Enhancing Biodiversity

This weekend the Mouse is going to be busy helping to build not one, but two, Grass Snake Hibernacula in the wood. While climate change may be bringing new species further north, we are at the northern limit of the normal range for Grass Snakes. Unfortunately there has been a decline in the population in recent years due mainly to a loss of habitat. All those overly tidy gardens, spraying of herbicide and modern agricultural practices have all contributed to this. However along the Derwent River, there is an opportunity to reverse this decline by enhancing the habitat for the Grass snake.

Many of the elements are already there including the snakes, it is just a matter of managing the area so that it enables these reptiles to maintain a strong belly hold.

The area that the Grass Snake hotels are to be built in has already had some coppicing work done, this opens the area up to the sunlight and will provide the basking areas the snakes need so that they can raise there temperatures, being cold blooded this is vital to their survival. The fact that the area where the Hibernacula are to be constructed is an area that has to be coppiced regularly is all part of the careful planning and long term viability of the project. Further, because of the need to create piles of composting vegetation so that the snakes can breed and nest, also helps deal with another problem of the highly invasive Himalayan Balsam. This introduced species has created a large colony that has been smothering out all other plants. By utilising these plants as the material to create the compost heaps has the effect of benefiting the Grass Snakes as well as dealing with the invader.

Therefore, while this work will directly benefit the Grass Snakes, it will also help the native plants to re-establish themselves and benefit many other forms of Fauna and Flora too.

It will not be until next year that we will know if there are any snakes using the hotel, but there are snakes in the area, not just grass snakes but the even more endangered adder as well. All this work could benefit tens of species in the long term, enhancing the ecology of the wood and the river Derwent.



There was an article in the local paper today about the project too, and I understand that local TV will be covering it as well. Fortunately the mouse was in hibernation for this.