In the six years since we last posted about dog walking in Oakley Wood, there have been many changes. Those to the fabric of the wood are most obvious – the improved path around the perimeter, thinning of the conifers and new tree planting throughout.

It’s easy to see the increased number of visitors to the wood, partly triggered by the COVID pandemic and more recently by the improved perimeter path. A spot census on one Sunday in October 2023  counted almost 200 people on the path at the south end of the wood, and most with dogs. Given that there would likely be other visitors starting from the small Crematorium car park who didn’t take the longest path around the wood, we can be pretty sure that the actual number of visitors on that day would have been higher. 

A less apparent change is the reduction in some wildlife. The trail camera has given us a history of animal sightings in the wood, and from this data we can get an idea of how different species are faring. When the camera first went into the wood 10 years ago it  recorded foxes and badgers frequently; now fox sightings are uncommon, and badgers even more so.

You have to believe that the two are linked.

Oakley Wood is an amenity for the public that people can enjoy and walk their dogs, and the increase in footfall shows how much the wood is valued, and this is to be welcomed. But it is also a nature reserve and so there has to be a balance to be struck. Dogs and wildlife often don’t mix well. For this reason, people are encouraged to keep to the recognised paths and leave the wilder parts of the wood as a sanctuary for wildlife. We try to place the trail camera away from places where people walk (we’re not interested in pictures of the wrong sort of “wildlife”) but increasingly wherever we put the camera, it picks up dogs running loose, and sometimes chasing deer.

There’s little doubt in my mind that dogs at large in the wood are the major reason for the reduction of foxes and badgers (deer, especially muntjac, seem to be less affected) and letting dogs run loose should be discouraged. At this time of the year it is also a problem for ground-nesting birds. It is time, I think, for dog walkers to keep to recognised paths, with their dogs under “reasonable” control – not necessarily on leads but not running amok into the undergrowth.

Chris