Badger Cull; Poaching and Lots More

Sorry I have not posted for a while; been busy with house renovations and work. 

Lots going on in the Forest of Dean to take up my spare time though and I have listed everything (with photographs) below. It has taken me a few hours to put this post together, so please take the time to read through as there is some very important stuff below.

Please do not forget to click on the links and support whatever you can as our wildlife depends on people like us. Thanks, Rob.

GlosARG

As most of you are aware, along with a friend (Scott Passmore) I recently founded GlosARG and we are delighted to inform you that we have our first patrons.

Patron 1 - Zara Boland (better known as Zara the Vet) http://www.zarathevet.com/.

Zara is known for her media vet work and is a regular feature on Channel 5, the BBC and Sky TV. She is also the founder and Director of Vet Voice.  

Patron 2 - Sean McCormack

Sean is a veterinary surgeon and has worked with domestic and exotic animals after finishing University. During vet school Sean completed Canine Behaviour and Zoo Medicine elective modules. Over the years he has kept and bred a huge variety of reptiles and amphibians. 

We welcome both patrons and thank them for their support.

Talking of reptiles lets look at some adders, which I photographed this year while surveying. 

This female gained me my first ever "explore" on Flickr and in case you are wondering, yes I was really that close.

She was not very old, probably around 2 or 3 years and like many snakes of this age, she was extremely inquisitive. She was basking on a log and I managed to get my camera on the end so I was shooting straight up the log at her. She watched me for a while before deciding to come down and check me out.

When this happens it is truly amazing as they show no aggression at all, they just come down, taste the air and stare straight into the lens. Photographed using the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

Juvenile Adder (Vipera berus)

Here is mum in the same area, except basking on a different log. The mature snakes are not easy to get close to as they are more wary, so I never try and get up close with them.

Mature Female Adder (Vipera berus)

GlosARG on Facebook

GlosARG on Twitter

GlosARG Official Website

BADGER CULL

Now onto a very important and distressing situation. The proposed badger cull!

I understand that bTB (Bovine Tuberculosis) is a debilitating disease and that it must be tackled, however, I strongly disagree that by eradicating the badger it will stop this disease. Yes it will reduce the numbers of infected cattle, but as this is not a cure I believe that an alternative must be considered.

Over the years DEFRA has spent millions on a vaccine, yet they have chosen to shelve it and go ahead with the culling of 70% of badgers in the Westcountry.

The startling realisation is that if they go ahead and kill 70% of badgers in the proposed areas, it is fact that this will reduce bTB by just 16%! Hundreds, if not thousands of badgers will be slaughtered and yet we will still be left with this disease, why? because other animals (mammals) can also carry and transmit this disease. Mice, rats, deer, fox and wild boar; they can all carry bTB and they are all capable of entering farmland.

I wrote to MP Jim Paice in 2010 expressing my concerns and I asked him to clarify numerous questions regarding farming practices, testing and the movement of cattle in known bTB hot spots. I received a 6 page reply in 2011 where he answered all of my questions, although indirectly.

Badgers will be targeted illegally and it has already started! - Story Here

If you would like to help, please visit the following links

Brain May's Save Me (Yes, that Brian May)  

Save Me on Facebook

Save Me on Twitter

Save Me Official Website

Brian is due to visit the Forest of Dean very soon to talk and express his concerns.

Please also support GABS (Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting)

GABS on Facebook

GABS on Twitter

GABS Official Website

Playful Badger in the Forest of Dean

                                           

POACHING

If you admit to having a problem, you then have no option but to deal with it and sadly the seriousness of poaching in the Forest of Dean is being played down by the people who are supposed to be managing and caring for our forest "and the wildlife!"

Evidence of poaching can be found all over the forest, yet it is still not being taken seriously. Yes, the Police have asked for information regarding a recent incident, but who is going to grass on a poacher with a shotgun, or high powered rifle?

To see the aftermath, left behind after these butchers have been to work is gut wrenching and it has to stop. The most recent incident involved a 18 month old male wild boar, which had been shot in the jaw and then slowly bled to death in the forest. This is inhumane animal cruelty and the people responsible must be stopped.

The Police are asking for information regarding a 4x4 seen at Forest Hills Golf Club in the Forest of Dean last week. Apparently the occupants were shooting at wild boar from the vehicle. 

Open your eyes people, this is public land, used by dog walkers and golfers. If this carries on someone is going to die!!!

Story Here

Below are some photographs taken deep in the forest where no public access is allowed. The Forestry Commission have said that they do not use this track, so whoever made these tracks were in the forest without permission.

It goes without saying that we obviously reported the location to the FC, yet so far nothing has been done to try and stop them, whoever they are. They are here regularly as the mess is getting worse on a weekly basis.

If you would like to help, please visit Friends of the Boar.

Friends of the Boar on Facebook

Friends of the Boar Official Website

                                              

                                                     

Moving on from the sorry state our country has become under the new so called Government, here are a few photographs from recent months.

Red Fox 

This young fox knew something was there, but as he couldn't see me it made him inquisitive. He walked to within a few metres before he smelt me and legged it. He did come back though, so I obviously don't smell that bad?

Curious Fox

Red Kite
A portrait of a red kite. The key is to position yourself with the sun hitting just one side of the face. Through the naked eye you will still see the entire face, but by dropping the exposure it will highlight just the areas where the sun is hitting.

Thoughts of a Kite!

Three years ago I photographed this chap and ever since I have wondered if I would ever see him again. As the years passed I resigned myself to the thought that he must have been either culled or poached. However, after more than three hours in one location on Tuesday and with a very sore bum he walked out in front of me.
Moments like these are truly magical and will stay with me forever.

Ghost of the Forest

And Finally - Lightning

Nature is all around us, all the time, but on occasions it unleashes something quite spectacular. Lightning is awesome to watch and photograph as you capture details, which can never be seen through the naked eye.
The shots below have been taken over a few years.

It doesn't have to be big, to be impressive!

The lightning in this shot has illuminated to mist forming over the forest

Over in an instance, yet the intensity of the light is overwhelming 

Rob

What a "Waste!"

If you live in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley area, you will probably be aware that yet another white fallow buck has died!
Not from being involved in a collision with a car like the last one, but from discarded rope getting tangled in his antlers and then with a melanistic (black) bucks antlers as they fought, during rutting. Sadly the white buck died before he could be saved and as these animals are quite rare, it was very sad news.

Story Here

The white buck was a lot younger than the black buck and this would have meant he was not as strong, hence the reason why he perished first. If the two lads hadn't found them, the black buck would have perished also. Basically with a combination of factors ranging from stress, lactic acid build up and exhaustion, he didn't stand a chance and probably died from heart failure.
You can judge a buck's age from the size of his antlers and as you can see in the photograph, the white buck had significantly smaller antlers.

As many of you know, I write a wildlife column called Ward's Wildlife for a local newspaper, but I don't expect anyone can remember the very first article I wrote?
It was simply called "Fly Tipping" and it showed the consequences of what discarded material such as rope can have on our wildlife and environment.

Link to article on my blog as I can't find the original online. Warning, graphic photograph! Article Here

Some people just don't care and they don't give a damn about our wildlife. I know, I have met many of them in the forest over the years.
I just hope that when one of these people are eventually caught, the punishment will be an example to show the others that their behaviour is wrong and cruel, and will not be tolerated.
I urge everyone to report any fly tipping to me anonymously by email, thanks.

Rob

Sad News

Very sad news!

To everyone who is not aware, a pure white fallow deer buck was filmed by a local guy and then a still was taken from the film and sent to the local Forester newspaper.
This would have been fine if the location had not been printed, but to say that he was filmed in the woods at ?????? ?????, kind of narrows down the vicinity in which he lives!
A national newspaper has picked up the story and is also using it! The problem now is that this deer will have a huge price on its head and there are too many people out there, which will hunt him and kill him for money.
I know the person who filmed him and he is a genuine nice person with a massive passion for our wildlife. He loves to go out filming our wildlife around the forest and would never intentionally do anything to harm it.
The editor responsible for printing its location in the Forester should have known better. It would have made no difference to the article if he had left the location out?
Very sad day, as this magnificent beast is only around 4 years old and probably won't see 5!

I could have gone public with my pics and video, could have made a lot of money also, but it would have been blood money and this is why I have never done it.

I have filmed him and photographed him many times and I have even posted his pics on here, but I have never given his location away.
The Forest of Dean covers over 42sq miles, so reporting a rare sighting does not jeopardise the subject’s safety unless you give the vicinity or exact location away.

I have said this before, in one of my recent posts... The media can be a great and effective tool in looking out for and protecting our wildlife, but it can also be the worse enemy any animal could possible have, if used in the wrong way.

A Close Encounter

A close encounter with a large, mature fallow deer buck in the Forest of Dean, in October 2009.

Is this a true albino? Please comment...