THIS year's unseasonably mild weather is confusing all manner of creatures -now English Heritage is asking for the public's help to find out just how bewildered the wildlife really is.

The warm winter is causing hibernating animals such as bats and hedgehogs to wake early.

Meanwhile, a million snowdrops at Mount Grace Priory, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, have bloomed weeks ahead of schedule.

English Heritage is asking visitors to all of its sites in North Yorkshire to take part in a month of wildlife surveys to find out exactly how the increasing temperatures have affected flora and fauna in the county.

To help with the survey, English Heritage has created spotter sheets featuring pictures of some of the most commonly seen mammals and birds at particular sites, such as badgers at Helmsley Castle and kestrels at Scarborough Castle, buzzards, deer and stoats at Mount Grace.

Nicola Bexon from English Heritage said: "We had one of the warmest Januarys on record, and with only a brief cold snap in February before the mild weather returned, we are already seeing buds starting to appear on trees and daffodils bursting into bloom over a month early, so we are now looking at how the weather has affected the animal and bird populations at our sites.

"This is actually a great time of year to be spotting wildlife, as the lack of leaves on the trees makes it easier to see normally well-camouflaged creatures as they forage for food."

Jay Commins, of English Heritage, said the animals most likely to be affected by the increasingly mild winters were hedgehogs and bats.

He said: "When it is warm over the winterm they tend to wake up too early and there is no food around.

"Warm weather animals are hibernating far later, but are finding there is less food around for them to eat.

"Research has suggested that small mammals should be able to alter their reproduction cycles fast enough that they can change their breeding habits to cope with the longer and warmer seasons.

"But for the moment, there are just going to be a lot of confused creatures about."