|
|
|
 Sent
to you
by e-mail
|
|
Simply
enter your details and hit the send button
more
info |
|
Click Here
Links
Advertise
Terms of Use
Contributors
About Us
Contact Us
|
 |
Go back
| Bookmark
| Print Page 
| E-Mail Us 
Whose Nuts are These?
Photo: G. Bradley
|
|
UK
Safari Tip:
You can discover more about the tracks and signs left by mammals with this
special identification chart - click
here
|
|
You can get a good clue about the kind of animals living in your area by just checking their nuts... or at least the nut shells they've left behind.
If you look closely at the way the nut shell has been broken into you can get a good idea of the kind of animal which did the breaking.
Dormouse
The dormouse makes a neat round hole in the nut. The edge of the hole is worn
completely smooth and there are usually teeth marks on the shell surface around
the opening.
Bank Voles
These nuts have no teeth marks around the edge of the hole, but the opening is
deeply ridged or corrugated. Wood mice make
a similar opening but they also leave teeth marks around the edge of the hole.
Grey Squirrels
Squirrels have much stronger jaws and teeth than our small mammals and are able
to crack the nut in one bite. Some birds, like jays, are also able to open nuts this way.
UK Safari Mammal Section
 Mammals
of Britain and Europe
This book details every species of mammal in Europe and in the seas around it.
|
|
|
