 October 2024
Autumn walks, deer and adders
Deer on the Chase
As we enter deer mating season, please lower your speed to 40mph around the Chase. Deer are more active now, especially in the morning and evening, which can increase the risk of accidents.
To help keep everyone safe, Staffordshire County Council rangers are putting up signs to remind drivers to watch for deer on the roads. They have also added sound and light systems to help keep deer away from traffic.
Last year, there were about 150 accidents involving deer in #cannockchase, and there have already been 85 incidents this year. With around 74,000 deer-related incidents occurring nationwide annually, it’s important to stay cautious.
Tips to stay safe:
- Use full-beam headlights when you can, but dip them if you see deer—they might freeze in the light
- Slow down when you spot deer; others may be nearby
- Always be prepared to stop—swerving can lead to worse accidents
- If you must stop, turn on your hazard lights
- Don’t approach injured deer—call 999 and ask for the police
The British Deer Society have more information. If you do hit a deer, our website has more information here.
The full code can be found on the bottom of this e-newsletter.
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Autumn Deer Walk
Join Staffordshire Country Park Rangers for a special Autumn Deer Walk on 26 October 2024.
The Rangers will guide you through Cannock Chase, showing you the signs and tracks of the deer that call this beautiful area home. You’ll learn about the different deer species found here, and you may even spot some in their natural habitat.
Saturday 26 October 2024
Meet at 8:45am, walk starts at 9:00am (finishes around 11:00am) from Cannock Chase Visitor Centre, Marquis Drive, Cost: £5 per person
Booking is essential as places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please email below to book.
Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to experience the beauty of Cannock Chase in autumn!
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Forest Ranger Walk
Come along for a free guided walk and talk with a Cannock Chase Forest Ranger on Thursday 24 October and learn how they balance timber production, wildlife conservation, and recreation.
Find out more and book your place here;
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Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK (ARG UK) are continuing to collect adder records for ‘The Cannock Chase Adder Conservation Project’ in partnership with the Cannock Chase National Landscape, and 17 local land managers across The Chase. ARG UK have been out and about over the summer running reptile walks with local residents and visitors, telling people more about these very special but incredibly secretive animals.
They are now working with all of the land managers to identify areas where connectivity can be increased between these favourable sites, allowing the animals to move freely and safely through the vegetation. This is important to maintain healthy and resilient populations, and ensure that we will continue to be able to preserve these iconic animals for the future. You might see volunteers out and about cutting back dense scrub and shading trees, to encourage basking spots for reptiles; or creating special hibernation sites or ‘hibernacula’, where they can over-winter safely in a dry and frost-free environment.
Adders will soon be entering hibernation, you might still be lucky to spot an individual basking in a quiet south-facing spot in the heather, or on a woodland edge on a sunny day. If you do see an adder, please try to stay a few metres away from it, so as not to disturb it, take a quick photo, make a note of the date, time and location and send your record to us. This will help us to safeguard them for the future.
If you would like to know more about adders on Cannock Chase, please contact ARG UK info@arguk.org.
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FiPL delivering for the landscape
Since mid-August six more Farming in Protected Landscape (FiPL) Projects have been approved and are getting underway. There is a huge variety of activities with many different partners involved, making a positive difference to the National Landscape. The projects are listed below, with more to come soon.
- Habitat creation and Landscape Enhancement at Stafford Brook Stables.
- Teddesley Park Farm Landscape Restoration Project.
- Adder conservation programme – Phase 2: Support for practical habitat restoration.
- Heathland restoration and visitor engagement at Etching Hill
- Habitat works for dry heath/acid grassland improvements at Shugborough Estate
- Habitat creation along the eastern boundary of field at Stony Brook, near Slitting Mill, to create a wildlife corridor and improve connectivity.
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Team Volunteering on the Chase
A couple of team members were fortunate enough to have a day out of the office working on the landscape with Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and other very helpful volunteers. We worked on a track just north of the Breman stone, cutting back silver birch scrub to reveal the view out to Sherbook Valley. We also cut back birch scrub along the fence line, which will be repaired in the next few weeks. The project we were working on is one funded by the FiPL programme. An energetic but very rewarding day for everyone. |
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Volunteers
We are currently recruiting for volunteers to join our teams at the Milford Information Hut and at the Great War Hut on Marquis Drive near the Cannock Chase Visitor Centre. If you are a bit of a history buff or you just like meeting new people and have good customer service skills then send an email with your details and telling us what role you are interested in and we will get back to you with more information.
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Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
Find out more about Cannock Chase National Landscape by following us on facebook and twitter @CannockChaseNL.
We also have a Youtube channel
Be a Cannock Chase Champion
Find out more about Cannock Chase National Landscape by following us on facebook and twitter @CannockChaseNL.
Website:https://www.cannock-chase.co.uk/
Email: cannockchase@staffordshire.gov.uk
Images provided by Steve Welch and Robert Cartwright
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