Who lives here? Wildlife homes.

[southern42]

Any questions, photos or info about wildlife residences, occupied or disused, can be posted here.  Homes of animals, birds, insects, etc that interest or intrigue. Hopefully, there will always be someone in our midst who will be able to answer our questions, confirm our suspicions, add to the topic, or just enjoy the thread.

 

The reason I am posting is because I came across a hole in the ground...rabbit? fox? badger, perhaps?

 

Yesterday, at the Conwy Valley Museum Railway, in Betwy-y-coed, while walking the track in the wooded area before running trains, I came across a variety of twigs laying over the rails.  When I picked up a large one and threw it up onto the bank, I saw several animal holes. I have seen quite a lot more rabbits and squirrels here since returning to the Museum after Lockdown.  There is also the usual evidence of fox activity.  So I clambered about and nosied around.  Some looked unused.  Some were larger than others. So, I was wondering if the one in the photos, below, are indeed foxholes - maybe 8"-9" (20+cm), bigger than my 5"comb, anyway.  

 

Looking straight on

 

Looking to the right down the hole you can see how stony the ground is.

 

Up on the bank

 

and from trackside - centre top.  Another hole is on the left and it looks like there maybe another one below the tree on the right. I did not notice that one at the time!

[hmrspaul]

Not sure if this is suitable as it is clear whom lives here. At Fountains Abbey nr. Ripon the Jackdaws live in a horizontal condominium. They don't appear to mind the medieval living conditions - where floor joists once were.

 

Paul

[AY Mod]

7 hours ago, southern42 said:

So, I was wondering if the one in the photos, below, are indeed foxholes - maybe 8"-9" (20+cm), bigger than my 5"comb, anyway.  

 

The arrangement looks a little more like badgers to me.

 

Leafcutter bees chomped through much of a laurel bush in the garden and nested in many of the round holes in one of the insect houses.

 

[southern42]

10 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

The arrangement looks a little more like badgers to me.

 

Leafcutter bees chomped through much of a laurel bush in the garden and nested in many of the round holes in one of the insect houses.

 

I did wonder or rather hoped it might be badgers. Way back in my 20s I did a badger watch at night with friends. We sat up in the trees. Wonderful!

 

Anyway, I looked up a  badgers entrance hole and it was described as a D shape on its side - the shape of an igloo, then. Food for thought and maybe a badger watch over there at some point.
 

Do badgers place stones at the entrance/exit as I saw one hole with a circle filled with stones, all roughly the same size, outside it?

[southern42]

59 minutes ago, hmrspaul said:

Not sure if this is suitable as it is clear whom lives here. At Fountains Abbey nr. Ripon the Jackdaws live in a horizontal condominium. They don't appear to mind the medieval living conditions - where floor joists once were.

 

Paul

Just the job if you ask me.

A good example of squatting which jackdaws are very good at. 

We have had to get a cowl put over our chimney because not only do the contents of a chimney nest fill at least one binliner when you sweep the chimney, they will nest in your chimney even when it is lit!

 

Polly

[hmrspaul]

Well continuing the use of holes by birds I'm going way off grid to the Madidi* national park in northern Bolivia. Clay licks are now well known but here there is a river cliff being used by parrots for nesting (not so unusual Lears Macaws and Red-fronted Macaws do the same). But special for us as we had shared our home with a family of White-eyed conures for 35 years and here they were using the smaller holes, alongside Red and Green macaws in the larger holes, and just the occasional Chestnut-fronted Macaw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul

* so off grid that the lodge had electricity for 4 hours in the evening, only where we all ate, otherwise candle lights. No internet - they had radio phone calls to their local (3.5 hours by boat away) office twice a day. 

[tigerburnie]

15 hours ago, southern42 said:

I did wonder or rather hoped it might be badgers. Way back in my 20s I did a badger watch at night with friends. We sat up in the trees. Wonderful!

 

Anyway, I looked up a  badgers entrance hole and it was described as a D shape on its side - the shape of an igloo, then. Food for thought and maybe a badger watch over there at some point.
 

Do badgers place stones at the entrance/exit as I saw one hole with a circle filled with stones, all roughly the same size, outside it?

That looks like a disused Badger sett that may have been taken over by Foxes, when a Sett is in use there's usually signs of activity, they change the bedding regularly, so heaps of old vegetation are usually near the holes in use.

[The White Rabbit]

18 hours ago, southern42 said:

I did wonder or rather hoped it might be badgers. Way back in my 20s I did a badger watch at night with friends. We sat up in the trees. Wonderful!

 

Anyway, I looked up a  badgers entrance hole and it was described as a D shape on its side - the shape of an igloo, then. Food for thought and maybe a badger watch over there at some point.
 

Do badgers place stones at the entrance/exit as I saw one hole with a circle filled with stones, all roughly the same size, outside it?

 

My original reply got lost in the updates yesterday but was along the lines of what other signs are there? If it's an active badger sett, then I agree with tigerburnie there's usually plenty of old bedding outside (as well as the original spoil). Any signs of scratching trees and/or latrine pits? 

 

http://www.badgerland.co.uk/seeing/evidence.html goes through the signs/clues in some detail. 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

This might not be popular as a suggestion, but have you eliminate rats as the current dwellers?

 

They don't need holes that big, but they will exploit anything, and that includes picnic tables at railway centres.