Hunting for nuts in Warwickshire
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 7:28 pm
Nature lovers across Coventry and Warwickshire are being asked to look for nuts in a bid to help save the hazel dormouse.
More than 3,000 people across the UK are taking part in the Golden Great Nut Hunt in which hunters have to find signs of nibbled hazel nuts.
Finding these will help assess the population and distribution of dormice.
It has been organised by the People's Trust for Endangered Species and Natural England.
2009 also marks the 21st anniversary of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme and to mark the occasion, the charity have buried one gold and 20 silver hazel nuts in woodlands across England and Wales.
Silver acorns
One of the silver acorns is somewhere in Warwickshire and the charity have provided a clue as to its whereabouts:
"Keep 'plodding' on past a national training centre to the largest wood in Warwickshire, located only a few miles SE of Coventry. The western boundary of this wood is marked by a Country Park with 'pools' but not for swimming. It shares the same 'politically correct' name as the woodland where a silver hazelnut lies buried in a coppice not far from the east entrance."
Nibbled nuts
Jill Nelson, chief executive of PTES, said: "So far no nibbled nuts have been found in Warwickshire - but we are hopeful that thanks to reintroductions of dormouse to the county back in the summer, that someone will come across signs of their presence and provide proof of the success of this intervention."
To take part in the Great Nut Hunt and receive your free survey pack, call 020 7498 4533 or visit the Great Nut Hunt website.
