Dean Green Team

Wildlife Conservation Group in the

Forest of Dean

Gloucestershire

19 March 2019

Spruce Ride

Grid Ref SO624118

Sprucing up Spruce Ride!

It is the centennary of the Forestry Commission this year and there is a plaque to be revealed later this year. In preparation for this, our task was to remove the plastic surrounds of the Spruce trees which had been planted in 2010 all along the ride and to clear away the scrub surrounding them..

This was one of the smaller Spruce but the black plastic surround and wooden posts were not easy to remove as the Spruce branches had grown right through them!

We think this is a

Cream-spot Tiger moth caterpillar

The Cream-spot Tiger moth caterpillar grows to about 65mm and is fairly common in open habitat in southern parts of the British Isles.

When fully grown in the early spring it may be found basking in the sun on grasses and herbaceous plants during the day.

It is resting on an old nest which we also found.

At the end of the day we had several piles of posts and netting to be taken away.