Woods, Hedges and Fields - Gower - page 262

lookingfor.Itroostsinholesintreesandprefersoldtreeswithdeadbranches.Theareasofmaturewood-
land in Parkmill, Oxwich and Bishopston Valley all have features that could suit this species.
Once the fauna of the Gower woods was more exotic than it is today. Dillwyn (1848) says that the
wild cat was still occasionally seen in Clyne Woods and to the north in the Neath Valley. It was regarded
as 'vermin' and heavily persecuted, as he noted in relation to activities at Margam, to the east of the pen-
insula:
During an active extermination of the vermin in Margam Park, which commenced in 1824, twelve
of these animals were killed within two years; and my friend Mr Talbot says that one of these,
which is now preserved at Penrice Castle, weighed twelve pounds; and he was told by his keepers
that some of the others were considerably larger.
Persecution of vermin was a continuing theme in Gower, as elsewhere, during this period and the Rev-
erend Davies (1894) mentions in his survey of the parishes of Llanmadoc and Cheriton (and referring to
Cheriton church) that:
I was informed by several old people that it was the invariable custom when anyone killed vermin,
such as weasles, stoates, polecats, &., to bring them to the churchyard, and nail them up in a cer-
tain ash tree. At the annual vestry meeting, held on Easter Monday, these animals were counted
and those who killed them were paid so much a-piece out of the church rate; a guinea was allowed
for a fox.
Dillwyn also recorded that the pine marten Martes martes occurred in the peninsula and it is true that
until the nineteenth century pine martens were found throughout much of mainland Britain. However,
fragmentation of habitats, persecution by gamekeepers and martens being killed for their fur drastically
reduced this distribution. Today the total population for England and Wales is estimated to be only 150
individuals, although it may be as low as 40. The species is therefore unlikely to return to Gower.
A polecat Mustela putorius was recorded in November 1969 by Pip Hatton, the Nature Conservancy
Warden,atthesideoftheroadnearCilibion. Henoted,'Itwascaughtintheheadlights onthegrassverge
andinsteadofmoving,curleditsbodyroundandsnarledatthelights.'Polecatsaremedium-sizedanimals
with distinctive black and white facial markings. As indicated by the above sighting they are predomin-
antly nocturnal, and tend to hunt on the ground, avoiding swimming or climbing, with rabbits being the
main prey. The preferred habitats are woodland edges, farm buildings and field boundaries, and polecat
territories are closely related to the presence of rabbit warrens. The animal is now widespread in Wales
and is expanding rapidly into England.
Badgers are again widespread and there are about 400 setts recorded in Gower, but it is difficult to
assess the size of the population (Fig. 150). Many of the setts are in 'textbook' positions at the edge of
woodland adjacent to pasture, although they are also found near the tops of the Old Red Sandstone hills
whichformthespineofthepeninsula.Settsarealsolocatedinsanddunes,closetotheseashore.Abadger
has even been found asleep on the rocks at Mewslade.
A national population study conducted in the mid-1990s by Bristol University suggested that badger
numbers are generally stable in the UK , but unfortunately illegal persecution continues. About one-third
of the Gower setts have evidently been interfered with and the Glamorgan Badger Group patrols the most
vulnerable setts at irregular intervals. Many badgers are also killed or injured as a result of road traffic
accidents. This is especially so in the tourist season, when the amount of traffic on the peninsula's roads
increasesdramatically.Hotsummerscanalsoincreasethenumberofroaddeaths,becauseindryweather,
when earthworms do not come above ground, badgers forage further than normal from their setts and can