Anything For Animals

posted by admin on Aug 15

RSPB - The Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds

Although the full name seems very old-fashioned and a little specific in nature - the new RSPB is about so much more these days!

Yes, it is still the UK’s biggest bird charity - but they have expanded their horizons.  They have found that just protecting the birds themselves doesn’t solve the problems facing them and neither does keeping them isolated.

Birds have to feed, breed and rear young - they aren’t just isolated beings - therefore their whole habitat and feeding areas need to be preserved.  As do all the other animals that make up that environment - including humans.

The Wider Landscape:
For example an estuarine landscape needs to be fed by a clean meandering river, enriched by an unpolluted sea, grazed by certain livestock and managed by sympathetic landowners.  There needs to be a whole host of insects and larva in the mud-flats to feed other insects and waders in the shallow waters, which in turn feed other birds and animals in the wider landscape.

And although certain habitats are threatened by encroachment of human habitation and quad bike users for example - keeping humans out of the picture doesn’t create ongoing support for their work.

By keeping these areas a ‘people-free’ zone, they are keeping away the very people who will be able to look after them in the future - the kids.  So the RSPB are encouraging schools and youth groups to become more involved in the work that they do and in getting hands-on with the wildlife on their reserves.

Even Further Afield:
And, the RSPB know that looking even further from their habitat is essential for supporting our visiting birdlife as many species migrate here from across the globe.

There is no point making everything perfect for species A here in Norfolk and species B in Lindesfarne if they live somewhere else for 9 months of the year!  What if species A has to contend with Maltese hunters to get to Africa and species B has to fly to the dirty tar sands of Canada to breed?

How do we know they will come back next year if we don’t start to protect them around the world?  What if there is nowhere for their young to fly to in the spring?

And it’s not just UK birds that they help around the globe: they have brought tropical rainforests in Indonesia and changed fishing practices around the Antarctic!

What Can You Do?
Well, you don’t even need to spend a penny to help the RSPB with their aims!  There is plenty for you to do that is totally free or of very little cost to you.

For example, you can sign up to their newsletter online so that they can keep you informed of any activities they are organising - like their current campaign of a ‘Letter to the Future’ aiming to save our landscape for future generations to enjoy.  All you need to do is sign it and send it off!

Visiting their reserves is also a great way to show support as their visitor numbers can reflect growing interest in the ‘great outdoors’ and can help them to decide which species interest the most people and start a campaign to help it.

Also, encouraging your children and their schools to become more involved with nature will start them off in the right direction for the future.  I mean there is no point in saving habitats today if nobody wants to care for them in the future!

If you want to become a member you can do so for just £3 a month, or only pay a few pounds for entry at the few sites you visit each year.  Most of their sites are free anyway, so at least donate a few pounds each time anyway. 

I mean - if people don’t support the places they love; then they can’t expect them to be there in the future can they?

posted by admin on Aug 5

This appeal works to help save wildlife habitats in the UK.

The Details:
The Landfill Communities Fund offer funding to restore habitats - but you have to raise the first 10%.

This way if you offer £10 to the WWT, they can ‘unlock’ a further £90 from this Landfill Communities Fund - therefore turning your £1 onto £10.

However the funding is lost completely if the initial 10% isn’t raised.

Therefore the WWT are currently asking for donations for their latest fund to save and restore valuable habitats in local areas across the country.

Previous Work:
Over the past 3 years, previous campaigns have helped to raise over £100,000 - pretty impressive on it’s own - but don’t forget: this gets multiplied by 10 - so they were able to get their hands on a further £900,000 as a result.

That’s £1 million to help restore wetlands and heathland all over the UK! 

So, what did they do with all that money?  Well they had several large projects including the Great Crane Project which was featured on Springwatch and various other wildlife news reports and events.

The other successful actions were restoring wetlands at Slimbridge, saline lagoons at Washington and adding a canoe safari to their events at Martin Mere.  Also at Arundel they have started some serious work to help the water vole population on the River Arun - and pictures coming in from visitors show the results of this project!

How To Contribute:
You can help in a number of ways for this specific appeal - but with an immediate donation having the desired effect!

Belts may be tight - but think of what you would like to donate at the top of your budget - and then divide it by 10.  Basically just £1 of your money will in effect be a £10 donation, so if you would love to offer £100 but are a bit cash-strapped - then just offer £10 and you have done your best!

Obviously if your pockets are not quite so empty, then be as generous as you can and work out your total donation by adding the noughts!  If you can spare £100 - that’s £1000 in the WWT bank and so on.

Alternatively visit their website to find other ways to support them in their valuable work.

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posted by admin on Jul 25

This article details all you need to know as a beginner about a year in the life of a Red Fox:

Animal Type: Mammalia - Carnivora - Canidae

Species Info: There is only 1 Red Fox Species: Vulpes vulpes, however, there are around 12 species of true fox in the world, but there are around 24 other species with ‘fox’ in their name like the Bat-Eared Fox (Otocyon) and the Arctic Fox (Alopex). 

UK Distribution: Red Foxes are the only fox species to be living in the UK and are found almost everywhere in the country - particularly in towns and cities! 

Preferred Habitat:  These creatures are ground dwelling and generally nocturnal - although you will often see then during the day when they have young or are ill.

In urban areas they are known to be scavengers - although will take the odd unattended rabbit or chicken!  But in the countryside they need to be in areas of high rabbit density - but will eat fruit, berries and even fish and reptiles! 

In Spring: The Fox Cubs Start To Appear.
The cubs are born quite helpless underground in March, and at this time you will still see the male and female together - with the male bringing food back to the den for the female.  It is only about 4/5 weeks later that the young will start to leave the den as well and investigate their surroundings. 

In Summer:  The Cubs Are Training To Be Adults.
The cubs spend quite a while with their parents in the same area, learning to hunt by themselves and getting to explore the dangers of the area - it will be autumn before they are full size and able to head of alone.

Many people will find their garden filled with fox families at this time - much to the horror of some!  It is very difficult and time consuming to try to ‘get rid of’ a whole family, but why would you want to anyway!  They are very interesting to watch, and it is only for a few weeks

In Autumn:  Foxes Start To Split Up And Hunt Separately.
Not only will the male have been long gone by now, but the mother will be starting to get a little fed up with the young hanging around and sharing her food, so she will start to tell them off a lot more and try to get them to go away.  And this can lead to some noisy nights and short ‘fights’ between nighttime foxes.

The young will soon get the message, and you will start to see single foxes all over the place as the young head off in search of their own territory - so you can find them in some quite unusual places as they try to find an unoccupied area to live in.  The more food available means there can be more foxes living in an area, although in more rural areas, the young foxes may have to travel quite far to settle down.

In Winter: Pairing Up And Mating.
As the cold draws in foxes will have formed monogamous pairs and set up home in a large den - either freshly dug or having been improved from an existing smaller den.  Once settled, they will start mating around January which results in a lot of nighttime garden screeching!

Other Facts: Most Red Foxes have an average lifespan of about 3 years due to accidents and injury - although 12-14 is achievable in the right conditions!   Red Foxes can also be totally black (quite rare) or even almost white (very rare).

Fox Groups: 
UK - The Fox Website 
UK - League Against Cruel Sports

Other Information:
If you find a ’sick’ fox in your garden during the day, the best thing to do it to slowly approach it head on.  If it doesn’t move when you are within 2 feet of it - then it is really ill or seriously injured and you need to call a rescue centre to come and collect it.  If you don’t try to approach it, or it runs away when you do - then it will probably run away from a rescue centre operative when they arrive so will be a waste of time!

If it seems ‘ok’, then offer the fox some food (anything meaty) and fresh water, and leave it alone and with a clear exit (open gate) - as with the extra strength the food and water gave it, it may well then be strong enough to wander back to where it ’lives’ and leave your garden. 

posted by admin on Jul 15

How many times have you watched a delightful and brightly coloured butterfly waft past you on a breeze?

Or sat in your garden watching a dainty little butterfly flutter between plants in your borders?

But what was it so you can tell people you saw it!

Well, there are several very common butterflies in the UK that you can learn without too much trouble to make your gardens a more interesting place!

And once you have learnt the few regular visitors to your garden - you will spot a new one when it arrives more easily - and know which key features to look out for.

Butterfly Identification:
Being aware of the general colouring and wing patterns of butterflies can help you to make a correct id.

For example, butterflies have 4 wings; 2 on each side with the uppermost segment on each side usually being the same size or larger than the rear.

They also have very different colourings on the undersides of their wings that can be quite unique - although not quite so obvious as the topside.

Most common species have a combination of spots, white or black patches or even stripes (of a kind) and it is these that can make all the difference.

For example, the small tortoiseshell and the painted lady can appear almost identical at first glance to a ‘learner’, but when you look at their fore-wings the difference is obvious:

Small Tortoiseshell:
Yellow and Black ’squares’ along the top edge with 1 terminal white square.

Painted Lady:
Only small patches of white amongst larger black patches - no neat squares at all!

Of course there are numerous other visual differences including blue edging all over the Tortoiseshells wings and dark spots on the Painted Lady’s rear wings - but the above is the most obvious feature to observe.

Why Learn Them?
Well, not only will knowing by name all the butterflies that visit your garden or live in your local woods be interesting in itself - but it can help the wider world too.

By knowing and reporting your species to specific charities and biological groups, you could help them to create butterfly distribution maps for your region and the country as a whole.

This will allow for a wider impact assessment of the areas and habitats involved.  As butterflies only frequent certain plants throughout their lives - they can be a great indicator of the state of the plants, their habitat and therefore the other animals that live in the same area.

This can be a really useful tool in trying to help local biodiversity in these changing times.

Also at the moment, Butterfly Conservation and Marks & Spencer are funding a ‘Big Butterfly Count’ at the end of July 2010 to take a quick stock of whats out there this year - and as a result have produced a fantastic colour butterfly identification guide for you to refer to.

Even if you end up not doing the count, you can still learn from the id guide about which species you should be expecting to see visiting your garden plants!

And if you want to do more to help these vital species - then visit the Butterfly Conservation Trust online and think about donating or becoming a member.

posted by admin on Jun 25

Have you been up to anything this week - or is this the first you have heard of it?

As part of the National Year of Biodiversity - there is hope that the creepy crawlies will get a look in too!  Not just the little furry ones and the pretty birds!

Spurred on by the ever charismatic and slightly nerdy Chris Packham, why don’t you give insects a chance?  I have started to learn a bit more about the insects around us as I know that they are an essential and amazing part of the ecosystem.

I can now identify around 10 different butterfly species, about 5 moths - as well as the plants that they feed on and those that their young eat.  And I am getting some really great photos along the way!

So now - just like you - I can learn more about other groups of insects from this fact-filled site and all the related links and events.    

Insect Fun & Facts:
This section allows you to read about the tallest, shortest, heaviest, tiniest ad all those record breakers in the insect world - as well as allowing you to make a giant dragonfly yourself!

Insect Garden:
This section is all about making your average garden more attractive the the right kind of insects - both for natural organic pest control, pollination and pure beauty!

Insect Index:
Here you can follow the descriptions and links to find out exactly what type of bug it was that you found near the pond or under a stone - with some great pictures too!

Insect Resources:
Here is the best part of the site.  It is a page totally filled with links and resources to get you started in the insect world - or to carry on from where you are.  It’s a long page!

Insect Events:
There is an extensive listing of minibeast events across the country divided into counties.  I found 2 literally just up the road from me and the WWT centre - so I’m sure you will find one near you too!

Insect Surveys:
Whether it’s the Painted Lady Butterfly Watch or the Great Stag Beetle Hunt, you can take part in these surveys to make sure that our tiny wildlife is kept on top form.  Just follow the links to get started making a difference!

Anything from this website you take on board will make a huge difference to our native wildlife - and could be the difference between extinction and population explosion!

posted by admin on May 25

This article details all you need to know as a beginner about a year in the life of a bat in the UK: 

Animal Type: Mammalia - Chiroptera

Species Info: There are 2 main Orders of bats in the world: Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera - but only the latter are found in the UK. 

UK Distribution:There are 17 species of Bat in the UK, with all these found in the South including the tiny Pipistrelle (only 5 grams) and the larger Daubenton’s and Noctule Bats, with only a few species found in the North.

Preferred Habitat: Around water (as this attracts their insect prey) and in quiet locations - although are quite happy to live in towns on canals or by lakes.  They need roosting sites nearby to where they feed - one for hibernating and another for summer roosting, so a variety of buildings, caves and holes in trees (or bat boxes) are essential.

In Spring:  Waking Up After Hibernation.
In early March, bats may still be hibernating but some will start to feed if necessary - however April is the month that you are most likely to start seeing many bats feeding at night in the UK.  By May there will be plenty of activity in the Bat world as the females are actively looking for communal nursery sites in which to have their young.

In Summer:  Giving Birth & Young Taking To The Skies.
The young are usually born in June (usually only 1 young per female per year).  These young stay in the nursery though most of July, building up strength until they start to leave the nest in August.  After the young have left, the females go off in search of males to mate with.

In Autumn:  Mating & Searching For A Hibernation Site.
The adult males and females spend most of September mating, as well as starting to build up fat reserves for the winter ahead by feasting on insects.  If the weather stays warm there could still be feeding into November, but when temperatures start to drop, the bats start to hibernate.

In Winter:  All UK Bats Are Hibernating.
You will rarely see a Bat through the cold winter as they will be be hibernating somewhere quiet and secure.  As the winter moves on they will stay in that place, gradually using up their fat reserves to stay alive.  Only when temperatures warm up nearing Spring will they naturally begin to stir and set out hunting again.

UK/World Events: 
May: UK National Moth & Bat Night
August: European Bat Weekend

Bat Groups:
UK - Bat Conservation Trust
US - Bat Conservation International
Other - South-East Asia Bat Conservation

Other Information:
Bats in the UK are protected by strict laws and you can be liable for a fine of up to £5000 and possible imprisonment per incident or ‘per bat’ if you deliberately capture, injure or kill a bat, destroy a roost - even if not in use, or intentionally block access to a bat roost.  So call an expert if in doubt!

posted by admin on May 15

Yes - that’s tonight.  It’s not too late to really help out with some local conservation work!

The Butterfly Conservation Trust has been running this event for years now (but without the bats - they are new this year: see below….) and they are always looking for new moth trappers and counters to help form a complete national distribution picture.

Moths and other insects are very susceptible to changing habitats and whole populations can rise or fall depending on how the land around them changes.  For example the building of a new road could affect their movement for many months - maybe too for too long and they stop moving altogether.   Even changing back gardens to decking, front gardens to drives, adding too many all-night light sources to distract them.

Moths & Bats:
There are a whole host of things that can prevent a moths natural behaviour, and this is where the bats come in.  Bats love eating insects - particularly moths.  Infact all 16 species of bat found in Britain eats moths as part of their diet, some more than others.

So if the moths are being affected by environmental changes or as a result of global warming, then bats will be too - so this year the Bat Conservation Trust have joined forces - and to save resources really.  If thousands of people are out at night counting and trapping moths - then why not get them to watch out for bats at the same time!

Do be aware however, that in the UK there are strict regulations about the proximity of humans to bats, and it is against the law for an unqualified person to approach bats when roosting or even to touch a bat they find on the ground or in their home.  So it is best to join a bat group to get really close and maybe to eventually become one of those qualified people!

How To Take Part:
Now, you can take part in any way you want really, whether you find a local event that is offering a nighttime bat walk with an expert, you might find an evening lecture and trapping session at a local wildlife centre or maybe you just want to trap moths at home yourself using any number of homemade or shop-brought ‘live’ traps.

You can download and pictures and all your results to the main Moth Count website up until the end of the year, giving you plenty of time to have identified everything you have found.  I mean there are an estimated 2500 species of moth found in Britain and the Channel Islands alone!

And you don’t need to be living in the countryside to take part - it is just as interesting to find out which moths and bats are living in towns and cities these days.  Migration and distribution changes through the years are a very interesting part of this study, as some species and up thriving in cities and others have to find a new place to live.  Just like people I suppose!

Something New:
Maybe you have never really been a fan of moths or bats - and you want to try something different.  Give it a go.

Your town and churchyard could look totally different at night and it could be a great adventure for the kids - I mean there is no point passing on your phobias to them is there.  They could be a budding wildlife volunteer in the making and help keep moths and bats as a vital part of our local environment in the future, for the animals.

Even if you don’t want to touch anything tonight, at least have a look at some of the creatures that use your garden at night.  There should be fox cubs around, maybe a hedgehog or badger as well.  You might hear the beautiful song of the nightingale, or an owl calling it’s mate.

And some moths aren’t that boring either - take the Elephant Hawk-moth:  A huge moth with delicate pink and lime green wings.  And you never know if you could find something new to Britain.  What if 1 of your moths is the first of it’s kind to head over from Europe - it has happened before on a Moth Night.

Happy Counting!

posted by admin on Apr 6

If you know the name of what you are looking at - you can understand and enjoy your environment more!

I know that just being in the countryside can be pleasant enough on it’s own - but some times you see something amazing or unusual - and you want to know more.

By learning what to look for when you see something new can make this really easy - and can avoid disappointment!

I remember seeing a great little purple flower out on a walk, and wanted to know what it was, so I took a picture of the flower - all proud of myself and headed home.

The Problem:
You’d have thought that by looking for the flower in my book was all I had to do - but no.  There were lots of similar purple flowers in there - as well as similar shaped flowers that were generally white but could be pink or purple!  So I didn’t know which one it was.

They all had different shaped leaves in the pictures though - if only I had taken a picture of those too!

Having learnt from my mistake; next time I found a great flower - I made sure I got a photo of the leaf as well - but still no!

I hadn’t bothered to read the descriptions last time - just looked at the pictures, so I hadn’t realised that sometimes the underside of the leaf or the number or flowers on each stem was more important!

However, the more I tried to identify plants, the more I knew not only what features to record - but I knew all the things that it was not.  For example, if I see a small purple flower now - I know what a dog violet and and a vetch look like by heart, so I can eliminate them from my search!

And this way, I will be able to identify insects more easily, as certain butterflies only feed on certain plants, for example so I can look out for them too!

Birds And Mammals:
The same goes for animals too.  If you see a little bird with white on it’s wings - don’t just think that will be enough to identify it - look for the important things for birds.

These include things like length and shape of the tail, any stripes going through or above the eye, shape and colour or the beak as well as what it was doing at the time.  Was it on the ground, on a feeder, hanging off the side of a tree, on the beach, in a pond or was it hovering in the sky?

This is also true of mammals.  They are often not easy to see - but what time you see them, what month you see them and where you are when you see them is all very important when you are back home with your reference book!

And when you see predators like a kestrel or owl, you know there must be prey about like voles and mice!

You can build a whole food web up of your local woods or parks, and this will help you know what should be out there for you to see!

posted by admin on May 28

Can you get canine distemper in raccoons and is there such a thing as skunk distemper?

There are many species of animal that can carry and become affected by distemper, including raccoons, skunks, foxes, badgers, mink and ferrets, and as with dogs it has high morbidity rates and variable mortality rates depending on the animal involved.

If you find that any of these mammals (all within the ‘dog’ family) are frequently using your yard as a pass-through or home, then you must protect your dog with the vaccine. You will never be able to make sure that your pet didn’t come into contact with the urine or faeces of an infected animal on your land or in local woods accidentally inhaling the infected virus - so you shouldn’t take the risk.

As wild animals will soil anywhere they go, and particularly with scent marking, there will be a high risk of your dog catching the virus if any of the wild animals became infected and then wandered onto your land or into nearby woods.

If you find or notice dead or sick animals around your property and your dog is not vaccinated than it may be advisable to either vaccinate him then, or to take the wild animal to a local vet for testing and react on their findings - however, as there is currently no cure for distemper, your dog may have to live with the consequences of your decision.

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posted by admin on May 20

Animal Carriers of the Rabies Virus.

Rabies can spread through ANY type of mammal population in any country; so both wildlife and domestic pets are at risk.

Although any mammal can become infected, it is usually the following groups that pass the virus onto humans and domestic animals:

Carnivorous (meat eating) animals
All cat and dog species (foxes, wolves) as well as vampire bats.

Insectivorous (insect-eating) animals
Usually only bat species (but there are lots of bat species!!!).

Omnivorous (a bit of everything) animals
Including neighbourhood pests (raccoons, skunks, squirrels) and monkeys.

Generally in any region, there will be the most common vectors for the disease - those animals that are most likely to carry the virus and pass it on to humans and domestic animals. In Europe it is the Fox, in the North America it’s the Raccoon, South America is the domestic dog, as with Asia. However there are always many other wild mammals that could become infected with the virus by one of these and then become the carrier themselves.

90% of reported rabies cases last year were in wild animals, with the most of the recent cases in the U.S being from infected bats. Worldwide, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 55,000 human cases of rabies last year alone, mostly children being bitten by dogs.

Can I get rabies from a rat bite?
Do squirrels have rabies?
Do chipmunks get rabies??

Small rodents (such as squirrels, rats, mice and chipmunks) and lagomorphs (such as rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States.

You can still pick up all sorts of other nasty things from a wild animal bite - including tetanus - so any bite should be flushed and treated as soon as possible, and if you are regularly in close quarters with wild animals, you would be best advised to have any recommended vaccinations and take extra care at all times.

How do you tell if a bat has rabies?
Bats are also common mammals who spread rabies, but most do not appear to or actually have the disease. Unfortunately, you cannot tell if a bat has rabies just by looking at it; rabies can only be confirmed with laboratory testing, usually only after it has bitten someone and been caught!

To minimize the risk, it is best never to handle any bat, or try to corner or get too close to a trapped bat. In the UK, (which is classed as rabies free due to its strict quarantine measures), you are not legally allowed to handle a bat or approach and disturb a bat roost. You must report any ‘found’ or ‘injured’ bats to the Bat Conservation Society, who will help catch or dispose of the animal safely and legally.

Mammals which spread rabies:
Raccoons continued to be the most frequently reported rabid wildlife species (37.7% of all animal cases during 2006), followed by bats (24.4%), skunks (21.5%), foxes (6.2%), and other wild animals, including rodents and lagomorphs (0.6%).

Cattle, horses, deer and other herbivores (grass and plant eaters) can become infected with rabies and although they could potentially transmit the virus to other animals and to people, this rarely occurs.

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