Park promises its mini-guests a ball
Tennis balls are helping to produce a net gain for some of the smallest guests at a Lancashire holiday park. Hung in strategic locations around the grounds, the balls will become homes for harvest mice which are coming under increasing threat from predators.
The life-lines for mice are being offered by Moss Wood Caravan Park in Cockerham which has already been praised by botanist David Bellamy for its imaginative conservation work.
Now, says park owner Henry Wild, the tennis balls will hopefully add another species to the growing list which regards Moss Wood as a wildlife haven.
Water voles, barn owls, butterflies and badgers are already regular sightings on the 22-acre park, located in the heart of Lancashire's "wild goose country". Part of the park's natural appeal, says Henry, is the absence of agricultural chemicals and the availability of habitats such as hedges.
Harvest mice, he explained, normally weave their homes out of shredded grass and reeds part way up tall stalks - but modern farming methods have increasingly robbed the endangered animals of homes.
Henry, however, has been studying research by the Wildlife Trust which shows that a small hole bored into the top of a tennis ball - which is then hung from a cane around 1.5 metres above the ground - provides a perfect nesting site for a harvest mouse.
Weasels, birds of prey and other predators are too large to enter the hole to attack the small mammals Harvest mice, said Henry, weigh only about six grams as an adult - about the same as a 20p piece.
Not that the sight of swinging tennis balls will come as too much of a surprise for the owners of the 140 luxury caravan holiday homes at Moss Wood.
Over the years, they have become accustomed to a whole raft of environment-friendly measures taking place on the park which has been owned by the Wild family for over 30 years.
Many indigenous trees and hedges have been planted, and sowings of wild flowers with high pollen-bearing blooms attract a wide range of common and less familiar butterflies.
Conservation "buffer zones" have also been created around the park. These woodlands and meadows, on which no development is allowed, have become wildlife havens for animals and plants. The zones include a small river where threatened water-voles are flourishing, along with other aquatic life.
Moss Wood has won many major national accolades for the excellence of its surroundings, including a top five-star grading from the tourist board - and a special conservation award from David Bellamy who praised the way in which the park was helping holidaymakers to re-connect with the countryside.
Although the park's hanging balls will be positioned well away from guests, they will be checked regularly for occupation by harvest mice - and Henry Wild is looking forward to the results:
"Harvest mice are an excellent indicator of the environmental health of fields and hedgerows, and should give us a steer on how effectively our various initiatives are working," said Henry.
"If we can make harvest mice feel at home, it will be better than winning Wimbledon!" he added.
ends
More press information from Henry Wild on 01524 791041 (mobile 07831 394533)
PR consultant Jon Boston on 01768 895225
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