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Posts by Froglife: |
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Froglife Member Joined: 18 Nov 2003 No. of posts: 1  View other posts in this topic |
Posted: 24 Nov 2003
Topic: Pheasants blamed for species shortage
I reached the same conclusion myself earlier in the year when I found that two prime meadows barely 500m from each other had very different reptile profiles. Both are unimproved grasslands on south facing slopes, both with some encroachment by scrub, both on light soils, both bordered by woodland, both between 5 and ten acres in size, and both liberally scattered with tins over the last two summers. One has an abundant population of slow-worms (once 49 in evidence under 9 tins at a single visit), a frequent occurrence of common lizards [about 5 in evidence at a time on a good day], and occasional occurrences of grass snake (one per every 50 or 100 tin liftings). The other meadow has shown up nothing so far. Not one, though there has been an unconfirmed couple of sitings by the largely wildlife friendly gamekeeper. My hunch was that the longterm rearing pen in the corner of the latter meadow may have been the cause of the starkly different population profiles. I cannot think of another good explanation. I know the area well and most other likely looking spots have reptiles on them. The location is in South Norfolk, and is available for study if anyone cares to. There is also a possibility of getting the rearing pens removed to elsewhere if a good enough case can be put to the shoot. Nick Meade London Conservation Officer Froglife |
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