William Hague Has A Problem With A Snake
This non-news story ended up on the BBC’s web site.
Surely, with all the problems in the world, one dead snake could be consigned to the dustbin of history! Or it could be returned to Guyana, where it allegedly lived!
Gorilla Joy
There has been a lot of pictures of the reunion of two gorillas at Longleat after a couple of years apart. Here‘s some on the BBC.
I don’t think it is as remarkable as some are saying. I’ve seen horses return to the stud, I used to own, who’d been born there or had spent a long time there, renew old friendships with other horses, if they’d never been away. I’ve also read of similar behaviour with dairy cows. And after all, we all know how how when we visit a friend with a dog, the dog generally remembers us.
What Do You Do With Urban Foxes?
There’s a story in the Standard about foxes plaguing a smart part of London. Here’s what Brent Council said.
When contacted by residents, Brent council said it did not have the funding to deal with foxes but hoped to serve a legal notice on the owner of the property to remove the vegetation.
The council claimed it could leave itself open to prosecution if it moved the animals.
Craig Johnstone, of the council’s Public and Animal Health Team, wrote in an email: “Dealing with foxes is quite a specialist field. It’s not that simple to just trap and relocate them.
“Doing this could leave us open to prosecution as releasing a fox into another area (countryside) could cause the fox unnecessary suffering.”
A farmer friend of mind has had urban foxes dumped on his land. As they have never had to hunt and have just scavenged, they are rather lost and get very hungry. He’s even seen them begging round his tractor, whilst he sits there eating his sandwiches for lunch.
They should be humanely destroyed.
Bluecoat Chambers
Bluecoat Chambers is an arts centre in the middle of Liverpool with a rich history. Despite living in the city for nearly five years and having visited many times since, I’d never been in before yesterday.
It’s well worth a visit and the current exhibition brought back many memories of a wonderful holiday in the Ecuador and the Galapagos, that I had with C.
Saving Fish With Flies
A large amount of the fish caught in the sea ends up as animal feed. The Sunday Times reports how in South Africa, a process has been developed to create chicken feed from maggots fed on blood from abattoirs. Sounds gruesome!
But if it means we take less fish from the sea to feed animals, it’s surely better.
A Large Valentine’s Day Present
This story surprised me. The original data from the Co-Operative Bank, shows that this Valentine’s Day £41 million will be spent on presents for pets.
Risk Assessment – Japanese Style
Obviously, the nation that gave the world, that amazing game called Endurance, the method of risk assessment at Tokyo Zoo will be different to anywhere else in the world. This video shows them dealing with a rhino,that has been assumed to have escaped.
This scene is doubly funny for me, as C always laughed like a drain, when Clive James showed the clips of Endurance.
The Beast of Woodchester
According to this report on the BBC, the so-called big cat in Woodchester Park doesn’t exist, as only fox DNA can be found.
What a pity for Woodchester Park!
Instead of being the centre of a media storm, with satellite trucks everywhere and every Tom, Dick and Harriet ready to be interviewed by reporters from Iceland to India, some proper scientific research has left them with precisely nothing.
They will have to find some other ruse to get visitors to their oh-so boring part of the country.
You’re Never Far From a Rat in London
I took this picture on the Greenway by the ViewTube yesterday.
You're Never Far From a Rat in London
As I was standing on top of the Northern Outfall Sewer, which lies under the Greenway, I suppose this is to be expected.
Daddy Of Them All
A ram has made a name for himself by escaping and fathering 33 lambs in one 24 hour session. It’s all here in the Daily Mail.
This reminds me of a conversation with a Research Vet at Liverpool University in the 1960s.
At the time, the M62 was being built, and the Ministry was worried that sheep would get on the motorway. The University had been asked to find a solution and found that moorland sheep could easily climb a chain-link fence several feet high. Judging by the lack of reports of sheep on the motorway these days, I’m sure that the research indicated a solution that worked well.
The Anonymous Widower 