An Idiot's guide to Ancient Woodland management

[Paul in the woods]

On 21/12/2019 at 14:04, the village idiot said:

You can have a Deer impact survey, where an experienced person can walk through the Wood recording the frequency of slots (Deer hoofprints) and assess the general level of browsing damage. This will provide you with some fairly general information about the species that are present and whether the browsing level is severe, tolerable or non-existent.

I have often wondered about this as some people seem to think they don't have deer when if you know what you're looking after there are signs everywhere.

 

At this time of year I can find footprints, droppings, hair, and quite often a galloping heard of the tree munching critters!

 

Do you often see them about when your working Mr Idiot? I get red deer in the winter months (no idea where they go during the rest of the year) and roe all year round. The red run off but the roe will often stay within 50m or less while I work. We also get roe in our garden fairly frequently.

 

The problem with culling on a small plot is trying to contact neighbours and getting them to agree to let me follow up a deer if it doesn't drop on my patch.

 

 

[the village idiot]

We don't see Deer all that often whilst we are working, but frequently see them at dusk when we are leaving the Wood.

 

Roe do seem to be the least timid of all the species. You can sometimes get surprisingly close, especially if you are in a vehicle. They don't recognise the shape and you don't smell right (or wrong!)

 

The issue of following up a Deer that doesn't drop on your land is a tricky one. Occasionally Deer can sprint 100mtrs or more before collapsing. I would suggest that there is a moral imperative to follow up on an animal that has been shot wherever it ends up, but I can see that this could cause issues with neighbouring land owners.

 

I am not much of an authority on Deer stalking. I am too much of a wimp and rely on others to do it for me. I'll see if I can get Stumpy Grinder to give his thoughts as he is hugely experienced.

 

[AJStrees]

21 hours ago, the village idiot said:

TAKING STOCK.

 

We are now pretty up to date with our tour of operational events in the Wood. I'll try and remember to keep you updated as other exciting events occur.

 

We'll move over now to Ancient Woodland ecology, focussing on the ecosystem as a whole and also on some of the important and interesting species that make their home in this increasingly rare habitat.

 

In the meantime here are a few arty farty shots of the Wood to flick through. It is a real pleasure sometimes to remember to down tools and just mindfully take in the beauty of these places.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Christmas everybody.

 

TVI.

 

 

 

Great work you are doing over there. Your lucky to have such a big woodland area to look after. 

[the village idiot]

15 minutes ago, AJStrees said:

Great work you are doing over there. Your lucky to have such a big woodland area to look after. 

Thanks AJS,

 

Yes we are very lucky to have such a big patch. It is one of the largest woods in a county without a great amount of woodland.

 

There are a couple of two man teams in my area who do the same sort of work. They have managed to be viable by getting agreements with several owners of smaller woods, cutting an acre or two in each location every winter, or getting paid to do ride work etc.

 

There are opportunities out there.

[Silverhooker]

Great pics merry Christmas one and all.

[sandspider]

Tvi, do you have trouble with grey squirrels?

 

Can't recollect seeing them mentioned here, but as the thread is now 47 pages long, I may have missed a bit!

 

Thanks for all your efforts, it's a great read.

 

Merry Christmas!

[the village idiot]

3 minutes ago, sandspider said:

Tvi, do you have trouble with grey squirrels?

 

Can't recollect seeing them mentioned here, but as the thread is now 47 pages long, I may have missed a bit!

 

Thanks for all your efforts, it's a great read.

 

Merry Christmas!

Thanks sandspider,

 

I have very mixed emotions about Squirrels. They are incredible creatures to watch but they do cause a lot of trouble.

 

They are a huge frustration for people trying to grow good timber trees due to their de-barking habits. This is not such a big concern for us as good timber is a bonus but not a fundamental objective.

 

They have been known to steal bird eggs out of nests which is obviously bad for biodiversity. They also take all the hazel nuts before they ripen which limits hazel regeneration from seed. As a result we ask the shooting syndicate to control the numbers to a certain extent.

 

On the plus side, Squirrels along with Jays 'plant' a staggering amount of acorns, Beech and Chestnut mast in a season and forget where they put a lot of them. These will sometimes germinate and grow into new trees.

 

I think everyone is probably aware of the negative impact grey's have on the native red squirrel population.

 

On balance Grey Squirrels are almost certainly a negative for woodland biodiversity and financial viability and control measures are advisable.

 

I do quite like the little fellas though. I keep this personal fondness under wraps when in the presence of other foresters for fear of losing a few teeth!

[Stere]

Any wild boar around?

 

 & do you also shoot the rabbits?

 

 

Think  boars rooting is  suppose to be good for woodland biodiversity in controlled numbers?

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2019 by Stere

[sandspider]

11 hours ago, the village idiot said:

Thanks sandspider,

 

I have very mixed emotions about Squirrels. They are incredible creatures to watch but they do cause a lot of trouble.

 

They are a huge frustration for people trying to grow good timber trees due to their de-barking habits. This is not such a big concern for us as good timber is a bonus but not a fundamental objective.

 

They have been known to steal bird eggs out of nests which is obviously bad for biodiversity. They also take all the hazel nuts before they ripen which limits hazel regeneration from seed. As a result we ask the shooting syndicate to control the numbers to a certain extent.

 

On the plus side, Squirrels along with Jays 'plant' a staggering amount of acorns, Beech and Chestnut mast in a season and forget where they put a lot of them. These will sometimes germinate and grow into new trees.

 

I think everyone is probably aware of the negative impact grey's have on the native red squirrel population.

 

On balance Grey Squirrels are almost certainly a negative for woodland biodiversity and financial viability and control measures are advisable.

 

I do quite like the little fellas though. I keep this personal fondness under wraps when in the presence of other foresters for fear of losing a few teeth!

I have similar feelings. They're fun to watch, and plant acorns all over my little patch of land. But as and when they start nibbling my young trees I will do what must be done! I've put too much time and effort into my trees to want to lose them or have them damaged.

[Silverhooker]

The y do quite a bit of damage and are really just tree rats, they breed at a prodigious rate and controlling them is an issue round my way. Local guy trapped and killed over 300 in a year and they are still plentiful. haven't seen a red for years !