Thursday 25 June 2009

Wild Boar Response Printed

Well the Review printed my response to the wild boar article from paper WE: 26th June 2009.
Hope you all agree with me, that our wildlife needs to be protected not destroyed?
By using a child as an example and by saying that the boar could have broken his legs, all this gentleman did was to incite more hatred towards the boar, as both comments were assumptions and the word assumption should not exist as it is relating to details, which are NOT fact!
The wild boar are always going to be controversial, but we can share our forests with them, without incident if we all remember they are wild animals and treat them with respect.
If a fallow buck in full antler or an adder was spotted by a member of the public, they would stop and stare and remember their memorable moment for years to come.
The fallow buck and the adder have more potential to kill a human than the wild boar, it's just that people are used to them and they are not often seen.
Over time and if managed correctly, this will happen to the boar, it just needs time.

I wonder how many dogs chase the deer around the forest, with the owners looking on and not giving a thought for the deer?




Rob

Thursday 11 June 2009

Autumn in the Forest of Dean

I know we have only just broken into summer, but this is what we have got to look forward to. All photographs taken in Forest of Dean by me.

Don't forget to turn the volume up!

Enjoy...


New Snake Video

A new and improved snake video. All snakes taken by me in the Forest of Dean.

Don't forget to turn the volume up!

Enjoy!


The Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review

I have contacted the editor of the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley Review to comment and hopefully get an article published, sticking up for the wild boar, instead of condemning it.

The article I am refering to is from page 5 of, Volume 29, No 24, week ending 12th June 2009.


Here is my reply.....

To the editor,

I am writing in response to your article featuring the wild boar, Vol29, No24, WE: 12th June 2009.
Hopefully you will see fit to publish my views. My name is Robin Ward, I am 40 years old and I live in Cinderford in the Forest of Dean. I am a company Director and I have lived in the Dean all my life.
It saddens me when people make assumptions about certain species just because they don't fit in like the rest of our wildlife. Take the wild boar and the snake for instance. I have been photographing our native snakes for many years and I took my first wild boar photograph back in 2006. Since then I have had many encounters with them, sometimes on their own and sometimes with their young, but not once have I encountered an aggressive one! I am passionate about all our wildlife, I also believe that everything has a right to live and that we should not condemn and persecute without obtaining the facts. When people make assumptions like, if I were a child, it would have stood no chance! This is just another nail in the wild boar's coffin, how can anyone make this assumption? The boar sees dogs as a threat, not humans. They are inquisitive and have poor eyesight, only being able to distinguish blue from the three primary colours, so when they see something large walking through the forest, they have to get close to see what it is and if there is something roughly the same size as them on all fours (your dog), then yes they could see it as a threat, especially if they have young present.
The boar, which supposedly charged Mr. ??? would have been trotting up to check him and his dogs out. I have experienced this many times and I have even captured it on video, see link below. There has been a sow and three piglets in the woods where Mr. ??? saw the boar recently, she has been spotted on numerous occasions and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the boar that he saw. I have attached a photograph of her ((c) Robin Ward), taken by me only 2 weeks ago in the same place as Mr. ??? saw his.
I can understand peoples concerns as it is a species, which has not roamed our forests since the 17th Century and people don't know what to expect, but like any wild animal in the Forest of Dean, treat them with respect and leave well alone.
I agree that they will require managing like the fallow deer as they have no natural predators, but the Forestry Commission already manage the deer, so there should be no issue there? I have also attached a few more of my photographs, all from the Forest of Dean. Hopefully you will be able to put together a nice piece, rejoicing our wildlife?
I am also an external writer for BBC Gloucestershire on their nature section, having 8 articles published to date. See BBC wild boar link below. Wild boar video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPlg2oTfKKM Link to my BBC feature: http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/content/articles/2007/11/22/wild_boar_feature.shtml

It's not a sin to love wildlife, we need it to survive!



Kind Regards

Robin Ward

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Insect Invasion

Here is a pic movie I put together showing our insect world, with a few other surprises along the way!

All pics by me except the space, planet and volcanic ones, lol.

Click play below and don't forget to turn the volume up!