Future Tenants
When humans decide to occupy a piece of land, we usually don’t leave it in its natural state. Instead, we either change it to better serve our own interests, we extract all the natural resources from it, or both. We create our own habitat-but what about the animals that lived on the land before us? Is the “habitat” that we create still a suitable place for them to call home when we are done with it? For some species, the answer is yes. Animals that prefer the same type of habitat that we do (open ground without a lot of trees) usually are not harmed by human expansion unless we see them as pests and start trying to exterminate them. What about animals that prefer forest? They have to retreat as we move forward, and eventually their numbers decrease because there is nowhere left for them to go.That’s one of the great things about planting a forest. As the trees grow, the forest will start to provide a home for forest animals that are under pressure because of human activity. Once the trees get large enough to start providing some cover, animals will begin to make their homes there. What kind of tenants can we expect in the new woodland?
At first, small animals such as the wood mouse, the rabbit, and the bank vole will begin to move in. Rabbits will tend to stay at the edges of the woodland-they like using trees for shelter, but still prefer to have grasslands nearby to feed on. Weasels may be the first carnivorous mammal to move in-they can live almost anywhere and will be attracted by the abundance of small prey. Buzzards, a large bird of prey similar to a hawk, will likely begin to hunt and nest in the area as well for the same reasons.
As the trees grow and the forest gets bigger, other species will begin to make their homes there as well. The pine marten, a large member of the weasel family, will be attracted to the pine trees. Hopefully, the red squirrel, which is experiencing a rapid decline in numbers due to competition from the grey squirrel, will also find refuge here. The tawny owl, which requires woodland habitat for breeding, will have plenty of trees to raise its young in.
Badgers, England’s largest terrestrial carnivore, live in large extended families with anywhere from 4 to 12 adults. To support their elaborate burrows, they often nest under the roots of trees. In the new forest, badgers will have room to burrow and to forage at night. Also, having a patch of forest without roads to worry about is a good thing for them -they can live to be as old as 15 years, but many of them are hit by cars each year.
Roe deer are another species that will appreciate the forest habitat. They are the only type of deer that is actually indigenous to England-the other species of deer were introduced for hunting. Roe deer like open fields for grazing, but they also like having access to the forest to take shelter in.
It’s wonderful to think that in just a decade or so, an old coal mine will be transformed from a barren wasteland into a much-needed new home for so many different creatures.
Tags: animals, Environment, habitat, human
This entry was posted on Friday, February 29th, 2008 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.