{"id":15743,"date":"2025-07-08T11:20:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T10:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15743"},"modified":"2025-07-31T09:46:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T08:46:43","slug":"15743","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15743","title":{"rendered":"Wenvoe’s Favourite Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wenvoe’s Favourite Tree <\/span><\/p>\n

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Regular sightings of one or more Polecats on the wildlife cameras near the village has now confirmed that we have an established population of this rare and elusive mammal. It was once heavily persecuted and was on the verge of extinction. They were declared as vermin during Elizabeth I’s reign and the word was used to describe a vagabond.<\/p>\n

By 1915 it was just hanging on in mid Wales and some border counties. However, it is now protected by law and making a comeback but there were only 896 confirmed sightings for the whole of the UK during 2024. Interestingly, there are no records in the last 5 years for Cardiff and Wenvoe – until now!! Most will be familiar with ferrets, but these are the domesticated version of the Polecat.<\/p>\n

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Polecats have a long history in mythology and folklore. Associated with the God Dionysus of wine, fertility and revelry fame but also the Norse Goddess Freya representing love, fertility and beauty and often depicted alongside her. They were valued by farmers and villagers for their pest control abilities, keeping down populations of rats and mice but also for their fur which was particularly warm and durable. Great to know that not only do we have a species coming back from the brink, but they can be really useful to us in helping to control our rodent population.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Wenvoe’s Favourite Tree Regular sightings of one or more Polecats on the wildlife cameras near the village has now confirmed that we have an established population of this rare and elusive mammal. It was once heavily persecuted and was on the verge of extinction. They were declared as vermin during Elizabeth I’s reign and the word was used to describe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[49,423],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-15743","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15845,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15845","url_meta":{"origin":15743,"position":0},"title":"Trees, All Is Not Well","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Trees, All Is Not Well \u00a0 Walk past the top of Walston Close and you will see, next to the pavement, this magnificent tree - a candidate for Wenvoe's Favourite Tree - although you may well have your own nominations! It is Eucriphia Nymanensis and it is covered head to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Nature-Notes-1-rotated.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6480,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=6480","url_meta":{"origin":15743,"position":1},"title":"Wenvoe’s Rarer Trees","author":"Alan Williams","date":"28th August 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe's Rarer Trees Summer is often the best time to appreciate some of Wenvoe's rarer trees. Just opposite the park is a stunning Eucryphia nymanensis which was covered in flowers this year and as it is popular with the bees, needless to say it was covered in them as well.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Eucryphia-8-19.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":16802,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16802","url_meta":{"origin":15743,"position":2},"title":"Year of the Fire Horse","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th March 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"YEAR OF THE FIRE HORSE It is the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse. Whilst we cannot include Fire Horses in the list of Wenvoe's wildlife, we do have a couple of species with 'horse' in the title. Arguably one of our best-known trees, still visited by adults and children\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Nature-Notes-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15608,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15608","url_meta":{"origin":15743,"position":3},"title":"Hedgerows Are Invaluable","author":"Alan Williams","date":"30th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hedgerows Are Invaluable You can stand anywhere in the village with a view of the countryside, and you will see hedgerows. Along Port Road, Old Port Road and around the school as well. You could be forgiven for thinking they are common and unthreatened. Yet since 1950 the UK has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Nature Notes","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=49"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Guelder-Rose-1-300x260.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15977,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15977","url_meta":{"origin":15743,"position":4},"title":"July 2025 200 Club Winners","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"July 2025 200 Club Winners \u00a0 \u00a0 St Mary\u2019s Church Wenvoe Building Fund 200 Club July Draw Winners \u00a350 - 179 \u00a310 - 52, 63, 69, 203, 296 For any information, please contact Dickon on 02920 679108. \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "200 Club"","block_context":{"text":"200 Club","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=16"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4305,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4305","url_meta":{"origin":15743,"position":5},"title":"I’m Back in Birdland","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The last two years has taught me many things. 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