Habitats on Exmoor

Exmoor is situated in the south-west of Britain, spanning the borders of Somerset and Devon, its northern boundary being the high cliffs of the Bristol Channel. It is an area of high moorland (highest point Dunkery Beacon, 520m.), divided by steep wooded valleys and interspersed with enclosed farms. This provides a varied diet of moor grasses, rushes, heather and gorse.

The fields and hedgerows surrounding farms and villages are habitats for many small mammals such as badgers, foxes, hares, moles and rabbits. Many old hedgerows are made up of ten or more types of shrub. Beech hedges in the central part of Exmoor were planted to enclose fields taken from moorland and are less than 200 years old. Barns and other buildings sometimes house Bats and owls which are protected species. Bats feed on insects associated with species rich hedges.

Contributed by: Freda Jones