wildlife visitors
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We are surrounded by large fields and woodlands. In conjuction with Exmoor National Park we are developing West Hollowcombe Woods as an haven for wild life. We do not put any chemicals onto the fields and only allow our sheep (and the red deer and exmoor ponies!) to graze them. As a consequence of this there is a huge variety of animal and plant life right on the door step.
During the long summer evenings it is wonderful watching the Bats whilst sitting outside the cottages. They are nocturnal and rely on echo location rather than sight to catch their prey of insects.There are known to be 19 different types of bat in the UK as a whole (there are approximately 900 world wide). Surveys on Exmoor have shown that sixteen of these live in and around this area, of these we have a number living with us here at West Hollowcombe, several of which we have been able to identify.
The most common, the Pipistrelle, is also the smallest and weigh a miniscule 3-8 grams and has a wingspan of between 7 and 10 inches and can eat 3,000 insects in one night. They usually only have one baby which is weaned after about six weeks and live for around sixteen years.
The Long Eared bats have ears that are nearly the size of their bodies but which cunningly roll up and a curled back like rams horns when they are at rest, leaving only the inner ear (or Tragus) visible. They are a bit bigger than the Pipistrelles at around 6-12 grams with a wingspan of 9-11 inches.They can live for up to 30 years and again only have one youngster at a time in June / July. As well as eating on the hoof they can hover and pick insects off vegetation in order to eat.
Lesser Horseshoe, has a wingspan of around 9-11 inches and gets its name from the large fleshy outgrowths around its nose, they are characteristically plum shaped and eat for most of the night, when at rest wraps its wings around its body like a cape.
As well as bats you may well see Red Deer. Exmoor has the largest wild herd in the UK. The male sheds its antlers in February, they grow back in the spring and each year get successively larger. In the Autumn you can hear the booming bellowing of the rut coming up from the valleys around us.
Fox, fairly common here but, understandably, cautious when out in the open.
Badger, very recognisable from its facial black and white stripes, they have very strong claws and jaws but restrict their diet to mainly slugs and worms.
Exmoor Pony, more rare than the giant panda, they roam free here on Exmoor and often come into our fields to graze. We are fostering two of our own, they have their own web page.We also have some very rare visitors such as Dormice but you are unlikely to see them as they are noctural and very shy when they are awake! They hibernate from October to May, there are a number of them living in Hazel Grove as they love hazel nuts.
Another unlikely sight are our Otters, down on the Danesbrook we have put down sand traps from time to time and have seen their footprints but they are very shy.
Our birdlife is phenomenal, our regular annual visitors are house martins and swallows but because of our large and natural fields, we use no fertilisers or herbicides. Because of this we get a lot of insect life and therefore many different birds and small mammals. Buzzards can often be seen circling above the Danesbrook Valley whilst the owls can often be heard during the night, sometimes actually coming into a cottage!
Finally we should also mention the Heath Fritillary,one of the rarest butterflies in the UK which breeds down on our bottom field. It is so restricted in its breeding that it prefers a south west facing slope to a south east slope as there it is usually 1 or 2 degree centigrade warmer.
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