A natural history of Britain

The presence of whales in Britain

Photo by TallGuy

The famous whalebone arch on Whitby’s West Cliff is a symbol of the whaling industry that thrived there and in other English ports like Hull and Yarmouth in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The 15 ft bones are from a Bowhead whale, killed under license by Alaskan Inuits, and unveiled by Miss Alaska in 2003.  An even larger arch stood on the same spot, made from the 20 ft jaw bones of a Fin whale, presented to the town by Norway in 1963.

During England’s years as a whaling nation, captains returning from Greenland would bring home these huge bones as souvenirs. Ship crews would tie a pair of whale jaw bones to the mast to let anxious families on land know there’d been no casualties.  Some of the bones were used in construction as house ends. Some were set in fields for cattle to rub against. Read the rest of this entry

Nature trivia about Britain, Sea mammals of Britain | Tags: animal with biggest mouth, Bowhead whales in England, stranded whales in England, the mammal that lives longest, whale bones in Britain, whalebone arch whitby, whales in Britain, whaling in England, whaling in Whitby|

Badger cull not worth it

A new report has found that badger culls are unlikely to be a cost- effective way of controlling bovine tuberculosis in cattle, with any the benefits “disappearing” after four years. BBC

Badgers in Britain, Mammals of Britain | Tags: badg, badger culls, Badger TB|

Tackling bovine TB without killing badgers

A letter has been published in the Guardian from Hilary Benn, the Secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, outlining the government’s strategy for combating bovine TB.  Rather than badgers being culled, which evidence suggests would not control the spread of TB in cattle, they will be vaccinated:

We are . . .  trying an alternative approach to the problem, by investing £20m over three years to develop badger and cattle vaccines. We will start vaccinating badgers in six areas of England, working with farmers, later this year. We are also taking steps to try to reduce the incidence and spread of bovine TB, working with the industry and vets through the Bovine TB Eradication Group, and I have accepted all the recommendations of its first report. This includes providing better support to affected farmers.

Badgers in Britain, Conservation issues in the UK, culling | Tags: alternative to culling badgers, government rejects badger cull, vaccinating badgers against TB|

Welsh badger cull to go ahead

The controversial cull of badgers in Wales has been given the final go-ahead by the Welsh Assembly, in an attempt to combat bovine TB infections. Meanwhile, the Badger Trust  is seeking legal action over the move. The cull is to take place primarily in Pembrokeshire. BBC

Badgers in Britain, Mammals of Britain | Tags: badger culls, Badger TB, Badgers in Pembrokeshire, Pembrokeshire|

Baby badger rescued from the cold

This five-day-old badger cub was on the brink of death after being left abandoned in the snow somewhere in Devon. More ridiculously cute photos and the story here

From the excellent badgerland.co.uk:

Badgers have unusual breeding patterns since mating can take place  at any time of the year. After mating, badgers exhibit what is known as delayed implantation. They keep the fertilised eggs, in the womb in a state of suspended development until they implant at the end of December. Cubs are usually born during the first fortnight in February in the south and west, but sometimes a little later as you go further north in the UK.

So this cub was born rather early in the year. I wonder if the mother was moving her cubs to a warmer sett and this one got dropped, or did it just remove it from the sett because it couldn’t feed it. Please drop me a mail if you can enlighten me on this.

Badgers in Britain, Information about the 2010 cold snap | Tags: Baby badgers, badger breeding, badger cubs, Badgers in Britain, Badgers in the cold snap, Cute photos of badgers, Effect of cold snap on wildlife, Facts about the 2010 cold snap, Wildlife in the cold snap|

Grey squirrels don’t threaten birds

A new study has found, contrary to popular belief, that grey squirrels do not have a significant impact on the populations of many of England’s woodland bird species. Although there was some evidence that grey squirrels may locally suppress the populations of some speciest through their preying on bird eggs, they do not appear to cause the birds any widespread or lasting harm. BBC

Birds of Britain, Invasive species in Britain, Mammals of Britain, Woodland birds of Britain, squirrels in Britain | Tags: Effect of Grey squirrels on birds, Grey squirrels in Britain, Non-native species in Britain|

British killers

Scientists have found that two types of killer whales live in UK waters, one much larger than the other. One type of orca eats small fish and lives in closely-related pods, while the other preys on marine mammals such as dolphins and is related to the Antarctic killer whale. The Daily Telegraph

Sea mammals of Britain, Sealife in British seas | Tags: Killer whales in the UK|

Seal pup in garden

After last week’s fox in the London Underground, here’s another wacky one. A baby seal has turned up in a garden in  Benenden, Kent, 18 miles from the coast. The pup probably made its way up the River Rother which leads out to the English Channel, and then into a stream at the bottom of the garden. Then, according to the owner of the garden, “the seal made its way across the lawn into the pond, where it sat happily staring out of the pond in an enchanting way with its eyes just above the water.” The seal was named Rudolph by the little girl who first spotted it, who noted that “it ate some of my parents’ goldfish”.

BBC

Mammals of Britain, squirrels in Britain | Tags: Benenden seal, grey seals in the uk, Seals in Kent, Seals inland, Wacky animal stories, Wildlife of Kent. bizzare stories about animals|

Eagle owls and boars, not wanted in the UK

Controversially, DEFRA have blacklisted eagle owls and boars as non-native species, leaving them unprotected and classed as unwelcome invaders.  Arguments have been put forward for both species to be accepted: boars were part of the Britain’s fauna until their extinction in the middle ages, and there are suggestions that Eagle owls also lived here in the past, although this involves going much further back in time, when Britain was still part of the European land mass.

Birds of prey of Britain, Invasive species in Britain, boar in Britain | Tags: boars in Britain, eagle owls in Britain|

Fox in the London Underground

This fox was photographed in Walthamstow Central underground station late on a Saturday night.  After running down the escalators, it was shooed back up again by workers and apparently left the station quite calmly in front of surprised onlookers.  The image captures what an urban animal the fox has become.  Full story in Daily Telegraph

foxes in Britain, urban nature in Britain | Tags: foxes in London, unusual sighting of fox, urban fox|

Boar put to work as ecological engineers

The charity Trees for Life have undertaken a project to restore native woodland on their Scottish Dundreggan Estate in Inverness-shire.  The birch/juniper wood is being smothered by impenetrable, towering bracken, severely reducing biodiversity and very difficult to control as its fronds are toxic for most animals.  Here’s where the wild boar step in: by digging up and eating the roots they can halt the bracken’s relentless spread. They will also be creating seed-beds for a variety of species by ploughing up the soil. Although boar were originally part of Britain’s ecosystem, before being hunted to extinction in the 13th century, this is not a reintroduction programme and they will be controlled within a 30-acre site enclosed by a special boar-proof fence.  BBC

Mammals of Britain, Scotland, Woodland in the UK, boar in Britain | Tags: advantages of boars, boar stop the spread of bracken, boars are good for biodiversity, how to stop the spread of bracken, wild boar in Scotland, wild boar increase biodiversity in forests|

Water voles doing well

A British Waterways wildlife survey has shown a big increase in sightings of the elusive water vole.  89 voles were spotted on inland waterways this year, twice as many as last year. There were also numerous sightings of kingfishers - an indicator of good water quality and a healthy ecosystem, and more bizarrely a single porpoise. See also Lucy’s post Canals: corridors of wildlife and the slow-life

Some results

• Although rare, 89 water voles were spotted (twice the number than in 2008), with the most being seen on the Kennet & Avon Canal
• 127 different species of bird were sighted, including woodpeckers, reed warblers, little owls and almost 200 kingfishers
• 27 different species of butterflies were seen, including brimstones, small blues and speckled woods
• The number of frogs seen leapt three times from 2008, with three-quarters of them seen in Scotland
• The most unusual of the 42,500 sightings was a porpoise, a close relation of the dolphin, seen in the River Ouse near Selby and a large alligator snapping turtle, a non-native species from north America, at Earlswood Reservoir, Solihull
• The most water-loving bugs and beasties were sighted along the Kennet & Avon Canal, which stretches between Reading and Bristol; the Forth & Clyde Canal in Scotland, and the canals in and around Birmingham

Mammals of Britain | Tags: British Waterways wildlife, Water voles in England|

Foxes as pets?

Cute they may be, but this article in The Guardian thinks that it is not a good idea to keep a fox  as a pet. Others agree. the US foxes.org list these reasons

• They smell as strong as a skunk in close quarters, and although it is theoretically possible to have their scent glands removed, this is not very healthy and will not eliminate the smell of their urine, which is very powerful.
• Foxes need a huge amount of space in which to run.
• Foxes love to dig, and can easily dig out of a yard or through a sofa.
• Foxes are at high risk to carry rabies. In many areas, there is no approved rabies vaccine for foxes; even if you have papers proving your fox has been vaccinated, some states will still have it destroyed and tested if it bites someone.
• Because foxes are at high risk, you MUST get it vaccinated. This can prove very difficult. Veterinarians need a special license to treat wildlife, which many don’t have, because it’s a high-risk, low-reward proposition.
• Lastly, it is very likely that a fox you own as a pet will be very unhappy. Many wild animals become depressed when removed from their natural habitat, and foxes are subject to depression as much as any other animal.

Green shopping, Mammals of Britain, foxes in Britain | Tags: Pet foxes, urban foxes|

Winners of Veolia Environment photography competition

Among the winning entries of the Veolia Environment wildlife photography competition is this image of a rutting stag in London’s Richmond Park.  The stag was rubbing his antlers free of velvet and had picked up a crown of bracken, silhouetted here against the dawn sky. Photographer Sam Rowley was able to approach quite close to his subject since the deer in Richmond Park are quite tolerant of people.  Visit the Guardian to see more photographs and BBC article

Deer in Britain, Nature and landscape photography of Britain | Tags: antlers of rutting stag, rutting stag in Richmond Park, veolia environment photography awards|

Dolphins playing football with jellyfish

A remarkable photo of bottlenose dolphins off the Welsh coastline playing what could be described as football with jellyfish. Click here to Daily Telegraph to see bigger image and story.

British seas, Sea mammals of Britain | Tags: Bottlenose dolphins in Wales, Dolphins in Wales, Dolphins playing at sea, Dolphins playing in the wild, Strange facts about dolphins|