Category: animals

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A grey defends his rights in britain

There aren’t many sites in defense of the grey squirrel. Here’s one written in the first person, with some good arguments on defining “nativeness:”

http://www.grey-squirrel.org.uk/

“NATIVE BY BIRTH – CONDEMNED BY ORIGIN”

Key points at a glance

1. “Nativeness” is based on political boundaries rather than sensible concepts of the range of a species, or the birthplace of individuals

2. Evidence to support the “nativeness” of red squirrels in the north of the UK is extremely low

3. Humans are part of the environment, and therefore as legitimate a means of transporting species as any other natural means

4. Most Red Squirrels currently in the UK are also “aliens” by conservationists criteria. They were imported from Scandinavia to replenish numbers.

…and if you’re feeling feisty (and up for a clubbing yourself) you can buy one of their advocacy brollies in Professor Acorn’s shop.  Between fights, your head’ll be protected from the shit of the songbirds that the greys might’ve missed.

save the grey.
save the grey.
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“You hate them, we love them.”

Another cheerful celebration of the squirrel commando, Paul Parker, just in from the Daily Mail.

Paul Parker right, and journalist Harry Mount. Photo: Matt Lloyd
Paul Parker right, and journalist Harry Mount. Photo: Matt Lloyd

Paul Parker loves grey squirrels. Especially when they’ve been slow-cooked for eight hours with thyme, garlic and tomatoes.

Certainly my braised grey squirrel on a cherry tomato risotto – £12.95 at the Manor House Inn, 15 miles outside Newcastle, near Hadrian’s Wall – falls effortlessly off the bone and leaves a rich, gamey taste in the mouth, not unlike rabbit or pheasant…

‘I can’t sell them quick enough,’ says Paul. ‘I had 300 of them in the freezer. They’re all gone.’

The lean meat – there’s barely a trace of fat on these trim, athletic creatures – tastes particularly good after an energetic morning spent shooting squirrels and skinning them with Paul, up and down the Tyne valley, heading west from Newcastle towards the edge of the Pennines.

Paul, who is 45, runs a pest control company. Bees, wasps, bed bugs, squirrels, fleas, cockroaches, rodents and rabbits are all in his sights.

‘You hate them, we love them,’ is painted on the side of his van.

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Early Roman-Introduced Species to the UK

Chedworth Villa, Winter - holding a brown hare| © The National Trust
Chedworth Villa, "Winter - holding a brown hare| © The National Trust

Some introduced species to Britain by the Romans include:

Brown hare, Roman snail, Peacocks, guinea fowl, pheasants, domestic cats and possibly fallow deer.

…vegetables such as cabbages, peas, celery, onions, parsnips, leeks, turnips, cucumbers, radishes, carrots and asparagus, as well as fruit, including plums, pears, grapes, apples and cherries and nuts such as walnuts.

In addition, they brought over lilies, violets, pansies, poppies and the (somewhat less pleasant) stinging nettle

see The Archeology of Animals, Simon Davis

and Roman Agriculture

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Chinese Mitten Crabs

Chinese mitten crab. Image courtesy of the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries.
Chinese mitten crab. Image courtesy of the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries.

From the Non-Native Species site:

The Chinese mitten crab is a native of East Asia, introduced into Europe in the 1930s. It is thought to have been transported to Britain in ships’ ballast water (juvenile crabs and larvae) or perhaps by adult crabs clinging to ships’ hulls. The species has six larval development stages and it is understood that for complete development the larvae need to migrate to the open sea. Dispersion of the species is assisted by the pelagic larvae and mobile adults. Adults live in freshwater migrating to river estuaries and coastal regions to breed.

From the site, Marine Aliens:

The Chinese mitten crab has increased markedly in the last 10 years in the UK. This invasive species can cause serious structural degradation and pose a significant threat to native communities in estuarine systems. As a consequence, it has been placed on the IUCN 100 of the World’s worst invasive alien species list. The largest UK population of mitten crabs is located in the Thames region, including the Medway and Blackwater estuaries. This species has also been reported from the Humber and Tyne. Click here for video footage of the Chinese mitten crab.

Chinese Mitten Crabs(大闸蟹).

A Chinese delicacy, especially when their gonads are enlarged, “They are considered as the best yummies of the .” It appears they live in freshwater but migrate to the sea in the fall to mate – a time in which the femailes are “very plump.” (http://www.iwalku2.com/2008/10/its-season-of-yangcheng-lake-mitten-crab.html)

Spicy Salt Hairy Crabs
Spicy Salt Hairy Crabs
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wallabies in northumberland???

BBC News, June 02 2009

Hopper, who’s two and a half, made a bid for freedom by digging under a fence and making a hop for it towards a local forest.

Police believe the wallaby is still in the area and believed to be hiding in the Kielder Forest.

If you see him, kindly call the police on 03456 043 043.

***

In 2007, 3 wallabies escaped from a caravan park in Belford.

…and another one, who escaped from a petting zoo near Cornwall in 20o7 found a female mate in the wild, who was spotted with her joey in May 2009 on a lawn:

photo Brian Nash
photo Brian Nash

***

For the past 60 years, there has been a clatch of 60 wild wallabies living on the island of Inchconnachan, in Loch Lomond, Scotland – they’re now facing forced extermination in order to save other more native wildlife on the island with whom  food resources are shared.

Iain Sheves of Luss Estates, the island management group, said

“We understand that some people view wallabies as nice and good fun but we would hope people realise that native wildlife must be paramount.”

– June 2009 Daily Record

Inchconnachan Wallaby
Inchconnachan Wallaby