What Can YOU Do To Help Protect and Conserve OUR Environment?

 Do you know what I hate? Politics and politicians. I was raised by my grandparents in St Werburgh's which was then a working class area and politics involved Labour. These days findingf a Labour MP who will keep their word about the environment and not squirm out of any promises is like looking for gold in the River Avon. My 'local' MP is such a rare sight in her constituency that there is the belief she is only ever seen when Halley's Comet makes and appearance every 75 years.

I also grew up for some time in Germany where even cities and towns were very green and spotting a house without a window garden or garden was hard. Of course the German Green Party is nothing like the one we have in the UK which seems more interested in making sure "the right sort" of person is in the party and unlike the real Greens, pushes the idea of more building and investments in business. The environment...well, no money in that so although (like every other politician and party) they say it is vital that we tackle the environmental catastrophe currently happening.. we are still in an environmental catastrophe.

I will cite Bristol although the example can probably be used for other towns and cities. One thing you'll note is that hanging baskets in public places are always maintained and these are just to give the appearance that Bristol as a City and County is a very green place. It's for the tourists rather than citizens.

Some examples: back in the early 2000s I was keeping watch on the mature hedgerow that ran alongside the park on Winterstoke Road. There was a blackbird nest, a robin nest and even a wren nest. I was trying to have the hedgerow designated as a local, established bird breeding area and one day I came back from a day out and found that the entire hedgerow had been cut down. Nests and all just smashed up. I had to laugh when Bristol City Council who I had been in touch with over the nesting area stated that the cutback had "nothing to do with us" -there were still council contractors there when I saw the damage.

Troopers Hill -currently the focus of a lot of community work

At the end of South Liberty Lane, where the indoor bowling centre stands is an area used by dog walkers and five-a-side football. Around 2005 I saw the high trees there, where I knew there were nesting crows, being cut back to the trunk. I walked over and asked who had authorised the cut back when there were clearly nests in place. I was told to "**** off, trouble maker" now I kept asking who was in charge and eventually the work boss identified himself and I pointed out that nests were being destroyed. He replied "Well you can look amongst the branches we've cut down if you want" and just chuckled. "They'll find somewhere else to nest" I was told. A call to Bristol City Council was made and I was told "Our contractors comply strictly with all regulations and would not remove nests without a permission to do so by our environment department" So I explained the reaction I got from the contractors and that I had photos of the nests prior to cutting: "That wouldn't prove the nests were there when cut back" I( was told and there was some comment about public safety and the call ended.

In the late 1990s I informed the City Council that I was intending to sow wild flower seeds as well as plant willow wands on areas that were just waste in the Ashton Vale area. No problem as "it helps the look and local environment".  When the flowers popped up and willows started to leaf it looked promising..then council workers came in and cut everything back and even turned over the soil which they had never done before. I spoke to the Council and was told "You can't just go planting seeds without permission" so I pointed out that I had gotten permission and who from. "Yeah, they left. Have you got permission in writing? It doesn't matter if you have because we can overturn that" End of conversation.

The Western Slopes -a great deal of local campaigning and work is still continuing to preserve it.

Not just the Council of course. Back in the late 1990s I was asked to be wildlife consultant to what would be Yanley Park -a waste tip being returned to nature with a pond, wildlife habitat and even park with benches for locals. The locals were not having that (you work that one out) and I had sustained harassment, threats, damage to my own garden and much more until the idea was dropped. By now it would have been a real quality nature reserve and I still have the plans somewhere.  During all of this I found City Council officers siding with locals which, again, made no sense. Harassment from the Council was documented (our local MP simply was far too 'busy') and on the day I had two people come to hand me an award for my wildlife/country garden which had taken a lot of money and years of work to build up  -a council official barged into our little group and declared my garden had been complained about and it "needed sorting" -the two visitors were somewhat astonished. 

When we hear officials from the Mayor and other Council officials that they are taking part in the war to improve our environment remember it's "all about the press" and what they get out of it.  They use second generation rodenticides that kill not just rats and mice (though they are becoming resistant to these) but causes death from secondary poisoning ('accidental' through consuming the poison or rodents killed by it) to domestic pets, hedgehogs, foxes, badgers as well as avian wildlife feeding on handy dead food.

Hengrove Mounds & Hawkfield Meadows again, like other areas in and around Bristol, a lot of work is going on to protect it

Bristol City Council is attempting to build on green sites while brown sites -old industrial and warehouse sites- go ignored. The green sites are, obviously, in far more scenic places and that attracts more investors' money -no need to landscape so it saves cash and therefore a bigger profit.

The campaigners to keep Bristol's open and green spaces as such do great work but always need to be vigilant because the City Council has a long history (Conservative or Labour) of making promises and then twisting out of them or even agreeing to things but carrying on with their plans.  Bristol Airport and its expansion, which no one locally wants, has just been approved a second time and that will have a big effect on wildlife and natural habitats.

So, in what is quite literally a war in which you lose a lot of battles and win a few what can you do?

Firstly, when it comes to local council elections you demand that the right candidate is chose by getting a written declaration about their stance on protecting the environment and green spaces and re-assessing the use of pesticides and rodenticides it uses. That commitment is made widely known and if and when the candidate attempts to squeeze out of it you hit them with as much negative press as you can. Their job is "an earner" for them and persons attracting negative publicity do not get as much intertest shown in them by businesses etc.

That is the single most important thing you can do: the right person who will do their best to fulfill their promises.

The second thing you can do (this is where I get accused of being an "environmental activist" again) is campaign. Kick up a stink about green spaces being targeted on local TV, radio and newspapers. Launch a letter/email campaign aimed at Bristol City Council to commit to keeping Green spaces safe and not selling off land to private developers unless locals have any such thing put to them to vote on (I swear I am NOT a communist!). Protests outside "City Hall" attract press and media and that is what you want and here is a lesson I learnt from past experience: you do not accept a promise or claimed change of direction and then think "we won!" and sit back. That is the mistake people keep making. You keep pushing until you see actual solid, real world actions fulfilling those promises.

Friends of the Western Slopes and other groups do a great deal and need far more local support; after all locals live there and it's no good saying "They're building right on the field -there goes the area!" if you did nothing to protest or make your views known.

We have the biggest urban fox population outside of London and we also have feral cats. Even big U.S. cities such as Boston, Baltimore, etc have stopped using rodenticides and encouraged feral cats and even moved them into high rat population areas. Foxes and even coyotes are moving back into urban areas ands rats are declining.  

We have very well established badger colonies (we try to keep secret) because as Bristol grew and took in villages it also built around those badger setts.  We have otters (another little well kept secret until they were publicised a few years back). 

There is not much we can do to protect these animals from cars and other vehicles that claim so many -or is there? In Europe, Canada and other countries road under and overpasses are built as standard or even put in place when there are too many animal deaths on certain roads.  "Leading the environmental challenge" one might assume that Bristol City Council would consider such wildlife corridors with hedgehogs, otters and badgers dying in numbers but for them these are great publicity points that 'they' are doing such a great job that we have these animals in our 'green' city but it is the work of others helping keep these animals safe and monitoring them -Bristol City council has wanted nothing to do with any of this work (dare I mention the use of rodenticides on certain council allotments that some tenants became concerned with and were given the Council runaround and then ignored?).

A lot of us have put a great deal into trying to attract wildlife -mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects- into our gardens and area.  "A Tree Per Child" sounds great -but not when other trees and green spaces are being eroded.  A City Council with Councillors who are serious about the environment and will actually do something about preserving it is what we need.

Sitting back and letting others do all the work when they really need YOUR support leads to more lost battles. Think of your children and grandchildren.

Soap Box being put away.

The Red Papers

 

 At the moment The Red Papers (vols. I and II) I have set a publication date of 1st March for.

This will make sure that those I promised advanced copies to will get them and that is going to cost me more than I think the books will ever make (the new Introduced Species paper is far cheaper and has to date sold zero copies).

So more updates next month.

Whose Poop?

 Wildlife  Trusts guide

The Squirrel

 Little Book of British Quadrupeds W. May  1845

British Quadrupeds Second edition Religious Tract Society 1848 illo

Bristol Desperately Needs A Wildlife Rescue (as do other areas)

 I wrote this on a couple of wildlife groups pages:

"Really, I should not be surprised but it seems that other than a couple of people taking in grey squirrels and the odd hedgehog rescue there are no real wildlife orientated rescuers in Bristol.

What happened? There used to be people all over the City right up until the late 1990s and now...nothing.

I had hoped there were some about that avoided having to get over stretched rescuers from Secret World involved and the long trip down to Somerset for any animal/bird.

It is a sad thing to have to say that the UK really is not geared up for wildlife rescue but it's even sadder that a City the size of Bristol is totally and utterly unprepared for a sick or injured animal...and we have birds and wildlife on our doorstep north, south, east and west."
and someone responded:

"maybe you need to start one?"

All of that seems far more important now. Secret World had Zoe Webber working as a volunteer trapping and rescuing and Matt Lvy moved down from Scotland to work at the rescue where he was rushed off his feet. Despite what Secret World might say, depending on who answers the phone, it says it cannot cover Bristol and that has been proven over the past few years with only Zoe Webber's efforts keeping a regular presence.

Secret World is in Somerset and it is a long drive to take a sick or injured animal on. Once Secret World withdraws the number of sick and injured animals being "put to sleep" is going to increase. "First response" or "First treatment" vets, if you can find one willing to deal with wildlife, will generally resort to putting a fox or badger to "sleep". It's easier and cheaper and I write this having now had 50 years of experience with vets and wildlife -up until the 1990s most vets (unless a trainee establishment) would tell you (sometimes politely) to "get stuffed" if you said you had found a sick or injured fox or badger. Police officers on country patrols would invariably carry a lead pipe or other implement in the boot of the patrol car to swiftly put any injured badger or fox "out of its misery".

We are supposed to have improved since that time and to an extent we have as the "lead pipe blessing" no longer occurs. Rescues try their best but in the past individuals had to step in. In Bristol there were a few experienced fox watchers who kept an eye on the local foxes and handed out treatments where they could and got the occasionally "thank you bite" -"It's a wild animal and I grabbed it by the scruff of the neck to dose it and it had no idea what I was up to!" The 1994 mange outbreak in Bristol that killed around 94% of the fox population was the last time most of these people tried their hardest and many with no help from vets.

For some reason in the 1990s to mid 2000s people knew me as "that man that deals with sick pigeons". I did, true, but had no idea why until two youngsters arrived at my doorstep on a sunny bank holiday Monday with a squeaker (juvenile pigeon) they had fished out of the Feeder Canal. They cycled to the RSPCA centre only a few hundred yards away where someone told them a great big lie: "We don't deal with pigeons...we can give you the address where to take it though" -my address. I had rescued and kept racing pigeons until the local man, a Mr Truckle, could collect them to send back to the owners. I had also rescued a couple of wood pigeons -one dislocated wing and another had a broken leg. I pointed out to the RSPCA inspectors who called where the long time nests were (in my garden) and that I could look after them until release. All agreed. After a couple days I phoned the RSPCA to see what was happening and was told "It's policy to put to sleep wild birds" -twice I was told that and, yes, I made a serious complaint.

After that I would not trust the RSPCA again and Secret World were not that interested so, I tidied up an old wooden shed that was really only big enough to hold a few tools in but was warm, dry and secure enough to keep a boxed up pigeon with food and water in.

Above: Me in much chunkier days with two of the half dozen pigeons treated and re-released. (c)2022 T. Hooper-Scharf/VWLG

Once I moved home there was no longer a shed so things moved indoors. Having a "dog transport cage" I turned this into a pigeon holding cage.  It is quite large so the pigeon can move about in it and a thick twig can be fixed for roosting.

Initially the pigeons were kept in a quiet corner of the kitchen and at night the cage was covered. I would have preferred a larger cage but when limited by space you have to go with what you have. The pigeons (after the pots and stove are covered) would be allowed out of the cage while cleaning (daily) took place. This allowed me to assess the bird's ability to fly as well as overall condition.  

How strong is a pigeon getting; if you firmly hold the legs between your fingers so that it cannot get away you will find the bird flaps to fly away and if it flaps its wings they are not damaged. It also shows how strong the bird is.

I looked after several PMV infected pigeons. Vets will automatically put these down as they cannot be released or will pass the virus on to others (just search this blog for "PMV"). They do recover but your options are limited. You will either need to look after the bird for life or find a rescue that takes only PMV recovered birds -there were a couple back in the early 2000s. Any today means transporting the bird to them and no courier service that usually transports animals and birds will touch a PMV bird.

That's your choice. Luckily on two occasions I had trainee vets transport the birds  from me to the sanctuary otherwise I would have a couple aging pigeons in my kitchen.

Bristol now has a pigeon rescue but I very much doubt they are going to want PMV birds recovered or not.

Bristol has someone who will rescue sick or injured squirrels -taken to a vet is an automatic death sentence for them.

There are even a couple people who will rescue or look after hedgehogs and even though hogs are now endangered there is no funding for rescuing and looking after them. RSPCA? No. A neighbour once told me that she found four hoglets in the garage and the mother was dead out on the street. She contacted the RSPCA who told her: "Leave them where they are and see if the mum comes back" and she pointed out that the mother was dead. "Put them back then and let nature take its course. If you bring them in we'll put them down as its policy -we don't have the room or staff".  Before anyone queries that I double checked and was told the same thing. I left them in no doubt regarding my thoughts.

Foxes. Fox cub found and unwell: "Put it back where you found it and let nature take its course" one vet told the woman who found it. She went to another vet and the fox was treated there.  "Broken leg -we'll pts"/ "chest infection -we'll pts"/ "Nasty cut to its leg (or head) -we'll pts" and I hear this over and over again. Vets refusing to even give First Vet/emergency treatment to a fox and some that do ask immediately if there is a sanctuary or rescue taking it? Say you have not sorted that out yet -"We'll pts" and I have heard this from people actually in a vet reception who contact me because the vet has refused to see a wild animal or declares if he sees it then it is pts only".

That is going to become more common place. Bristol has a large urban badger population and the second largest urban fox population outside of London. Yet we have no rescue centre and the one that does exist is overflowing and not capable of handling larger wildlife such as foxes or badgers. For going on 30 years I have been telling anyone who will listen or read that Bristol needs a wildlife rescue centre based IN the City.   But we are not in any way unique.

Running wildlife rescues is a full time job  and the public expect you will respond to all their calls and rescue any and all wildlife they report as sick and injured within an hour. If you don't then the criticism and defamation received is soul destroying and you can argue til you are blue in the face that you are overcrowded with rescues and you do not have room, volunteer staff or the finances to take in more -there are rules and regulations. That gets the slap-back of "Well, you should have thought of that before calling yourself a wildlife rescue!"  The physical and mental health toll on those running rescues is massive and some have complete meltdowns which gets the other slap-back of "Well, they obviously weren't capable of running a rescue in the first place!"  Heard it and read it.

In areas where you have rescues check them out and see whether they take on wildlife such as foxes and badgers. If they do then support them.  You go shopping maybe buy a tray of canned dog or cat food or even bag of dry food to donate as that takes some of the spending costs down for them. Old newspapers, old towels and blankets -all donatable. A DIY or timber yard; find out if they have bags of sawdust that you can pick up to donate (timber yards tend to have a lot). Ask the rescue; what do you need donated most.

We need to keep as many of these places going as possible and keep publicising them and never forget to donate.

A rescue needs premises. Ideally, someone with a big piece of spare ground with a large shed or barn offering that up as a starter would be good.  However, that really very (very) rarely happens. Remember cages and treatment areas need to be set up and those need to be cleaned and kept up to a standard. The biggest expenditure is going to be veterinary treatment and meds and looking at the basics is enough to scare anyone off.

We are listed as one of the highest wildlife deprived countries in the world. Animals are killed daily in their hundreds "for fun" as well as by cars. We put out rodenticides t5hat kill not only rodents but foxes,m badgers, hedgehogs and even birds of prey that pick up a "dead meal". How many domestic pets die from rodenticide (secondary) poisoning we do not know accurately but die they do. Encouraging foxes and feral cats does NOT devastate native wildlife (that in itself is an unscientific and moronic statement by certain factions) but they will go for good food sources -rats and mice and there are plenty of them in a City like Bristol.

The Fox Deaths Project run by Zoe Webber and myself is looking at how foxes die within the City and we are learning a lot. On a weekly basis I hear of foxes injured or sickly being pts at vets because there is nowhere to take them or keep and treat long term. We are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers and everyone expects someone else to take care of sick and injured wildlife: but very few people are willing to contribute to the work itself.

Bristol needs a wildlife rescue. Most other parts of the country need wildlife rescues. Tutting away at news reports about how messed up the environment is and how wildlife is dying needlessly does not cut it.  We need the backing and support and not just for a week.

As it is at the moment I can see 2023 turning into a year of more and more dead foxes as well as badgers because we can do nothing.

"What Should I Feed A Badger?"

 

Just as with foxes people feed badgers the wrong food. I have seen everything from cooked/raw sausages (I have looked in The Wild Food Book and sausages are not in it), doughnuts and the "usual stuff".

Hundreds of years of melecide and the badgers which were wiped out in many parts of the country have started building up numbers. With Zoe Webber I have 17 areas in the City where there are badgers -some have been at these locartions for generations.

Incidentally, we DO NOT publicise where badgers are but if you have any in your area please let me know so that they can be noted -come the cub season this helps us in case a sow is killed on the roads and we can look for orphaned cubs.

For badger feeding provide some fruits, such as apples, plums or pears, and nuts, such as unsalted peanuts or brazils. Also leave out root vegetables like carrots, along with some cooked potato. If food isn't eaten overnight, remove anything that will go off and replace it with fresh offerings in the evening. You can also use wet (canned) dog or cat food abd really the "specialised badgert feed" is expensive and these are wild forraging animals (who go mental on peanut eating!).

If you can place the food in 2-3 different spots that helps with hygiene as all sorts of things develop on just one spot (if you use some type of dish make sure to clean it out as often as you can).

DO NOT try to hand feed. Gentle as they are they can accidentally take a finger off! Also DO NOT try to encourage badgers to come right up to the kitchen door and NEVER try to get them into the house (which is just mental).

Badgers are wild animals and they do spark excitement when seen but they are not garden pets. Treat them, and other wild animals, with respect and meet them half way -if you feed them then do so but watch from a distance.

Foxes and badgers habituated to humans are at serious risk mfrom humans who do not like them -and there are plenty of the ***** around.

Remem,ber badgers are a protected species (allegedly) and if they dig a sett in your garden, under your trees or shed or even greenhouse -they are untouchable

Report Badger Crime!