the daydream fund challenge thread

choille

Where I used to live there was a serious mink problem & the burn had been cleared of ducks & fish by them. One dusk I saw the ground undulating. It was mink that had travelled up from the shore, up a field drainage pipe & were swarming across a track. It was incredable. All the pidgeons disappeared out of the farm barn. There had been hundreds. I thought it was the farmer but it was the mink going up to their roosts at night.
There has been a guy lose a load of poultry nearish here & he reckons it's mink: turkeys, hens, ducks, but I do wonder if it's a marten - we have them here & I too have lost hens & ducks with them.

alfie_1

rhiwfield wrote: »

Alfie, we're all different and I wasnt having a go at you, though I would strongly disagree with the original importer. Once they are here, that creates the problem of what to do with them.

Non native invasive species are often harmful to native species, outperforming them or carrying disease. So we end up with plants like Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam. And grey squirrels and signal crayfish. Mink locally are almost certainly responsible for our county extinction of the water vole and play havoc with waterfowl. All over the world misguided people have introduced non native plants and animals, often with disastrous effects, like the kudzu vine and the cane toad.

And the problem with secure containment is that there is no such thing. From Chernobyl (nuclear radiation) to Pirbright (Foot and Mouth), we prove time and time again that there is no 100% effective containment. When failure to contain non-native species can destroy ecosystems and make other species extinct, I would have no compunction at humanely killing a threat-carrying breeding pair or disease carrier.

i quite agree. ...you know there will be a BUT:).... i dont think all the blame can be put on non-native specimens. there are people who through sheer greed have ruined the countryside we have left.
i wish there was even a 99% chance of containing them!!
at its height, landowners exploited the rivers by "selling" fishing rights to the richer takers. we have local rivers that have been depleted but dont forget a lot of it starts from the seas being over farmed, thus less making it to the rivers. councils/forestry commisions/etc have all made BIG mistakes in "clearing" areas for timber only then to discover its not good for the ecology and are now trying to put back the original habitats.on the forest here they cleared loads of gorse [telling us it was to create more grass areas duuurrrr! just more bracken grew which they are now battling to remove [more costs]. They burn the gorse [can understand the renewal system ok] but they do it in february and other random times when birds are nesting or at least using the cover for protection? they lecture us on not disturbing the birds by trying to stop dog walking and horse riding on the forest here! [didnt suceed]
humans think of No1 first and not the outcome of thier actions in the future. i dont suppose that will change in my lifetime. the administration of chemicals is criminal to our land but it is MAN MADE. it is easy to blame one creature [bearing in mind it was human vanity that brought us "the mink" !]because it cant answer back whereas the companies/people responsible for our polution/alien species dont WANT to answer back !!
i didnt take offence as we all are adults and have an opinion. if WE do not listen to other ideas of other people then we would all be negligent of an open forum.

choille

It's closing in here - blizzards sweeping across. We went up to dear neighbours earlier this afternoon - she the ex housekeeper of the estate, him the ex keeper - such characters & the stories & tips should be published. They are in their eighties - although they could put those half their age to shame - it is as if they are here to guide us sometimes - or just listen. Do any of you have this?
I know that when they are gone I will wish that they had written stuff down, wish I'd listened harder - he talks hills, mountains like we talk roads - he knows them like the back of his hand.
He does all his own smoking of fish, meat & cheese & bakes all the bread in the house now that K isn't able. I think that it is nice to see a couple who have sticked together too. I take up eggs - when I have them & give them lamb & mutton & chutneys & jam - although K out dos me on jams & she makes sweets that people would give their eye teeth for. She also makes ice cream that is to die for.
These are things that you cannot buy, are priceless. It is days that are such that makes all the hardship more bearable.
So I keep telling myself.

alfie_1

choille wrote: »

It's closing in here - blizzards sweeping across. We went up to dear neighbours earlier this afternoon - she the ex housekeeper of the estate, him the ex keeper - such characters & the stories & tips should be published. They are in their eighties - although they could put those half their age to shame - it is as if they are here to guide us sometimes - or just listen. Do any of you have this?
I know that when they are gone I will wish that they had written stuff down, wish I'd listened harder - he talks hills, mountains like we talk roads - he knows them like the back of his hand.
He does all his own smoking of fish, meat & cheese & bakes all the bread in the house now that K isn't able. I think that it is nice to see a couple who have sticked together too. I take up eggs - when I have them & give them lamb & mutton & chutneys & jam - although K out dos me on jams & she makes sweets that people would give their eye teeth for. She also makes ice cream that is to die for.
These are things that you cannot buy, are priceless. It is days that are such that makes all the hardship more bearable.
So I keep telling myself.

be interesting if with thier permission you left a tape recorder with them so they/you can record it for prosperity. i can hear them saying [if like my old grandfather!] "whod want to listen to my rubbish?"] but i know a nurse that did it in a nursing home and it was amazing and actually "pepped" up the oldies!!

Rummer

We are due to get another 20cm of snow overnight!

choille

It's blown across since 2pm & is still coming over.

We watched 18 red deer running across the hill earlier this morning so knew it wasnae gonna get any better.

I hope ot clears soon as we need to get out a7 get in the feed.

Rummer

I will be checking the news first thing to see if the roads are clear enough to travel on, the main roads usually are but it is getting on them that is the problem. Where I work is quite isolated and prone to having very deep snow making it hard to get there. Mind you if the schools are closed I might have to be at home with my DD.

alfie_1

we had the most pathetic 10 seconds of wisp snow this afternoon ! by the time i got to the verandah it had stopped....:(
suppose i should be gratefull.......but im not!

lostinrates

oh, alfie we didn't get any this after noon, what was here is as good as gone, there is a dusting up on the hill still, but just a dusting. I'm praying for snow so that dh can take a snow day or two and work from home.

rhiwfield

choille wrote: »

It's closing in here - blizzards sweeping across. We went up to dear neighbours earlier this afternoon - she the ex housekeeper of the estate, him the ex keeper - such characters & the stories & tips should be published. They are in their eighties - although they could put those half their age to shame - it is as if they are here to guide us sometimes - or just listen. Do any of you have this?
I know that when they are gone I will wish that they had written stuff down, wish I'd listened harder - he talks hills, mountains like we talk roads - he knows them like the back of his hand.
He does all his own smoking of fish, meat & cheese & bakes all the bread in the house now that K isn't able. I think that it is nice to see a couple who have sticked together too. I take up eggs - when I have them & give them lamb & mutton & chutneys & jam - although K out dos me on jams & she makes sweets that people would give their eye teeth for. She also makes ice cream that is to die for.
These are things that you cannot buy, are priceless. It is days that are such that makes all the hardship more bearable.
So I keep telling myself.

Choille, I was lucky enough to have time to part write and to co-edit a local history. Part of that included taping reminiscenses of elder villagers and I was also sent a tape of woman's recollections who was a child locally about 1900. Why not get a recorder and chat with them in a relaxed way, then transcript the tape. I promise you that both they and you will gain from the experience.