calls. Blackbirds, wrens, dunnocks and robins are already engaging in battle with each other to get the best positions – you can witness many squabbles going on around you.
The wildlife is alive and kicking already !
Employees from Gala will be working at Snape Wood Nature Reserve to continue the excellent hedge-laying work recently undertaken by volunteers from Experian.
The Gala event will take place on Friday 22 January 2010, starting at 9.30am and will be supervised by Park Ranger Craig Mulder.
We’re pleased to report that NVQ Level 2 Environmental Conservation students from BTCV/Castle College will be spending two days at Snape Wood Nature Reserve to carry out some practical work on Tuesday 8th and Monday 14th December 2009.
The Friends of SWAP Chairman, Clayton, who is also doing the course, will lead the event, although as yet the precise activity to be carried out has yet to be determined. It is anticipated it may involve coppicing sycamore and possibly formalising the main pathway which runs through the site. Watch this space for more information.
We’re pleased to report that volunteers from local company Experian will again be attending an event at Snape Wood Nature Reserve on Monday 7th December.
They will be involved in laying the hedge which runs alongside the woodland edge of the footpath dividing Snape Wood Nature Reserve and Ashton Park, a task which is long overdue.
Hedge laying is a process which discourages shrubs from growing into tall trees, particularly on a woodland edge. Without laying, hedges soon lose their value as a wildlife habitat. It is a fairly complex process to describe – more information is available here.
The event will be led by City Council Park Ranger Craig Mulder, and will run from 9.30am until 3.30pm. Refreshments and facilities will be available at Snape Wood Community Centre.
The very first step towards the future development of Ashton Park and Snape Wood Nature Reserve as an integrated recreational area will be taken this week as a site survey is carried out.
This landscaping survey will enable the draft proposals for the future ‘look’ of the site, which will include more formal entrances and the possible creation of a community garden in Ashton Park, to be drawn up.
We’ll keep you posted with developments as they occur.
Unfortunately, Barney the hedgehog’s broken leg had to be amputated, despite the best efforts of the team at Byron Veterinary Clinic to save it.
However, we are pleased to report he came through the operation with flying colours, is eating very well and is now back with Clayton, scuttling around as fast, if not faster, than a four-legged hedgehog !
He will be released to an enclosed garden in the Spring where he can live a semi-wild existence, but for now he has to concentrate on putting more weight on.
Barney the juvenile hog with a makeshift cast
This is Barney the hedgehog, an Autumn juvenile who crawled into Clayton’s garden on Tuesday. As well as being underweight, typical of so many Autumn babies, Barney also has a fractured left hind leg.
The wonderful Dennis Jones at Byron Veterinary Clinic has constructed an incredible makeshift cast for Barney, out of a 20ml syringe barrel, to keep his leg straight to add healing.
The cast will probably need to stay on for 4 weeks, but does not seem to be stopping Barney from trying to escape ! We’ll keep you posted with his progress. Thanks to Dennis for his time, patience and skill in helping Barney.
Watch out for Autumnwatch which starts on BBC2 at 9pm today – hedgehogs should feature heavily during the programme’s 8 week run.
It is with a heavy heart we have to report the death of a hedgehog following a dog attack in Snape Wood Nature Reserve.
The summer-born juvenile managed to crawl its way into my garden during daylight hours yesterday after the attack (always a bad sign as hogs are nocturnal), but a close inspection revealed the hog had been attacked a few days before and was infested with maggots. It also appeared to be suffering from ringworm, a fungal infection which results in the loss of spines.
Sadly it was necessary for the hedgehog to be put to sleep – thanks to Byron Veterinary Clinic, Nuthall Road, Nottingham for their prompt action, which they carried out free of charge.
If your dog picks up a hedgehog not only will it get a mouthful of prickles but, as happened in this instance, it can pierce the skin of the wild animal. If not treated with antibiotics immediately, infection will set in and flystrike (where flies lay eggs in the open wound) occurs. Once the maggots hatch it’s generally an irretrievable situation.
Please be responsible dog owners and seek urgent medical attention for hedgehogs in this situation – you can call Clayton on 0115 875 3516.
Six hedgehogs will have a new home !
Six lucky hedgehogs will hopefully have now discovered some new houses, built by volunteers from local employer Experian during the most recent volunteer event on Wednesday 23 September 2009.
As well as constructing the new houses (which are very well hidden in Snape Wood Nature Reserve, and which will help to monitor our local population of hedgehogs), the volunteers also laid the groundwork for a new nature trail by clearing overhanging branches from the network of smaller paths around the site, and also built up some habitat piles for insects and small mammals.
Thanks to all who contributed on the day and to Craig Mulder, City Council Park Ranger, for leading the event.
Juvenile hedgehogs may need our help
Now is the busiest time of the year for hedgehog carers, as the babies born late on in the year start their race against time to put on enough weight to hibernate safely.
Second litter hedgehogs, often called Autumn juveniles, have a big disadvantage over their cousins born earlier in the year in that they only have a limited amount of time to reach the perfect hibernation weight of 600g and above.
Now is a good time to see many of the juveniles out and about at night – they are essentially miniature versions of the adult hogs. Everyone can lend a helping hand by leaving out dog or cat food (white meat in jelly), or even dried mealworms, and a dish of water, to help fatten up all hedgehogs, not just the juveniles.
If you ever see a hedgehog out during the day it needs serious help and fast – please ring Clayton on 0115 875 3516.
If you see smaller hedgehogs out at night and you’re not sure what to do, you can call Clayton too so he can assess whether the hog needs to be brought in and fed up (with a view to releasing before late Autumn sets in). Pay particular attention to their body shape – long and thin is bad, round is good.
Volunteers from Experian will be on the Snape Wood site next Wednesday, and will be helping to build hedgehog houses which will be used to monitor the woodland’s population of hogs.
Comments (0) 
Themocracy