Honey Bees Overwintering

 Overwintering honey bees is a worry.  One can’t help but think that hives are just not thick enough to provide good thermal insulation.  They must be though as most hives survive the winter.  Next year I think I’ll put sheep’s wool under the roofs.  Fingers crossed for the spring.

Alternatively, Shetland sheep and Black Welsh Mountain sheep don’t appear to mind the winter!

Pine Martens Released

Pine Martens have been reintroduced into the Forest of Dean in an effort to control the grey squirrel.  Apparently it has worked amazingly well in Ireland.  The grey squirrels are not only consumed by the  martens but also so scared by them they won’t feed or reproduce.  The martens struggle to predate on the red due to the squirrel’s ability to move onto small, thin branches and the fact they spend very little time on the ground, unlike the grey.  Eighteen martens have been reintroduced so hopefully they’ll spread throughout the region.  They became extinct in the 19th Century due to gamekeeper persecution: let’s hope there’s no trouble this time.

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/news/pine-martens-released-into-the-forest-of-dean/

www.arlingtonpestcontrol.co.uk

I read the other day that the Norway rat came over to the British Isles at the same time as the House of Hanover was established.  It was mooted that the rats were aboard the ship that brought George I to these shores in 1714.  Being German and inheriting a hugely complex political and religious situation George became universally unpopular.....as did the Norway rat of course.  The tenuous connection between the House of Hanover the the new rats  was forged and wags of the time gave the rats the name 'Hanoverians'.

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Mustelids are a family of carnivorous mammals which include the weasel, stoat, badger, otter, pole cat, mink, wolverine and domesticated ferret.  With their long, muscular bodies and short legs they are highly efficient and fearless killers as anyone who has seen a diminutive stoat tackle a full grown rabbit will testify.

We don't see the badger and the otter as big weasels, but that's what they are.  Culturally we are inordinately fond of both badger and otter, but not many people give a thought to the stoat and weasel.  And those that do tend not to like them.  Another example of our weirdly contradictory attitude towards wild animals.  In the past we used to spend a lot more time thinking about the weasel as they were an important animal in medieval iconography.  In the medieval bestiary the weasel signified someone who had heard the divine word and yet did nothing about it.  Many carvings of long, thin weasels adorn our churches, such as at St John's Cirencester.

http://laurieplant.com/2012/03/drawing-the-new-gargoyles-for-cirencester-parish-church/

And the difference between a stoat and a weasel?  The stoat is a little longer (20-30cm) than the weasel and has a longer tail (7-12cm) with black tip. I can't remember the hilarious joke....stoatally different?  Don't forget too that it was the winter coat of the stoat which provided ermine for the gowns of the peerage.  Let's hope they use faux stoat now though.

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River Coln

River Coln passing through Bibury

The River Coln rises near Cheltenham and runs into the Thames at Lechlade.  It’s fed  by springs along the way; the one in Bibury emits beautifully clean water.  The river is suffering at the moment, Thames Water have it as one of the worst in the Upper Thames catchment area.  The water has high turbidity (it’s murky) due to phosphate from the treated sewage water blending with the naturally occurring calcium to create slimy phosphorus carbonate.  The brown trout need clear water to spawn so currently they can’t.  The situation is exacerbated by a build up of silt along much of the river through Bibury.  

www.arlingtonpestcontrol.co.uk

These are exciting, some might say dangerous, times to be in pest control.

Invasive species, such as the Asian hornet and Bryant's fox squirrel, are threatening our indigenous wildlife  like never before.  Here in the River Coln we have the red signal crayfish swarming in the crystal waters and there's talk that the mink have returned up river at Fossebridge.  Fortunately, they have not ventured here yet as we still have our little friends the water vole appearing frequently.

This is not specifically a British problem, but one that affects the whole of Europe.  I read in the British Pest Control Association journal that the European Commission have taken an integrated and proactive approach to the invasive threat that requires member states to put in surveillance and rapid response mechanisms.  Let's hope Brexit doesn't make us more vulnerable in this context.

It's interesting to remember though that many of our 'everyday' pests are actually non-native.  The brown rat came over in the 16th Century and originates from the Russian Steppes, the house mouse is originally from China and hitched a ride to Europe with very early traders, and the rabbit, indigenous to North Africa, was introduced to these shores by the Normans.  The history of the grey squirrel, and its affect on our red squirrel, is well documented and the depradations of the North American mink have already been alluded to.

www.arlingtonpestcontrol.co.uk