Pictures of Wildlife.

The things you bring back to my memory Lesley.

Many years ago in the course of the job I went on a fact finder to a UK Govt. Laboratory (don't ask which one, I will not tell - but suffice to say I have not grown any more fingers yet. Toes I'm not so sure about as my maths has improved lately )

Near a cabinet, I observed in corner of same room, twixt wall and ceiling angle, what I was sure was a false widow. Pointed out to guidee, "clear the lab""!!!!

What? They are not known for leaping great distances to bite the unsuspecting human. They are more interested in other targets for dinner.

And it did prove to be such. Pre internet days so there was no quick look up. They had to go and make a phonecall with to and froing, description, reply, updated description, updated reply etc.

I think it likely said lab cleaner might have been warned about it, and then given a minor rifting for missing it on their previous shift. But surely the folks who spent most of their shift working in said lab room must have noticed it before?

Kind regards, keep watching the skies, and shaking your boots, always,

Jim.

 

When I was on the boats ('70-'72) we had a team member who fancied himself a specialist on poisonous spiders. He also liked to collect the pods the baby spiders would emerge from when ready.

The only problem was he was self taught and couldn't ID Spiderman without having a comic book in his hand.

[you saw this coming]He collected several pods the first few weeks we were at the forward base and stored them in a box under his bunk. Somewhere a cosmic alarm clock went off one dark night and we were awoken to the kid screaming. No, he wasn't poisoned, he was just ... warm. Baby spiders evidently like warm. There was enough of this idiot for all the babies and they dispersed throughout our hutch looking for warm. Then some fool turned on the lights and we saw what had woken us all up.

I chose the better part of valor and jumped out a window. [/you saw this coming]

As I'm tell this now you can assume the kid hadn't collected any spider babies with serious venom. Lord knows why. He was a gatherer, not a collector.

 

I never really knew about these until the media ramped up the scare stuff a few years ago. Yet they’ve been here over a 100 years apparently.

 

Heading for my geraniums this morning, but I think for shelter rather than nosh, as I don’t think they find them that palatable. Odd how we see a slug and go yuk, but put a house on its back and suddenly it’s a sweet and loveable character in children’s books.

 

On my walk to my doctors surgery this morning (flu vaccination) passed this beauty, keeping a close eye on my wolf...aka Pippa the pooch.

 

I'd post my pictures of wild life but I'd get yelled at. Okay, so I took them in Olongapo. Didn't get much wilder.

 

Steady!

Kind regards, well that's something you don't see ever day, thankfully! Always,

Jim.

 

Another great joins the dear departed.

Conservationist Dame Jane Goodall dies aged 91

Kind regards, always,

Jim.

 

I'm not very good at recognising butterflies, so when I photographed these two at RSPB Pulborough Brooks a week or two ago, I thought they were different species...





...but it turns out that they are both Common Blue butterflies; the top one is the male, the other the female.

 

Truly quiet now, but still speaking to us.

 

Courtesy of and thanks to:

Pine martens released on Exmoor in 'positive sign for nature'

Kind regards, pining for wildlife, always,

Jim.

 

Recent count reveals an overpopulation of wolves on the Veluwe (Holland):



The Gelderland Wildlife Management Unit established a wolf count protocol this spring. According to their count, an estimated 116 wolves live on the Veluwe. They covered the Veluwe's habitat, from the Rhine to the Veluwe Randmeren lakes. Erik Koffeman, speaking on behalf of the management unit, said: "We saw 10 nests with parent pairs and 56 cubs. That brings the total to 76 wolves. There are also over 40 yearlings and older wolves." "It's the highest wolf density in the world, in one of the world's most densely populated countries," Koffeman said.

The development of the wolf population in Gelderland surprises many. The Veluwe should be considered an island and is the only landscape in the Netherlands that offers a full range of prey for wolves. Beavers also supplement the diet, but they mainly live outside the Veluwe. The wolf density on the Veluwe is particularly striking. The highest recorded stabilized population density of wolves (Canis lupus) worldwide is approximately 0.63 wolves per 1,000 hectares. This was observed in the Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem (GVE), a transboundary area around Voyageurs National Park in northern Minnesota (USA) and adjacent southern Ontario (Canada), during the 2021-2022 winter season. This area has fewer than 10 wolves per km². In other areas, the density often ranges from 0.01 to 0.5 wolves per 1,000 hectares (e.g., 0.310.44 in Yellowstone National Park, or approximately 0.05 in parts of Italy). The density on the Veluwe (101,414 hectares) is much higher. If the density is taken from the lower limit of 74 wolves recorded in the Veluwe, this means 0.73 wolves per 1,000 hectares. With a BWWS of 116 wolves, this equates to 1.14 wolves per 1,000 hectares. These densities are substantially higher than in other parts of the world. It should be noted, however, that the Veluwe does not yet have a stable population.

Pack of wolves howls loudly on misty Veluwe: Roedel wolven huilt luid op mistige Veluwe


The Veluwe, a nature reserve that stretches north from Arnhem to the IJsselmeer (nowadays Veluwemeer) coast.

 

I used to volunteer at the Endangered Wolf Center near St. Louis, Missouri. Used to have staring contests with the Maned Wolves.

 

You must have been loupy.

 

Well, I led tours there because I was garul-ous. (Yeah, that's a bit of work. Sorry.)

 

90% not wild(life) anymore

I wonder if the cheeky little tacker has made themselves some cosy winter quarters drey in the old chapel roof?



Investigation a job for next year; no disturbing for now (requires the long ladder, and that's more buried than me at the moment )

Kind regards, mind my nuts, always,

Jim.

 

Check for bats in yer belfry too.

 

Funny you should say that Martin

The catacombe beneath (errr, yes, ok it's the old foundations - which have had more than build me up buttercup over the years!).



Kind regards, for me there is no hope , always,

Jim.

 

Casa los Gatos Encantado.
In our "garden" (if I got that right). Since expanded with elevation for huddling underneath in case of raccoon intrusions, electric heat, and heated floor. Currently occupied by any number of feline supervisors.