An important part of our Reinventing Borde Hill project is the care and conservation of Dinosaur Wood, an area of Ancient Woodland within our South Park. Once home to Iguanodons (the wood is named after the discovery of a dinosaur bone in the 1800s in the quarry within it), today Dinosaur Wood provides an important habitat for some much smaller and fuzzier residents.
Last year, local wildlife expert Michael Blencowe discovered a hazelnut within the wood, nibbled in the tell-tale style of the hazel dormouse (muscardinus avellanarius), hinting that these rare and elusive creatures may be quietly making their home here in Borde Hill’s South Park.
Working alongside the Lost Woods Project and Sussex Mammal Group, we’re now taking the next step to confirm that these rare and notoriously shy animals have indeed made a home in the wood. Dormouse footprint tunnels are a gentle surveying method, recording the footprints of any curious creatures that enter them, using a safe, charcoal-based ink.
A team of 25 dormouse enthusiasts spent the morning in Dinosaur Wood installing the tunnels in hazel trees and bramble hedges where the dormice live and forage for food. With footprint tunnels now in place, they will be regularly checked by a team of dedicated volunteers, hoping to spot the distinctive footprints of the elusive creatures.
As the Reinventing Borde Hill project progresses, conservation work within Dinosaur Wood such as coppicing and clearing of invasive species will help to improve the habitat for these rare creatures, and the other species who make the wood their home.
