Читать книгу Great Book of Spoon Carving Patterns - Joseph Fullman - Страница 32

It has to be said, things aren’t quite so exciting these days as they were a few millennia ago when bears, wolves and boars roamed the post-glacial landscape. Today the top predators are foxes – in increasing numbers since the introduction of the hunting ban in 2005 – badgers, who live in setts in the region’s woodland, and otters, which hunt in, and live alongside, several of the region’s rivers, including the De Lank and the Camel in Cornwall, and the Taw and Torridge in Devon. Their shy nature and largely aquatic lifestyle, however, means they’re unlikely to be spotted without a good deal of patience and dedication. Also inhabiting the riverbanks are equally elusive communities of stoats and water voles. Still you’ve got a better chance of seeing all of these than you have of the native red squirrel which has been largely eradicated – both here and in the rest of the country – following the introduction of the larger, more aggressive grey squirrel from North America in the 19th century.

Moving down the food chain, the Southwest provides a generous, grassy home to hordes of hares and rabbits, as well as a couple of wild equine species, including the shaggy Dartmoor pony and its near neighbour, the Exmoor pony. Exmoor is also home to one of country’s largest populations of red deer.

Close to the ground, keep an eye out for some of the region’s various slippery residents, including slow worms, grass snakes and adders (the only poisonous snake in the UK) which inhabit areas of open grassland, and can occasionally be spotted sunning themselves on rocks, but will probably slither off into the undergrowth if approached.