bTB - Badgers and the Cull!

During the month of November 2010 I contacted my local MP, Mr. Mark Harper on the issue of bTB and my concerns regarding the proposed badger cull.
It took a while, but I finally received a reply. Not from my local MP, but from MP Jim Paice "Minister of State for Agriculture and Food."
He did have an answer for everything I threw at him, but he failed to "directly" answer many of my questions and concerns.
Maybe he thought I would lose interest and he could shut me up with a 6 page reply.
Wrong!
You can read the 6 page reply at the end of this post.
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Sadly the cull has now been given the green light in Gloucestershire and this is very disappointing as there is an alternative.
A vaccine is available, it has been trialed by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and it works, yet our Government is not interested in investing in a vaccination; instead they have invested in a trial cull, which will see free running badgers shot at night. Not all of these animals will be carrying bTB, so this means lots of healthy badgers "will" inevitably be shot!
For them to be able to establish if this trial cull works, they will need to eradicate all badgers from the chosen area and to make matters worse, the reason it has been labeled a trial cull is because they are not sure if shooting free running badgers is the most humane way to do it!
If you have researched bTB you will know that the bTB bacteria can lye undetected in the soil for nearly two years! Click Here
If they persist with their proposed cull, killing all the badgers in the designated areas will not solve the problem as the areas will also have to be sealed off while being cleaned and disinfected. Is this going to be possible on small holdings and at farms, which have large herds?
Also, how are they going to stop other badgers from taking up this new territory after they have eradicated all the badgers? After all that's what all animals do; search out new territory!
The shooting of just one badger at night could cause the entire colony to flee the sett in search of safer ground. What if any, or all of these badgers are infected with bTB! I don't have to spell out what would happen then, do I?

Some of the other concerns I raised were...
Routine testing
Pre-movement testing
Movement restrictions
Gamma testing
Removal of infected animals
Control methods in place for the movement of infected animals

Here is my reply from MP Jim Paice, dated 8th February 2011.
CLICK PAGES FOR ENLARGED VIEW









I will leave you with this....

DEFRA has invested over £16 million in badger TB vaccine Research and Development since 1994/95. So why is it that the badger cull vaccine deployment fund is only £250,000?

And....

Where did bTB come from? Was it the badgers who transmitted this disease to cattle, or did the cattle transmit it to the badgers?
It has been widely documented that typical farm conditions harbour bTB. Lets face it, the vast majority of cattle on our farms have to stand in their own urine and feaces, in damp, dingy, humid sheds and barns. These conditions are ideal for the bTB bacteria to survive!

Visit Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust for more information on the vaccine HERE

Please CLICK HERE to add your support for the badger.




Rob

Dippers - Mating in the Forest of Dean!

Fantastic weekend and the weather has been bang on too!
After gaining a dipper location I decided to put in a few hours today to see if I could capture this elusive bird, (in a photograph that is).

The location wasn't great as it was quite dark, but I found a nice stone, which looked ideal for a dipper to rest on.



I must have sat there for at least 4hrs until suddenly I saw a flash from my right and sure enough, a dipper landed right where I wanted it to.





Now, if you have a sense of humour and are still here, thank you for enjoying "my" humour and read on.....


I was gobsmacked that a dipper was right in front of me, as if posing for the camera! But everything was about to go go ballistic as another one (presumably the male) turned up and they started mating, right there in front of me!



This was more than I could have ever imagined and I was buzzing with adrenaline, but then from out of nowhere a crazed beast popped up and before I knew it the dippers were gone! All that remained was just a few crumbs!



I managed to capture the beast and after a few moments I had tamed him. He is now a close friend and I am sure he will be popping up (unexpectedly) in future photographs, so look out for him.

PS: After interrogation he told me that they tasted like chicken!


There are lots of issues regarding our wildlife in the UK, which can sometimes get you down. For this reason it is "always" a good idea to occasionally do something silly, just to remind yourself that although it may be hard work sticking up for the wildlife, usually ending up with ridicule and abuse being thrown back at you; it is also there to be enjoyed and we (I) mustn't be serious all the time.

Rob

Feeding Time!

Well I took loads of food into the forest today with the intention of giving the birds a feast!
It didn't take long for the usual suspects to show up, but what I was really looking for was a Great Spotted Woodpecker to show in the snow. I could hear them drumming the trees nearby, but they were too busy and didn't put in an appearance.

Some of the birds, which did show up...


Female Blackbird


Nuthatch


Jay


Robin


And a Pigeon



Something caught my eye, but it was so quick I couldn't make out what it was, so I focused my attention on the area waiting to see if it would show again, whatever it was.
Then I saw it, a tiny wood mouse peeking out from a crevice in the tree. I took a few snaps, but I was too far away to get a decent shot, so I moved in to see how close I could get.
With the temperature dropping in the area to -7 at night and with snow on the ground, this little mouse braved the snow to come within a few inches of me; pinching peanuts before scampering off back to the safety of the crevice.
Then another one turned up and another! Three wood mice, I couldn't believe it, but at least they have enough peanuts to see them through the bad weather now.

Here are two of the wood mice. I was too far away for a decent photo, so I moved in closer!


Now closer (a lot closer) I waited for one to peek over the top.


He watched me for a second or two before risking it and scampering towards the peanuts.


He grabs a peanut!


He hasn't eaten the peanut, it is in his cheek pouch!



I decided to re-focus on the birds, but I had a problem, a big problem!
A sheep decided to jump up on the fallen tree and she started to eat the bird food. I scared her off a few times, but she kept coming back. It was hopeless, so I called it a day.



Rob

If You Go Out In The Woods Today!

We already have wild boar, roe, fallow and muntjac deer in the Forest of Dean, but soon we could see more pretty impressive mammals roaming the forest!
Proposals are being put together, which if passed will see cattle, horses and ponies grazing parts of the forest.
One thing I will say is that they have mentioned fencing parts of the forest. I wonder if this was ever considered where the wild boars are concerned? I doubt it!
Personally I look forward to these proposals being approved as the sheep, even though a nusiance to motorists, did a bloody good job grazing the forest. Since the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001 we hardly have any grazing sheep in the forest, so it will be fantastic to see free grazing mammals like cattle and ponies taking over where they left off.

Click here for article

Rob

Wild Boar Cull Suspended!

As the majority of people know, I have been campaigning for a closed season on the culling of wild boar in the Forest of Dean for quite a few years now.
This campaign has been an upward struggle, not only with the Governing bodies that hand down controversial policies, which are then put into practice, but also trying to dispel the scaremongering that can be seen on a regular basis in local and sometimes national newspapers.
The Forestry Commission have announced that they have suspended their proposed cull for 2012, until September. This is very welcome news and I thank the people responsible for making this happen, especially Dave Slater and Joyce Moss from Friends of the Boar. However, this is, in their own words an experimental closed season so the fight will continue until a closed season is implemented as policy every year, not just for 2012.

The wild boar numbers in the Forest of Dean are at critical level. To some this may sound foolish as wild boar evidence can still be seen on the road verges etc. However, what the majority of people do not understand is that it only takes one boar to overturn at least 100 metres of road verge in just one night.
This is not "damage", this is natural behaviour from an animal searching for food.
The reason the wild boars numbers are so low at present can only be the result of over culling and it may take a few years for their numbers to return to healthy levels.
When a species feels threatened it will do everything in its power to survive and this usually results in the production of more offspring. If the human race was under threat, how would we secure the survival of our species? We would breed!
If the wild boars know they can breed without the threat of being hunted and killed, over time we will see a self sustainable, healthy population, but for this to happen we need to be brave and accept them, respect them and only manage them when necessary, e.g. nuisance animals, aggression and to keep their numbers to an acceptable level, which has been scientifically proven.

I am over the moon that they have the luxury of being able to breed and ween their hoglets through the spring into the summer of 2012, but this experimental closed season must be made policy if this species is to survive.


Click here for a recent BBC feature regarding this issue

Click here for a Local Media story

I also filmed with ITV West today; to be aired at 18.00hrs tonight.
Click Here

Friends of the Boar

Petition - Please Sign

Rob

Warm, Cold and Confusing!

What a weird month it has been so far. First we have temperatures around 12 oC, then within a day or two they are at -3 oC (last night) and now there is talk of them returning to around 12 oC later this week!
You may be forgiven if you are thinking, "well it is winter", but when the temperature hit 12 oC earlier this month it confused a lot of our wildlife into thinking spring had come early.
Firstly there was a hedgehog rooting around my garden and secondly there was a red admiral butterfly basking in the forest. January is not a month where we should be seeing these creatures and I just hope that it has not jeopardised their survival!
There have also been reports of blooming flowers, such as daffodils, a flower, which usually blooms in February.
Snowdrops have also been blooming and I am concerned that the recent freezing temperatures may have killed them off, not to return when they should. Remember, these flowers aren't there to just look pretty; they play a vital role in our gardens and countryside with our insects, which "we" rely on for our own survival.

January Hedgehog.






January Red Admiral Butterfly.


There is one thing that you can be sure will be there every month, whether it is raining, snowing or sunny and that is the fly tipper!



Rob

Happy 2012!

At the start of 2011, I along with many others had no idea what the future held for our forests in the UK. As the months passed, the support and passion from local people soon became evident and it also became clear to our Government and local MP's that we were not going to give up our forests without a fight!
When the day came that our Government backtracked on its plans to privatise our forests, it was a massive relief for me as I didn't want to imagine the devastation these plans could have on our forests and the wildlife living within. My very sincere thanks to all who put their weight behind the HooF campaign and also to the many who supported this cause with so much passion.
The forests mean so much to many of us, for many different reasons. The time I spend in the forest with our varied and healthy wildlife can never be topped and I hope that it will always be out there for future generations to enjoy. For this reason we must always be ready to stand up and fight again and again and again if the fire reignites!

2012 will undoubtedly bring its hardships and personal battles to many of us, but there is something out there; something that has the capability to help us through the toughest of times, and that is nature. If you are looking for a way to escape the stress of modern life and the worries it brings, take nature into your life and realise what life is really about.
I wish you all the best for 2012.

Below are some of my favourite photographs of wildlife from the last 12 months in the Forest of Dean....















And finally, a photograph that for me "is" the Forest of Dean. The wild boars may have been illegally released and they may not be every ones cup of tea. However, they are here to stay and I for one will keep up the fight until they are given the status and protection the deserve.

Happy 2012!



Rob