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While talking to my neighbour on Saturday, I heard that a Tawny Owl was perched on the roof line a few days before. A couple of days earlier I too had briefly seen a Tawny Owl sitting perched on the crosspiece of my back gate. I had rushed to grab the camera but it was gone when I got back. It appeared to have been hunting a Robin that was hiding in the yard.
Well the Wood Mouse being the adventuresome sort, you can read that as being mad, set out on Saturday night to track where the Tawny Owl was ranging. In the Autumn it is often easier to find them as the young raised this year will be looking for their own territories and while this brings them into conflict with existing territory holders and resident pairs, by tracking the calls it is possible to discover where the residents are as well as track the juveniles as they look for suitable hunting grounds.
So that is what I did, or at least set out to do. It was just that Owls don't like flying in rain and when it really stared raining all three of the owls were caught out away from their perches and roosts. Two were females with one being a juvenile and the male who is the established territory holder. In the natural world it is normally the territory holder that retains a territory. Therefore had the juvenile been a male it would have been driven off. This juvenile female was obviously not one of their offspring as the male appeared to be encouraging her to stay. At one point even bringing her a mouse or a vole. All this in sight of the established female. This feeding of the juvenile female prompted some intense calling by the established female. Was this jealousy? Was the male likely to have been in the owls equivalent of the dog house? To be honest I could not tell. Its far to easy to project human emotions onto this but the behaviour was extraordinary.
The rain may have played its part in calming the situation, as soon after the male had fed the new female and there had been the intense fifteen minutes of calling by the old female, the heavens opened and all the owls hunkered down to escape the torrent. All the while, this Wood Mouse acted like a sponge.
Eventually in a gap in the rain the new female flew off and while I think I know where she went to roost I could not be sure. Not least because I stayed with the established pair and tracked them back to their roost.
If in the spring the other female is still around will the male be trying to mate with her too, only time will tell. It may be that the male goes off with the new female. It may be that the male is ensuring that he has the choice of two mates should one not make it through the winter. A rather damp night of observations has raised more questions than provided answers. I had set out to discover the roost site and I did find it. But this little interaction has provided a rather unique glimpse into the behaviour of owls.
While watching the owls was the main reason I was out, three times I a fox, I think it was a dog fox, out patrolling and hunting. Because of a knick in his left ear I was sure it was the same one. What ever he had found, he was returning to take more of this food. Each time he would eat some and then carry off some of what ever it was he had scavenged or killed. At the distance and in the dark I could not see what it was, but while I think it was scavenged, each time he dove onto the food as though he was hunting. This is rather typical fox behaviour as they do this as if they are trying to say I am a proper hunter! It was during the foxes last visit that I noticed a police car stop and the officer used a torch to scan the area. I had seen it go past twice and I did wonder if the officer(s) had seen me from the road. I was about one hundred and fifty or so yards from it, and while I was keeping concealed from the wildlife, I had no reason to keep out of the view of people. Well the beam of the torch found the fox and he scampered, but I did wonder if the police officer had seen me and had thought I was up to no good. It would not be the first time that has happened, nor I doubt will it be the last, but the intense beam of the torch did disturb the fox and the owls too. The dominant pair moved from their sheltering spots and I did think I was going to loose contact with them. But fortunately the rain was so intense they returned as soon as the police car moved off.
While it did not happen this time, people with flash lights are a real bane and bug bare of mine. My night vision is quite good and better than most folks, but this can be ruined by the careless use of a torch. Police officers are the worst offenders for this. Instead of directing the beam towards the ground, they will always direct the beam into the face. This the police are trained to do as it destroys the night vision and it will take several hours to regain. While I can understand that it can be a useful tool when dealing with a suspect, the intentional incapacitating of a persons night vision is extremely annoying.
I was rather tired and wet when I got back home, but a warm cat and a hot cup of tea works wonders. It was getting light before I got to bed and I was looking forward to a good few hours sleep. However, at about ten I heard the phone ring, I ignored it. Big mistake as it was my better half and the mobile rang. She must have thought that I was being very lazy still being in bed. I explained that I had been up and out all night. Well I had warned her that I kept odd hours sometimes and it has caused some minor tensions as there are times when I really can not be disturbed. But as we just laugh it off latter, it never really becomes a problem. I need to educate her to avoid calling the cell unless it is essential. While I could turn it off at times, there are occasions when I need it for emergencies.
It is a shame that on three occasions that I have had to call the fire brigade out to fires that people have started in the woods, unlawfully I should point out. Also I have several times needed to call the police to deal with poaching or some other act of stupidity.
In the main though it is nights like this that make all those minor hassles become insignificant and the delights of seeing and discovering new and unusual behaviour of the wildlife that secretly share our space.
Last week when out on a supermarket run, something happened that made me feel that people really do care once they have the information. My better half really loves fish, as do I. However because of issues of sustainability I am really careful about what I buy. Not just the species but how its caught and often the company involved.
Therefore when I was looking at the frozen fish in the supermarket, I was looking carefully at what was there. One of my fellow villagers made a comment along the lines of you wont find any bargains there. Then she said that a particular product from Youngs, the biggest fish processor in Britain, was reasonable. I explained that I would not buy from them as a few years ago they closed a factory in Scotland and started shipping the Scampi (also known as Dublin Bay Prawns or Langenstein's) to Thailand to be peeled then shipped back to the UK. Well her reaction was to put back what she was going to buy and she chose another brand.
A small victory, but once armed with information people will make ethical and environmental choices. While one person will not effect much change, yesterday (Saturday) I learnt that several of the senior shoppers have stopped buying the fish from this brand as well. How many are doing this I don't know, nor how long this will happen I can not tell either, but it shows that people don't like the way that multi national companies operate.
For older folks it must be difficult to realise that brands that you previously trusted are not the ethical or trusted company you thought them to be. Also it is actually quite hard work to source foods that are sustainably sourced or from ethical companies. However, part of this problem of misleading food labels may change. In European Parliament MEPs and the commission will be looking at the problem in the coming week.
While the food labelling rules stem from an European agreement and rules, in Britain, Europe (the EU) is frequently blamed for rules that appear silly or stupid. But the reality is that Britain was at the forefront of getting these rules implemented in the way that the food industry wanted.
The purpose of these rules was supposed to make it simpler, easier and for food producers to use ingredients from across the single market of the European Union without having have a complex country of origin label on the packet. However, food processors and the major retailers realised that they could abuse these rules and mislead the public.
The problem is most prevalent with meat sold in packages in the supermarkets, where meat reared in another country can be imported into Britain and just cutting the carcase into joints in a British processing plant entitles it to be labelled as British. Therefore people think they are buying British but in fact the meat comes from anywhere in the EU.
As frequently Britain has adopted higher welfare standards for the care of livestock, these (deliberately) misleadingly labelled packs fool the public into buying meat (or other products) that is not of the welfare standard or sustainability that the consumer thinks it is. Even I who is aware of the scams the supermarkets are playing, have been fooled on occasion.
In the supermarkets defence, they say that most of their customers buy based upon price and I can understand that and consumers do and should have that choice. However, if they (the supermarkets) were to label the products with the actual country of origin rather than the deliberately hiding this, would they sell as much?
That question is quite important as the supermarkets make a greater margin on meat and other products that are imported, especially where they can obfuscate the real country of origin.
As my regular reader will know, I have been talking about this issue for several years now, and while looking into the matter I had an informal chat with a trading standards officer. I was told that in many examples of misleading labels from all the major supermarkets could well be more than misleading but illegal. The problem is that even if the local authorities were to prosecute, the cost is prohibitive (about a quarter a million pounds) and the fines are so small that it would do little or nothing to stop the supermarkets from repeating the offence.
People do want to support British farming, and often think they are in the choices they make. The supermarkets know this and it is why they do this. Yet this issue is not just a question of allowing people to make ethical choices, deliberately misleading labels are a public health issue.
If there was a problem with meat becoming contaminated in some part of Europe so that it was unsafe to eat, unless people can look at the label and check the country of origin clearly, people could end up consuming that meat unknowingly. I could see this happening and it seriously damaging the business reputation of one or more of the supermarkets.
This is what I don't understand about the shareholders, who are the owners, of the major retailers. As unethical practices like this may increase profits in the short term, whenever these practices emerge they damage the profitability of the business. Add to this potential for a food scare as a result of this particular immorality and the investors, the shareholders, the owners could loose their money.
While it will take a while for the labelling rule to be changed to ensure that this deception ends, the majority of the supermarkets customers want the major retailers to start being honest with them. So why not give the customers what they want as you say you do?
It was revealed this week that during the banking crisis when the banks were collapsing that the Bank of England, the British central bank, secretly loaned two of the worse banks sixty two billion pounds. This was all done in secret and this is what most disturbs me.
At the time, I was reluctantly agreeing and accepting that this had to be done not to save the banks but to save the economy. However, as more details and facts have become disclosed the less in favour of the actions that governments and the central banks took.
As Lloyd's bank took over one of these banks, in what was effectively a shotgun wedding with the government holding the shotgun, if I had been a shareholder (owner) of Lloyd's then I would be very peeved to discover this as HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland) was in such a poor state and the shareholders were being asked to buy a “Pig and a Poke”
Taking just an economic prospective, asking shareholders to buy an asset or a business when there has not been full disclosure of the poor financial state of that business is unethical to say the least and may well be unlawful. However, it was the rational behind the governments actions that really needs to be questioned.
In Britain before the collapse of the banking system house prices were on steep upward trajectory. I know that in the US house prices had already started to fall, as was happening in other parts of the world, but here property prices were still rising, even though it was clear that they were already overvalued. Further as the government here in Britain were reaping substantial tax revenues from property sales. As were the estate agents garnering greater and greater fees from sales, plus this over heated housing market was supporting a major part of the retail sector as well as all the builders that were re-refurbishing these homes. Finally it was in the banks interest to keep the illusion that property prices would never fall. As simply all the loans provided would have looked stupid if house prices fell.
It was this rather cosy system that governments were trying to save. The illusion that the economy was doing well was only made possible by everyone pretending that property prices were reasonable and justified. Even before the recession started, I was pointing out that house prices were extremely overvalued, so I am not jumping on some band wagon here. But while high property values may appear to be a good thing, especially for those that already own their home, but any form of inflation damages the economy.
However, the real problem was and is that the British government via the central bank made massive loans to support two failing and bankrupt banks with the aim of maintaining the over inflated property market. For more than ten years government ministers have made statements that there is a shortage of housing stock. In most cases this has been untrue as there are more than one million empty homes in Britain. So we now have the situation where via government loans to the banks and equity stakes in some banks, the state is now extremely over borrowed.
Had the banks and the government been honest about the true state of the banks and the banking system the global economy would by now have been in a much better condition. This matters as there needs to be a massive investment into de-carbonising the global economy. But the worlds governments have bailed out the very institutions and businesses that created the banking crisis and the recession and whose unethical business practices are destroying the bio-dome of plant earth.
The future needed to change and we have allowed governments to maintain the status quo of allowing and encouraging greed, when we could have used the situation to genuinely save the world and not just save the bankers.
I just wonder what else the government has done in our name without telling us?
There are times when people do stupid things and when the details emerge, you can account for this stupidity because of low intellect. However when a government does it, you are left wondering about the sanity of the people who control our lives. Fortunately we live in a democracy and while democracy has its failings, it means that we have a free press and the ability to call our leaders idiots when they do dumb things.
This case of silliness did not even last a day but if it had been in some act of fiction it would have been rightly seen as beyond belief. But it actually happened. What I can hear you shouting. Well the a report in the medical journal “The Lancet” suggested that if we culled a third of all ruminants in Britain that we would create two main benefits. First that it would reduce methane emissions and slow down Climate Change, and that with less meat available, people would have healthier diets, reducing heart disease and obesity.
Now there are reasons why this is a stupid plan, not least because it is extremely over simplistic. First is the issue of methane emissions. While it is true that methane is a more potent green house gas than Carbon Dioxide, twenty four times to be exact, it also only has an atmospheric life of twenty one years. That means that it only lasts in the atmosphere for twenty one years before it vents into space. That is why it is used by scientists looking for extraterrestrial life as it is short lived and only exists where there is life. Further while it is true that there are now more domesticated livestock, in the past there were vast herd's of wild Bison and other ruminants across the globe and if methane emissions from animals was having an impact upon our climate, it would have been much hotter two centuries ago. Where methane effecting climate is a problem is were it is being released from permafrost as a result of Carbon Dioxide induced warming in the Arctic Tundra .
Equally while eating less animal protein could well have health benefits, and it may well help towards reducing the carbon footprint of the nation if consumption were to fall by a third, this would only be the case if we did not have a free market and international trade. If Britain killed off one in every three of our cattle and sheep all it would do is increase imports of meat from Europe and the rest of the world.
Now how The Lancet were rather silly in not looking at the implications of their report, and I am amazed that it should ever have been published. Yet it really was, but what really amazed and shocked me was that government departments started endorsing the report. I say started as it quickly emerged that no one had spoken to DEFRA The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who incidentally are nominally in charge of cows. That would be the government department responsible for carrying out such a cull, so at the very least should have been consulted before endorsing such a daft report.
When the flaws were pointed out, the government rapidly retreated from endorsing and adopting this as a policy.
Here is the report as it appeared on the BBC.
However, there is a much more serious aspect to this. While frequently adopting good environmental practices will create other benefits, these policies need to be well thought through. But this was never a good environmental model. As a medical journal its focus was on the health benefits of eating less meat. However the knock one benefits would only be there if this was voluntary. Trying to force this to happen would never work. Doctors should know that as people on diets would all loose weight if they only followed the dietary advice. But as all doctors know beating obesity is no simple task. Further, as a medical journal, “The Lancet” lacks the specialist knowledge regarding climate and pollution, thus they should have sought specialist advice regarding the effects of methane upon the climate. Had they done so, they would have realised that it is a myth that Farting and Burping cows are adding to climate change. I can understand politicos jumping upon that popular myth, but Doctors and medical specialists are supposed to be scientists and should have known or been able to find out that, current biological methane has little or no effect upon the climate, while ancient methane that the changing climate is releasing is.
The problem is simply that there is still an assumption that there can be a simple and simplistic solution to climate change. The reality is that as Carbon Dioxide has an atmospheric life of one hundred years and the effects of the increase in carbon dioxide in biosphere earth are the result of the CO2 released fifty years ago. Therefore, it is no longer a question of reducing carbon emissions but reversing them.
The simplistic view that we can continue to pollute, but maybe just a bit less, is a false one. As our whole economic model is based upon growth, expansion, using and consuming more, all the current efforts will fail. While having a laugh at silly ideas can make life interesting, what will happen to our world when someone does something really stupid like pumping sulphur into the atmosphere or seeding the oceans with iron? Both suggested as solutions to climate change.
The effects of a Changing Climate are here as demonstrated in Cumbria last week and it will not be until the global devastation of the seas rising will we finally accept that we have to change the whole nature of human society.
Saturday was an important day for my better half. It was the final night of her performing in the play. Also I would be getting to meet her mother for the first time, it was important for my GF that this went well. Therefore I had to be on my best behaviour. Well the meeting seemed to go well and it was interesting meeting my better half's American Mother.
I got to see where my better half was doing most of her work, as she initially was just doing stuff back stage. However, she then then asked to perform as the original cast member was unable to fulfil the role, so my GF was then acting in the play too. Well as I said in a previous posting regarding the opening night, I was very impressed with the play, the performances and the company. While an Amateur group, there was nothing amateur about their performances or dedication. Even if my GF had not been in the play, I would have been happy to have gone and seen it.
As my Better half was in it though, there is a greater enjoyment especially as the whole show went so well. One unexpected aspect was I was roped in to helping dismantling the set and clearing up after the final performance. It is not often that I have to pay to then do some work! But many hands really do make light work.
Following the play though, was an after show party. As I am still relatively new in my Gfs life and circle of friends, there was no one there that I knew. However as a friendly lot, they made me feel welcome, and I was happy to be able to genuinely compliment folks on their individual performances. It was rather pleasing to be around a real spirit of creativity. I can see how some people can become star struck. But as I used to specialise in doing theatrical photography, I never have been star struck. I can appreciate other peoples talents and respect them for that.
Following the party my better half and I had a long taxi ride home and we both had a wonderfully relaxing day just lazing about.
When I first met my better half, I told her that there are some activities that she enjoys that I would not be sharing with her. Things like going to clubs, even when I was younger I really did not enjoy visiting clubs. But I have no problem with her going out and enjoying herself and this she has done. Although I have been tempted to put up a notice on the door for her, as a joke, saying: What Time do you call this.
Equally there are activities that she is involved in that I am more than willing to share with her. Not least is her interest in theatre. In my distant past I specialised in doing theatrical photography so I do have an interest in culture and arts myself, but it seems that some men will pretend to be interested. Thus, even when I was with her on Tuesday and she needed to go to the theatre to check on some last minute adjustments my better half was concerned I was bored by this, but I was not.
I explain this as last night I went to the opening night performance of The Darling Buds of May that my GF was performing in. I had not told her that I was going, as I was not sure that I could make it to the opening night, also I would not be able to hang around, not least because of the transport connections I needed to make to get back home. But I made it to the theatre and I saw her performing for the first time. Well the first time I have seen her in performance.
While I had to dash off to catch the train back I loved the performance and while at the station she called me and was in tears as previous BFs would not have made the effort or supported her in this way. But as I have constantly said, I am interested in what she is doing and that I would always try and support her in her endeavours. And I think that she has talent too.
While her part was a relatively small part, it was important to the story and I was impressed by her acting. I was equally impressed by the acting of the other participants too and even if my better half had not been in the play I would have enjoyed going to see the play anyway.
I will be going again as I will be meeting her mother. So if I start typing in falsetto you will know why. Next time though I will have the time to stay behind and properly share in her triumph and celebrate with her.
While I knew that her Exs had not been that supportive of her and her dreams, I was a little taken aback by the tearful, all be it happy tears, when I spoke to my better half while at the station. I realise that it may not always be possible for folks to be their to offer support, but I would have thought that if you care about a person you should also take an interest in what they do too. But it seems that is not the way some men think. This was illustrated by the rather crass comments of two young men who were on the platform with me when I was talking to K. As you can imagine we do have our sugary bits in our chat. This was overheard by them and they were taking the mickey out of me for this. Personally I just ignored this. Then while on the train I could here them talking, and their attitude towards women seemed like something from the dark ages.
Had it just been them talking together, I would have just ignored them but they were also calling out and making comments to other women on the train. And it was clear that these were upsetting other passengers as well. On woman even moved her seat to get away from them. It reached a point where I could not tolerate the behaviour any more and I stood up and said firmly but politely “How would they feel if someone spoke to their Sister or Mother in the way they were?”
While the reaction from them was not unexpected, what was that five other men also stood up and in a less than polite way told them to shut up. They did remain quiet for the rest of the journey. When I got off the train a young woman who got off at the same station thanked me for making her feel safe. We chatted as we walked to the bus station, and as she asked what I was doing on the train, I told her that I had been to Hexham to see my better half in a play. Dam, why are all the good ones taken? She said.
Well while its nice to be called a good one, I am just happy that I have found a woman who likes me for who I am and I can support and nurture to be herself. Then to round off a great night when I got off the bus and was walking towards home I heard a female Tawny Owl call. While I could not see her, when she called again the male answered. What a perfect end yo the day, not only have I found love, but the owls have too.
Yesterday as I was meeting my better half for lunch after she finished her shift at work, I had a trip into Hexham. As there was a little rain when I left, I decided to leave the cameras at home. I was not sure the batteries were charged anyway, but the wet and digital don't seem to mix well. However, the weather did clear up, and the journey into Hexham was rather pleasant.
Though the start of the trip was a bit stressful as the first bus from my village was late, as usual, and I was concerned that I had missed the connection to Hexham. But I was there in time to make the connection, just. Had I missed it I would have had a two hour wait. While that would have still got me there in time for meeting my better half on time, I wanted to go wondering before hand.
But going back to the journey, the route the bus takes to Hexham passes by and through some plantation woodlands and with them being a mixture of Spruce and Pines, it looks as though nature has just painted great swathes of the woods with a golden paint brush, just to delight the eye. Also, with some of the fields still in stubble after the harvest and before the plough, there were pheasant and lapwings in them, adding to the visions that lighten the heart of a damp traveller.
While I have explored Hexham before, this was before getting some inside knowledge, and I do think that Hexham is a picturesque place. It is an affluent area and this is reflected in the type of shops, as well as it being a place that tourists visit. However, it was locations that I had identified as being possibly interesting for wildlife that I most wanted to look at. While in one of these places I spotted a Red Squirrel. An all to brief sighting but one that made my heart smile.
I also found a location where I stopped and watched the birds, mainly Blackbirds and Red wings, were feeding off the berries on the trees. As it was now dry, I was wishing that I had brought the cameras, but if I had I would have been late meeting my Girlfriend.
We met up and went for a rather nice lunch. As a tourist destination there are plenty of cafés in the town, and I quite impressed by the food we were served. The only major criticism I would make is that the chicken was clearly imported standard meat as it lacked flavour. For the price, I think a better quality could have been used. Everything else was fine, and I may be seen as being picky, but I think chicken should taste of chicken. Further a local free range bird would be supporting the local economy.
We went for a wander around the town and this time I was able to go into the Abbey. Previously, there had been a service and it would have been disrespectful of the worshippers for me to try and look around. It is an impressive building and awe inspiring. While I have no religious beliefs myself, I respect those who do and buildings like this are a testament to that devotion.
As my better half is playing a part in a play in the local theatre this coming week, I was taken to the theatre as she needed to check on a couple of things. I will post regarding the play soon, but you can only expect a rave review as I am bias.
Then before I had to get the bus back we went for a coffee. It was in a major chain and to be quite honest the coffee was mediocre. It was a pleasant relaxed atmosphere and I can see why she like the place, but the beverage should have been better. However while we sat and the sun set, we could see vast flocks of starlings retiring towards their roost site. While we could not see where that was, nor the morphing displays these vast flocks make, I said I would be returning soon to find and film them. At least I have found someone that understands my passions and will make allowances for them and me.
It was a really nice afternoon, and I am looking forward to seeing my better half strutting her stuff on the stage this weekend.
This year I have pleased to notice that in my local area at least, there have not been the problems with fireworks that can plague communities. While I can understand that fireworks are fun to see, personally I do not understand why they are available to the general public. Organised displays I have no problem with, but every year people are injured by fireworks. Normally at home displays.
Also, there is a significant minority who abuse fireworks and every year the news is full of reports of incidents where fireworks are abused or used as weapons of fear. In fact there has been a case of a woman who has been killed in a house fire started by the misuse of fireworks. As can be imagined the police are treating this as a murder enquiry.
A major part of the problem is that far to many retailers will sell fireworks to people that the law says can not buy them. It is often the same retailers who sell alcohol to children, therefore feeding the problem of anti-social behaviour. However this year the fire brigade who have the duty of inspecting the premisses where fireworks are sold, have objected to all applications because of the real risk of the fireworks causing a forest fire in the local woodlands. Therefore, there has been almost none of the normal problems for the residents and the wildlife.
There were still organised displays, and I have heard of no problems with them. Nor have I seen evidence of illegal bonfires in and around the woods. Over the past couple of nights I have been wandering around to check on fires being lit in the woods. Fortunately the weather aided this by saturating the area.
Therefore while I am a believer and advocate for freedom, it is completely illogical that we could have the right to buy explosives. Following the tragedy of nine eleven, there was a real opportunity for the government to have changed the law and stopped the annual rain of terror by the two legged rats that create fear in communities. But the economic argument won out. So we still have the situation where the brain dead can still buy explosives and fire rockets at peoples homes, stuff them through letter boxes, or throw them at people.
What the fire brigade and the local authorities have been able to do locally has worked. By keeping fireworks out of the hands of individuals has not stopped organised displays, yet it has prevented a lot of nuisance behaviour.
However, I would also question the whole ritual of Guy Fawkes Night. When I was a child the question was always asked what were we celebrating? Was it the attempt to blow up parliament? Or that the attempt to blow up parliament failed? The reality is that it was always an anti catholic celebration. Thus while the “Tradition” endures the true origins of the so called festival are now down played.
As the so called festival is founded on the torture and killing of the catholic perpetrators of a terrorist plot, it makes no sense. It would be as distasteful as celebrating the violent death of someone from a contemporary event. There is enough religious hatred in the world without us celebrating anti catholic feelings today.
I know my view is not a popular one, and most people choose to ignore the origins of the festival and don't care about the way that Fireworks are misused. But I genuinely think that Fireworks really should not be available to the general public.
There are few times when I have genuinely felt a pang of jealousy but there was a television programme that did generate this response in me. As my reader in Britain will know, the BBC have been showing a new Natural History series called Life. It is stunning and matches and supersedes the
high standard of film making that the BBC is justified as being famous for. However it was not the main series that caused my pang of jealousy, but a children's programme that has been made to accompany the main series.
As I could not watch the series at the time of broadcast, I used the internet to watch the programme. While looking for it I found this children's programme, “Inside Life” and downloaded that as well. In this accompanying series, ten different children were chosen and able to go on location with the team making the main Life series. This was not just watching from afar, but there alongside the film makers as they had the close encounters with the wildlife stars of the show. The first was a young lady who got to see and film Polar Bears at close quarters, and it was this that made me feel a touch of jealousy.
Realistically I know that while there must have been hundreds of children who never got to go on these trips, I was jealous that there was just not these opportunities when I was a child. It was purely an emotional response that lasted for a second, and what a great opportunity for the young people selected. I could not help thinking that I wish that was me at their age. But as people that know me will already know, I have a great face for Radio and a voice that is perfect for mime, so I know that I would never have been selected anyway. So while I remain jealous, what an experience these lucky ten young people have had.
My recent posting on accidental and deliberate species introductions generated some interest. I have been contacted by three people who say that they have seen Skunks in the British countryside. All at different locations too, so it is likely that Skunks are here and here to stay, as unofficial estimates are that over one thousand have been released into the environment.
While personally keeping an open mind regarding the impact of this upon the environment, history shows that alien species have a detrimental effect upon the ecosystem. Therefore the Skunks will change the ecology in the countryside. I say that I have an open mind as an introduced species may not be a disaster. In Britain the Little Owl is an introduced species that produces benefits as it often nests and hunts around farmland taking beetles and invertebrates that can be an agricultural pest. While others like the Edible Dormouse are just benign, not causing any problems nor really creating any benefits either.
While the reality is that when alien species are introduced they most often have a devastating effect upon natural flora and fauna. In Britain the best known case is that of the Grey Squirrel. They displace and out compete the Native Red Squirrel. Also because they carry the “Squirrel Pox” virus, and while the Eastern Grey Squirrel are not effected by the virus, it kills our Native Red. Therefore to save the remaining population of Red squirrels there has to be some form of control. This has to be at the intersections where the greys are kept out of the areas where the reds remain. Unpleasant and distasteful to some, but if this work was not done to conserve the Red, it would be lost, extinct, in ten to fifteen years.
It is likely that something similar will need to be done with the Skunk. Already live trapping is being tried to remove the Skunks from locations where they have been irresponsibly released. It maybe that the Skunk will not become established in the British countryside, but personally I will not be placing a bet on that outcome.
It was also curious that my friends in America were saying that we in Britain really did not want to have Skunks in the wild, but would be happy if our native hedgehog appeared in their environments. What was curious was that just two weeks ago I had seen a Hedgehog out foraging.
I have seen them out before, but normally I would just hear them as they displace the leaves. As they are active at night, they are rarely seen, but as they have the defence mechanism of rolling up into a ball, they seem less bothered about making sounds of movement that do most mammals. While this protection helps them avoid most predictors, I have also seen Badgers eat them, and Badgers can unroll them thus overcoming the Hedgehogs defences.
I would have dashed back out with the cameras at the time, but I was on a mercy mission. My better half had an upset tummy (was it my cooking?), and I had gone out to get something to settle her. While she would have let me go off and be my eccentric self, it would not have been fair on her. So this time I missed the chance to film the Hedgehog. Who knows I may get to film one in the Spring.
Yesterday morning long before the sun was up, I was out hoping to catch the rising mist that carpets the river valley and the woodland rides at this time of year. While out I saw something that I have not seen since I was a child, Glow worms. As I had gone out not expecting to see them, or with any real plans of filming or photographing anything small, I had the wrong equipment with me, but now having discovered where they are, in the future it will be great to film them.
With the rather warm autumn that we have had so far it was unusual to see them at this time of year, but any chance of finding them again has been lost today with torrential rain today.
While talking about the rain, I had to head for the village store for some milk this morning. On the way back I was rather surprised to see a Sparrow Hawk flying in the rain. From what I saw, and normal behaviour I would guess that it was a young inexperienced bird that had either taken advantage of an easy meal, or had been forced to hunt in less than ideal conditions. But the reality is that this is just speculation.
I have been attempting to watch, film and or photograph the local Deer rut. While there are plenty of Deer in the area, there are also plenty of poachers in the woods to. Therefore, the greatest danger is an encounter with a two legged rat rather than the Deer. Even so I am cautious of the encounters with the male Deer, as in an encounter with Wood Mouse V Roe Deer the bookies are not taking bets.
However, while I have seen the Deer briefly, and plenty of signs of the Deer, I have not yet seen anything of the rut. As when I have heard the Deer or seen them, I have also seen and heard dogs. Now while not all the dog owners will be poachers, the majority of the dogs encountered are breeds that are favoured by poachers. And this year the poachers really seem to have been out in force.
While I have not seen a significant fall in the numbers of Deer, I have seen signs that Deer have been taken. But the most significant effect has been the effect upon the behaviour of the Deer. They are clearly much more nervous of humans as a result. Yesterday when spotting one male Deer that I was getting ready to film, I heard a dog bark in the far distance and this startled and spooked the Deer. Normally this would have alerted the Deer but not made him run.
Equally, I have encountered men out with lamps taking rabbits. While I have no real problem with someone taking a couple for the pot, as this is being done at night the use of shotguns in the dark is foolish and dangerous. It is making me very nervous about walking in the woods.
I know that I have a few readers from North America, well both of them, and while in America there is a hunting culture, here in Britain hunting is just not a part of our culture. Further gun laws here mean that it is not easy to obtain firearms. Therefore it is this illegal use that presents the greatest danger. Sooner or latter there will be a serious accident or even a death. I am not the only Naturalist, Birder, or even dog walker that has encountered this problem. In fact I had one person challenge me as they saw my tripod and thought I was carrying a shotgun. Fortunately I just had a good laugh with my fellow wildlife lover about that, but I still got searched by the police.
While the recession has put pressure on folks, as I have said here before, poaching is done by criminals for profit. Often these people if they can not take a couple of Deer will steal from farms, rustle sheep, steal horses etc. They will not baulk at using violence to execute their criminal acts.
The effect upon the Deer population will be devastating. A few years before I moved to my village, poaching had whipped out the Deer in Chopwell Wood, while there numbers have recovered, I don't want to see the Deer lost again.
The other effect of the indiscriminate culling of Deer is that genetic diversity is lost. Poachers don't take the old or the sick, but the fittest animals. In Montana, the state Wildlife Game and Parks service had to change the regulations for hunting Deer, Elk and Big Horn Sheep as hunters were taking the males with the largest antlers leaving only animals with smaller antlers in the gene pool. This effect happens faster and more dramatically in areas where poaching occurs.
In Britain where there are not the large predators, the Wolf, Bear, Links all long extinct, there is a need for control of the Deer populations. But poaching can not be part of this solution. Legal and licensed hunters that can take Game, have to inspect the meat and the carcass for diseases and hygiene rules are implemented. But Venison from poaching does not have these checks and with many Deer with Bovine Tuberculosis eating meat from poached dear is a serious risk to human health too.
I don't have any solutions to this problem other than to make a plea that folks don't buy cheap venison. It is not that I don't want to see the Deer taken for meat, it is just that I don't want to see the woods made a dangerous place for others.
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