Devon Wildlife Trust

Devon Wildlife Trust Our vision is for a Devon that is rich in all wildlife, where people enjoy and care about the natural world and take steps to safeguard it for the future.

Our House Rules

We love to hear from Devon Wildlife Trust members and supporters, to see your photos and hear your ideas and suggestions. All we ask is that users are respectful of others and keep their posts polite, civil and suitable for all ages. We do not tolerate any content that is offensive or abusive including material that is obscene, violent, aggressive, argumentative, harassing, defama

tory, unlawful, insulting, indecent or otherwise objectionable. This includes any language that can be construed as offensive, sexist, racist or homophobic. Please note that we retain the right to hide or remove any comments that we consider inappropriate. This extends to spamming and any material judged to be off-topic in subject-specific areas. We retain the right to block individuals who repeatedly ignore this policy and post inappropriate content on our page. In these cases warnings will be give beforehand.

*Moderation policy*

In general, we don’t moderate posts on our page or groups – except when offensive language is used or libellous allegations are made. We have a duty to protect our staff and volunteers, so while deleting comments is a last resort and very unusual, our position is that any post containing libellous accusations should be removed. If an individual continues to post content contrary to our House Rules (see above) then we’ll be forced to block that person from the page, but we would prefer not to do this and warnings will be given beforehand.

⚠️ As temperatures rise in Devon, so does wildfire risk.🔥 In this heatwave, a single spark can devastate habitats and wi...
24/06/2026

⚠️ As temperatures rise in Devon, so does wildfire risk.🔥

In this heatwave, a single spark can devastate habitats and wildlife.

Our nature reserves team works hard to create fire breaks that protect vulnerable species such as adders, which reproduce slowly and tend not to travel far, making local populations especially vulnerable. With extreme weather becoming more common, the threat to wildlife is growing.

Help our nature reserves team protect Devon's wild places from devastating wildfires by donating what you can to the Moor Wild Appeal today 👇
https://buff.ly/fxewvLC

Take extra care during this hot weather: BBQ at home - not in the countryside, never light open (camp) fires, take all litter home - especially cigarette butts, and if you see a wildfire please call 999 with the exact location.

Have you seen any flying ants yet? 🐜 Black ants are starting to emerge from holes in lawns and cracks in pavements with ...
24/06/2026

Have you seen any flying ants yet? 🐜

Black ants are starting to emerge from holes in lawns and cracks in pavements with one clear purpose: to mate.

The clouds of ants take to the skies. They’re made mainly of males searching for one of the few larger female queens in the swarm.

These mass eruptions are timed with the weather and synchronised between colonies. This boosts the chances of queens meeting males from other nests and overwhelms predators like swifts, house martins, and gulls. 🐦‍⬛

After the flight, males usually die within a day or two. For queens, it’s just the beginning, they shed their wings, land, and search for a place to lay eggs and start a new colony.

Read more about their incredible journey, in our blog 👉️ https://buff.ly/hOAIfsV

📸 Roy Churchill

Activity Idea: Build a Bee Hotel 🐝🏨 Solitary bees are important pollinators and a great friend to gardeners. You can hel...
23/06/2026

Activity Idea: Build a Bee Hotel 🐝🏨

Solitary bees are important pollinators and a great friend to gardeners. You can help them by building a bee hotel for your home or garden and watching them buzz happily about their business.

Our supporter, Kevin, created mud bricks and bee hotels for his garden, placing them on the sunny side of his shed. They're already proving popular with local wildlife, and red mason bees have begun laying eggs. 🥚

Take a look at our guide here 👉️ https://buff.ly/Lw5bVLW

📸 Kevin Keatley, Mid Devon

In this hot weather, you can help wildlife stay cool! 🌡️☀️Some simple ways to support nature at home:💧 Provide fresh dri...
23/06/2026

In this hot weather, you can help wildlife stay cool! 🌡️☀️

Some simple ways to support nature at home:
💧 Provide fresh drinking water
🛁 Keep bird baths topped up
🌳 Create shady spots in your garden
🐸 Top up ponds if water levels are low

Every small action can make a big difference during a heatwave.

Tell us how you're helping wildlife get through the heat 👇

Did you know temperate rainforest habitat is even rare than its tropical counterpart? We're working to reconnect the re...
22/06/2026

Did you know temperate rainforest habitat is even rare than its tropical counterpart?

We're working to reconnect the remaining fragments of temperate rainforest and restore this vital habitat, which is home to many rare and globally important species.

At Bowden Pillars, near Totnes, we've planted 17,000 native trees in the last two years to help this site develop into a temperate rainforest in the future. 🌱

Learn more about the project 👇
https://buff.ly/K4II4Tz

We are proud to be part of the South West Rainforest Alliance - collaborating to create a resilient future for the region's temperate rainforest.

The Bowden Pillars planting was made possible with support from Aviva, along with a generous legacy from a Devon Wildlife Trust supporter.

22/06/2026

More nettles = more peacock butterflies 🦋

Nettles are the main food plant for the caterpillars of one of our favourite butterflies – the peacock butterfly.

Packed with nutrients, they help hungry caterpillars grow so they can pupate and transform into the stunning butterflies we love to see in our gardens.

The caterpillars have even adapted to their food plant and aren't affected by the nettles' sting.

One of the easiest ways to help peacock butterflies is simply to leave a patch of nettles growing in your garden. What looks like a w**d to us is a tasty meal for these very hungry caterpillars 🐛

Happy Father's Day!Did you know that male seahorses are the ones that give birth?After the female transfers the eggs to ...
21/06/2026

Happy Father's Day!

Did you know that male seahorses are the ones that give birth?

After the female transfers the eggs to the male who self-fertilises them, he keeps them in his brood pouch and gives birth to live young called fry.

Remarkable dads indeed. 💚

We have two seahorses found in UK seas - long-snouted seahorses (also known as spiny seahorses) and short-snouted!

📷: Long snouted seahorse by Julie Hatcher, short snouted by Paul Naylor

Summer is officially here! ☀️Today marks the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. For today's activity, if...
21/06/2026

Summer is officially here! ☀️

Today marks the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. For today's activity, if you didn't catch sunrise - why not spend the evening watching the sun go down?

Here's a wonderful sunset view from Lundy Island off the coast of north Devon 🌅

📷DWT

Have you seen a glow-worm yet this June? These remarkable insects are actually beetles and the females are famous for c...
20/06/2026

Have you seen a glow-worm yet this June?

These remarkable insects are actually beetles and the females are famous for climbing up plant stems and emitting a greeny-orange light to attract males.

Adults are only around for a short period in June and July, so if you want to spot them it's a good idea to keep an eye out in gardens, hedgerows, railway embankments, heathlands and cliffs.

19/06/2026

When you keep badgering your mum… 🦡

This timelapse captures the wholesome moment the mother badger forages for food and her young cub desperately tries to get her attention and feed!

A familiar scene for many parents. Are your little ones this persistent? 😊

📸 Captured on a Two Moors Pine Marten Project field camera

Address

Cricklepit Mill, Commercial Road
Exeter
EX24AB

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+441392279244

Website

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