Thousands of Badgers to Die!

The Badger Trust has Lost its Appeal to Stop the Cull of Badgers in the West Country!

Below are links to online petitions; repeated at end of post.

Brain May's Save Me

Team Badger

RSPCA Don't Shoot!

Government e-petition

The news many people and organisations have been dreading; the Badger Trust has lost its appeal to halt the cull of thousands of badgers across Gloucestershire and Somerset and Natural England is soon expected to issue licences to shoot free running badgers at night.

What happens now?

As this was an appeal, which was lost, the cull will commence this autumn unless a miracle happens. We have many powerful and knowledgeable people standing in the corner of the badger like Brian May, Sir David Attenborough and Simon King to name a few, but will this be enough?

I don't think so, but as a nation we, the people have the power to stop this from happening. If enough of us stand together then anything is possible. People power stopped the sell off of our woodland as hundreds of thousands of people stood together and said "NO!"

Does this shy, secretive and nocturnal animal not matter? We fought long and hard to protect our woodlands, yet only the minority is willing to stand up to protect an amazing creature, which calls our forests and countryside its home.

If we just sit back without caring, they will ravage our countryside and forests with development and death; destroying unique and diverse habitats on their way without giving a damn about the implications it will have on our eco-system.

Our children and grandchildren have to grow up in the world we leave behind, and it is up to "us" to make sure it is a good one.

It is fact that killing 70% of the badger population in the designated areas will reduce bTB in cattle by just 16%. And it will take 9 years to complete, so where is the logic in this insane proposal?

bTB must be tackled, but it must be tackled in a way that will see it eradicated throughout our countryside and forests. This disease can be carried by most mammals, including rodents, deer, fox and wild boar. All can and will enter farmland, so what are they going to do, kill all deer, fox, boar, mice and rats after they have finished with the badger?

To target one species is discrimination, unjust and will only end in failure at the cost of two counties losing a valuable asset to our eco-system.

The cull will see trained marksmen shooting free running badgers at night with high powered rifles and the bullets have the capability of travelling up to three miles. If this sounds insane to you, that's because it is and to top it off there will be no information as to when and where the shoots are to take place. So watch yourself if you use public footpaths at night, as you may find yourself on the receiving end on a missile, which will pass straight through you; killing you.

Night time cull trials have been tested in the past and in one incident a marksman tragically killed his grandson!

One reason why scientists have spoken out against this cull is because of the Perturbation Effect. 

What is the Perturbation Effect? Badgers live in social groups and when disrupted or if the badgers feel their life is in danger, they will flee the sett in search of safer ground. If any of the fleeing badgers are indeed infected with bTB, they will carry and transmit the disease over a wider area. 

See links below for full details.

http://www.impan.pl/~ecmtb11/showabstract.php?id=Prentice_Jamie

http://archive.defra.gov.uk/evidence/science/publications/documents/OutcomeOfExpertsMeetingOnBovineTBAndPerturbation.pdf

http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/badgers-and-bovineTB

What is the alternative to culling? Vaccination!

DEFRA has spent years and millions of pounds developing a vaccine, yet they have shelved it in favour of a cull. 

Click the link below for Fera's Badger Vaccine Deployment Project. http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/wildlife/ecologyManagement/bvdp/

Many believe that by vaccinating both badgers and cattle, it will help eradicate this disease and lets be honest, the human race itself is vaccinated against multiple diseases and we did this without a mass cull of human beings; unless you count the many wars we have seen!

First we must get this disease under control, once under control we can work towards eradicating it. By killing just one species will not help us reach this goal and this is why we must all stand up to help stop this cull.

If you disagree with the badger cull and want to help, please click on the links below and sign the petitions. Many thanks.

Brain May's Save Me

Team Badger

Get Involved Petetion

RSPCA Don't Shoot!

Government e-petition

And if you don't believe me, you can hear it from the experts! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhojkHMyaJg&feature=share

In 2010 I wrote to my local MP regarding my concerns over the proposed badger cull and what measures were in place and being implemented to help stop the progression of bTB. He then forwarded my letter onto Jim Paice.

Jim Paice replied to me in 2011 through my local MP with a 6 page reply. Please see below.  

PLEASE DON'T SHOOT ME

Rob

Survey Results

I have updated my dedicated snake blog "Snakes in the Forest of Dean" after conducting a full survey at a new and unique site. Like me, you will be amazed at what we found!
With photographs of course!

Check it out here - Survey Results

Rob

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

Disease to Devastate Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean could soon lose all of its 700,000 larch trees due to a devastating disease. Phytophthora ramorum is an airborne spore, which is carried on the wind and this disease has already infected 36,000 larch trees in the Dean. It is worrying as if the decision is taken to fell all larch in the Dean, it will equate to 880 hectares, or 2.174 acres and this will leave large areas of the forest like a war zone.
One thing however, which we have to be thankful for is the fact that the people undertaking the work will be experts and professional when it comes to Forestry Management.
I am sure we can rely on the Forestry Commission to halt the spread of this disease and we must give them our support as if the decision is taken to fell all larch, it will be a tough decision to make.

If we do lose the larch our wildlife will be affected and one species that will take the brunt of it is the goshawk as this bird favours larch when nest building.
Mature larch are very tall with very few branches low down and this gives the gos a perfect habitat to hunt
Up until recent years the goshawk was on the red list for endangered species in the UK. Their numbers were at critical levels and in some cases they were extinct from many parts of the UK. The reason their numbers plummeted was due to persecution and it is very sad that this time a more natural disaster could have a massive impact on this species in the Forest of Dean once again.
Goshawk build numerous massive nests and they will then rotate between nests year after year, so if the trees come down the nests will come down with them.
This bird will nest in other trees such as conifers and only time will tell what impact the felling of the larch will have on Britain's most persecuted bird.  

Goshawk nest high up in Larch Tree

Closer view of same nest. Photographed from ground level

Female Goshawk

Click Here for Full Story

Rob

Wildlife Everywhere!

Had a cracking day in the forest on Sunday with a good friend Scott Passmore. Spent 6hrs in a hide and managed to see fallow deer, red fox, buzzard, lizard and great spotted woodpeckers before heading out into the forest to try and track down some wild boar.

Didn't find any boar as the bracken and grass was just too high, but did see a goshawk, loads of butterflies and moths, and also 20+ deer, although one had seen better days!!!

Ten hour shift searching for wildlife and finding loads, so a very productive day. All photograph below are of wild animals, seen in the Forest of Dean on Sunday 22.07.2012.

Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Not great for photography and pretty hard going on foot, but I love exploring areas like this!

Forest of Dean

Enormous Ant Hills!

At Least 15 Speckled Wood Browns (I Think?)

Cinnabar Moths Crowding a Thistle Flower

Sneaky Red Fox

Fallow Buck in Velvet

Roe Buck Skull, Complete with Antlers

Rob

GlosARG

We are off and running with our new group; GlosARG!

Gloucestershire Amphibian and Reptile Group has been set up for the conservation of all our native reptiles and amphibians throughout Gloucestershire.
We are an affiliated group of ARG UK.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

If you would like to get involved, please contact us through one of the links below. We have a website, Facebook and Twitter pages, so you can easily get hold of us.
The feeling you get from knowing you have done something to conserve wildlife can not be beaten, so please get involved. It is fun, interesting and educational.
Get the kids involved and give them a passion, which will carry them well through life. What a feeling it would be to see your own children pass this gift onto your grandchildren!

We have only been running for a few weeks and in this time we have already discovered a "new" Great Crested Newt colony in the Forest of Dean.
These newts are endangered and protected by European law, so we couldn't have hoped for a better start!

You can reach us through the following links below.

GlosARG Website
Facebook
Twitter

ARG UK

Thank you in advance.

Rob

GlosARG and Some Bucks!

GlosARG

If you are not already aware, along with a good friend Scott Passmore I have founded Gloucestershire's very own Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Group. This group is only a couple of weeks old yet we have already discovered a new colony of Great Crested Newts living in an old, secluded pond deep in the Forest of Dean.

A great start to our new venture and we hope for many more discoveries in the years to come.

If you live in the Gloucestershire area and want to help us by becoming involved. Please visit our website, Facebook page or even Twitter. You can contact us on all of these pages and we will be delighted to sign you up!

I have been finding, surveying and managing areas for the adder and grass snake for years. In turn this helps other reptiles and amphibians in the area. I have a wealth of experience and I would be delighted to pass this on to the right people so that together, we can make Gloucestershire a recognised place where Reptile and Amphibian Conservation is concerned.

See links under adder pic.

Female Adder

GlosARG

Facebook

Twitter

ARG UK

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Now for Some Deer

These two chaps (Fallow Deer Bucks) were having a lazy stroll through the foxgloves and the more I observed them, the more I noticed some peculiar behaviour.

When fallow deer breed the buck will bite the back of the doe, like what you can see in the photograph below, so either this chap was getting a little frisky, or he was just getting some practice in for the big day?   

Their antlers are still in the early stages of growth and are covered in velvet at this time of the year, but over the next couple of months the antlers you see here will grow to a massive size and during the month of September they will rub the velvet off on trees surrounding their breeding territory.

If you look at the two front points of the antler, which are growing out to protect the eyes during a fight you will notice that they are quite long. This indicates that when fully grown, these two chaps will have some pretty impressive palmate antlers.

They may look firm friends now, but come September/October, they will be bitter rivals and will even fight for the right to mate with the doe's in this area.

As long as they do not move to a different part of the forest, I will do my best to find and photograph these two chaps as their antlers grow and the rutting season commences. 

Rob