Vs Wildlife.

liberalharpie · **Posted:** Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:15 am

We've had foxes, grey squirrels, (haven't found much on badgers bar one recent article by Liz Jones) and now Moles!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... e-ban.html

5 comments so far; 4 support poor Moley and one , funnily enough, appears to be using health and safety as back up to support a cull:

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We had moles once and before I learned how to set the traps properly the garden resembled a moonscape. It wouldn't be so bad if they just had the one entry or exit point but they keep digging and they kept on pushing up the molehills.

Although no doubt moles do eat some garden pests, collapsed tunnels just below the surface are a hazard to anyone walking in the garden, especially the elderly.

A King of England - William of Orange I think - died when the horse he was riding stumbled into one, so don't tell me that collapsed tunnels are not dangerous, as well as unsightly.

- Cor blimey I'm a Tory!, over 'ere in England, 14/6/2010 08:31

Waterstones · **Joined:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:26 pm **Posts:** 298

It reminds me of that episode of the 'Simpsons' when a bear lumbed into Springfield causing panic,causing the citizens to get on Mayor Quimby back to stop it happing again,so Quimby raised Taxes to set up a 'Bear defence Force',the running joke in this episode was the Rev.Lovejoy's wife always getting upset and saying 'Oh won't someone please think of the Children'!,and Homer having a breakdown at his taxes going up to pay for the Bear Defence Force after having been one of the one's to get on Quimby's back about the bear,both jokes remind me of Mail readers. :roll:

Malcolm Armsteen · **Posted:** Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:09 pm

A while back the London Borough of Wandsworth surveyed parents to see what kinds of secondary schools they wanted.

A definite majority wanted mixed schools, but a slightly larger majority wanted single-sex girls' schools (total about 140%). Very few wanted single sex boys' schools. That's hard to plan for...

Messianic Trees · **Joined:** Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:50 pm **Posts:** 2834

Council spends £35,000 building 200 birds nests for swifts

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1RGcseE43

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Residents near a nature receive [sic] have hit out at a city council after it paid £35,000 for a brightly coloured bird box for swifts.

Cambridge City Council commissioned the 33ft-high red, orange and yellow sculpture, has 200 nesting boxes for young swifts and even has speakers playing the bird's song to attract more of them.

Ok, its the council the Mail is attacking, but I was struck by this comment:

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Will they soon be claiming benefits for their offspring. What's next. The Bird Rights Act. What happened to leaves and twigs.
- MaryM, Manchester, 5/7/2011 18:34

I don't think Mary has bothered to read the article:

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Swifts nest in old buildings but as they are knocked down or renovated they can no longer be used by the birds.

mojojojo · **Joined:** Fri Mar 19, 2010 1:33 pm **Posts:** 4278

Money very well spent I think.

CerealDave · **Joined:** Fri May 27, 2011 10:46 pm **Posts:** 64

Waterstones wrote:

It reminds me of that episode of the 'Simpsons' when a bear lumbed into Springfield causing panic,causing the citizens to get on Mayor Quimby back to stop it happing again,so Quimby raised Taxes to set up a 'Bear defence Force',the running joke in this episode was the Rev.Lovejoy's wife always getting upset and saying 'Oh won't someone please think of the Children'!,and Homer having a breakdown at his taxes going up to pay for the Bear Defence Force after having been one of the one's to get on Quimby's back about the bear,both jokes remind me of Mail readers. :roll:

"WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER, WE DON'T WANT ANY MORE BEARS!"

Tom_UK · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:14 pm **Posts:** 3168

From the RSPB website:

Quote:

"Our UK swifts migrate through France and Spain to spend their winter in Africa, south of the Sahara, where they follow the rains to take advantage of rapid changes in insect populations. While many immature birds return to the breeding grounds in the spring, some will remain in Africa."

Relax Mail readers. They might be migrating here from Africa in the spring (some might say "flocking") but they all go back again and some of them remain in Africa never to return here again. Happy now?

EDIT:

Quote:

"Residents near a nature receive have hit out at a city council after it paid £35,000 for a brightly coloured bird box for swifts."

The usual high standards of proof-reading, I see.

EDIT 2: It is also described as an "uprorar" in the html link and on the top bar of my Firefox browser.

Mr Mordon · **Posted:** Wed Jul 06, 2011 1:18 pm

CerealDave wrote:

Waterstones wrote:

It reminds me of that episode of the 'Simpsons' when a bear lumbed into Springfield causing panic,causing the citizens to get on Mayor Quimby back to stop it happing again,so Quimby raised Taxes to set up a 'Bear defence Force',the running joke in this episode was the Rev.Lovejoy's wife always getting upset and saying 'Oh won't someone please think of the Children'!,and Homer having a breakdown at his taxes going up to pay for the Bear Defence Force after having been one of the one's to get on Quimby's back about the bear,both jokes remind me of Mail readers. :roll:

"WE'RE HERE, WE'RE QUEER, WE DON'T WANT ANY MORE BEARS!"

That whole episode is the perfect satire of the non-thinking, reactionary public...Although Moe's banner; 'GET YOUR ARSE BACK TO EURASIA' does make me chuckle

Danson's Forehead · **Joined:** Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:32 am **Posts:** 718

There's also been a recent spate of stories about red kites (both in the Mail and elsewhere), claiming that these (carrion-eating) birds pose some kind of a threat to children. Presumably they are a particular threat to children who resemble roadkill. They can't stand that the successful reintroduction of these fantastic birds is actually an all-round good news story.

There is usually a call for some kind of cull. These people don't care what it is, or why it's a problem, they just want something to cull.

bluebellnutter · **Posted:** Wed Jul 06, 2011 1:43 pm

Which is doubly dumb because there are several animals for which you could gain considerable traction for a cull (gulls, pigeons, urban foxes and, my personal favourite, cats).

Danson's Forehead · **Joined:** Tue Dec 07, 2010 12:32 am **Posts:** 718

Re the swift story - the Daily Mail, birds and planning, it's like they were writing it directly for me.

According to the URL, this has caused 'Uprorar'. Assuming that 'uprorar' is a mis-spelling of 'uproar' and not an unpleasant tropical disease associated with contact with swifts, there is no reason for uproar of any kind. Getting money for swift boxes out of Section 106 funds happens all the time. The only difference here is what they look like.

Quote:

The money came from Section 106 funds - cash for public spending that is part of the agreement a developer makes to be able to build in an area.

So, that seems pretty clear cut. The developer is paying for it through Section 106. Incidentally, Section 106 can only be used for the specific purpose for which it is secured - it isn't just money that goes into Council coffers. Mind you, I'm sure everyone will have read the article, and no-one will have grasped completely the wrong end of the stick ...

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Oh my!! What HAVE I just read? Don't these people realise that money is short.
- Debbie, Essex, 5/7/2011 18:50

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And old age pensioners get £97 per week ,What a stupid country frankly blow the birds and save the salaries of all the wildlife set ,pensioners come first and last in my book stupid council stupid country
- DEBT IS THE PROBLEM, NORWICH, 5/7/2011 18:36

Oh, right.

However, it does lead me to wonder how DEBT IS THE PROBLEM proposes to blow all the birds. There are many millions of them, and it would be very fiddly to get their organs between one's lips. And what's to prevent the birds you've already blown cheekily re-joining the queue? The proposal is unworkable.

Mr Mordon · **Posted:** Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:26 pm

Danson's Forehead wrote:

Quote:

And old age pensioners get £97 per week ,What a stupid country frankly blow the birds and save the salaries of all the wildlife set ,pensioners come first and last in my book stupid council stupid country
- DEBT IS THE PROBLEM, NORWICH, 5/7/2011 18:36

Oh, right.

However, it does lead me to wonder how DEBT IS THE PROBLEM proposes to blow all the birds. There are many millions of them, and it would be very fiddly to get their organs between one's lips. And what's to prevent the birds you've already blown cheekily re-joining the queue? The proposal is unworkable.

Well, to be fair, the word 'blow' is used by some, mainly older people, as a sub for fuck-em or sod-em. Still talking bollocks though.

Messianic Trees · **Joined:** Fri Mar 18, 2011 10:50 pm **Posts:** 2834

Four protected bats die and 47 orphaned after 'builder dumped them on side of country road'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1RhJcQMR3

Quote:

If people did not have to pay so much to sort out bats this would never have happened. These bat do gooders should come and remove them so work can go on. All this protection is just getting over the top. bats get more attention than vulnerable children.
- Johnny Norfolk, Mileham Norfoilk, 8/7/2011 21:43

Quote:

This is what happens when you pass ridiculous, draconian laws and regulations to supposedly protect these animals. Most laws intended to protect animals actually has the reverse effect and causes more harm to them. If people were allowed to use common sense, something banned under the last Government, then these types of thing wouldn't happen. When you are faced with losing sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds because you are not allowed to remove them you get what has happened here.
- Duncan Walker, Samui, Thailand, 9/7/2011 3:13

Amazonian · **Posted:** Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:46 pm

Ah, good old Dunc there, passing on his boundless wisdom on current British law from...Thailand.

Goodbyemrsaddam · **Joined:** Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:23 am **Posts:** 66

To be fair he's 197 in the red. But still - common sense banned? :roll:

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