{"id":1179,"date":"2026-08-16T10:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/?page_id=1179"},"modified":"2026-08-16T10:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:30:12","slug":"wildlife","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/?page_id=1179","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hedgehogs<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Hedgehog-rules.pdf\">Hedgehog rules<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Non Native species<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Be on the lookout for these&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nonnativespecies.org\/\">Invasive species<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><br>Over wintering<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=534\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IMG_6720-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-534\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019s just a youngster born too late in the year to survive hibernation over winter.<br>The Sunderland rescue centre has scores of young hedgehogs in this predicament.<br>Two solutions:<br>1) Just let nature take its course and allow them to starve and die<br>2) Take them into shelter, fatten them up on cat food and provide a cosy nest box. Come the spring, release them into the wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s your choice<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hedgehogs in the summer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_33\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=33\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/IMG_5565-768x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Hedgehog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hedgehogs have come out of hibernation. Look after them in times of drought. Consider building a \u201csmoot-hole\u201d in walls and fences to allow them to wander between gardens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_341\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=341\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_6078-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-341\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This appears to be a smoot hole. It also serves to drain rainwater from the field into a grid<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_343\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=343\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_6080-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-343\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Another drain\/smoot hole<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Word of the week from writer Robert Macfarlane&nbsp;&nbsp;is \u201csmoot-hole\u201d, the small gap at the bottom of dry-stone walls to allow hares and hedgehogs to roam from field to field but not sheep.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Times, Friday 3 May 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hedgehog houses have been placed on the common and disguised as leaf piles!<br>Can you spot the hedgehog house?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_89\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=89\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_5700-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-89\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">now you see it<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_90\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=90\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_5703-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-90\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">now you don\u2019t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_122\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=122\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/IMG_1590-e1543349018673.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-122\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A Shrew rescued from my cat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Swans on the ponds at Ravensworth<br>Raptor with a rat in its talons flying along Slip Inn Bank<br>Pheasants everywhere<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Moles adding soil to their hills (but no sight of the actual moles)<br>Owls (tawny) hunting cries at dawn and dusk<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Great Crested Newts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These are the animals that are notorious for halting construction work and delaying canal restoration projects. Here they are in Gayles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_201\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=201\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_2403-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-201\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Great Crested Newt (photo Mags Cran)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_202\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=202\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/IMG_2402-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-202\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Great Crested Newt (photo Mags Cran)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cuckoo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A cuckoo has been heard in Plantation woods above Gayles Hall. No sightings as yet<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_398\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=398\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_4308-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-398\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Wet enough for toads<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\" id=\"attachment_400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/?attachment_id=400\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/gayles.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/IMG_4297-873x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-400\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Adult and juvenile woodpeckers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You wait for ages for one woodpecker to appear. Then \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/\">Proudly powered by WordPress<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hedgehogs Hedgehog rules Non Native species Be on the lookout for these&nbsp;Invasive species Over wintering He\u2019s just a youngster born too late in the year to survive hibernation over winter.The Sunderland rescue centre has scores of young hedgehogs in this predicament.Two solutions:1) Just let nature take its course and allow them to starve and die2) Take them into shelter, fatten them up on cat [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1179","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1179"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1180,"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1179\/revisions\/1180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chirurgean.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}