I've seen many frogs and newts at the bottom of Shale Shaft on Old Millclose Mine.
Frogs and toads - mostly toads - are common in Cornish shafts, and quite often we will gather them up and take them up to the surface where they can pig out on slugs and snails.
We have one location where there is a healthy population of pigeons and when navigating through the mine, you have to be carefull not to step on them or crush their nests.
The worst place was a shaft on Wheal Gorland that regularly had Kennel Waste dumped down it. The walls of the shaft were plastered in live maggots; I've never seen so many.

On the last visit about 6 years ago there was no sign of them at all. We still refer to it as Maggot Shaft though.

Oh joy I had almost forgotten about that one Lol , fun times!! I do recall abseiling down a shaft near St Day INTO a dead pig covered in leaves , that was nice , went home got in the bath and tipped a full bottle of Dettol in it :ohmygod:

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Hey Mike, I wandered up an adit while Rob and Rog waited outside. I think I may have stepped on a dead sheep going in and the breeze sent the fragrance outbye. When I returned they retreated to a safe distance after one of them had thrown up 🙂 .
Me? I didnt smell a thing and wondered what all the fuss was about. :angel:

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Hey Mike, I wandered up an adit while Rob and Rog waited outside. I think I may have stepped on a dead sheep going in and the breeze sent the fragrance outbye. When I returned they retreated to a safe distance after one of them had thrown up 🙂 .
Me? I didnt smell a thing and wondered what all the fuss was about. :angel:

RF had us prussick through one once. It was unbelievably revolting!

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Hey Roy ,
My favorite was the " Hornet " shaft episode up near Restormal mine !!, Only time in my life i was pleased to have asthma and smoking !!!, Last up the hill out of breath, wondering why are they all running down the hill waving their arms about !!!, someone stepped on the hornets nest on the way in !!!, they were very very angry !! Robbie still had them in his hair and stinging , when we got back to Redruth !!! :lol:

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Told this before, anyway

Exploring some levels on the way to Cwmsymlog. This one had deepish water and chest wading through saw a pair of red eyes looking at me. (Back in Oldham days, I would have blinded the poor ****** now)

As I went forward, the eyes retreated until I was out of the water and nearing the end of the level. It turned out to be an otter.

Near the end of the level there was nowhere for it to retreat to, so I squeezed to the side and let it get past me.
Eventually when I had explored the level to the end I turned back and there it was swimming about and looking at me. I thought mmm, and moved the heavy Oldham battery round to the front of me. (Think about this one).

As I waded deeper and deeper it was still swimming and watching me, and then it dived.

Left the mine without being bitten or anything.
I think it knew that I meant it no harm so did me no harm.

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The most unusual wild life I encountered other than meeting R.F. underground- with his old helmet on which had a unmentionable graffiti on it! Enough to scare anyone! Occurred when Robert and I decided to try and reopen part of the old Tynebottom mine at Garrigill. I was concentrating hard, on moving loose rock in the roof when something moved against my feet!
I thought at first it was old Nick chasing me with his sythe, but eventually in the water I noticed a long black eel, obviously trying to swim up the level against the current!
It is first and only time I have seen these animals in mines but there may be other contributors who have seen more.
.

Came across a small crane-fly like insect flying around inside the caban at the top of the chamber 34 incline, deep underground on the Oakeley side of Cwmorthin, far from any entrances that I know of.
I have seen alot of these insects, or something similar, inside the entrances of the hearth- stone quarries in Godstone, Surrey, but never before encountered this species, so deep inside a mine.
Does anyone know if this species often occur so deep underground, or had this individual simply got lost?

By the way, how far is the chamber 34 incline area from any chambers at the extreme end of Oakeley which may be open to daylight due to recent un-topping, and which will therefore allow access to wildlife? They need not be entrances in the obvious sense, they need only be holes or cracks or high 'windows' where the quarry has been disturbed by surface work. I don't know much about the Oakeley end as I have never ventured over that way, and I have since learned that any exploration of this area is now forbidden.

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Having just caught up with last night's posts on here I now need:-

The most unusual wild life I encountered other than meeting R.F. underground- with his old helmet on which had a unmentionable graffiti on it! Enough to scare anyone! .

:lol: :lol: :lol:

If he met me underground now with one of my lamps on full he would be really scared.

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The most unusual wild life I encountered other than meeting R.F. underground- with his old helmet on which had a unmentionable graffiti on it! Enough to scare anyone! .

:lol: :lol: :lol:

If he met me underground now with one of my lamps on full he would be really scared.

No he wouldn't be scared Roy, because he wouldn't be able to see you!!
:lol:

Scared?????........... you mean scarred !!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

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2 bloody great big owls deep in the openwork of West Wheal Jane.

Edit:- I've lost the picture.

There was an owl living in the stope at Great Wheal Fortune for years. Any one know if it's still there?

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The upper adit at Harrybecca mine is used as an owl roost too, there's quite a few pellets and a lot of crap under the big timbers there....

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