March 08 Curdridge Parish News - Hampshire County Council

WILDLIFE INFORMATION
A world outside your window
Hampshire is home to a wonderful variety of mammals
and with such a fascinating mix on our doorstep, here
is a short introduction to some of our wildlife
neighbours.
Insectivores are small mammals whose diet consists of
insects and other invertebrates. They are mostly nocturnal,
solitary animals with poor eyesight but a keen
sense of smell and a long sensitive snout. There are six
species in the UK, including shrews, moles and hedgehogs.
Did you know…As moles find it hard to turn around in
narrow tunnels they hold their tail upright and use it as
a ‘feeler’ to detect what is happening behind as they
travel backwards.
Chiorptera means ‘handwing’ and bat wings are in fact
enlarged hands with elongated fingers covered by a
thin membrane of skin. Bats are nocturnal and use a
highly specialised navigation system called echolocation;
they produce a high-pitched sound that humans
cannot hear; each species of echolocates in a different
way and at a different frequency.
Did you know…Serotine bats are able to skilfully eat
large insects while in flight, by manipulating the insect
in their jaw and dropping the inedible parts to the
ground.
Rodents. In Latin, ‘rodere’ means to gnaw, and gnawing
their food is the one thing that distinguishes rodents
from all other mammals. They have distinctive front
teeth, called incisors, that never stop growing so they
have to gnaw constantly to stop them from becoming
too long. Rodents in the UK include squirrels, rats,
mice, voles and dormice.
Did you know…Grey squirrels are capable of running
easily up and down trees thank to their strong claws
and ‘double jointed’ ankles, which allow their feet to
face forwards or backwards.
Carnivores comes from the Latin word which means
meat-eating. A carnivore’s diet is therefore mostly
made up of meat and their teeth are well adapted for
stabbing and tearing meat but not for chewing it.
Carnivores are mostly nocturnal, secretive mammals and
are very efficient predators. They include the fox,
badger, otter, stoat and weasel.
Did you know…Otters mark their territory with their
faeces, known as spraints. These spraints have an
unusual sweet, musky smell that some people
compare to the smell of jasmine tea!
Artiodactyls are large herbivorous mammals, which
all have hooves that are divided into two and leave
distinct footprints. As well as deer, artiodactyls
include pigs, cattle, sheep and goats. Almost all adult
male deer grow a pair of antlers which they shed
annually, usually in spring, and then re-grow within
3–4 months. New antlers are covered by a thin layer
of velvety skin, which protects and nourishes them.
When the antlers are fully grown, the skin dries up
and the deer rubs it off by scraping them against
trees.
Did you know…When males shed their antlers, it is
hard to tell the difference between male and female
roe deer. The best way is by looking at their rump.
Females have a white patch of fur in the shape of an
ace of spades whereas the males is kidney-shaped.
Lagomorphs are herbivorous mammals, which have
large chisel-like front teeth that are constantly growing
and being worn away. We know them as rabbits and
hares. From a distance they look similar, but hares
are bigger, have longer legs and ears and do not burrow.
Did you know…A mother rabbit makes a special
nursery nest out of grass and moss, and lines it with
hairs plucked from her own chest.
For further information please contact; Hampshire
and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust on 01489 774400 or
visit www.hwt.org.uk.
Roe Deer photographed by Phil McLean