Hedge trims wreak havoc on wildlife

I’VE reached that stage in life where I have to take care not to get cranky.

When things irritate me, I try not to rant and rave. Sometimes I’m successful — but not when I come across tractors cutting hedges at this time of year. I stop the car and berate the drivers.

Most of the time, they are remarkably pleasant in the face of my outburst. They’re sympathetic but explain that they’re just obeying orders.

If the incident occurs on a public road the orders often come from the county council, whose motivation is likely to be road safety. On narrow country roads, overgrown hedges on bends can be a hazard if they obscure a motorist’s view of oncoming traffic or other potential dangers.

However, most people who live in the country know that at this time of the year, many species of wild birds are starting to build nests in hedges so they can lay eggs. This will go on through summer because many of them, even if they successfully rear a brood, will go through the process a second or even a third time.

Wild birds’ nests are very vulnerable, particularly early in the year before the hedge is fully in leaf, and a remarkable number of creatures like an egg for breakfast.

The magpie is probably the most notorious culprit, but some of its relations, such as the grey crow, jackdaw and jay, are equally guilty. So are various gull species in coastal areas.

And, of course, there’s always a danger later in the season of the nest being spotted by a cuckoo, and we all know what happens then.

Some mammals also pose a danger. Squirrels, particularly grey ones, love eggs, pine martens, mink and stoats will rob nests and even rats and mice will demonstrate that they’re quite agile climbers if they spot a vulnerable nest in the hedge.

The nesting birds know this and if their cover is ripped away by a hedge-cutting machine, they will usually desert the nest rather than risk the attentions of a predator.

But this is not the only reason why hedge-cutting in the spring and early summer is a disaster. The most important components of a hedgerow are its woody plants — trees, shrubs and climbers. During this period, they are actively growing and full of sap. If they’re cut now, they bleed — and this reduces their vigour, even if it fails to kill them.

There are various forms of tractor-mounted machines which cut hedges, the commonest being chain flails and rotary saws. They’re all very unsubtle tools which leave a trail of ecological damage in their wake.

Even when the hedge recovers, it’s not much good from a wildlife point of view, despite the fact some operators try to leave a ‘standard’ tree to grow tall every 20 or 30 metres.

A good hedge for wildlife has the maximum amount of plant species and varies continuously in both height and density. It is the opposite of neat, which is almost impossible to achieve with a machine.

Farmers who are members of REPS are not allowed to cut hedges in the spring and summer. For everyone else, there are ‘guidelines’ which are non-binding and full of exemptions.

Any sane person will accept that road safety is more important than songbird safety. But the problem is, no forethought goes into the timing of the trimming. Hedges on dangerous bends could be trimmed the previous winter but it’s always left until April and May, when the hedge starts to grow, and the problem is suddenly obvious.

The sheer stupidity of it all astounds me — but I think I’d better stop. I feel another rant coming on.