ANIMALS, PEOPLE AND THOSE IN BETWEEN
BBC April 2009:
…for 43 years, from 1903, there was an active effort on estates across the Highlands to trap, shoot and kill reds.
By 1946, the Highland Squirrel Club had killed 102,900 squirrels and paid out £1,504 in bounties.
Tails were submitted as proof of kills.
Links to literature: http://www.europeansquirrelinitiative.org/reports.html
Including
THE RED SQUIRREL
Redressing The Wrong
by Charles Dutton
A genetic mutation of the UK enemy squirrel threatens to out-grab even the wild and power-hungry greys:
This from 2008 – seems to have been affecting East Anglia mostly. Not sure what’s happening with them now.. been quite in the news.
The black squirrel – a genetic mutation of the grey – was first recorded in Britain 90 years ago but now accounts for half of all squirrels in some parts of the country.
They have higher testosterone levels, which is thought to make them more domineering and territorial, while their colouring makes them more attractive to female greys.
Talking to Grant Burgess at the DOVE Marine Lab today about the defensive slime that bacteria produce, in order to keep from being decimated (by enemies, by antibiotics) reminded me of Alfonso Lingis’ description of the body as bodies, systems inside of systems, from his book “Dangerous Emotions”:
This from the BBC/Tyne online
“The Kittiwake, a small seagull, could be driven off its nesting sites on the Tyne Bridge by Newcastle City Council.
The birds are at sea feeding on fish offal discarded by trawlers and when they return in the spring to nest they may find that the City Council has netted off their nesting sites on the Tyne bridge.They used to nest in the Baltic Flour Mills but have been driven off by the cultural aspirations of Gateshead. Gateshead Council provided a nesting tower but this has been moved down river.
The renovation of the Baltic Flour Mill on the Gateshead side of the Tyne took away access to a Kittiwake breeding site on Tyneside.
Now, in response to complaints from local residents about the mess and noise from Kittiwakes, Newcastle City Council is considering netting the Tyne Bridge to prevent nesting.. IIt is clear that the Bridge has become an important breeding site for these birds. Whilst there are of course much larger breeding colonies in the UK, the Tyne Bridge is the furthest inland breeding site for Kittiwakes in the world.
The Newcastle Metro is plastered with appeals for oesophagal cancer using the ‘cute’ animal logo of the “oesophogoose:”
