Wildlife experts fear that the adder may be extinct in Nottinghamshire after another annual survey failed to find any evidence of the reptile.
The last confirmed sighting of the venomous snake in the county was in Sherwood Forest in 2005.
Nick Crouch, a conservationist, said its disappearance was "very worrying" as the species was a key indicator of the health of the food chain.
The wildlife expect has appealed for the public to report any sightings.
'Bit of a mystery'
Mr Crouch, a nature conservation leader for Nottinghamshire County Council, said the species was once quite widespread across Sherwood.
Adders are in rapid decline in the UK and experts put this mainly down to habitat loss and disturbance.
"These snakes require areas of heathland and woodland," Mr Crouch said.
Read more here ...
Showing posts with label nottinghamshire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nottinghamshire. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, August 9, 2010
Flying Ant Swarms
Trent FM noticed huge swarms of flying ants in Nottingham city centre on Monday night and now we know why, it's their mini mating season this week.
We saw people at bus stops trying to swipe the ants away or covering their eyes as they walked through town.
Apparently, they've been all over Notts, you've been telling us on Facebook that they've been crawling over lawns and houses in Arnold, Ilkeston, Mapperly, Bulwell, Newark, Carlton, Bilborough, Nuthall, Kirkby in Ashfield, Eastwood and Rainworth. The big swarms only last a day in one area though because the females pick one day a year to mate, when the temperature's right. Afterwards, the male ants die.
Andrew Chick is an insect expert at Nottingham Trent Uni: "The actual ants only fly once in their life, so they have to learn very quickly, it tends to be a bit of a crash course in flying."
And Andrew can explain why there seemed to be thousands in Nottingham city centre on Monday:
"The common black ant is one ant that is able to colonise under paving slabs and of course, in the city centre, there are quite a few slabs that they can colonise underneath."
http://www.trentfm.co.uk/article.asp?id=1885287
We saw people at bus stops trying to swipe the ants away or covering their eyes as they walked through town.
Apparently, they've been all over Notts, you've been telling us on Facebook that they've been crawling over lawns and houses in Arnold, Ilkeston, Mapperly, Bulwell, Newark, Carlton, Bilborough, Nuthall, Kirkby in Ashfield, Eastwood and Rainworth. The big swarms only last a day in one area though because the females pick one day a year to mate, when the temperature's right. Afterwards, the male ants die.
Andrew Chick is an insect expert at Nottingham Trent Uni: "The actual ants only fly once in their life, so they have to learn very quickly, it tends to be a bit of a crash course in flying."
And Andrew can explain why there seemed to be thousands in Nottingham city centre on Monday:
"The common black ant is one ant that is able to colonise under paving slabs and of course, in the city centre, there are quite a few slabs that they can colonise underneath."
http://www.trentfm.co.uk/article.asp?id=1885287
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