The Evil Killers Lurking In The Forest

Due to the recent negativity (again), regarding the wild boar in the Forest of Dean, I thought I would show you this photo. What do you think?
Looks very scary yes, but I can assure you that I still have all my fingers and he was grunting with excitement. No threat whatsoever.

I am not saying that it is OK to approach wild boar, nor am I saying its OK to touch them. What I am saying is that from time to time, certain people have encounters with wild animals, some good and some not so good, but how many times have the boar attacked humans, in this country (or in the world), without good cause?
What I mean is that there are wild boar attacks on humans in countries where they hunt them. This is because the boar has been chased and scared half to death by a pack of dogs, which then savage it before the owner turns up trying to act all macho and man handle the boar in front of the camera, then they wonder why the boar has a go back and they get hurt.
These people see themselves as hero's and hard men, but in reality they are just attention seekers that get adrenaline rushes out of torturing and killing wild animals like the wild boar and deer.

Search YouTube, there are plenty of the sadistic, blood thirsty assholes on there, but if you do, be prepared to see some very nasty stuff and look closely at the video, as 99% of the time you can clearly see that the boar is just trying to get away and does not want confrontation.
Then do a search for un-provoked attacks on humans on the web and see what comes up! You will be surprised, as these animals do not attack for no reason.
If a dog threatens one then yes, the dog will get hurt, but if a dog also threatens a fallow buck during the rut, or an adder during the Spring/Summer, the dog will also get hurt, so to all the people who hate the boar just because they are worried about their dog, you are wrong to fear this creature just because you have a dog.

It is law that a person has to be in control of their dog while off lead in public areas, so if you are not in control, then you can't blame the boar, only yourself!

We must never forget that all animals in the wild and in captivity will protect their young, and they will usually do this, even if it means they will lose their own life in the process.
Does this sound familiar? It should do, as this is the same behaviour as us! We would also give our lives to protect our children, (well most of us anyway).

I am not a tree-hugger, nor am I any different to anybody else. I just have a passion for our wildlife and I will never ever sit back and ignore the scaremongering that is spread every single day regarding the wild boar. I have said from day one that the boar numbers will need managing, but this is obvious as if not, they will breed out of control. The fallow deer are managed in the same way.

The media can be used to highlight threats and environmental / conservation issues, for this it is a great tool, but used unwisely, it can be the worst enemy our wildlife has!

Thanks to Ben for taking this shot.

A Year Behind The Lens - 2009

This is my first year filming around the Forest of Dean. I have been photographing it for a long time, but I had never put a lot of time into filming, until this year.

As you can only upload 100MB of video to Blogger at one time, I had to be selective with my material and there is no music to my video as the sounds of the forest are far more superior to any music!

I hope you like what you see?

Animal Communication

Animals communicate just like humans, through being vocal. Most of the time we do not hear them, but I have isolated a few and then slowed them down in the following clip.
You will be surprised at the outcome!

PS: Bonus footage at the end.

The Strike!

Rain and gales, not good weather for anything really!
As I can't get out and about with the cameras, I have decided to create something a little special from some old video footage.

Hope you like?

Pics and Video From Today

Went walkabout earlier and found some more deer, although they didn't want to look at me today for some reason.
Must be my ninja skills?!


Can you see her? Click pic for larger view


I was tempted to jump on and hitch a ride!

My eldest daughter Alice was with me today, she is 14 years old and she sat in a cold, damp cramped environment for 3.5hrs and she was so quiet that these deer walked out no more than 20 feet in front of us.

Pics from BBC Points West

Well, I expect some will be looking for my pics featured on the TV last night, so here they are...


Fallow Doe (Dama dama)

Female Adder (Vipera berus)

Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)

White Fallow Buck (Dama dama)

Thanks

Rob

BBC Made in England - Art from the Heart

As many of you reading this are probably aware, there is a literature festival being held over the next week at Cheltenham Town Hall.

The project I was involved in was organised and led by BBC Gloucestershire and the Arts Council England for Made in England.

I was one of 20 individuals selected from Gloucestershire to work with Marcus Moore and Ben Cavvana on a project called Art from the Heart, which saw each person select a place within the county that means a lot to them, photograph it from a unique perspective and write a poem about it.


I chose Woorgreen Lake in the Forest of Dean as this place means everything to me. As a boy I grew up around the forest and spent many weekends playing around this lake. As I grew older, my passion for wildlife and nature took over and Woorgreen Lake became my focal point for the forest.
There is another reason why this place means a lot to me. My parents introduced me to nature and wildlife at a very young age and if it were not for them, I may not be leading the life I am today. I have a great deal to thank them for and I will be forever grateful.

I will post links to the project and my photograph below, but here is my poem. It is supposed to symbolize how I can walk into our forest, stressed, angry and tired, but within a few moments I relax and become at one with nature and all my worries and stresses leave me.
I will always live in the Forest of Dean, I couldn't imagine my life without it and I want to thank Marcus and Ben for helping me share my passion.


Woorgreen Lake (Lost in Tranquillity)

As I Sit and watch with eyes glaring
Tensed and gnarled like an oak
The Buzzard soaring high “daring”
Looking through the water, I feel broke

I close my eyes and listen quietly
There are many places I have been
A passer by whispers politely
Asking what I have seen?

The walkers, the joggers, some think it’s a race
The beauty, it makes my heart ache
I could talk for hours about this place
From the snakes and the boar, to the deer and the drake


My inspiration and my rock (Woorgreen Lake)

In Pictures

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8294000/8294874.stm

Made in England - Art from the Heart
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/gloucestershire/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8295000/8295212.stm

White Buck Pics

Well, I didn't have to wait long to get my pics of the white buck! 24hrs to be precise. I was sat in a cramped position for just over 3hrs today when he finally showed and I was rewarded with this shot among others.

23.09.2009

I don't think he is a true albinistic buck, just white, but that's OK.

Guess I was just in the right place at the right time, but after seeing him there yesterday, I had to try my luck again.

I also managed to snap a couple of common and a melanistic fallow deer. I also saw a menil doe the other day, but she was too far away to photograph. I Will try harder next time!

Melanistic

Common

Common

Common

New Deer Pics & Video from the Forest of Dean

Well, the fallow deer rut is around the corner and the doe's are already grouping. Counted 19 in two groups on Monday 21st September.
I managed to get some pics of the one group. Here they are...

Click on the images for larger size.


This image has been cropped to highlight the tick on top of her left ear!


Two young doe's having a bit of fun. The dark one is melanistic.

Spotted me! Oh well never mind!

OK, this is not a deer, nor is it in the Forest of Dean! It's a grey heron I photographed on the river Avon earlier this month.

This is a rare treat! A pure white fallow buck, not a true albinistic fallow buck, but impressive none the less. I filmed him on Tuesday 22nd September.

I was quite a way off and I didn't want to scare him away by trying to get closer. 50x optical zoom pulled him in though.

What I Think

Every day I feel more and more compelled to do or write something to highlight the Forest of Dean and it's wildlife.

I have a massive passion for photography, but I can't explain my feelings for this place. Every second of every day I am thinking about it. In my own mind, nobody even comes close to the way I feel. One day when the time is right, I will dedicate my whole life to the forest and it's critters.

I have had the pleasure of meeting some very talented, extraordinary people over the last few months and this has helped me immensly.

Especially to Marcus Moore and Ben Cavanna, I say thank you.

Hope you like the poem and video and don't forget to turn the...

VOLUME UP!

Large Grass Snake + More

Firstly, I want to apologise for being inactive lately. Had some issues, which took up a lot of my time, but I'm getting there slowly.


Here are a few pics, the first one is a Scarlet Tiger Moth (Callimorpha dominula), which flew into my home, the second is a Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar or larvae (Deilephila elpenor), which I found in my garden, the third is a Female Adder (Vipera berus), I photographed her near Speech House in the Forest of Dean and the last is a video of a large Grass Snake (Natrix natrix), which I filmed late in the evening at one of my favourite spots in the Forest of Dean.

Hope you like?


Scarlet Tiger Moth

Elephant Hawk Moth Caterpillar

Female Adder


Grass Snake Video (120cm approx)

The Forest of Dean and its Wildlife in Pictures

This pic vid has sound not music, check it out! Hope you like?

Please comment.

Selective Colour with a Twist!

If you are looking for something different, something to wake you up in the morning, you have found it!

Selective colour with a few surprises along the way.

Enjoy and don't forget to turn the VOLUME UP!

Thanks

Rob

Wild Boar Debate Continued...........

Well as you will probably have read already, I have had a reply to my reply in the Review this week, regarding the wild boar!
Mrs. Partridge has asked the question whether I could hold my nerve and my camera steady with a couple of wild boar charging me.

Firstly, I would just like to say that I am posting this here as I believe a tit for tat battle through the newspaper will not get anyone anywhere, where the boar are concerned, I have had my say and she has had hers.

If the wild boar are seen so often and sooooooooo dangerous, why are they not attacking? It amazes me that people are still willing to condemn a species on the assumption that they MAY attack, when all the boar are doing is trotting or running up to check things out.
I have never hidden from the fact that they will kill a dog if they have young or if the dog becomes aggressive, but if you are reading this then you have access to the net... DO A SEARCH and look up unprovoked wild boar attacks on humans IN THE WORLD! Then condemn them, all they are doing is checking things out as they have very poor eyesight and can only distinguish blue from the three primary colours.
Do people not read or research anything these days?
It's like me saying Umm! There's a dog off a lead in the wood, it may bite me! Better do something to stop this or our children will get hurt.
COME ON, it's a forest with wild animals in it. There are fallow stags, which have the potential to kill a fully grown man during the rut and there are snakes, which can kill children and the elderly, but we don't run around screaming every time we see one, do we.

It's a joke and it anoys me when people make assumptions about our wildlife!

Mrs Partridge, I have been face to face with the biggest boar I have seen in my life and I have a witness who was with me at the time. I have had one run at me and the video is on HERE. I have photographed them in groups (sounders), on their own and with their little ones. I even photograph snakes UP CLOSE, so the answer to your questions is yes, I can hold my nerve, I can take a steady shot and I am never intimidated by the boar. I am wary of them and respect them as they are wild animals, but they are not monsters like they have been portrayed to be.
I only hope that you and many like you see them in a different light before it is too late. I also hope to be as lucky as you and see them on a more regular basis, this way I can get more video footage, which will show their behaviour and help to educate people on their behaviour, so they will see that they are not after our blood!

Until the next time....

Rob

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

It's all in Your Imagination

Turn the volume up and enjoy!

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...

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

Vipera berus (female)

A female I photographed back in 2008.

Wild Boar Sow (Sus scrofa)

He she is, sadly I missed the little ones!