Bridge over the river why?

[oldr_n_wsr]

Geez...if that's the case, screw a bridge--put up two wooden poles connected by a heavy cable!

You don't even need a heavy cable, I've seen squirrels run along 50lb test monofiliment.

[Jarlaxle]

The poles need support in high winds. :p

[Gob]

We've had mice and algae, how about slow worms?

Slow worms see travellers off Woollards Field

Planning documents said populations of slow worm and common lizard had been found


Travellers in 25 caravans have been evicted from Woollards Field in Falmer so work to move slow worms and lizards off a construction site can proceed.

Brighton council made the decision at an emergency meeting.

Councillor Pete West said the reptiles could only be moved in spring, which was why the action was being taken now.

He said the city lacked traveller sites but that would be addressed. The Gypsy Council said Brighton council had put the interests of animals above people.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-13486040

[Sean]

Travellers in 25 caravans have been evicted from Woollards Field in Falmer so work to move slow worms and lizards off a construction site can proceed.

That's the best excuse for getting rid of Pikeys I've heard in a while...

[Gob]

And now it's the turn of the invisible snails...

Seaside residents risk losing their homes to flooding and coastal erosion - for the sake of 20 tiny sea snails.

The owners of 1,350 properties at Pagham Harbour, West Sussex, have been told there is a one in 200 chance their homes will flood every year for the next century.

The warning came after a submerged shingle bank in the harbour was displaced changing the direction of the current towards the shore and eroding the beach.



A plan to redirect the flow of water away from land - which most local people are in favour of - has been thrown into jeopardy after the discovery of a rare snail colony.

The two millimetre-long Defolin's lagoon snail is already a protected marine species. Conservationists are hoping to protect it further by using new legislation to make Pagham Harbour a Marine Conservation Zone.

The zones are being introduced to keep Britain in line with international conservation targets.

The move has infuriated local residents who are accusing conservation authorities of putting the snails ahead of millions of pounds of property, land that can be used for crops and businesses.

There is further outrage as conservationists can't even be certain the snail is still there - and to try to find it isn't possible as it is too delicate to survive the digging.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1We4DlQ5c

[Miles]

Getting back to the mice, don't you have hawks in the UK? They love having a meal partially delivered. By elevating the mice and concentrating them just makes them easer to get at.

[BoSoxGal]

I'm confused. Wanted to see a picture of a dormouse so I looked it up (cute bugger!) but Wiki says it's a species of least concern from a conservation perspective?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_Dormouse

[Gob]

The UK is insane!

£650k 'bat bridge' in Porthmadog criticised

A bridge costing £650,000 is being built over the Porthmadog bypass in Gwynedd to help bats cross the road.

The bat bridge is designed to save the rare lesser horseshoe bats from being killed by vehicles.

Some people in Porthmadog have criticised the cost but naturalists said it was necessary to protect the species.

The Welsh Government said it had to follow EU legislation to protect the local wildlife.

Aled Griffith, 44, who has campaigned for a footbridge over the bypass for children and parents to reach a park at Tremadog, told BBC Wales: "If you think about the amount of money that's being spent on one bridge just to protect bats, I'm not against bats, but what about the children and old people and the people who want to walk along that road who used to walk there before the bypass was opened.

"They are talking about 10-12,000 vehicles running through that area every day - that's one car every four seconds.

"You try and cross that road in four seconds."

Grahame Madge, an RSPB naturalist, defended the decision to construct the bat bridge.

Mr Madge told BBC Radio Wales the lesser horseshoe bat population had declined dramatically across the UK.

"This is a species that is vulnerable to a whole range of different threats from conversion of properties to damage to their underground roosts, through to the loss of insects," he said.

"Collisions with vehicles is a major threat to bats.

"The fact that the development has gone ahead but with a provision for bats - that's the sort of thinking that we hope will help develop the economy but also help our wildlife too."

Mike Castle, a bat specialist who runs a sanctuary near Abergele, Conwy, with his wife Hilary, said lesser horseshoe bats often rely on echo location from structures like bridges to get around.

He said: "When some of our minor roads are improved, not only are they widened but the speed limit also increases.

"Because they are low flying, these bats are being hit by vehicles.. so we are encouraging them to fly higher, hence what we call the green bridges."

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: "The environmental bridge was part of the measures required by European/UK law to allow the building of this important bypass to proceed."

It said the population of 450 lesser horseshoe bats needed to be protected as part of the plans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-nort ... s-15016179

[Gob]

The old joke may ask why the chicken crossed the road – but in the Westcountry, helping bats make the journey safely has been a more pressing and expensive question.

A new study has suggested that state-of-the-art "bat bridges", such as two which were strung up across the new Dobwalls bypass in Cornwall, may be a waste of money.

The bridges, which are actually wire and mesh structures stretched across a road, have been installed at points considered as commuting routes for bats, a protected species.

The theory is that the tiny creatures sense the wire with their super-sensitive sonar, and are encouraged to fly above the traffic and establish new routes.

But academics from the University of Leeds who studied four bat bridges in the North of England found they were widely spurned.

The research raises questions about whether the pair over the A38 in Cornwall – each with a hefty price tag of £250,000 – were worth the outlay, particularly after early studies suggested they were used by between 11 and 17 bats per day.

However, Cheryl Marriott, conservation manager with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said it was too early to dismiss their value to wildlife.

"The work in Cumbria and Northumberland is interesting, but we shouldn't jump to any conclusions about the Dobwalls bypass bat bridges," she said.

"Firstly, the four bat bridges studied as part of the research are a different design to the Dobwalls ones.

"Secondly, and most importantly, some of the bat bridges studied were off-set from the pre-construction bat commuting routes and, unsurprisingly, the bats have stuck with their original flight paths rather than moving along to use the bat bridges.

"The Dobwalls bat bridges were installed in line with known pre-construction bat commuting routes, giving them the best chance of success. We will need to wait until the end of the Dobwalls bat bridge monitoring work to know confidently how successful the bridges have been.

"The results of the five-year monitoring project, along with results from studies like the Leeds University work, will help when designing any future road schemes.

"Nature conservationists, highways engineers and construction companies are all continually learning about how we can work to try to protect and enhance wildlife as part of major developments like the Dobwalls bypass," she said.

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/pound-5 ... story.html

[Gob]

she turned me into a newt!

More than £1m is being spent on creating a "superhighway" for the protected great crested newt population near Peterborough.

Seven tunnels are being built by O&H Hampton at a nature reserve on its Hampton development near the city.

Roger Tallowin, general manager, said the 30m (98ft) tunnels were required by Natural England to enable the estimated 30,000 newts to safely cross the road.

He said it would ensure genetic mixing and avoid creating isolated colonies.

The tunnels are being built under what will eventually be a dual carriageway through the residential and business development to the south of the city.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-ca ... e-18826194

[Gob]

Toad tunnel: Llandrindod Wells road shuts for mating




You could call them the Powys toad tunnels of love, but sadly the amorous amphibians have decided to ignore them.

The two special tunnels were built three years ago to help the toads move in safety from woods to their breeding ground at Llandrindod Wells lake.

But Radnorshire Wildlife Trust says they still use the road during mating season, and they risk getting squashed.

Now the road will instead close at night for three weeks to allow the toads to migrate.

Hundreds of toads cross the road every spring on their way from nearby woods to the lake to spawn.

For five years before the tunnels were built, the road around the lake used to close at night for about three weeks to help the creatures looking for love.

Volunteers would also carry toads, frogs and newts in buckets because many were unable to climb the kerbs.

Powys council built the tunnels - believed to cost around £16,000 - under the road to the north east of the lake in a bid to help protect the toads from steep kerbs, cars and predators.

A 400m ditch was also constructed along the roadside ditch to help guide the animals underground.

But Julian Jones, director of the wildlife trust, said, despite the best intentions, the tunnels had not worked.

"The problem is there's quite a big road round the lake and for a 300m section, the toads are tumbling out of the woods to try to get to the lake, " he said.

"In some parts of England, the tunnels can work because the toads all come out of an area of about a metre in width.

"Powys council did their best to try to funnel the toads to the tunnels with the ditches, but the toads would just get stuck in there. To be honest, I've never seen a toad in the tunnels."

The council said it decided to close the road again because the lake is an important nature reserve and it is committed to protecting the toads.

The toad population has declined steeply in the area since 1980, when it was around 10,000. Now it is estimated to be between 3-4,000.

Mr Jones said the wildlife trust's "toad patrol" of volunteers would once again be out on the road during the breeding season to help the animals and ensure the number does not drop any further.

"I'm pleased to say that over the last few years we have appeared to stop the decline in toad numbers at Llandrindod," he said.

"We only have a few species of toad in Wales so it's really important to look after them.

"When they start disappearing it's a warning bell that something is not right in the environment."

The road around the lake will be closed between Saturday, 16 March and 6 April from 20:00 GMT to 06:00 GMT.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Of the best laid plans......

Up at the lake house there has been a decline in toads and bull frogs. Don't know what it means or what the cause is but I know it's not good.

[Gob]

Plans for a giant new £2bn theme park on the edge of London to rival Disneyland Paris have been halted - by a colony of rare spiders.

Developers say the Paramount scheme will be the third biggest theme park in the world and twice the size of the Olympic Park.

It is due to create 27,000 jobs and was set to be completed by 2019. But an environmental audit of the 872-acre brownfield site in the Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent has found it is home to distinguished jumping spiders.

They are found on only two sites in the UK and are on a biodiversity priority species list.

The spiders are one of the few creatures that like the alkaline land created from the cement kiln dust produced by the former works on the site to the east of the Dartford Crossing.

London Resort Company Holdings, the consortium behind the theme park, will now have to find a new home for the colony.

Tony Sefton, project director for LRCH, yesterday said there are plans to create a 27-acre wetland wildlife park at the park.

He said: 'We will look after the spiders. We're doing a good thing.

'The alkaline land is dreadful for most forms of wildlife. But there is this particular spider that likes very alkaline conditions.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2PXpNFeby
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Gob]

Delays in trapping and moving slow worms are holding up the building of a Dorset School.

The reptiles have to be moved from a greenfield site before work can start on a building for Mary's Primary School in Swanage.

The limbless lizards have protected status in the UK and under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is illegal to intentionally kill or injure them.

Head teacher Linda Lake said she was "ever hopeful" they could be moved.

The presence of slow worms was highlighted in an ecological report about the greenfield site earmarked for the new school building.

The school was originally due to be built by September but this has already been put back to February 2014 as trapping can only be conducted between the months of April and October.

Ms Lake said: "It's a two-pronged thing - we teach the kids to love nature but we really need to move the school."

The ecological report said there was a "good population of reptiles present" and trapping would need to be carried out for a minimum of 30 days when the temperature was greater than 9C.

Consultant ecologist Daniel Whitby said he was "confident" the slow worms, which can grow up to 50cm (20in), could be trapped and moved in time for the work to start on the building.

[Gob]

Taxpayers have footed a £135,000 bill to move 50 protected water voles - at a cost of £2,500 per animal - to allow dredging of the Somerset Levels.



The bill for moving the creatures is nearly six times the original estimate, it was revealed today. In January and February 2014 residents on the Levels were forced to abandon their homes after record rainfall saw rivers burst their banks following years of insufficient dredging.

More than 600 homes and 17,000 acres of farmland were inundated with quickly rising waters and entire villages were cut off in the wettest January since records began in 1766. But the Environment Agency says it has a legal duty under EU-backed regulations to protect the water voles as an endangered species. The £135,000 was spent trapping and moving 55 of the six-inch-long furry creatures from their bankside burrows on the Somerset Levels ahead of dredging work.

In February, when the scheme was first revealed it was estimated it would cost £24,000 to put the tiny voles into 'winter storage'. But now the Environment Agency has admitted that another £86,000 had to be spent on a 'wildlife survey'. Previously the agency had claimed the wildlife survey was not part of the cost of relocating the voles.

And when other costs are factored in, the total bill came to £135,000

[MajGenl.Meade]

[BoSoxGal]

Of the best laid plans......

Up at the lake house there has been a decline in toads and bull frogs. Don't know what it means or what the cause is but I know it's not good.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_in ... opulations

Some interesting reading and good links included. Fewer frogs is not a good thing, you are right about that!