GENTLE FOOTPRINTS New Bridge House Animal Anthology 2010 OUT NOW!!!

Link

2011-02-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

The link won't post so go to http://pawsnclawspublishing.co.uk/default.aspx

Almost 1000 books sold...

2011-02-13T02:39:00.000-08:00

We have almost reached 1000 copies of GF sold for Born Free- so if you don't have your copy yet- then do!

It has been a great experience working on this collection and we hope people will still post and tell us about what you're up to and tell us your animal stories.

Gentle Footprints has also spawned a new publishing venture with the Born Free Foundation- exciting stuff.

To find out more follow the link:

aye aye

2010-12-06T13:44:00.000-08:00

With its huge eyes and ears and its elongated fingers, this weird and wonderful lemur is without doubt the world’s most unusual primate. Long persecuted in its native Madagascar as an omen of death and evil, the aye-aye, like most of its lemur relatives, faces imminent extinction because of the added pressure of deforestation. This elusive species is the largest nocturnal primate and is the island’s answer to the woodpecker, as its specially adapted, flexible and skeletal third finger is used to find nutritious grubs and winkle them out from their woody burrows, in much the same way as a woodpecker’s beak.

Fast Facts
Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average life span in captivity: 20 years
Size: Head and body, 14 to 17 in (36 to 43 cm); Tail, 22 to 24 in (56 to 61 cm)
Weight: 4 lbs (2 kg)
Protection status: Threatened
Did you know? Aye-ayes are the only primates thought to use echolocation to find prey.

Aye-ayes can be found only on the island of Madagascar. These rare animals may not look like primates at first glance, but they are related to chimpanzees, apes, and humans.
Aye-ayes are dark brown or black and are distinguished by a bushy tail that is larger than their body. They also feature big eyes, slender fingers, and large, sensitive ears. Aye-ayes have pointed claws on all their fingers and toes except for their opposable big toes, which enable them to dangle from branches.

The Aye-aye is classically considered 'solitary', but recent research suggests that they are more social than once thought. It usually sticks to foraging in its own personal home range, or territory. The home ranges of males often overlap and the males can be very social with each other. Female home ranges never overlap, though a male's home range often overlaps that of several females. The male Aye-Aye live in large areas that are up to 80 acres (320,000 m2) while female have smaller living space that goes up to 20 acres (81,000 m2). Regular scent marking with their cheeks and neck is a way that aye-ayes let others know of their presence and repel intruders from their territory.Like many other prosimians, the female Aye-aye is dominant to the male. The Aye-aye is not monogamous by any means, and often competes with each other for mates. Males are very aggressive in this regard, and sometimes even pull other males off a female during mating. Outside of mating, males and females interact only occasionally, usually while foraging.

The father will sometimes share food with the infant, but otherwise infants' primary source of social interaction is with their mothers. Mothers and infants often wrestle, chase, and play "peek-a-boo" for entertainment. After 13 weeks, infants are usually ready to interact with other young Aye-ayes, usually by play-fighting.

Cute baby

Efforts are being made to conserve these endangered animals, and the Durrell Jersey trust is working with the Madagascar Fauna group to facilitate this by methods which include habitat conservation as well as education of local people.

A is for Aardvark

2010-11-22T04:50:00.000-08:00

So Debz challenged me to write about the aardvark there were only three thoughts which came to me: Cyril Sneer from the cartoon The Raccoons, the blue aardvark from the Pink Panther and the fact that it is the first word in the English dictionary, though the word actually comes from the Afrikaans/Dutch for "earth pig" or "ground pig"

Blue Anteater & Cyril Sneer

My second thought was – “hang on, Cyril Sneer and the blue thing in the Pink Panther are anteaters not aardvarks.” This then led to the embarrassing realization that I didn’t actually know the difference between and aardvark and an anteater but guess what I found out…they are actually the same thing...sometimes! Some people actually call aardvarks "anteaters" and it is an accepted form of their name however the anteater is not actually related to the aardvark at all. In fact it even lives on a different Continent being an inhabitant of South and Central America. Confused yet?. Aardvarks are also called antbears, anteaters and earthpigs.

So with that misunderstanding cleared up (in a not very satisfactory fashion) my journey of anty discovery began.

An Aardvark Vs An Anteater - which is which??? (hint: the aardvark has bigger ears)

Aardvarks are found in sub-saharan Africa and are pig-like creatures. I bet you can’t guess what they eat. Oh you can – oh well. In that case I feel less clever telling you that they eat ants and small insects. I can recapture a bit of my cleverness, however, by revealing that the greedy things can suck up over 50,000 small bugs every time they eat. They do this with their long snout and tongues.
Aardvarks have powerful spoon shaped claws and can dig a hole very quickly. They use this skill to create their burrows. They have four toes on their front feet and five on their back feet.
Aardvarks gestate for 7 months and give birth to one baby which usually stays with it’s mother until it is of breeding age itself. Aardvarks in captivity live for around 24 years.
The aardvark's main predators are lions, leopards, hunting dogs and pythons. They also need to watch out for humans as some tribes use their heart, skin, foreheads and claws to create a powder which is worn as a charm to give the owner the ability to pass through walls or roofs at night.
The aardvark’s closest living relatives are (at opposite ends of the scale) the elephant shrew and the elephant.

The Mongoose

2010-11-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

•Mongooses are weasel like animals, which have long bodies and faces, combined with small rounded ears. They have short legs and long tapering tails. Most of the time they have a gray or brown streak or a pattern in gray or brown. These animals have claws that cannot be drawn back they are non-retractile.

•Some species of the mongoose class are nocturnal while others come out in the light of day. One of the species known as yellow mongoose belong to the latter group and live a community life unlike the Egyptian mongoose, which lives a solitary life.

•Mongooses live in crevices of rocks and burrows. The interesting thing is that seldom do they dig these holes themselves, most of the time they just move into burrows that have been left by other animals.
•Scent plays a very important role in case of demarcating the territories of various species and they also use it to mark the reproductive status. They have a large anal scent gland for the same purpose.
•Apart from the scent they also make a high-pitched noise, which is termed as "giggling" as a sign of mating. Giggling is a form courtship when the animal is choosing a partner.

•The Mongoose is a very fast animal and in a conflict with a snake, it can dodge the snake and save itself from the strike of the snake easily. It uses several tricks and then when the snake is tired it attacks the snake and catches it by the back of its neck. It breaks the snake’s spine and eats the snake! Quite a feat for such a small animal. Humans are such scaredy cats really!

•They have a great tolerance towards the venom of the snake,but there have been times when the mongoose has eaten the head and the fangs, the latter pierce through the walls of the blood vessels in the body of the mongoose. The venom leaks into the bloodstream leading to the death of the animal.

•Some species of mongooses use various defense mechanisms to save themselves from the bigger carnivores. Like Meerkats of them acts as the guard who keeps a watch on the surroundings and makes a loud noise that works like an alarm call for the others. Once the other mongooses hear this alarm call they rush to the nearest hole as soon as they can.
There is very little difference between mongooses and meerkats but scientifically whilst a meerkat is a mongoose a mongoose is not a meerkat. Any differences are probably reflected in small cranial structures such as the auditory bulla (a small bone in the ear) and possibly dental characteristics.

The mongoose in literature was made famous by Rudyard Kipling's Rikki Tikki Tavi. This story was about a mongoose who saved an Indian family from a dangerous Cobra.

Hope you have enjoyed this brief look at this fascinating and brave little animal!

Axolotl: the salamander that will never grow up

2010-11-15T13:29:00.001-08:00

It’s not particularly cute or flurry, but an axolotl will never grow up. Although that won’t stop the axolotl breeding. Axolotls are neotenic due to a lack of thyroid stimulating hormone and generally fail to undergo metamorphosis so spend most of their lives in a larval state. Axolotls have external gills, a caudal fin extending from their head to the vent, have wide heads with lidless eyes and underdeveloped limbs with long, thin digits. Features that are typical of the salamander family of which they belong. They feed by suction as they have barely visible vestigial teeth and are carnivorous, favouring worms, insects and small fish. They usually breathe through their gills but can also gulp air from the water’s surface. Axolotls live and breed underwater.

Axolotls have four different colourings, varying shades of brown with spots (wildtype), black (melanoid), pink with black eyes (leucistic) or golden or pink with pink eyes (albino). On average they grow to around 20cm long and can range in length from 15 to 45cm. Axolotls are native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in Mexico. Lake Chalco was drained to avoid flooding and Lake Xochimilco is now not so much a lake as a series of canals, which supplies the 18 million people in Mexico City. The diminishment of their natural habit, reductions in water quality as well as being food (Axolotls were a staple food in the Aztec diet and axolotl eggs are eaten by carp and tilapia fish), has meant they are now critically endangered. Recent surveys have suggested that between 700 to 1200 axolotls survive in six locations within the Xochimilco area. Reintroduction of axolotls is not thought to be a good idea because of the risks of chyrdiomicosis, a disease caused by the chytrid fungus which is often fatal for axolotls. However, there are programmes to create wild refuges for axolotls in their native Mexico.

Although there are no stories featuring axolotls in “Gentle Footprints”, Julio Cortazar (1914 – 1984) published an axolotl-themed short story in in 1956 which was included in his “Final Deljuego” (End of the Game and other stories). In the story, a man frequently visits a zoo and finding his favourite animals, the lions and panthers, asleep (typical behaviour for big cats), he decides to explore the aquarium and finds himself entranced by the axolotls. He makes many return visits, comparing them to figurines of milky glass with discs of gold for eyes. The narrator goes from being transfixed to being transformed, looking at himself from inside the aquarium.

The misunderstood Vampire Bat

2010-11-09T02:21:00.000-08:00

Oh, dear. It seemed like a good idea at the time - give one another animals to blog about. I blithely threw out an idea of a creature with a bad press thinking it would be fun to see if someone could find something positive to say. Now they've given me the vampire bat. Half of us are vegetarians, for heaven's sake. The things live on blood.

Okay, they can be kind to their neighbours and regurgitate a bit if the neighbour hasn't found a meal that night, and they adopt orphan vampire bats within the colony, but still. All that blood, and they lap up half their body weight of the stuff in one feed.

To put it in context, though, that's only one or two teaspoonsful a night or every other night because they're only three inches long. Or looked at another way, the contents of the veins of a cow every four years. They have razor sharp incisors that they use to shave away a small area of fur or feathers and then make a shallow incision. Because of their solely liquid diet they don't need any more teeth.

They've got round bodies, long pointy ears and a naked snout. They have a wingspan of eight inches. See for yourself and comment at the end as to whether you think they can be called cuties or not.

They have a special sense of temperature to search out more superficial blood vessels. There's an anticoagulant in their saliva that allows them to lap (they don't suck it) for twenty or thirty minutes without the blood clotting. We call it draculin. There's also another chemical that numbs the skin of the animal they're feeding from so they don't wake up and realise what's happening.

There are three types of vampire bat, the common, the white winged and the hairy legged. The two above are white winged, this one's hairy legged:

The other two prey on birds but when they can the common stick to cows, pigs and horses. They've developed a solution to the dilemma of feeding from large land-based animals - they can walk! They have long legs with little fur on and use long thumbs on their wings for walking as if on all fours.

A scientist in the US caught some to study how fast they could walk and found that when he speeded up the treadmill they broke into a run and managed the equivalent of two and a half miles. Unfortunately this was pre-YouTube but this is supposed to give you an idea.These researchers also found the bats could remember the sound of the breathing of their victim and go back to the same animal. "Vampire bats are incredibly intelligent," this Dr Riskin said.

Yeah, it's a pity about the way they make their living but if you've ever stood in Sainsbury's unable to recall the colour of the packet of biscuits you liked so much you'll have a sneaking admiration for that ability.

Contrary to expectation, these creatures are not found in Transylvania but only in Latin America, from northern Mexico down to Argentina. This is what is intriguing because vampire mythology is present in practically all cultures including Ancient Greek and early Hebrew. Word of the bats' existence was only brought back to Europe by the Spanish in 1526, so they're not the source of the old world legends. The conquistadors saw their resemblance to the vampires of folklore, not the other way round.

Most of the myths have it that a vampire can only be created by another vampire. One legend tells that in ancient Greek times a human man called Ambrogio fell for a woman Apollo fancied and was cursed by Apollo so that his skin would burn in sunlight. Later he gets cursed by Apollo's sister Artemis so that his skin would burn if he touched silver. Artemis then felt sorry for him and made him immortal and gave him god-like hunting skills. The blood-sucking link seems to be that Ambrogio shot swans and used their blood to write poems to his love.

Our view was always defined by Bram Stoker following the publication of Dracula in 1897. Based on information he came across on vampire bats he introduced the idea of his vampire transforming into a bat.

However, it's now being shifted again by the present generation of young charismatic beings that are prevalent in modern culture. They're sexually attractive, powerful and immortal so especially fascinating to teenagers. This batch, though, have emotions and a conscience and don't turn into bats.

Meanwhile in deserts, scrubland and rainforest, the real thing continue to hang upside down in caves and tree hollows by day and feed in the darkest part of the night. They live in colonies of a hundred or more, breeding females and their offspring with one male. They are mutual groomers and have strong social bonds. Gestation is six to eight months, females have about one pup a year and they can live up to nine years.

Are they endangered? Not at present. In fact they've done rather well over the last three hundred years with the introduction of domesticated horses, cattle and pigs. So where a lot of rainforest animals have suffered because of the way people have altered their habitats, it's been to their advantage. They are, however, widely blamed for spreading rabies and so farmers look to kill them.

On balance, I think I judged too soon - despite their distasteful way of making a living they don't kill their prey, they're kind to one another, are adaptable and intelligent. Ted Hughes wrote a book about them that I'm afraid we overlooked in our house while we were busy reading Herb the Vegetarian Dragon:

What do you think?

I'd say misunderstood, and pretty amazing.

The amazing Duck Billed Platypus!

2010-11-04T07:04:00.001-07:00

Welcome to a lottery of posts by the authors of Gentle Footprints. We are randomly selecting animals (not in the book) but to raise awareness! Feel free to add your comments. And there will be a sequel to Gentle Footprints we hope so this is all food for thought!

This amazing critter is endemic to Eastern Australia including Tasmania and looks like an odd mixture of a duck and a mammal- perhaps something Disney night have created? Or God after a glass of vino or two!

But that aside this semi aquatic mammal is a total, albeit unlikely cutie!

Just look at this:

Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant (as in not extinct)species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. It is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus.)

But is it as cute as it looks. Actually this animal is one of the few venomous mammal!( Although I reckon I can think of a few!) The male Platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans.

This critter has appeared as a mascot at national events and is featured on the reverse of the Australian 20 cent coin. The Platypus is the animal emblem of the state of New South Wales!

The body and the broad, flat tail of the Platypus are covered with dense brown fur that traps a layer of insulating air to keep the animal warm.

The Platypus uses its tail for storage of fat reserves (an adaptation also found in animals such as the Tasmanian Devil and fat-tailed sheep). It has webbed feet and a large, rubbery snout. The webbing is more significant on the front feet and is folded back when walking on land.

Unlike a bird's beak (in which the upper and lower parts separate to reveal the mouth), the snout of the Platypus is a sensory organ with the mouth on the underside. The nostrils are located on the dorsal surface of the snout, while the eyes and ears are located in a groove set just back from it; this groove is closed when swimming.

Platypuses have been heard to emit a low growl when disturbed and a range of other vocalisations.

But hey all this science stuff is boring to read- why not look at this:

The platypus is officially classified as "Common but Vulnerable" in Australia. As a species, it is not currently considered to be endangered.

However, platypus populations are believed to have declined or disappeared in many catchments, particulary in urban and agricultural landscapes. In most cases, the specific underlying reasons for the reduction in numbers remain unknown.

Platypuses in Literature (a very well known genre as you will all be aware!)

Not sure sure there are many examples of platypuses in adult fiction... maybe we have found a gap in the market!!!

And poems!

Old Man Platypus

Far from the trouble and toil of town,

Where the reed beds sweep and shiver,

Look at a fragment of velvet brown -

Old Man Platypus drifting down,

Drifting along the river.

And he plays and dives in the river bends

In a style that is most elusive;

With few relations and fewer friends,

For Old Man Platypus descends

From a family most exclusive.

He shares his burrow beneath the bank

With his wife and his son and daughter

At the roots of the reeds and the grasses rank;

And the bubbles show where our hero sank

To its entrance under water.

Safe in their burrow below the falls

They live in a world of wonder,

Where no one visits and no one calls,

They sleep like little brown billiard balls

With their beaks tucked neatly under

And he talks in a deep unfriendly growl

As he goes on his journey lonely;

For he's no relation to fish nor fowl,

Nor to bird nor beast, nor to horned owl;

In fact, he's the one and only.

by A. B. "Banjo" Paterson

In fact there is a whole website of poems!

Check this out: http://www.platypus.org.uk/poems01.htm

And to end:

Some cute pics:
I so want this cuddly toy.. Dear Santa...

Update

2010-08-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

Books are still selling- look out for review in BBC Wildlife Mag next month!
Have been really busy working on my MA dissertation but I am am still here but have not been Blogging.

Good news is my new puppy Rosie arrives this Saturday so there will be plenty of Rosie posts so anyone who wants to Blog about animals- please feel fee.

Here is Rosie when she was 4 weeks old... plenty more will follow when she gets here!
She might even have her own Blog!

Redwings Essex and more

2010-08-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I Blogged what with a whole host of computer issues but I wanted to tell you more about Redwings...

Thanks for Gill's Blogging and from the pictures the Essex site looks very similar. What a great charity they are.

I got the chance to meet Gail who was lovely and we were treated to a free lunch before we started.

We were in a stable that was set out for other kids activities and my Dad- the cover artist, was the real crowd puller as immediately the children started queuing for pictures. Dad had offered to do line drawings of animals or Disney characters for £2- to be split between Born Free and Redwings.

Mum was on hand to take care of the money!

Gail and I were invited into the stable yard to give short readings. Because of the young children I knew my story was not appropriate so I read the ending of Bookey's and talked about honey badgers! And Gail read some of Pauline's to keep with the horsy theme! I told everyone about the book reminding them it is not a children's book which everyone seems to think it is- and then onto the signing.

I suppose we sold close to 10 books (or Redwings did as they have them now in stock- website and they will be in the Christmas catalogue!)

Dad was still drawing and still drawing- oh and still drawing when everyone else had more of less left! I think we made about £30, so £15 in the tin for Born Free- but it's all about raising awareness.

I got to meet Nicola Markwell who I have been liaising with since this started- back and forth and she is as lovely as she seemed on email!

Then we were showed around and got to find out all about the amazing work they do- as outlined in Gill's Blog.

It was a great day and I hope it encourages more of you to go to similar events.

Next Wednesday Lyn Fountain is scheduled to be at the Gt Yarmouth Redwings- only thing is Abi is unable to join her now - any volunteers?

Gentle Footprints is still selling although it has slowed down but we hope to keep it going. Look out for a review in BBC Wildlife Mag special AUTUMN edition out in September (possibly before)- it's an extra 13th edition so not the usual monthly one.

Let's keep Blogging about animals- anyone want me to tell you about the new puppy I am getting in 3 weeks time- including photos???

The place: (and the sun was shining!)

Us! Gail, my Mum and Dad- Dad being artist Colin Wyatt (happily no pic of me!)

The animals!

Debz :)

2010-07-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Redwings Oxhill
We had a great day there today. Redwings does some fantastic work with rescuing horses. We had a chance to go and visit the animals before we settled down to selling books. We were right opposite the quarantine stable and the young man housed there was very demanding of our attention. He will be out of quarantine soon – just one more round of blood tests and “pooh” examination and then he’ll go into a paddock with some other horses.
“High time!” you can almost hear him thinking. He “chatted” to us almost all the time we were there.
The animals at Redwings are a little different from the ones in Gentle Footprints and from the ones that Born Free normally supports. They have been farm or domestic animals and they have been ill-treated or abandoned or have become too ill for their previous owners to look after them. Sometimes the owners themselves have become too old, too infirm or too poor to care for them. Redwings is very keen to provide every animal in its care with the five freedoms:
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour
5. Freedom from fear and distress
Born Free also stresses the importance of these five freedoms.
As you walk around the pens, paddocks and stables at Redwings, you can see how the staff there have attempted to provide those freedoms. It’s important for our equine friends also to have companionship and shelter. These help to provide the freedom from fear and distress and the freedom from discomfort. It soon became clear that most of the clients were housed with suitable friends.
We had a steady trickle of visitors to our stable and we were able to tell them about the aims of Gentle Footprints, the aims of Born Free and how our book was also supporting Redwings. We signed a heap of books and gave out several postcards as well.
The day had been billed as a fun activity day for children. There was a lot going on apart from our book signing. The youngsters loved the postcards. Their parents and some of the more regular visitors took an interest in the book. Not everyone we spoke to took a copy of the book, - they often had several children in tow and were already spending quite a bit on lunches and the other activities. I really believe, however, we have sown the seeds of an interest in the book… and if it appears again in the run up to Christmas, as I’m sure it will …. Redwings and Born Free are going to benefit again.

The Day of the Tiger

2010-06-25T12:01:00.001-07:00

William Blake was so right when he described a tiger’s “fearful symmetry” and the cat as “burning bright” with its distinctive black stripes on orange fur. Tigers are generally found in forests but are highly adaptable and can be found in open grasslands and tropical mangrove swamps. Unlike most cats, tigers like swimming and can swim for up to 4 miles.

There are currently 6 subspecies of tigers, although there were 9.

The most varied and most common subspecies is the Bengal. Bengals are primarily found in India and Bangladesh.

If you see a white tiger, it is most probably a Bengal. White tigers only occur when both parents carry the rare gene and only happens in around 1 in 10,000 births. Not only do white tigers have distinctive white fur, they also have blue eyes and pink noses.

Another rare variation is the golden tabby or strawberry tiger thought to be created by a recessive gene. Golden tabby tigers have light golden coloured fur, pale legs and faint orange stripes and the fur is thicker than normal. Golden tabby tigers, like white tigers, are at least part Bengal tiger.

The Indochinese tiger is mostly found in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and China. They’re slightly darker and smaller than Bengal tigers and only a several hundred are left in the wild. The biggest threat to Indochinese tigers is a combination of loss of habit and the use tiger parts in traditional medicines.

In 2004 the Malayan tiger was recognised as a subspecies. There are around 700 left in the wild.

The Sumatran tiger is only found on the island of Sumatra and is critically endangered. These are the smallest tigers, adapting to the thick dense forests they live in, although their natural habitat is under severe threat from logging even in protected national parks.

The largest tiger is the Amur or Siberian tiger. It has a thick coat with a pale golden hue and fewer stripes.

The most critically endangered tiger is the South China tiger. From 1983 to 2007 no wild South China tigers were spotted and a photograph of one taken in 2007 turned out to be a fake. There are currently 59 captive South China tigers but these are descended from only six animals so have poor genetic diversity. There are plans to try and reintroduce these tigers to the wild.

Now extinct are the Bali tiger, the last of which was thought to have been killed in 1937, The Javan tiger, which became extinct in the 1980s, and the Caspian tiger which was found in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and surrounding areas and is very similar to the Amur tiger.

Tigers can mate all year round but generally breed between November and April. After a gestation of 16 weeks a female tiger will have a litter of up to 4 cubs. They will stay with their mother until around two years of age. They need those two years to learn vital hunting skills and if the mother is poached or killed before her cubs have reached maturity, the orphaned cubs will not be able to survive in the wild. Female cubs often take a territory near or overlapping with their mothers. Male cubs wander further taking a larger territory. However female tigers are not fiercely territorial and will allow grown cubs to share territories and even kills with a current litter of cubs.

The tiger has a long history in Asian culture, representing royalty, fearlessness and wrath. Most tigers have a marking on their forehead which resembles the Chinese character for “king” and consequently many cartoon versions of tigers feature this character on their forehead.

The tiger is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals and represents matter, equal and rival to the dragon which represents spirit. In Buddhim the tiger is one of the Three Senseless Creatures, symbolising anger. The Hindu goddess Durga, as aspect of Devi-Parvati, rides a tigress into battle.

The tiger is the national animal of Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Malaysia, North Korea and South Korea. In a poll by Animal Planet, the tiger was voted the world’s favourite animal, winning 21% of the vote from 50,000 viewers from 73 countries.

THE DAY OF THE SEAHORSE

2010-06-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

The seahorse was the first creature to really capture my imagination when I was a child. I remember seeing about them in a picture book and not quite believing they could be real - the thought of something that shape making its way silently, upright, through the sea seemed impossibly romantic. Then, when I became a feminist, learning that the male bore the young lifted these fish even further in my estimation.

Unfortunately, now that I am in this unique moment with other Gentle Footprints authors I find that the seahorse too is if not endangered then certainly vulnerable.

Why? Boat anchors and bottom dredging by fishermen damaging their habitats - they're quite fragile and don't adapt well to changing conditions; they're used in Chinese medicine (20 million a year taken); they're kept as pets (a million a year taken, of whom 99 percent are dead within six weeks). They're also captured, dried and sold as decoration (a million a year - I know, what is the matter with us?).

They're fish but they don't swim well. They get around by beating their dorsal fins 30-70 times a second and steering with pectoral fins on either side of their head. It's tough, so they prefer hooking their tail around the grasses they live in and just bobbing around. The eyes, on either side of the horse-shaped head, can move independently. How can you not love a creature that bobs around looking forwards and backwards at the same time? It's handy when looking for food - they eat things like small crustaceans, tiny fish and plankton and estimates are that adults eat up to fifty pieces of food a day. They don't have teeth but slurp the food up through their snouts. They don't have stomachs either thus the need to eat all day. Babies, apparently - called fry - eat sixty times that amount.

Which leads to the birth business. It was once widely said that they mated for life and were faithful, but this may not be true (they only live for about four years anyway). The female deposits the eggs in the male's pouch and he fertilises them there, then carries them for 14 to 28 days. They court for several days before breeding, and while the young are incubating the female comes to visit every day, where there's a greeting ritual. Depending on species there may be between fifty and fifteen hundred fry and contractions can last for twelve hours.

Of course, like all fish, once the young - fully formed miniature seahorses - are expelled there's no more nurturing and dad's ready to receive the next batch of eggs the morning after the night he's given birth. As we saw with NeiraKeto the octopus (see "Closing Circles" by Anne Cleasby in Gentle Footprints) thousands of them don't survive. With seahorse fry fewer than 0.5% of the brood survive, what with predators and delicate little bodies being washed away into colder waters. It seems very wasteful of life (why not have fewer and look after them?) but these creatures have been around one way or another for 40 million years.

We have two British indigenous species, the spiny and the short-snouted, found mainly all down the west coast and the south coast and there are another 28 species worldwide, including the fancifully named winged seahorse, hedgehog seahorse, giraffe seahorse and sea pony.

Oh, and they don't live in groups but can you guess what a whole bunch of them together are called? A herd of seahorses...

The Day of the Cuckoo by Lyn Fountain

2010-06-18T02:47:00.000-07:00

Sumer is icumen in, Lhude sing cuccu!

I was walking the dogs early Monday morning, and had taken one of my favourite paths, which is through the churchyard, up the incline of the wheatfield and along the line of the hedgerow behind the old Hall. It was cool and damp, the air was still and had yet to be stirred and warmed by a sun that was pale and weak for June. As I arrived at and turned the corner, facing north, a distinctive birdsong rose out of the haze of a distant clump of trees beyond the next village. It was the umistakeable call of a cuckoo. The first I'd heard since moving to the Norfolk countryside, and only the second time I'd ever heard one - the first time being around 15 years ago. A dozen times it called, "Cuck-oo.. cuck-oo.." in rapid succession, with barely a beat between the repetitions. It might be a bit late in heralding spring, and it's certainly not nearly summery enough here in chilly Norfolk, but - as corny as it sounds - the beautiful simplicity of it lifted my heart, and I couldn't wait to tell the first person I met that I'd just heard a cuckoo.

The cuckoo arrives in Western Europe from April onwards. After breeding, the adults return to East Africa around July, with the offspring following in September. From photographs, in the looks department - particularly because of size and head - I think they resemble the collared dove, but a cuckoo in flight, with its barred undercarriage, can also be misidentified as a sparrowhawk or a kestrel. Thrilled as I am to have heard the bird again after so long, I'd really love to see one next time.

Legend has much to say on the subject of the cuckoo. It is supposed to sing from St Tiburtius' Day (14th April) to St John's Day (24th June).
A very old book I have includes omens connected to birds, and of the cuckoo it recommends noting from which side of you the call comes. If it comes from the right, you may expect prosperity; from the left, prepare for disappointment. In my case it was straight ahead. Apparently the quarter from which you hear it will indicate the direction of your travels during the ensuing year. As 'my' cuckoo was calling from the north, I'm hoping not to travel too far in that direction. Any more than 30 miles and I'll be in the North Sea!

I remember bits of a little rhyme my mother used to chant to me about the cuckoo. And it went something like: In July time to fly, In Au-gust away I must. I can still hear her voice putting the stress on the '-gust' to make it rhyme with 'must'.

In his poem To the Cuckoo, William Wordsworth said: 'O Cuckoo! Shall I call thee bird, Or but a wandering voice'. So perhaps he found them difficult to catch sight of too!

The Day of The Dolphin

2010-06-17T00:24:00.000-07:00

Dolphins are some of the most fascinating, intelligent, and beautiful animals on the planet. I have always been drawn to them since I watched the 'Flipper' TV show as a child.

I later realised that the poor dolphins used on the show were in captivity. I guess that when you're a kid you just watch the show to see the dolphins do stunts and tricks - I never considered that the poor animals were suffering. I know better now.

However I am happy to report that one of the trainers Ric O'Barry became a marine activist when one of the dolphins became depressed and committed suicide by refusing to breathe. He has campaigned for the last 38 years against dolphin captivity and against the horrific 'dolphin drives' which take place in Japan every year.

My first real encounter came about ten years ago whilst on holiday in California. My family and I were wading out into the rolling surf and then from the corner of my eye, about six feet to my left, I spied two dolphins bursting from the waves! They were close enough for me to see the water shimmering on their skin and their 'smiling' faces. I couldn't believe how close they were, or how beautiful. Since that time I have been lucky enough to see them at least five or six times fishing for breakfast along the Californian coast, but at a distance.

Then around five years ago I saw a programme on TV about the Moray Firth bottlenose dolphins. My husband and I went up soon after for a few days to try to see them, and once again we were lucky. I remember the weather was awful, cold, grey and tipping down stair rods!

I was spying through binoculars from the car at Chanory point, and because of the steamed up windows I had to do a double take. Was that a fin I just saw? Yes indeed! Without a moment's hesitation I jumped out of the car and raced through the driving rain along the shingle beach to where they were heading.

At the end of the point was a man with a huge camera set on a tripod soaked to the skin, and another man walking his dog. We chatted excitedly as we watched about ten of the magnificent creatures hunting for salmon just a few feet from the shore. After about fifteen minutes they swam further away , but it was such a wonderful experience. I'll never forget it.

They seem to have the ability to fill me with joy and wonder, and I know they have a similar effect on others. This is why I find it particularly distressing to find these creatures trapped in ridiculously small pens made to perform tricks, and also that they are still hunted by some.

There are about 45 types of dolphin in the world, the largest being the Orca or killer whale. They live from between 20-45 years in the wild but only 4-10 in captivity. They live in pods and are very social animals. The Moray Firth boasts around 130 resident bottlenose dolphins and many porpoises. Sadly hundreds of dolphin and porpoise die ' by-catch' worldwide every year. This simply means that they are caught in trawling nets and drown.

The WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society) have two free sites in the Moray Firth you can visit. They seek to raise awareness about providing a safe environment for these animals. They also campaign against whale and dolphin captivity, and against the hunting of whales and dolphins.

I adopted a dolphin when I was up there, and for as little as £4 per month so could you! My dolphin is called Rainbow, and I receive a picture and reports on her progress each year. I also receive a very interesting and informative magazine every three months. See the link below if you would like to find out more.

http://www2.wdcs.org/hych/adopt/dolphin/pack.pph

I hope you enjoyed the day of the dolphin, and I hope it's made you want to find out more about these magnificent creatures.

Mandy :)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

2010-06-16T01:30:00.000-07:00

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou

Virginia McKenna told me she loves this poem and sees no greater sadness than a bird that has the wonderful gift of being able to fly trapped in a cage. I whole-heatedly agree with that sentiment.

The Otter Lutra Lutra

2010-06-15T11:53:00.002-07:00

I remember wanting to have a pet otter in my bath after watching Ring of Bright Water when I was a kid- also of course starring Virginia McKenna. And I also remember Tarka the Otter and how I cried at the end- I can still remember it- a bubble shook the surface and then another. And then no more... something like that.

A friend of mine did an otter project with Snowdonia National Parks as part of her MSc. I spent the summer counting Sandwich Terns into a colony where they were nesting with Black-headed Gulls- I was actually looking at something called Kleptoparasitism which is food piracy. And my friend was at the same time tracking otters in Snowdonia. Except sadly they are so elusive all she was able to study was their spraints (poos to you!)

What wonderful animals they are- I dreamed of seeing them in Scotland when I visited Mull. I was supposed to take a trip with Lee and we loved Scotland so much. It took me a couple of years to be able to finally take that trip after he died and I ordered otters one morning in his honour. And he came through- because there they were. We rounded a corner to find a mother and 2 cubs playing. All I can say is WOW. I had a little tear and thanked Lee.

So I will leave with some lovely pictures of otters:

One of my other favourite animals is the playful but elusive otter Lutra lutra

Who wants to tell us about your favourite animal tomorrow?

Hear Marilyn Fountain on BBC Radio Norfolk

2010-06-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well now the craziness of the Hay week and all that fun is slowing down we need to keep the momentum going and get a copy of Gentle Footprints into everyones' homes. It's such an extraordinary book- as says Paul Blezard amongst others- so we need to get it out there. Tell everyone you know.

This evening Marilyn was interviwed by BBC Radio Norfolk-

Listen by clicking here: CLICK

Great job!

Anyone fancy Blogging about some other animals- perhaps ones that never made it into GF? The Week of... how about The Otter... what lovely animals they are- I might Blog about them this week- if anyone else wants to think of an animal and some more Weeks of I am up for it?

And those photos of Hay coming this week as well...

Also of you get the chance do check out Brian May's Save Me website- click- HERE

Brilliant Hay

2010-06-09T10:47:00.001-07:00

My goodness, wasn’t it brilliant though? Debz and I had already had a great week staying on a lovely farmhouse – with amazing puppies – and we were pretty lucky with the weather too. The atmosphere at Hay is brilliant. People sitting around reading books. Books everywhere. And other interesting activities too.
The climax came of course on Friday 4 July. We Bridge House staff met Virginia McKenna at the Swan hotel at 11.00. We chatted to her until it was time for her and Debz and her assistant Lauren to go up to the Festival site to record the programme for the Book Show on Sky Arts. She is a lovely lady.
It was exciting, too, later in the day, meeting the other authors who came to the event. Putting faces to names was of course great.
The highlight even of that day naturally was the book launch itself. And it was our book launch. The event opened with the words “We are here today to launch this extraordinary book…”
Later, watching the recording of The Book Show I heard the same words again.
Extraordinary book.
Well, that was what we aimed for. That is what we achieved. At least two high profile people have now said that. And about a thousand people watched its launch.

Virginia McKenna launch at Hay Festival

2010-06-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Event 305- the Barclays Wealth Pavilion. This is the biggest venue on site- holding a max of 1800 people. You can imagine how I felt the first time I went it- to see Nick Sharratt as it happens- the artist for Jacqueline Wilson. Then I remember thinking- really? When this whole idea came to me to launch at Hay I had only even been to the winter festival which is a much smaller more sedate affair where events happen in the shops. When I enquired about launching there back in December that is how I saw it- I had no idea what I had done! But I'm so glad I did!

Because I accompanied Virginia McKenna and her assistant Lauren I had the whole Green Room guest treatment. I had talked to Paul who said I could do a short intro but he told me in The Green Room the organisers would prefer if he did the intro. But luckily he was still willing to let three of the authors read 1 minute extracts of their work and for the cover artist Colin Wyatt to present the original artwork on stage. I was in amongst the behind stage bustle while the instructions were issued and then I met the others in our front row reserved seating- and why not? They were the authors!

Because of the all the bustle I might not have taken it all in as much as I would have liked- I did see there were a lot of people there! And the buzz was amazing. Then the lights dimmed... and on came Paul Blezard with his intro and Virginia.

Boy she was good. She speaks so eloquently and with such passion. When she talked about how Born Free started with Poli,Poli the elephant I was fighting the lump in my throat. And when she was later asked to read her foreword and she reached the part about Elsa's death- there it was again.

Our readers were:

Mandy K James- All Things Under the Sky- debut short story published in paper form.

Hilary Taylor- Peace Crane- short story debut publishing success.

Abi Burns Homecoming- BBC Nature Writer of the Year.

I hope to have some photos to post later in the week.

They did so well- well done all!

Paul said he thought the book was extraordinary and excellent.

Virginia spoke about circuses and the plight of captive animals in such a wonderful way how could anyone disagree. Following a question about whether some zoos are good she was quite adamant that a good zoo is like a posh hotel but imagine if you were there and could never leave. NEVER. You are told what to eat, when to eat, your whole environment is controlled. It is chosen for you who your mate is and if you do breed your babies will be taken away. Is this right?

And when zoos say they are conserving species most zoos are full of animals that are not endangered to every one that is- and breeding programmes should take place in the wild- not in zoos. How is breeding animals to keep in cages helping them?

It was wonderful and I think we were all sad to find the hour was over.

Colin was then invited on stage to present the framed original artwork displayed alongside the cover and Virginia was genuinely surprised and delighted. She told me she wants to hang it in the Born Free office.

And so it was over.

I got to see how the guests are taken to the book shop- by car! How exciting- I felt like a proper author! Even if I was just accompanying our special guest. Then people just kept on coming... Virginia was off to one side in the part of the store they reserve for big guests- they call that The Green Room too. And she signed for over 90 minutes- double the time I was told. She was wonderful and took the time to speak to everyone. She made a few peoples' nights I think. Some of the authors also hung around the store and were asked to sign.

Finally after 8 we waked back to The Green Room.While we waited for the car we saw Chris Evans and Anne Robinson!

And we ended the day with a lovely meal and time to reflect with Virginia.

As far as I know we sold all but 2 books when I checked on the Sunday- including all the signed copies that she was asked to sign at the end.

What a perfect day- one I will never forget.
We did say we would like to do another animal book for Born Free and do it again- maybe in 3 years time!

Thanks to all of you for supporting us.

The reason for all of it: ELSA 1956 - 1961

More photos to come...

Making Hay- what a day

2010-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! All I can say is what a week- what a day. This was my first experience of Hay and I am addicted. I felt so happy and so relaxed and of course the excitement about our launch mounted as the week went on. I had planned and prepared and organised everything and was determined it would all go to plan...

And it did.

I woke up on Friday with such excitement I was buzzing. The family and friends had all arrived the day before and we were ready. I sat painting my nails looking out into the gardens of the farm where we stayed savouring the peace of the moment. This was the day I had been preparing for for a year. And I knew even then it would be a day I would never forget- none of us would.

Home for the week

We met Virginia McKenna and Lauren at The Swan hotel after their drive from Surrey and Virginia was so lovely about the book and talked about her favourite stories. At 12.20 we left Gill and Nicola and Virginia, Lauren and myself were picked up and taken to The Green Room on the festival site. So suddenly I was seeing it from the other side of the marquees and I loved it! We were met by Judy from Sky Arts and taken to a tiny green room ready for the taping of the Sky Arts BOOK SHOW. On the show were also Alexander McCall Smith and Brian May! All charming.

Lauren and I were shown to front row couch seats- I can not tell you how exciting it was! Although when we realised we might be caught on camera we were a little distirbed- reapply your lipstick time! Then the lights dimmed and the show began. Alexander was on first. Then it was our Virginia and wow she did us proud- she was so fantastic talking about the book and how much she enjoyed it. I was sat there feeling so proud to think an idea 12 months before lead to The Book Show!!! And what a plug she gave us. Short clip here... Clip

After the show we spoke with Brian May and he was in awe of Virginia- he also is very interested in animals with his Save Me campaign (follow the link) SAVE ME -so some good networking.Of course I gave him a copy of the book and he seemed really interested in helping. So we took some photos outside! In fact as we did I suddenly realised we were drawing a bit of a crowd... whispers of isn't that Brian May- from Queen and Virginia McKenna...

Then it was back to The Green Room and another car back to The Swan to the Meet n Greet... before the big launch...

We had a large room and there were sarnies... and everyone got the chance to meet all the other authors and artists present, a book signing fest and of course the chance to meet Virginia- what a gracious lovely person she is.

At 5 everyone started the 15 min walk back to the festival site while I was lucky enough to go in the car with Lauren and Virginia back to The Green Room to meet Paul Blezard- that's when I knew it was really happening. What a buzz...

Details of the actual event tomorrow but here are some photos to whet your appetite!

Persecution of wild birds in the UK

2010-06-03T10:36:00.001-07:00

It is shocking to many people that persecution of some of our most iconic bird species continues today and remains a real threat to their survival. In Homecoming I discuss the role of egg collecting in hastening the demise of the chough in Cornwall. Sadly, although it has been illegal to take the eggs of most wild birds since 1954 (and since 1981 to possess any wild birds' eggs taken since 1954) this issue is still a very real one. According to the RSPB, the breeds currently at particular risk from egg collecting include black-necked and Slavonian grebes, ospreys, white-tailed sea eagles, red kites and red-necked phalaropes. Egg collecting can become an all-consuming obsession and even the risk of up to six months in prison is not enough to dissuade the most determined egg thieves.
The systematic persecution of birds of prey also continues to be a huge problem, even though they have been protected for 50 years or more. It is particularly associated with management of land for shooting, in order to protect game birds. As the persecution - which includes trapping, poisoning, nest destruction and shooting - mostly occurs on private land in the uplands it generally goes unnoticed. Research shows that this illegal killing is having a major impact on populations of rare birds of prey - for example, golden eagles and hen harriers are absent from much suitable habitat in areas where moors are managed for grouse shooting. In 2009, bird of prey persecution was recognised by the government as one of the six top UK Wildlife Crime Priorities and it is hoped that there will be increased enforcement and penalties for those who threaten the future of these magnificent species.

Mining and landscape restoration

2010-06-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

The area where my story Homecoming is set -around the St Just district in Cornwall - is inextricably linked with mining. Remains of pre-industrial and more modern mining activity are scattered over the wild cliffs and surrounding fields, but the legacy of mining is even more deeply imprinted on communities here than on the landscape. Along with fishing, mining was the main way of life around St Just and the fortunes of the local population has in many ways charted those of the tin trade.
Mines in the area include Levant (now owned and renovated by the National Trust), the fabulous Botallack (where ruined engines houses perch precariously on the cliffside) and Geevor (which closed in 1990 and is now a tourist attraction). Since 2006, the area has been part of a World Heritage Site, which recognises the unique impact of mining on the region's landscape and history. In many ways, the story of the chough in Cornwall reflects the decline and recent renaissance in the county's mining heritage - a real sense of pride in the area's heritage has been rekindled in the last few years. The coastline is exposed to the full fury of the elements, battered by wind and sea spray, and is haunted by more than a few ghosts.
Mining was a dangerous way to make a living, though for most it was a way of life, rather than just a job. Miners could often hear the roar of the sea above their heads as they worked in cramped tunnels which extended out far under the ocean. Sometimes tunnels collapsed without warning or machinery could fail - in 1846, a mine flooded killing 53 miners, then the Wheal Owles disaster of 1893 claimed 20 lives, including a boy. Probably the most notorious incident occurred at the Levant mine in 1919, when the man engine carrying a load of miners to the surface at the end of their shift broke, plummeting hundreds of feet and 31 men were lost. Countless men were injured or suffered long term health problems due to the working conditions. At Botallack, one miner who was blinded in a blasting accident continued to work underground though he was totally blind in order to support his nine children. There was, though, a great sense of comradeship which got men through the bleak times.
Perhaps surprisingly wildlife is now thriving in the harsh environment of the post-mining landscape. Along with the assault of the weather, life has to contend with the heavy metals which contaminate the soils. Amazingly, some plants can tolerate the metal laden ground and new habitats such as heathlands have been created under land restoration projects. The old mine buildings provide shelter for birds such as swallow and raven, while the underground shafts and tunnels are perfect roosting sites for bat species. Mining spoil heaps create south-facing slopes which are ideal for reptiles to bask and even the lunar-like landscapes of bare rubble is home to rare insects. While it could be argued that man's impact has scarred the environment, for me it is inspiring to witness how nature can reclaim a landscape and will take up the slightest invitation to move in, when industry moves on.

The Chough Returns to Cornwall

2010-06-01T02:03:00.000-07:00

In spring 2001, after an absence of 28 years, the chough returned to Cornwall. A small influx of birds arrived, possibly from Brittany, and three of these made their homes on the Lizard. Plans had been underway to release some captive-bred birds, but the natural return of the species made this unecessary (and indeed it could have harmed the fortunes of the species in Cornwall).
A year later two of the birds nested successfully - for the first time in more than half a century - and went onto raise around 46 youngsters, some of which can now be seen on the lizard or along stretches of the Lands End peninsula. In 2008, a pair of choughs raised young in West Penwith (where my story Homecoming is set) for the first time in 150 years.
There are now around 20 choughs known in the county, though details of nesting sites are not generally published to protect them from egg collectors. The RSPB and volunteers monitor and protect known chough nests. Conservation organisations are working to ensure suitable habitat is available on the cliffs to allow choughs to flourish once more. Grazing is essential to prevent invasion of scrub and maintain short open grassland and heath. The livestock used must be hardy and suited to the damp climate so native breeds like Highland cattle, Shetland ponies and Soay sheep are used. A mosaic of habitats is needed which can be provided by sympathetic farming - this also benefits many other species, including flowering plants and butterflies. Invertebrates found in dung provide an essential food source for young birds and farming without certain chemical wormers (which kill insects in cowpats) is another way farmers are helping these magical birds regain a foothold in their ancestral homeland.

Hay Flash

2010-06-01T01:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Well we've had our first full day in Hay- a world where everything is about books and everywhere you look people are sitting around reading books and all your favourite authors are in close proximity... what could be better!

This morning is to be the only rainy time for the rest of the week so Gill and I are on our lovely farm (well we wish it was ours!) and we're catching up before we do a walk and go into Hay for lunch and more events. Today is our quietest day.

We went to The Swan yesterday to 'suss it out'- it takes about 15 mins to walk to the showground so I am going to check that your comp tickets allow at least some reserved seating at the front so leaving the Meet n Greet at 5 should be fine- if not might be best you leave about 4.45 to get a good spec in the queue- but I can let you know about this.

I found out our venue holds 1500 people- yikes- although don't expect it will be full- but imagine... no best not to!!!

We are trying to spread the word in Hay and leave postcards around etc and I was excited to see our book on the shelves at the Hay Bookseller... this is the kind of Hay Fever I could live with! More soon...

Debz

The chough in Cornwall

2010-05-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Cornwall was once a perfect place for choughs. Its wild, remote cliffs were grazed by sheep, ponies and cattle from many smallholdings, creating vast areas of suitable habitat - choughs need short, open vegetation, as they feed primarily on soil invertebrates which they find by probing the soil with their long beak. They are particularly partial to insect larvae found in cattle dung and the loss of livestock grazing the cliffs as farms became abandoned and agriculture intensified was a major reason for their decline in Cornwall and elsewhere.
The species also suffered at the hands of trophy hunters. There was great demand for chough eggs and skins for natural history collections, while their intelligence and engaging nature made them popular as pets, fuelling their demise.
As their numbers dropped, choughs became even more sought after and, by the 19th century, a decline in the species was being noticed. Their range continued to decrease and, in the early 1920s, a book on birds included the comment that: 'A melancholy interest surrounds the chough, whose black dress, long curved bill and red legs distinguish it from all other birds, it is a species that is going under.'
By 1951, only four birds were seen in Cornwall and, by 1957, just a single pair remained. This couple stayed together for another decade, each year attempting to breed without success. Then, in spring 1968, one bird was found dead, though its mate continued to be seen for another six years. When this last bird disappeared in June 1973 it was at least 26 years old.
The image of this last chough, carrying out its lonely cliff patrols with no hope of finding a mate, was one that haunted many in Cornwall.
One author wrote: 'Those of us who remember its characteristic 'chawk' and recall how it swept around Stem Point on outstretched wings, feel we belong to a race apart - superior beings with a close affinity to ancient gnarled Indians who remember the vast herds of stampeding bison, and skies black with flocks of passenger Pigeons.'

Tomorrow: the return of the chough

A BIT ABOUT CHOUGHS by Abi Burns

2010-05-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

So what's so special about choughs (pronounced 'chuffs')? Well, amid the unremittingly depressing news about the haemorrhaging of biodiversity throughout the UK and the world, the story of the chough in Cornwall is in many ways an encouraging one.

The chough is a member of the crow family which, in the UK, also includes the raven, carrion/hooded crow, jackdaw, rook, jay and magpie. I love this group, known as 'corvids', because they are birds with real 'attitude'. I was going to say they are characterised by an almost-human intelligence, but perhaps that is being rather too kind to our species.

Its fair to say that the chough is easily the most classy member of the corvid squad, with a refined, self-assured air, rather than the downright cockiness of some of their kin. It also has an undeniable charisma with its spectacular aerial flying displays, blue-black plumage and blood-red curved beak. Sadly this 'star-quality' has, to a great extent, been the chough's downfall - vast numbers were trapped or shot to feed a voracious market for skins and pets.

These magical birds have a particular significance for the people of Cornwall, being found on the county coat of arms and they have often been known as the Cornish Chough or Daw. In Cornish they are known as 'Palores' meaning 'digger' in reference to their habit turning over the soil to find invertebrates but there are numerous vernacular names throughout the county including chow, cliff daw, hermit crow and sea crow.

There are two types of true chough, the red-billed variety (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) and the Alpine Chough (Pyrrhocorax graculas), with a shorter yellow bill, which is not found in the UK - if you are lucky enough to see a chough with a yellowy-orange bill in this country it will be a juvenile red-billed chough as the eponymous crimson colour develops with age.

In fact, despite its association with Cornwall, the chough was once fairly widespread along the UK coastline. Persecution and changes in farming - the chough is associated with extensive livestock grazing and has suffered from the abandonment of such traditional farms and the move to more intensive regimes - led to a great contraction in its range. In the UK today the chough is restricted to maritime regions of the far-west in Cornwall, Wales, Scotland and the Isle of Man - a truly celtic race.

Because of the species' decline in numbers and range, and due to mixed fortunes in sub-populations, it is an amber-listed species (more on this later in the week) and is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Sadly, despite this, egg collectors remain a major threat to this species' recovery. It is also considered to have an unfavourable population status in the wider Europe being listed 'Vulnerable ' in the 'Species of European Conservation Concern'.

If you fancy seeing these fabulous birds back home in Cornwall, check out this short film 'Return of the Chough' by Peter McMurdie http://birdcinema.com/view_video.php?viewkey=c0218351dc5c0c846410

Coming later in the week: the story of the chough in Cornwall, mining and wildlife (the story of habitat restoration), the alarming general decline in many British bird species, more on the problem of egg collecting and the terrible on-going persecution of our most iconic bird species.

More press

2010-05-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

Another article- BBC website

BBC

Blog your articles in the press

2010-05-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

Gail: Look for page 9 http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/Launch.aspx?refresh=A0n718Qgj16B&PBID=43BED876-4457-4A3D-99EF-B4B514A86198

Debz http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2010/05/28/north-wales-author-pursuades-watership-down-writer-to-pen-story-for-charity-book-55578-26538570/

Black Panther Photo Gallery

2010-05-28T08:37:00.001-07:00

Next Week: Abi Burns The Week of the Chough and some posts about the Hay Festival

Day Six - Lyn Fountain

2010-05-27T03:26:00.001-07:00

There is no conclusive evidence that escaped or released exotic big cats are living and breeding in the British countryside, but people continue to be fascinated by the possibility. Acres of magazine and newsprint and infinite amounts of webspace have been filled debating the arguments and reporting sightings. Big cat sightings are like UFOs; they seem to arrive in clusters. As soon as one report airs in the news, several more instances then come to light. A few years back, a spate of reported sightings occurred here in Norfolk; one of my husband’s colleagues, driving at night, picked up in his headlights a large, sandy-coloured cat leaping across the road.

Tales of the ‘Beast of Exmoor’, the ‘Beast of Bodmin’, the ‘Surrey Puma’ and others have captured the public imagination and become the stuff of legends. Eye witness reports of large black cats are remarkably similar in their detail: a muscular body, long tail, flashing eyes, coal black coat, springing gait. The description seems to have much in common with spectral black dogs, again prevalent across much of the country. Here in Norfolk we have Black Shuck, the ghostly hound made famous in Conan Doyle’s ‘Hound of the Baskervilles. There appears to be something in the human psyche that is drawn towards the mystery and power of wild animals. Perhaps it is the tension between the civilisation of humans and the raw state of other animals, which means we are both drawn to and repelled by the idea of a captive animal returned to the wild. It is a human characteristic to try and control nature, thereby neutralising the threat of the unknown and the unpredictable. Unfortunately it is animals that usually come off worse in these encounters, particularly when human population growth is putting so much pressure on habitat.

Tomorrow- Photo Gallery

BBC Radio Wales Interview

2010-05-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

What a day I've had! BBC Wales phoned this morning wanting to interview Richard Adams about his story in Gentle Footprints but at 90 and not very mobile he just isn't able to get to a radio station early tomorrow morning for a live interview. After several phone calls and the possibility of a telephone pre-recoded interview it then turns out he has broken his hearing aid and wouldn't hear! So there I was thinking this great chance to talk about the book was fading away when the producer says, "Can you come to the studio in the morning and talk about the book?" Well of course I said yes- I'm not quite Richard Adams but hey- I can talk about the book- it's all I've been doing for a year!!! So the answer was of course, "Well yeah, I can talk about the book." But in front of all those people- hmm now not sure- I think it's best not to think about that! Go on, speak slow, remember to breathe and do what I do best- talk about the book!

So tune in at 8.45 ish- it will be on before 9- I know that much. Now I hate my voice and I tend to waffle and have been told to slow down- so let's hope I do okay! Me thinks I will find it hard to sleep. Everything is so exciting!!!

Radio Wales is 93 - 104 FM or you can listen on line http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/

Day Five- Lyn Fountain- Don't go to the Circus

2010-05-26T02:00:00.000-07:00

When I was around seven years old, I remember the circus coming to Norwich. The entourage arrived by train, and paraded from the station, up through the city; the circus folk in their performance costumes - walking, unicycling, riding plumed horses; a string of elephants - joined trunk to tail as if drawing comfort from the contact – guided by men and women with sticks; and the big cats, some sitting, some pacing, behind the bars of their wagons, the outsides of which had once been painted with palms and jungle creepers to represent a jungle habitat, but now faded through weeks of British weather. And I remember my mother, crying at the plight of the animals.

I wonder when, in the evolution of man, it was first thought of to use animals as ‘entertainment’. Circuses are believed to have originated with the Romans, so have been with us for more than two thousand years. At first, exotic animals, including cats, were for display only, then trained to perform ‘tricks’. Ever since, countless animals, either bred in captivity or captured from the wild, have endured lives of imprisonment and degradation for people’s amusement. I hope if you’ve read this far, like me, you’re already deeply concerned about the commodification and exploitation of animals as entertainment and as a means of making profit. Politicians and lobby groups have been discussing this issue for years, and prior to the 2010 election a UK ban on animals in circuses seemed tantalising close. It remains to be seen if the new government finally takes action.

This is what the Born Free Foundation has to say on the use of animals in circuses:

“There are 4 circuses that tour Great Britain with a total of approximately 40 wild animals, which include an Asian elephant, tigers, lions, zebra, pythons and Bactrian camels.

“Circus animals are subjected to a routine of frequent and extended transport for many months of the year, with regular loading and unloading, training and performance, and housing in small, restricted enclosures. These factors are likely to be stressful to the animals and have significant negative impacts on their welfare. Such conditions would not be allowed even in zoos.

“Several countries, including Austria, Croatia, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Israel and
Singapore have banned the use of wild animals in circuses. The Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, Portugal, India and Sweden have banned the use of certain wild animals in circuses.

“Since 1925 animals in circuses were legislated under the Performing Animals
Act, which was predominantly concerned with licensing and public health issues.
The Animal Welfare Act in England and Wales, and the Animal Health and Welfare
(Scotland) Act, were an opportunity for the welfare of circus animals to be
readdressed.

“Despite Born Free’s diligent campaigning and submission of evidence, and
considerable public and Parliamentary concern, a ban on wild animals in circus
was not put directly into the Animal Welfare Act. Nevertheless, on 8th March
2006, the then Minister for Animal Welfare, Ben Bradshaw, announced his intention to ban the use in travelling circuses of “certain non-domesticated species” using regulations enabled by the Act. Similar intentions were indicated in Scotland and Wales. The Government established the Circus Working Group (of which Born Free was a member) to consult on regulations relating to the use of wild animals in circuses. Despite considerable submissions by Born Free and other animal welfare groups, the personal opinion of the Chairman of the Group, published in a report on 20th November 2007, was there is insufficient scientific evidence to support a ban on wild animals in circuses.

“The Born Free Foundation profoundly disagrees with this view, pointing out that
the Circus Working Group was:
- Advised before the process started that little objective scientific evidence was available.
- Prevented from considering training and performance as part of its remit, two aspects which, for many people, define the circus.
- Precluded from considering extensive footage of the life endured by wild animals in circuses (as gathered by Animal Defenders International and others) as this was deemed inadmissible.

“However, following the statement by the Animal Welfare Minister, Jim Fitzpatrick
(March 2010), perhaps indicates that the English Government has a change of heart, now considering a ban of the use of all wild animals in circuses in England.”

The weight of public feeling against performing animals has been increasing for years, and, in addition to lobbying, our refusal to give our custom to circuses and other ‘entertainments’ featuring animals may prove to be the greatest – financial - motivator for change.

Many circuses have already bowed to public opinion and no longer use animals, although they were exempted from the UK 1976 Dangerous Wild Animals Act, which made it illegal for people to keep certain exotic wild animals as captive pets without proper licensing. If big cats are surviving wild in this country, they are thought to be the offspring of cats privately owned and released prior to or after the passing of the Act. Personally, I would have thought that if someone had gone to the expense and trouble of importing and accommodating an exotic wild cat as a pet, then obtaining the correct licence would not necessarily have been a deterrent.
LINKS:

www.bornfree.org.uk/
www.captiveanimals.org The Captive Animals’ Protection Society (CAPS) campaigning to end the use of all animals in circuses.

Tomorrow, big cat sightings in the UK.

Day Four - Lyn Fountain

2010-05-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

The term ‘black panther’ is used to describe a number of big cats, including the Latin American black jaguar and the North American black cougar or puma. The big cat in my story is most likely to be a melanistic Leopard (panthera pardus), the most common form of black panther exploited in circuses, zoos and the exotic pet industry. Melanism is the result of a recessive gene, producing an excess of the black pigment melanin. This colouring may be an evolutionary development, benefiting animals in terms of camouflage when living in habitats with low light levels. Leopards are native to Africa and Asia, the melanistic form most prevalent in parts of China, particularly the most densely forested areas in the south west, Myanmar, Assam and Nepal, southern India, Java and the south Malay.
Leopards are solitary, nocturnal animals. The females raise their two or three young alone, but fathers will occasionally provide food. Litters can comprise a mixture of melanistic and non-melanistic cubs. They become independent at about two years, and can live up to twelve years. Leopards can be 2-3 metres in length, including the tail, and up 70cm in height to the shoulder, and weigh up to 90 kilos. Melanistic leopards are usually at the smaller end of these ranges, though this may be due to the recording of data from mainly captive bred animals, which are smaller due to selective in-breeding. In their natural habitat, leopards will hunt small antelope, pigs, rabbits, rats and other small mammals, and take their prey up into trees to eat.

Although leopards have the widest range of any species of cat in Africa and Asia, this is decreasing and becoming more fragmented because of hunting and habitat loss. The leopard is classified by the World Conservation Union as ‘near threatened’.

Born Free Foundation rescues leopards from lives of misery in poor captive conditions from Africa and Europe, raising awareness and providing lifetime care in spacious natural habitat sanctuaries in Africa.

Visit: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/big-cat-rescue

Tomorrow, I’ll be thinking back to the day the circus came to Norwich.

Day Three Lyn Fountain

2010-05-24T03:12:00.000-07:00

The Last Big Cat is the story of a black panther struggling to survive an exceptional drought, after living wild in the Norfolk countryside a year after being released from a travelling circus. Driven by thirst, the cat is drawn back by familiar sights and sounds when the circus returns. The animal trainer-turned-clown, George, puts out water, unthinkingly luring the cat out from the woods and into the gun sights of Jackson, a man obsessed with killing the big cat.

EXTRACT

“Curling his lip and wrinkling his nose to taste the air, the big cat lifted his angular head to the sky. Some of the migratory pink-footed geese, who’d arrived to find their usual over-wintering freshwater lakes bone dry, were taking to the air again to try further inland. Small confused squadrons of unfamiliar individuals, splitting and reforming, attempting to forge a cohesive unit, passed over the big cat’s head. His eyes, coal black pin-prick pupils within glowing emeralds, followed the birds’ chaotic progress and lingered on the spot where they dissolved into the amber arc on the south-eastern horizon. oAs silently as the falling leaves, as the rising of the sun and the lifting of the night, the big cat turned around and dissolved back into the woods.
In the village, a man called Jackson was standing at an upstairs window, his binoculars trained on the landscape. Like a bird honing in on its prey, his line of vision travelled along the temporary perimeter fence erected to guard the travelling circus, up the pale gradient of the dry field, its ridges now baked hard into the landscape, and to the abrupt edge of Middle Wood. The faintest of movements held his attention. The barest shifting of a shape, black against black.
“You’re there,” he murmured intensely. “I know you’re there all right.”

Tomorrow, I’ll be looking at some black panther details.

Day two- Lyn Fountain

2010-05-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

My very good friend Teresa told me about Bridge House Publishing, and I particularly liked the idea of the animal anthology. For several weeks I couldn’t think of anything to write. Having just moved out of Norwich and into the Norfolk countryside I was exploring the woods on my doorstep, racking my brains, and suddenly I realised the story was there; all around me. It was early autumn and there’d been no rain for weeks and weeks. Every single dew pond, ditch and stream, around which in the spring I’d seen frogs, toads, grass snakes, deer, foxes and birds gather and drink, had completely dried up. Now all the wildlife seemed to have disappeared, and it worried me terribly how the creatures were managing for water. Swarms of angry buzzing insects had driven walkers from the woods in the summer, and when it was finally safe to go back in, the undisturbed vegetation had run riot. What a wonderful secret place, I thought, for a wild creature to live in peace and security. It might even be home to a wild big cat…

But why would a big cat be roaming in the woods? How had it got there? Would local people be delighted (like me), or would they be scared? I’d seen marksmen in the area carrying rifles, and sometimes the woods are closed for deer culls. It was all too easy to imagine someone hunting ‘my’ big cat. Tomorrow I’ll be publishing an extract from my story, ‘The Last Big Cat’.

Day one- Lyn Fountain

2010-05-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

My childhood comprised the classic elements to produce a writer; family tragedies, insecurity and solitude. The biggest catalyst was my mother, a voracious reader and daydreamer. A day out was a day spent in the library, and every evening was an evening in with a book. The other constant in my life was the animals: the dogs; Trixie Trot, Whiskey, Prince and Kerry: the cats; Tiger, Ted. Looking back now at photographs of grandparents I never met, they all pose with animals by their side.

The very first story I remember writing was about a young deer rescuing other woodland creatures. I suspect I was influenced by Bambi. Animal films were the only ones my mum took me to see. On one summer afternoon I remember us going to the ABC cinema in Norwich. We’d taken in fresh cherries to eat, but because we became so engrossed, we forgot about the cherries and all the juice soaked through the brown paper bags and into our laps. It didn’t matter, because I’d fallen in love; with beautiful Virginia McKenna, with handsome Bill Travers, with Elsa and all those other wonderful, wonderful lions. The film, of course, was Born Free.

I didn’t think ordinary people could be writers. I thought they all lived in London and worked in publishing offices. Then I read an article in a teenage magazine about a young writer who wrote from home and submitted her stories by post. After that, there was no stopping me.
My very first short story was accepted for publication by a magazine called “Secrets”. Since then, I’ve had stories published in the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine, Take a Break, Fiction Feast, Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special, Chat, best, That’s Life! My Weekly, The People’s Friend and Annabel.
I occasionally write articles, and these have been published in Chat It’s Fate, BBC Homes & Antiques, Organic Gardening and Home & Country.
I was a runner up in the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Short Story Competition in 1995 with a story called ‘Change of Heart’. Narrated by Betty Marsden, it was produced on CD and broadcast on the World Service and local BBC radio.
Although writing for magazines is wonderful, my ambition is to write something of more permanence. So far, I’ve had short stories included in a couple of anthologies with satisfyingly solid hardback covers: ‘Welcome to Toad Hall’ appears in The Wind in the Willows Short Stories (published by the Kenneth Grahame Society, 2009), and ‘Change of Heart’ in The Spirit of the Commonwealth (Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, 2005).

Tomorrow, I’ll be explaining how I came to write my story ‘The Last Big Cat’ for Bridge House’s Gentle Footprints anthology.

An Auk's Drift

2010-05-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Part Three

AT the edge of the ice shelf there is a ship. From their high vantage point, the auk and the penguin can see human figures moving round on the ice. They can hear the roar of skidoos.

The penguin sighs. “More tourists,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong. I like being the star of the show. The perks are good…fish, Hollywood royalties, lots of exposure on the Internet. The more they know about us, the more they’ll look after us. Right? But…there’s more and more of them coming now.”

“They’ve quadrupled in the last 10 years,” the auk tells him. “In 2008 alone, 2,000 of them took helicopter flights here.”

“They’re horrible things! They terrify our youngsters.” The penguin pauses and then frowns. “Anyway, how do you know all this?”

“I’m Yoda, remember? The point is, what humans are doing here is just a small sample of what they’ve been doing to the rest of planet for decades. They’re spoiling it.”

“In what way?”

“Lots of ways. But the most important for you emperor penguins is that they’re warming the atmosphere, and the ice in Antarctica is melting.”

“Hmmm. That might explain why the record for the annual ‘Waddle to Get Supper In’ race is broken year after year. Supper’s getting closer.”

“It’s changing your home. The ice is melting in the west. Pine Island Glacier is thinning. It could destabilise the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. That’s more than two million cubic metres of ice. If that happens, you need to move east.”

“But we like where we are. It’s our natural home.”

“Humans do extinction studies now. There was one published in 2009 saying emperor penguins could be pushed to the brink of extinction by 2100 if global warming continues to affect Antarctica. The Americans are already considering putting you on the endangered species list.”

“Endangered…” the penguin repeats in disbelief.

“We were vulnerable, and so are you. Don’t believe in the Hollywood hype. You must extend your range, adapt. If you don’t you’ll find yourselves confined within the walls of zoos. Or end up like us - finished.”

The penguin looks at the humans as they ski over the ice. Then he turns to face the auk for the first time. “Thank you. I will report back. And we’ll do what we can, I promise you.”

“Good,” the auk says. “And now I must be off. According to the sneak preview I had of the script, this is the point where I dissolve into thin air.”

“Wait a minute!” the penguin says suddenly. “I don’t even know your name.”

“No,” the auk says, “and you never will.”

A moment later, the great auk dissolves into thin air.

An Ending

An Auk's Drift

2010-05-17T13:10:00.000-07:00

Part Two

AWAY from the colony, the emperor penguin tucks his flippers behind his back and waddles languidly towards a dark, rocky horizon. The great auk shuffles alongside.

“I didn’t catch your name,” the auk says.

“Correct.”

“All these documentaries about how brave and loyal and loving you are have clearly gone to your snooty little head,” the auk complains. “Pompous you may be, but hear my story you will.”

“Now he’s getting all Yoda,” the penguin sighs. “But, you’re ugly enough, so go ahead.”

“We great auks had a lot in common with penguins,” the auk says. “Clumsy on land, but great swimmers. We could dive to 250ft. We mated for life. Like you, we nested in dense, social colonies. We trusted humans. But you always had one big advantage over us.”

“Good looks?”

“Antarctica. We lived alongside humans in the northern hemisphere, long before they knew of land and ice at the South Pole. We were a source of food for them for 100,000 years. In Europe and America they used our feathers to make pillows. They ate our eggs and brought rats to our islands that killed our young. When they realised we were disappearing we became prizes for collectors, and the hunting went on.

“The last pair were killed on Eldey, off the coast of Iceland, in June 1844. The humans reckon they saw a great auk on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland in 1852, but if they did it was a solitary bird. Doomed, in other words.”

“What you say only confirms what I keep telling the colony,” the penguin says. “Always complaining, they are. ‘It’s too cold!’ ‘It’s too far for dinner!’ ‘Let’s move north!’ they whine, and I tell them, ‘We’re not moving north. It’s grim up north.’ Perhaps you should tell them what you’ve told me?”

“No. I can’t do that.”

“My name’s Pete. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please will you tell them?”

“No.”

“You’re not fat and ugly. I was just teasing.”

“Our limited range made us vulnerable,” the auk says. “We couldn’t move or adapt. We were sitting…er…ducks. And so, Peter Penguin, are you.”

“But humans love us! We’re movie stars! Morgan Freeman said we deserved Oscars and a slap-up fish supper!”

“It won’t matter. Humans are not threatening you directly.”

“So how are they threatening us?”

“Follow me. I’ll show you.”

To be continued…

An Auk's Drift

2010-05-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Part One

STORM grey fades to frozen white and the great feather pillow of huddled emperor penguins breaks apart. At its centre and greeted by a loud fuss stands a stranger, more squat and with a thicker bill, yet similar to those around it.

“Sorry to intrude,” the stranger says.

“What are you doing here, you fat, ugly penguin!” the colony leader snaps.

“I’m not a penguin,” says the stranger, “nor am I a razorbill, though I share similar characteristics with both. I’m a great auk.”

“You’re still fat and ugly.”

“Charming. I’m here because I’m the subject of a short story and a blog about animals. I have no idea what this means.”

“We’re proper penguins here, my friend,” the leader says. “We’re Attenborough penguins, March of the Penguin penguins. Not those stupid rockhoppers from Surf’s Up. Not Pingu. I mean, really! Pingu! How condescending is that?”

The auk shakes his head. “You’re too stuffy.”

“I’m an emperor. It goes with the job.”

“Bet you don’t even know where the word ‘penguin’ comes from.”

“I don’t need to know.”

“Yes you do. It comes from me. The Welsh called great auks ‘pen gwyn’ meaning ‘white head’, on account of the white patch above my eye. When European explorers discovered you lot down here, that’s what they called you, because they thought you looked like us.”

“They did?” The colony leader prodded a flipper at the auk’s belly. “But we didn’t answer to the song, ‘Who ate all the squid?’”

“You know nothing. We great auks knew nothing. We trusted humans, like you do. Now we’re extinct. And that brings me to the other reason why I’m here. I have to warn you.”

“About becoming extinct? But humans love us! We’ve nothing to fear.”

“Come, waddle with me. I’ll tell you what happened to us. And then I’ll tell you what could happen to you. You must understand. Catch my drift.”

The leader thinks for a moment, then nods. “OK, Mr Auk. But make it quick. I need to go and fetch some tea. And that’s a 60-mile waddle.”

To be continued…

Read the Richard Adams article in The Independent

2010-05-16T01:32:00.000-07:00

The Article

Get Blogging- what's your favourite animal book?

The Octopus - an amazing creature

2010-05-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Octopus

Mariners call them devil fish,
noting the eerie symmetry
of those nervy serpentine arms.
They resemble nothing so much
as a man's cowled head and shoulders.
Mostly they are sessile, and shy
as monsters, waiting in rock clefts
or coral for a swimming meal.

They have long since abandoned their
skulls to the depths, and go naked
in this soft element, made of
a brain-sac and elephant eye.
The tenderness of their huge heads
makes them tremble at the shameful
intimacy of the killing
those ropes of sticky muscle do.

Females festoon their cavern roofs
with garlands of ripening eggs
and stay to tickle them and die.
Their reproductive holocaust
leaves them pallid and empty. Shoals
of shad and krill, like sheet lightning,
and the ravenous angelfish
consume their flesh before they die.

Catriona O'Reilly

This is the last octopus post, and I have found that the more I've learned about these sea-dwelling cephalopods, the more I'm fascinated by them. I've already described them as having the intelligence of a dog, but some experts would go further and compare them to primates. They are shy and curious, predator and prey. I enjoyed writing the story of Neiroketo, and her life cycle has inspired me to use her as a jumping off point for a science fiction story. Maybe one day if I'm lucky, I'll find someone to publish that as well. I'll leave you now with a few pictures of octopuses and other denizens of the deep.

Caribbean Reef Squid

Island with coral reef

Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

Finale...

A baby octopus starts its life....

Richard Adams Happy 90th Birthday

2010-05-13T03:11:00.000-07:00

What a great day we had yesterday- I am still buzzing! Richard Adams was in great form and really pleased with the way the book turned out. He thanks everyone for his birthday wishes and was surrounded by cards- many of them with rabbits on! I'm afraid the one from us had a dog on the front but then he did write a dog story too!

We all sang Happy Birthday and I hope to have some pics of the cake that Bridge House gave him soon as well.

The interview with Paul Blezard went very well- if my memory is as astute as Richard Adams' at 90 I will be delighted- it's not as astute as that now! Of course he says how sorry he is he can't be at Hay and get to meet you all but we left him with your letters, smiling. So look out for the article in The Independent on Sunday this week or next!

I know- shut up Debz and show us the photos- so here they are...

Enjoying the birthday card and letters and the book!

The Octopus and its Environment

2010-05-12T12:44:00.001-07:00

The World Below the Brine

The world below the brine,
Forests at the bottom of the sea, the branches and leaves,
Sea-lettuce, vast lichens, strange flowers and seeds, the thick
tangle openings, and pink turf,Different colors, pale gray and green, purple, white, and gold the
play of light through the water,
Dumb swimmers there among the rocks, coral, gluten, grass, rushes,
and the aliment of the swimmers,
Sluggish existences grazing there suspended, or slowly crawling
close to the bottom,
The sperm-whale at the surface blowing air and spray, or disporting
with his flukes,The leaden-eyed shark, the walrus, the turtle, the hairy
sea-leopard, and the sting-ray,
Passions there, wars, pursuits, tribes, sight in those ocean-depths,
breathing that thick-breathing air, as so many do,
The change thence to the sight here, and to the subtle air breathed
by beings like us who walk this sphere,
The change onward from ours to that of beings who walk other spheres.

Walt Whitman

Over three quarters of our planet is covered by the oceans. Their biodiversity is unmatched and they contain over 80 percent of all life on earth, mostly unexplored. Millions of people worldwide depend on the oceans for their daily livelihoods. However, overexploitation of this limited resource is leading to problems. Among the dangers are overfishing, with its destructive practice of bottom trawling, a method which damages the habitat as it harvests its catch. Bycatch is a problem in many fisheries, the unwanted species are often thrown back, but rarely survive. Octopus is a frequent victim of bycatch as are other more cuddly animals such as dolphins and seabirds.

It is not too extreme to describe overfishing as a global disaster.

The octopus's habitat stretches from tidal pools on the edge of the sea, to the depths of the ocean, and it is sensitive to changes in that habitat. The marine environment is thought to be changing rapidly now, partly due to human activity. Pollution is a growing problem that everyone is becoming more aware of after the huge oil spill off the coast of the south western USA.

For decades dirty industries have treated the oceans as dustbins for dangerous pollution. Thoughtless dumping of chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides and other toxins continue to pollute our seas - a direct result of a range of human activities. Once released many of these pollutants accumulate in the marine food chain, posing a major threat to marine ecosystems. The greatest threat to the octopus is from the destruction of its environment and the depletion of its prey animals. It is not listed as threatened, but as very little is known about its numbers and range this doesn't mean a lot. With the increasing popularity of seafood and sushi, the octopus catch is increaing, and this can only be bad news for the species. As the octopus only breeds once in its life, it means that any of these animals which are caught have no chance to reproduce.

Governments are now waking up to the problems of the world's oceans, but they move slowly and have a tendency to ignore what they don't want to hear. Voluntary and charitable organisations are committed campaigners for the seas and the marine environment.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/ Greenpeace is one of the most active and committed campaigners.
http://www.mcsuk.org/ The marine conservation society has been a voice for the uk's seas for 25 years.
http://www.wdcs.org/ Whale and dolphin conservation society

In January 2010, the seas around Lundy island of the coast of Devon became the UK's first marine conservation zone, as part of the government's efforts to create a network of protected areas in our seas. Various national organisations have campaigned for, and worked to conserve our coasts and seas. These include The National Trust http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ and the wildlife trusts. http://wildlifetrusts.org/

Tomorrow...Farewell to the Octopus

Octopus in Literature and Art

2010-05-11T12:21:00.001-07:00

The Kraken
Below the thunders of the upper deep,
Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides: above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant fins the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battering upon huge seaworms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by men and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Alfred Tennyson

Tennyson's Kraken was probably inspired by a squid, not an octopus, but let's not split hairs.

This image was based of a creature French sailors reported attacking their ship off the coast of Angola in the nineteenth century.
Octopuses have played the bad guy in fiction for more than a thousand years. Pliny the Elder wrote these words in AD77.
"No animal is more savage in causing the death of man in the water; for it struggles with him by coiling round him and it swallows him with suckercups and drags him asunder by its multiple suction, when it attacks men who have been shipwrecked or are diving."
No one who is familiar with the curious, and retiring nature of the Giant Pacific Octopus would recognise it from this description, but it was probably the first of many subsequent villifications of the much-maligned beast.

Octopuses have played a role in pulp fiction for years, usually as the villain.....

"Satan of the Sea Spreads Evil Tentacles to Guard the Treasures of the Deep"

But not always.....

"Pearl the Octopus" Nemo's friend in "Finding Nemo"

The first film appearance of the Giant octopus was in 1916, when it starred in "20000 Leagues under the Sea". Giant octopuses have starred in disaster movies on and off since then. It was 1955 when the B-movie "It Came From Beneath the Sea" came out . Poor octopus became radioactive after an atomic bomb test, grew to a gargantuan size, and was reduced to trying to feed on The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

In 1977 a group of Italian filmakers took advantage of the success of "Jaws" to produce a film called "Tentacoli". Despite having the talents of Henry Fonda and John Huston it was an unqualified disaster.

In 2009 Megashark Versus Giant Octopus came out to less than glowing reviews.

In a slightly more literary example, an octopus fights the hero in Victor Hugo's "Toilers of the Sea". The octopus seems to be universally regarded as a man-killing monster.

Victor Hugo's artwork

Hopefully the octopuses image will improve as more people watch wildlife documentaries and see it in its natural habitat.

Tomorrow...The Octopus and his Environment

Romance and the Octopus

2010-05-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Octopus
She is pale - now.
Each breath, a strain.
Her cave is hidden,
Dark and secret.
She is alone.

She sways with the current,
Tending her hanging gardens
Of Babylon with infinite care.
Eyes almost human regard me,
They do not ask why.

Her fate she accepts,
And I admire her for that.
Her children won't be unhappy.
I cannot help her - now.
Too much has been given.

This time she doesn't breathe,
Time for the little ones to leave.
Tears well in my eyes,
Time doesn't stop,
And softly she dies.

Alexa Greenwood

Octopuses are solitary creatures, they spend much of their lives avoiding other members of their species. If they do meet, then the larger will often try to eat the smaller.

Giant Pacific octopuses reach sexual maturity at just under three years old. When the female feels ready to mate, she chooses a den and entices males to come to her. It is thought that she does this by releasing a chemical attractant into the sea water. Any male within range will gravitate to her den. Octopuses are rarely seen in close proximity, but as many as ten mature males will be found around a female octopus who is ready to mate. They seem to ignore each other until the time comes to approach the female.

Here two male octopuses are arguing over the favours of a female. The larger one usually wins, but this is one occasion when the loser is allowed to withdraw with his life (although occasionally missing an arm or two). Mating is a risky business for the male octopus, especially if the female is bigger than he is, and it is a huge investment for him. Males may spend days guarding a female's den, chasing off rivals and trying to persuade the female to consider them.

The male octopuses hectocotylus or mating arm is inserted into the females mantle and he uses it to insert packets of sperm. This is the last significant action of the males life and he dies soon afterwards.

The female withdraws to her den, making it as secure as possible, and lays her eggs. These may number hundres of thousands, and she weave them into ropes which she attaches to the roof of her den.

She then spends the next months caring for her eggs, blowing sea water over them, stroking them, ensuring that they stay clean and aerated. During this time she doesn't leave her den other than to chase off potential predators, and she doesn't eat.

She grows weaker and weaker as the eggs mature, and by the time they hatch, she is almost dead. She blows water through her gills to help the hatchlings on their way, and as they leave, she crawls out of her den to die.
Her commitment to her young is immense, and she has given them the best chance she can to survive.

The young octopuses float up through the water to the surface and join the plankton layer. The journey is dangerous, and predators lurk around the den waiting for the thousands of paralarvae. Many of the them never reach the plankton. Those that do, grow until they are too heavy to cling to the surface, and then drift down to the ocean floor, where they start to eat, grow and avoid predators until they too can breed. Only one or two of the huge number of eggs will reach this point in their life.

An octopus paralarvae...isn't it perfect?

Tomorrow...the octopus in legend and literature.

2010-05-09T12:27:00.000-07:00

Encounters with Octopuses

I'm Wrestling with an Octopus

I'm wrestling with an octopus
and faring less than well,
one peek at my predicament
should be enough to tell.
It held me in a hammerlock,
then swept me off my feet,
I'm getting the impression
that I simply can't compete.

I'd hoped that I could hold my own,
but after just a while,
I ascertained I couldn't match
an octopus's style.
It flipped me by a shoulder,
and it latched onto a hip,
essentially that octopus
has got me in its grip.

I tried assorted armlocks,
but invariably missed,
and now I'm in a headlock,
and it's clinging to my wrist.
It's wound around my ankles,
and it's wrapped around my chest
—when grappling with an octopus,
I come out second best.

Jack Prelutsky, from A Pizza the Size of the Sun

Octopus wrestling
It's difficult to believe, but octopus wrestling was once a fairly popular sport, and was even televised. The challenge was to find an octopus and bring it to the surface. The diver who captured the largest animal was the winner. Things didn't work out so well for the octopus who was frequently killed and either sold to a restaurant, or sold as bait to fishermen.

Man has had a rocky relationship with the octopus for a long time. It is also known as the devil fish, and has been labelled as loathsome, evil and malicious. It has been disliked and feared by man, although the evidence suggests that it has far more to worry about in any encounter with humans than man does. A tradition of the Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team involves flinging octopuses on the ice before the game. It is incredible to believe this continued until at least 2008.

Divers who have interacted with octopuses in their natural environment are often impressed by their charm, and some have developed relationships with individuals who will leave their dens to interact with their visitors.

Food
Octopus is eaten in many cultures. It forms a part of the Mediterranean diet, and is increasingly popular as a constituent of sushi. Small octopuses are sometimes eaten alive, and freshly cut octopus legs can be eaten while they are still squirming. The Monterey Bay aquarium advises consumers to avoid octopus in sushi as they have concerns about overfishing.

BBQ Garlic baby octopus

PETS
Octopus are often sold as pets to be kept in aquariums, although they are not suited to life in a tank. They are sensitive to small changes in their environment, and their predatory nature makes them a poor companion for other inhabitants of the aquarium.

Giant Pacific octopuses are obviously not suitable pets, but some commercial and public aquariums keep them. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a Giant Octopus Project, and the main benefit of this is that more and more is being learned about this complex and intelligent animal. They have been shown to be creative, playful and capable of learning fairly difficult tasks. Hopefully as we come to know more about these enigmatic creatures, they will be valued for their beauty and individuality.

Tomorrow - An octopus's family life.

2010-05-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

OCTOPUS

A cephalopod
The writhing octopus-
Is utterly odd
And truly marvelous.
It will give you a
Friendly wink
Then squirt you with its
Murky ink.
Its jumbo peeper is pretty piercing
Whenever
It opens
To look at all of the other ocean
Denizens.
Its favorite meal the
Crab
Is something it will promptly
Grab.
A Cephalopod-
The writhing octopus-
Is utterly odd
And truly marvelous.

M L Squier

The octopus is an amazing creature. It is a mollusc (like slugs and snails) from the cephalopod class. The cephalapods include octopuses and squids and are the most highly developed of the molluscs.

It is a master of disguise, immensely strong for its size, with its eight legs covered in suckers, its beak and its huge eyes. There are nearly 300 known species of octopus, ranging in size from a a single gram in weight to the Giant Pacific Octopus which can reach a weight well over 50kg. All octopuses are marine animals, and while most of them spend their lives on the sea floor, a minority float about in the water.

Finned octopus

Blue-ringed octopus

Octopuses are found throughout all the worlds oceans, although the Giant Pacific Octopus is thought to range along the Pacific coast of North America from Southern California, up through the coasts of Oregon, Washington, BC and Alaska, and then South along the coasts of Russia and Japan. They live in depths of water ranging from the intertidal zone down to depths of 2000m and may travel several kilometres on hunting trips.

Octopuses are one of the fastest growing animals we know of, changing from a tiny hatched egg to a multikilogram adult in the space of a couple of years (A Giant Pacific Octopus can have a growth rate of almost one percent per day). Most of them have fairly short lifespans, often less than one year. The Giant Pacific octopus is one of the longest lived, making it to an impressive four years. Their growth rate is partly determined by their efficiency as hunters and carnivores. Sadly few of them die of old age, and the average size of an adult Giant Pacific Octopus is around 15kg with a 14 foot armspan, although they can grow to a much larger size.

Octopuses have many specialised characteristics. Most of them can change the colour and texture of their skin to merge with their environment. All of them have three hearts, pumping pale blue blood around their bodies and Giant Pacifics have two gills. The most visible of their specialised characteristics are their eight arms. and these have two rows of suckers, which have several functions. They are used for both movement and for sensing prey. The suckers can be amazingly strong, and if an octopus gets a firm grip on something it doesn't want to move from, then there is small chance of removing it.

Tomorrow I'll talk about octopus relations with man.....

2010-05-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

THE OCTOPUS

Tell me, O Octopus, I begs
Is those things arms, or is they legs?
I marvel at thee, Octopus;
If I were thou, I'd call me Us.

Ogden Nash

Why octopuses? They aren’t cute or furry, they aren't an animal I get to see very often and I live about as far from the sea as you can get in England. Not to mention the thought of scuba diving makes me hyperventilate. I wish it didn't because however you look at them, there is something magical about the octopus. It could be the eight legs, the talent for mimicry, their obvious intelligence or their insatiable curiosity.

Octopus investigates Diver

My interest in these creatures started when I caught a brief glimpse of David Attenborough’s ‘Life’ on television last year. The image of the giant Pacific octopus guarding her eggs stayed with me and I made an effort to find out more about these amazing beasts.
At the same time I saw the Bridge House call for submissions for their animal anthology, and decided to combine the two. The more I found out about octopuses the more charming I found them. They have the intelligence of a dog and the curiosity of a cat. They are prey to other sea dwellers, as well as being efficient predators themselves. They lead short and solitary lives and end their days giving birth to, and protecting the next generation. There are hundreds of different varieties of octopus, of all sizes and colours

Over the next few days I'll tell you a little more about octopuses, their life, their biology, their position in art and literature, and their relationship with humans.
Neiraketo, the heroine of my story, is a female Giant Pacific Octopus, and with more luck than judgement, she survived the many perils of marine life to reproduce herself. This is an amazing feat considering that for every 100,000 eggs laid, only one or two will survive to breed themselves.

Giant Pacific Octopus

I've always enjoyed animal stories and there are many amazing ones for children, but far fewer for adults. I have fond memories of 'Tarka the otter', 'The Story of a red deer', and others like them, so it's been fun to try and write one myself. I only started to write seriously a couple of years ago and most of my attempts have been in Scifi, and modern urban fiction, so I was thrilled when my story was accepted by Bridge House.

I'm a member of the local wildlife trust http://www.wildlifebcnp.org/and feel it's very important to preserve the environment that wild animals live in. The marine environment is especially fragile, the recent oil leakages off the southwest of the USA have brought that to the worlds attention recently, and I'll say a bit more about marine conservation later in the week.

I've always lived with animals and at the moment I share my house with a cat.

more tomorrow......

Black Bear Images

2010-05-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

I think for my last day I will get my clumsy words out of the way and let you enjoy heartfilled images of the Black Bear.

Please treat yourselves and all of life around you in a good and kind way.---Dave

A Short Comment on the Future of Black Bear

2010-05-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

Black Bear numbers are increasing in the United States. It has only been recently that Black Bears have not been regarded as a nuisance. A great boon to the Black Bear population was the migration, after World War 2, of people from rural areas to the cities.
When humans left the countryside to take up work in the cities, forests were able to start a regeneration process. The forests saw a recovery surge of certain wild animals-deer, turkey, and Black Bears. This continued until the 1990’s. As the human population grew, Black Bears and humans once again started sharing space.
Unlike a century before humans did not start clearing bears away by killing them. Wildlife Conservationists, Naturalist groups, and Government agencies began setting aside protected parkland and Wildlife sanctuaries. These areas provide a safe place where Black Bears and other animals can roam at will. They are not exposed the stresses of human sprawl.
Of course with more and more houses being built in or near Black Bear country chance encounters become more frequent. But unlike before they do not end with the death of either a Bear or a human. We have to thank the many people who spend time each year educating the public in the proper way in which to interact with Black Bears. Education not only trying to changing human behavior but background on Black Bears and their place in the Eco-system. I think it is a measure of their success that we in the United States will even consider being aware of the Black Bear plight, when less then 50 years ago we would have killed them without feeling the least bit guilty. Slowly, slowly we are learning to coexist. Because coexistence must be learned for the continued future of Black Bears. I think we can do it. An example: Researchers that monitor Black Bear behavior have noted people have decreased attempting to feed bears, a definite contrast to just 20 years ago.
But our cruelty still continues in many ways. The world wide trade in bear organs and parts has reached the North American Black Bear. Since the Asian bear population has been decimated. Illegal traders have begun poaching Black Bears and sending their organs back to Asian countries for medicinal purposes. This trade continues to flourish as the selling of bear parts is very lucrative.
Still, I have hope humans can change. The logging industry, for decades combative against environmentalists, has altered several practices. Clear-cutting trees was the accepted norm. This would destroy much of a Black Bear’s habitat. Now, many companies in the logging industry have created smaller animal friendly methods which encourage berry and tree growth. Trees may be taken and bears will not lose their homes.
As I’ve stated before, Black Bears are very tolerant of humans. They appear to adapt well and can even live on the fringes of a city. If given space and privacy the Black Bear has no problem thriving. Their main challenge will be the expanding needs of human beings. It will be us pushing the bears even further away.
The future of the Black Bear has to be linked with human education. We are the only species who have the means (and the willful ignorance) to completely destroy the Black Bear population.
It is up to us (you and me) to help them remain on this earth.
Tomorrow- Black Bear images.

Black Bear-Human Contact

2010-05-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

Black Bears need a lot of nourishment especially before they start their hibernation cycle. They are constantly hungry, so they constantly scavenge for food. A ready source is near human habitation, our garbage. Since we are a throw-away culture we discard tons of edibles a year. The Black Bear is just being a good recycler when he uses it to fill his needs. But this places him in close proximity to humans. The Black Bear is following instinct, it is up to us to be more aware and diligent.
I know you’re all going to run out and try to pet a Black Bear so I’ll pass on a little advice I’ve picked up here and there. I don’t want any fatalities when you have a chance to view one of these beautiful creatures.
First off if you spot a Black Bear strolling toward you and it is still some distance away make a loud noise so it knows you are there.
Never run from a Black Bear. If you run this sets off its natural attack response. There is no way a human can outrun a bear no matter how fast you think you are. Back up slowly, away from the bear while always facing it. Also talk to the bear in a gentle voice to keep it calm. This doesn’t work on all wild animals but does on some.
So keep going backwards until the bear thinks you are far enough away. If given the chance a Black Bear would rather flee than confront you.
Limit your contact with Black Bears. This might seem like a no brainer but people have a fascination with bears (or any wild animal really) so they try to get close to take pictures, study, or just be near them.
Don’t feed Black Bears. This makes them prone to follow humans and beg for food. They also become used to human contact. Since humans come in all shapes, sizes and attitudes bears do not know what a human may intend.
Which brings up another point, don’t throw things at a bear. I know this seems like common sense but you would be surprised at how few people have common sense. A Black Bear probably won’t attack you if you throw something at it. But you do have a good chance of startling the bear so it runs off. When it does run it may cross someone else’s path, the bear would most likely attack that person. Sounds far fetched (and convoluted) but this scenario has happened.
If you are camping there are numerous precautions you should take. Black Bears have learned people are the messiest species in the forest.
Keep a clean camp. Do not throw leftovers into the woods. Police your area, any bit of food that has been dropped or discarded will attract a bear. Do not pour out grease, burn it. Wash all of your dishes and pots then dump your wash water far from your camp. Hang any clothes that may have food on them out of the bear’s reach. All cans and bottles should be washed like the dishes then stored in plastic bags.
Never leave food or garbage unattended and if you do leave, hang the food at least 12 feet off the ground.
So be safe and remember dangerous Black Bears are rare. Stay calm, no sudden movements, and you’ll be fine.
And always be mindful the Black Bear is a living being, treat it with respect so you and the generations after you will be able to enjoy their presence.
Tomorrow-The Future of the Black Bear.

A Little About Black Bear Attacks

2010-05-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

The stories of Black Bears being overly aggressive have a small basis in fact. Most people I know have a stock mental image of an uncontrolled bear rampaging causes gore and mayhem in it’s wake. I can see the picture now. Bear on hind legs, teeth out in a snarl, and claws wildly slashing. There is something in our collective unconscious which brings this fear to the surface. I think we actually enjoy it. (We all like a good scare). The fantasy ends with the bear ripping apart and devouring the victim.
The majority of Black Bear attacks come from chance encounters. A stressed Black Bear will at first lower it’s head, pop its teeth, and stamp the ground with its front feet. This is the Black Bear’s way of telling someone they are too close. All the time probably deciding whether to fight or flee. You have a much better chance of dying in a car.
Of the over 870,000 Black Bears living in the wild it is likely only one in a year will attack a human. This is with even more and more people trekking into their living areas. Through most of the 1900’s, up until 1978, there were only 11 recorded deaths from Black Bear attacks.
So, why the fear? Well basically when there is a bear attack the media will play up the most macabre aspects. These stories usually become fairly famous. (Remember the old newspaper motto, “If it bleeds, it leads”).
Like the following. In 1978 several teenage boys were fishing at the Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada. The young boys were mauled and killed by a single Black Bear. Authorities later pieced together what probably happened.
The boys, most likely smelling of fish, had entered the Black Bear’s territory. The bear, a young male, was later thought to not have had any experience with humans. He reacted as he would have to any other prey species. The authorities reckoned the bear stalked, attacked, and killed the three boys. A fourth luckily escaped. The bear also partially fed on two of the boys. A few days later the bear also stalked the hunters sent to dispose of it. The bear was eventually put down.
In spite of this gruesome tale Black Bears are incredibly tolerant of humans. A common sight in National Parks during the 1970’s was a family jumping out of their car to throw food to a bear and then take its picture. This still goes on today even though the parks have plenty of warnings about not doing that. Parents have been observed trying to pose their children with a Black Bear. Obviously humans have a serious problem distinguishing wild animals from domesticated animals.
A Black Bear will avoid a human if possible. They like to be left alone. Most Black Bears don’t care to get close to humans. (I suppose we smell bad). Unfortunately humans have food around them and a Black Bear is constantly hungry. One of the reason Black Bear encounters have lessened is because State Parks now ban people from throwing them food (but like I said some people still do it).
But with intensive education many people are starting to understand what part they play in Black Bear attacks. Hopefully we will not have a tragedy like above. With the Black Bear population once more on the rise we have to broaden our awareness and leave the Black Bear to be a Black Bear.
Tomorrow-Safe Black Bear-Human interaction.

An Inconvenient Bear

2010-05-02T19:14:00.000-07:00

A bit of synchronicity has been operating in my part of the universe. Late last week my local newspaper ran a headline on the shooting of a Black Bear.
The actual shooting took place last June 27, 2009. The bear had worked his way down from the surrounding hillsides to almost the center of our city, a city of almost 60,000 people. The bear was originally observed on the edge of the suburbs, police officers tried to pick up his trail. He was finally spotted in a wooded park adjacent to our recently closed zoo. The officers were alerted and they loss no time sending for high powered rifles. The bear was cornered and frightened. So he did what every Black Bear would have done, he climbed a tree.
Two police officers and a Natural Resources officer made a quick decision, for public safety the bear had to be taken down. Local TV stations showed video of the incident, the officers firing and the bear falling out of the tree.
The killing of the bear became a small controversy. Many people thought the police had used too much force. The bear had by-passed a number of humans on its trek into the city park, including several picnickers. The consensus held by most town folk was the bear had only become confused and had been wandering trying to find a way out. They had wanted him tranquilized and quietly removed back to the forest. The Department of Natural Resources reviewed the shooting and stated the officers had made the right decision. They stated the incident had required immediate action because of the concern for public safety.
The event died down until this new headline. The article made public why the male Black Bear had journeyed so far into the city, an anomaly most people couldn’t fathom. What we didn’t know was that in the former zoo, shut down soon to be an EcoPark, were housed two female Black Bears. The male had been making his way toward them to do a little courting. He had smelled the two females on the wind.
According to an expert, “Black Bears, especially males during breeding season, have a phenomenal sense of smell. They will travel great distances.”
The females are 22 years old and cannot be neutered because they are too old to handle the anesthesia.
The interesting part of this story, in relationship to Bear-Human contact, is that very few people in our city knew there were female bears contained in the EcoPark. Apparently they are being warehoused there.
What this means for us is that we will have continued male Black Bear excursions because they will scent the females and will try their luck at mating. Male Black Bears don’t have much fear during the mating season.
There have been no attempts at educating the public for when or if they are confronted by a bear. We have had a few articles showing researchers and DNR officers crawling into bear dens and hauling out cubs, of course after the female bear has been properly tranquilized. These are great photo-ops because the researchers cuddle the dazed cubs and the viewer can see how cute the little guys are. This gives the unintentional impression that bears are almost domesticated and can be dealt with as if they were pets.
I have queried my co-workers and friends about the possibility of Black Bear encounters. All of then seem quietly concerned. Almost everyone had stories of sightings and reported knowing someone who has already had a Black Bear experience.
The number of personal encounters appears to be growing the last couple of years. Personally, I think we are close to having a tragic incident. The lack of decent education coupled with an underlying fear might set the stage for a violent collision.
Tomorrow— Myth of the Violent Bear Attack

Gentle Footprints Publicity

2010-05-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

Gentle Footprints has been featured on the Writing East Midlands website here Emma Lee's story features in Gentle Footprints

Moe The Bear- Part 1& 2

2010-05-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

In the part of the United States where I live we had, at one time, a sizable Black Bear population. By the time I arrived the Black Bear folk had been pushed hundreds of miles north. I vaguely remember riding with my parents through National Parks and sighting Black Bears digging through garbage cans. Not a view which would instill wonderment. They kinda reminded me of my Uncle George. So no real contact, just stories recalled from a previous generation. I vividly recollect a story told by my Grandparents, a sad story.When my Grandparents were first married they lived in a small upstairs apartment on the top of a house. They couldn’t leave their little town because money was short. They were happy to find a place that was reasonable.Their landlord lived in the first floor apartment and, underneath the outside steps running up to the second floor, he kept a chained Black Bear. He called the bear Moe.My grandparents were very nervous, having to walk by the bear each time they had to go anywhere. Being country born, they had a healthy respect for what a child of Mother Nature could do. They tried to give the bear a wide birth, as best they could and still have access to their apartment.After a month or so they began to get used to Moe. My Grandmother especially started to take an interest in him. Moe would rarely get to leave his spot beneath the stairs, the chain wouldn’t let him go far. My Grandmother noticed his eyes followed them wherever they passed by. She swore Moe would let out a sad sigh. My Grandfather would not have any of that speculation, he firmly believed animals didn’t have emotions. Even so, they both took pity on him and fed him scraps when they could.Moe was only a source of entertainment for the landlord. Somewhere along the way he had taught Moe how to hold a bottle. So, to the vast amusement of the landlord and his friends, Moe would get drunk then ram his head against the wooden wall underneath the steps. Everyone would laugh uproariously.My Grandparents didn’t approve of the landlord’s behavior, in relationship to Moe and the excessive drinking. When they finally had the chance to move they took it. My Grandmother was sad to leave Moe with “no friends”. She arranged with my Grandfather to return every so often to the old apartment and feed a treat to Moe. Moe lived on in his miserable existence for another year. One day the landlord came out and found Moe dead. The landlord took a tractor and drug Moe to the local dump where he was left to rot.My Grandfather always shook his head when he related the story about Moe. He would end with, “A wild animal should be left in the wild. It’s not a plaything. Every time I go to zoo I think of Moe. The Bears I see there are usually huddled in the corner of a cage stinking of their own urine. I often wonder, if the crowd could get away with it, would they give the bear a bottle of whiskey to drink. About a decade ago my friend Judy invited me to her home in northern Wisconsin. She had bought a house near the deep woods and she was excited to show me something. I arrived late at night, Judy had me promise I would be up by 5:00 a.m so I could view her surprise. I grudgingly said yes, I was getting to the point in my life where sleep was more important then surprises.Come the dawn I was standing at her large picture windows facing a small field, the treeline in the distance. A bird feeder overfilled with seed was right below the windows. I yawned and hoped I could be able to go back to bed. As the light began to fill the morning Judy pointed toward the trees. They started as two specks and slowly walked into focus. Judy smiled, “My Bears.” A female Black Bear and her young male cub made their way to Judy’s bird feeder. The cub sprinted the last few yards to the feeder and stuck his snout into the seed. The mother took her time and patrolled around the yard. The young fella spilled more seed then he actually ate, the Mom seemed to just be indulging him. I know it’s not smart to project human emotion and feeling into animals but sometimes the situation calls for it.“They eat anything besides the seed,” I asked. I was suddenly worried about Judy’s safety. She must have read my mind. “They only stay a few minutes. I think they just pass by on their way to the river. The river being another two miles away. Judy had finished the sentence when the mom gave a grunt. The cub stopped whipping bird seed and followed his mom as she ambled from the yard. All the way across the field the young one would run past his Mom, wait until she passed, and run by her again.“Aren’t they great” Judy said. I agreed, there was something beautiful and magical about the incident. “You think it’s OK to name them?” I thought for a moment, remembered my Grandfather’s saying but this once I thought I could give it a rest.“I think it’s OK, as long as we don’t make pets of them.”I asked a question. “May name the cub?” “Sure,” Judy answered, “What?”“Moe”These days when I think of Moe I conjure images of a young Black Bear running free in the North woods, far away from any chains or zoos.

Elephant Poems

2010-04-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

Her is a poem by T Wangusa: -

The African Elephant

Listen to the blare of annunciation
Of the African elephant, tetrach of the jungle!
Behold what slow, majestic progress on the hoof
Of matriarchs, their young and their one bull
As they head for the waterhole.

Observe what tenderness of the mother for its infant
Standing guard to let it first drink its full,
Together rolling in protective, glorious mud,
Then signaling the way back
To the daily routine
Of reducing tropical forest to grassland.

Then ponder the paradoxical curse of its twin tusks:
From time immemorial
The substance of immortal ornaments:
Ever since the dawn of imperial plunder
Of Africa for export of human souls -

Ivory -
The damnation of the African elephant
To provide exotic cultures
With piano keys and billiard balls.

T Wangusa

Recent news reports say that the sound of African honeybees causes African elephants to retreat and produce a particular 'rumble' accompanied with head shaking to warn other elephants. These rumbles seem to act as a referential signal of external threat. So here is a quick poem about some threats to elephants - penned by me!

Elephant Alert

Warn warn
Buzz buzz
Buzz-zz-z
Thrash head
Trunk up
R-r-r-RUMBLE

Warn warn
Bang bang
B A N G!
Lash air
Bash bars
and RUN

NB: Next week: The week of the Bear - revisited

Black Bears in America

2010-04-29T21:12:00.001-07:00

How ya’ll doing? I’m Dave and I guess I’m your blogger for the next couple of days. On my first day I’ll start with some general Black Bear stats.
There are three types of North American bears-the Polar Bear (Ursus Maritimus), the Grizzly (Ursus Arctos), and the Black Bear (Ursus Americanus). The most widespread bear on the North American continent is the Black Bear. They inhabit areas from the far Alaskan Range to the mountains of Northern Mexico. The Black Bear’s favorite habitat is prime forest land.
The species name, Americanus, is latin for “Of America”. They were given this name because the Black Bear was first described by European immigrants..
The black Bear is the smallest of the three North American bear species, yet it’s still an impressive animal. The average weight of an adult male is between 250 and 450 pounds. When a Black Bear rears up on its hind legs he can measure six to seven feet tall. When curious of its surroundings, a Black Bear will check the area out by standing to get a view or a good scent.
A bear is able to stand because of the way their paws have evolved. They are omnivores and don’t need to chase down prey like wolves or coyotes. Like humans, bears run flat-footed instead of on their toes. In a straight run some Black Bears have been clocked doing more than thirty miles an hour. (So I guess they could chase down prey if they wanted to).
The Black Bear’s claws have a helpful design which enables them to quickly climb trees. Their claws are unretractable and are curved. When climbing a Black Bear grabs a tree with its front feet and uses its hind legs to push itself upwards. Basically using the same motion as a man climbing to pick a coconut. Coming down the Black Bear gently slides like a fireman down a pole.
Young cubs are more likely than adults to retreat up a tree when threatened. An adult Black Bear will climb a tree to find something to eat or possibly just to take a nap.
Black Bears need a lot of living space. They appear to be massive carnivores but in reality they spend much of their time ranging for vegetation, fruits, and nuts. They will eat tender shoots of grasses and clovers. Black Bears will hunt out and consume water plantain, pickerelweed, water parsnip, and unfurling leaves of sapling trees. They also consume a wide variety of berries- juneberries, raspberries, blueberries, chokeberries, and (my favorite) sarsaparilla. An added treat are the great number of insects they eat- wasps, ants, etc. Unfortunately, with human habitation quickly creeping into their territories, many Black Bears have begun scavenging in trash cans and garbage dumps.
A very fascinating part of a bear’s life is hibernation, but only for the northern branches. Bears of the southern climates do not hibernate. It is surmised that when they became omnivores bears living in the northern climates found it difficult to survive. They had become too large and cumbersome to chase prey through the snow, also winter plants available were too low in nutrients.
In preparation of hibernation a Black Bear will begin gorging himself. (Much like my Uncle George). The Black Bear will consume three times more food per day at this time of year than they do in the spring or early summer. They will feed for almost 20 hours a day, gaining up to one-third of their body weight while they build fat reserves. Some bears will actually double their weight.
After the binge the Black Bear’s body system slowly begins to wind down and blood flow to its limbs gradually decreases.
The bear then will retire to a pre-chosen den. Females are usually the first to hit the hay. When the Black Bear is settled in their heart rate drops to 8 to 10 beats per minute. Its metabolism will function at 50 percent normal. Even though they truly sleep all winter long the Black Bear is easily awakened ( and probably very annoyed when their slumber is disturbed).
Black Bears hibernate for varying lengths of time, most experts agree that their average sleep is three-quarters of the year. Females actually give birth during the hibernation period.
Well that’s it for now, time to let sleeping bears lie.
I’ll be back tomorrow with a little story from my Grandparents.

Endangered

2010-04-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

There are several reasons why the African elephant is an endangered species. Urban expansion is encroaching on the natural habitat. Poaching is a major reason. They are poached for ivory tusks. Also, local Africans kill elephants for meat. In Africa elephant meat is a delicacy and is often consumed.
Another reason is competition for resources such as land, food, water and so on. Ivory can sell for a big price especially to a dealer who doesn't care where it came from.
Elephant calves are often orphaned and so don't grow up nurtured by kin,and can be killed also.
Some African countries would like the ban on ivory sales to be lifted in order to sell off stockpiled ivory from poachers, but they were outvoted earlier this year by Kenya and other countries, and the Ban remains.

Elephants in Captivity

2010-04-27T14:08:00.000-07:00

Recent scientific reports have confirmed fears that elephants in zoos live far shorter lives than their wild counterparts. Their breeding record is desperately poor. Elephants in zoos suffer from numerous ailments including obesity, lameness and behavioural abnormalities. And they die from elephant herpes virus. The Kenya Wildlife Service is trying to keep elephants alive except they are responsible for millions of acres and around 300,000 wild elephants. They are trying to do that on less than the cost of a new elephant house.
Elephants in zoos do not serve the best interests of the species.

Habitats and Habits

2010-04-27T04:44:00.000-07:00

HABITAT

The African elephant lives in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert in tropical forests, Savannah areas, deserts and river valleys.

HABITS

EATING HABITS

Elephants drink water by sucking it up with their trunks and spraying it into their mouths. They pick up food with their trunks, put it into their mouths and then swallow it.
Elephants eat mainly grass and leaves and they drinks lots of water.They eat in the morning, in the evening and during the rest of the day. Up to 200kg of food is needed daily.

MALE AND FEMALE DIFFERENCES

Males travel alone and the females travel in groups with the younger elephants.
The bulls are bigger than the cows.
Bull = 3.4 m (height) and 5.4 metric tonne(weight)
Cow = 2.8m (length) and 3.6 metric tonne (weight)

REPRODUCTION

Elephants are ready to mate at the age of 15 to 16, usually with a bull that is able to fight with other bulls in the herd. The mating pair will often separate for a few weeks. After 21 - 22 months one calf is born. It can follow the herd after just a few days. Cows can have 5 to 6 calves in a lifetime.

INTERESTING HABITS

African elephants like to cool off by playing in the water and mud. The mud will then dry on their skins and this protects them from the sun.They regularly flap their ears for better blood circulation and to keep them cool. Elephants sometimes take a nap during the hottest part of the day. They can do this while standing and laying down.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT

2010-04-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

The largest mammal on the planet, African elephants are easily recognizable by their long trunk, large ears, and pillar-like legs. Their skin ranges from black to pale grey or brown in colour, they have long ivory tusks, flat forehead and back, 4 toes on front feet, 3 on hind feet. The trunk of the elephant bears 2 fingerlike lips at the tip, which are very sensitive and used to pick up food or other articles and manipulate objects.

Family Ties

The social bonds between family members are strong. In times of danger the group will form a defensive circle, moving all the calves to the centre, the adults facing outwards. Female society is essentially matriarchal. One female is dominant, usually the eldest, with the group being composed of a few closely related adult cows and their young in a stable family unit.
Kenyan elephants are in danger of extinction, due to deforestation, and poaching of tusks for ivory, and body parts.

The Author

IN CHILDHOOD - I WROTE STORIES, CREATED MAGAZINES FOR MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY, AND WROTE AND PRODUCED PLAYS FOR THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. I WROTE FOR THE LOVE OF WORDS AND STORIES AND OTHER WORLDS.

IN MY TEENS - I WROTE STORIES AND POEMS ABOUT TEENAGE EMOTIONS AND SITUATIONS. I WROTE TO ANALYSE MY FEELINGS.

IN MY TWENTIES - I CONTINUED TO WRITE STORIES AND POEMS SOMETIMES SERIOUS, SOMETIMES HUMOROUS, ABOUT MY LIFE EXPERIENCES THROUGH THE UPS AND DOWNS OF BEING SINGLE AND THEN MARRIED.

IN MY THIRTIES - I WROTE MORE CONSISTENLY, AT HOME FOR LONG PERIODS WITH MY YOUNG SON, LEARNT MY CRAFT AND STARTED TO BE PUBLISHED.

IN MY FORTIES - I WROTE TO SURVIVE DIVORCE, AND AS A CHANGE FROM ACADEMIC ESSAYS FOR MY DEGREE.

IN MY FIFTIES - I TAUGHT WRITING CLASSES AND RAN WORKSHOPS AND ATTENDED EVENTS. WRITING BECAME A MORE PUBLIC AND SOCIAL EXPERIENCE.

IN MY SIXTIES - JUST! - NOW RETIRED, I HOPE TO EXPLORE NEW AVENUES IN MY WRITING. WALKING ACROSS THE FIELDS, I STILL GET IDEAS AND CHARACTERS IN MY HEAD. WORDS AND STORIES AND OTHER WORLDS. IT IS WHO I AM.

The Story

I have always liked elephants for some reason. When I was a child my parents took me to Whipsnade Zoo, where I had a ride on one. Unknown to us, I had caught German Measles, and apparently I was very worried that I had given it to the elephant. I also had dreams that there were elephants in our living room – don’t know what Freud would make of that! So when I thought of writing about an animal, the elephant seemed the obvious choice.

I did a lot of research for Those That are Left, because I wanted the story to be authentic. I researched facts about the way Kenyan elephants live, and how their surroundings affect them, and the danger they increasingly face, from people who kill them for their own ends. Also, I found that there have been studies of elephants emotional behaviour, which showed that they react intensely to bereavement or separation from close family. This worked in well with my idea of a young woman viewpoint character who is like a young female David Attenborough, who has suffered loss herself. At the end of the story, I found that I had learned a lot about this strong yet sensitive species that needs to be protected from danger, but allowed to live freely.

2010-04-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

As my previous posts have been quite long and a perhaps even little ‘evangelical’ I thought I would make this last one short and sweet.

Poetry isn’t really my thing but I found the following poem, written by American poet Mary Oliver, and although it’s not about a Moon Bear specifically, I think it’s still appropriate. I hope you enjoy it.

Spring

Somewhere

a black bear

has just risen from sleep

and is staring

down the mountain.

All night

in the brisk and shallow restlessness

of early spring

I think of her,

her four black fists

flicking the gravel,

her tongue

like a red fire

touching the grass,

the cold water.

There is only one question:

how to love this world.

I think of her

rising

like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against

the silence

of the trees.

Whatever else

my life is

with its poems

and its music

and its cities,

it is also this dazzling

darkness

coming down the mountain,

breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her –

her white teeth,

her wordlessness,

her perfect love.

A Eureka moment

2010-04-22T04:34:00.000-07:00

Having a story published has been, I have to admit, quite a kick. However, I don’t consider myself a ‘proper writer’ yet –I’m nowhere near sufficiently dedicated or disciplined to feel worthy of saying “I’m a writer” – more a civil servant who writes occasionally.

And whilst I am delighted that my story has been successful, this whole experience has actually acted as a bit of a catalyst for me, regarding my hitherto held values and beliefs as far as animals are concerned. I’ve always considered myself to be an animal lover but, to be honest, I have never before questioned what this really means.

Yes, I have loved and cared for all of my ‘pets’ over the years and yes, I actively support a couple of animal charities and, of course, it goes without saying I would never harm, or allow to be harmed, any creature.
But here’s the thing; I’ve taken the kids to the Zoo and driven through Safari Parks many times, and I’ve been lucky enough to swim with dolphins and visit SeaWorld in Florida. I’ve got pictures of me and my family posing with monkeys and exotic birds. I’ve always enjoyed the experience.
Each time, though, I suppose I’ve ignored the little voice in my head and that ‘unsettled’ feeling which came with each visit. I guess I’ve been happy to accept it all in the name of conservation and education.
During my research for the story and since reading various articles and information produced by Born Free and Animals Asia, I’ve actually had a bit of an epiphany.

I’m not saying all zoos are bad, of course not, some are excellent, most are OK and some, sadly, less so. What I have come to realise is that no matter how good a zoo is, it’s still effectively a jail. Wild animals in captivity are not free to behave naturally as they would in their normal habitat; at best they are restricted, manipulated, bored, stressed, traumatised and exploited for our ‘pleasure’. Animal ‘attractions’ give us a few minutes pleasure and we kid ourselves that it’s educational or that we’re helping to preserve endangered species for future generations, and it’s easy to ignore the damage being done to the animals.

When I started writing Jia Ting, I knew precisely nothing about Moon Bears but my research led me on a journey of discovery. The more I learned, the more I came to care about, and respect, these beautiful, intelligent and majestic creatures. There are so many stories of rescued bears who, despite years of incarceration, abuse, mental cruelty and physical pain at the hands of bear farmers, are still prepared to trust, to accept and to give. In spite of what they have endured, they remain gentle, generous and forgiving. What remarkable and dignified animals they are.

Surely there can be no sane reason to trap wild bears in ways which are vicious beyond belief, and no justification for bear farming for their bile – or anything else - when many natural and synthetic alternatives exist and are equally effective in traditional Chinese medicine.

There can be no excuse for keeping bears in such horrendous tomb-cages and incarcerated them for years and there can be no defence of the brutal treatment, shameful cruelty and despicable neglect which these bears are constantly subjected to in the name of medicine.

This whole process has taught me so much and, in future, I will be more focussed on helping to keep animals free and wild and on preserving their natural habitat, rather than paying to see them in captivity. Like all wild animals, the Moon Bears deserve a better life, a free life, a wild existence and a safe and secure future.

Franzi's story

2010-04-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Every bear at the AAF Sanctuary in Chengdu, China, has a heart-rending and tragic tale to tell, and each one deserves to be told. However, today I thought I would tell you just one – the story of ‘Franzi’ who sadly passed away late last year. I confess I have borrowed heavily from Jill Robinson’s own blog, but only in an attempt to do the story justice as her description of Franzi is so eloquent, and the love and respect felt for this little bear shines through.

Franzi was rescued in December 2002 and brought to the sanctuary in Chengdu. She was the tiniest bear cringing in the corner of the smallest cage the staff had ever seen. Franzi had given up all hope – and small wonder.
Cruelly declawed and de-toothed, a large abscess under her chin, and a hole in her abdomen pouring with bile and pus, Franzi was a victim of the bear farm industry, milked daily for her bile. Here too, in all her glory, was the most perfect and tragic example of an animal with “stress dwarfism”; possessing a “normal” bear-shaped head, but a crudely stunted body, she was a shell of an animal who had been squashed and trapped in a cage for 25 years of her life.

She wouldn’t make eye contact at all, but stared at the bottom of her cage, her chest rising and falling as she breathed great gulps of fear in anticipation of who would hurt her next. Suddenly her nose quivered and her head turned towards Jill Robinson, as she caught the smell of something never before experienced, but just too tempting to ignore. Here was a fruity shake with strawberries, apples, mangos, condensed milk and jam, just in front of her nose – and, even more astonishingly, it was all for her. Gingerly poking out her soft, pink tongue, Franzi took her first taste – and there was no going back as she closed her eyes and slurped, and slurped, and slurped. As she got to the bottom of the pot Jill poured the rest onto her fingers and felt the softness of her velvety lips as she gently sucked the remainder of the best drink of her life.

From there it was all on her terms. Her love of grapes saw her spitting out the skin and pips in contempt until she had taught staff that they were never to be offered again without peeling and de-seeding them first. Then, standing firm when staff nervously tried a variety of “proper” bear food until once again they relented and offered her exactly what she was holding out for – her favourite sachets of dog food with gravy.

In January 2003, a short time after she arrived, she continued to worry everyone with her bouts of ill health and refusal to eat. A particular worry was her constant respiratory effort and associated lung problems. It “didn’t look good”.

Seven years later, and in her normal style of ignoring all sound veterinary science and advice, Franzi happily tottered on, enjoying her life and deciding for herself exactly when it is time to go. And, when staff weren’t worrying about her, Franzi always made them laugh. Politely described as a “windy” bear, she would burp and fart with abandon – usually when she was being shown her off to a very large group of visitors; timing it just right as they stood respectfully around her den, listening to the poignant story of this very special bear with a sad and tragic past. How could they be serious when she let rip with all the smugness of an elderly Aunt!

This rather choosy female who had hated the presence of all other bears in “her” space, finally became attracted to the brain-damaged Rupert – and the most unique and loving friendship was born. They adored each other – Franzi weighing a paltry 60kgs and literally dwarfed by a bear three times her size, but who was dominated by her from beginning to end. She would flirt and flounce in spring and then walk away when he appeared interested – leaving him to cosy up to a bag full of straw.

Eventually though, and even with constant medication and veterinary care, her abdomen became unnaturally distended and uncomfortable because her heart and lungs were struggling to cope. With 6 litres of fluid drained only a few weeks earlier it became clear that the treatment could not continue and her quality of life told staff that it was time for her to go.

With indescribable sadness, Jill offered this brave little bear her last supper. Adopting her perfect pose of sitting up at the den bars, she began her small meal with a taster of rich beef and gravy dog food, followed by a piece of mince tart. The latter in recognition that a) she wouldn’t see Christmas and b) in recognition of the “hot little tart” she had been christened, by Steve Irwin (rest in peace).

So, sleeping under anaesthetic in her final health check, blissfully unaware that her special care area was as full as it could be, her ‘family’ gathered around her to say goodbye.
No bear since Andrew, the very first rescued bear, has commanded so much respect from staff across the sanctuary who crowded in to hold her paws and say a respectful, tearful farewell – and from staff across the world who remember her only with love.

This is what Moon Bear rescue is all about. This is why help is so needed.

Moon Bear Rescue - the story so far...

2010-04-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

Despite the prevalence of the illegal trade in bear gallbladders and bile products, China continues to promote the idea that it can maintain a bear farming industry that is both sustainable and humane. To that end, the CITES Management Authority in China created a list of standards for bear farms.

The idea being that only farms meeting those standards could be registered with CITES and be allowed to trade bear products internationally.Back in July 2000, the Chinese government signed an agreement to deliver 500 bears to the Animals Asia Foundation (AAF), providing them with veterinary care, rehabilitation, and sanctuary. It was agreed that by 2005 these bears would be taken from the most primitive farms in the Sichuan province, which the government would then shut down, and that during the following ten years the program would be expanded into other provinces.

AAF has rescued over 700 bears since 2000 and those who have survived will live out their days in their safe, secure sanctuary in China. Many bear farms have been closed down and no new licences have been issued by the Chinese government.

While this may represent a small percentage of the total number of bears on farms in China, the Moon Bear Rescue Centre is a focal point for education and awareness on the issue, attracting a tremendous amount of local and international interest. People all over China have been shocked by reports in the media on the bear farming industry. The bears surrendered to the rescue centre come in all ages and condition.

Perhaps one of the most important roles of the sanctuary is the compilation of veterinary and scientific evidence which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that bear farming is inhumane and hurts wild bear populations as well. With this evidence, it is hoped that China will eventually end bear farming for good.

The rescue work continues under the direction of the remarkable Jill Robinson MBE, Founder and CEO of AAF and ostensibly miracle worker on behalf of Moon Bears.
AAF has a huge undertaking: the rescue, rehabilitation and care of all rescued bears in China and Vietnam for the rest of their years while steadily working towards ending bear farming.

To be successful they need the help of people like you to volunteer your time to help spread the word about the plight of the bears, and to raise the precious funds necessary for them to continue this vital work.

There are AAF support groups in various places across the UK, and in other countries, and there are lots of small, practical but vitally useful ways you can help. Please visit the AAF website for more information.

http://www.animalsasia.org

The heartbreaking truth

2010-04-19T02:50:00.000-07:00

The population of Moon Bears in the wild has declined steadily, due to loss of habitat and the harvesting of their bile and body parts. Population figures for the wild Moon Bear in China are causing concern - with estimates ranging from 50,000 to as low as 15,000.
Moon Bears are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as Appendix 1 - the most critical category.

Bear bile has been an ingredient in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years, but intensive bear farming only came into existence in the 1980s when China's supply of wild bears began running low. The farms, however, often house bears in the most appalling conditions, subject to terrible pain, mental distress and painful, usually untreated, infections which often prove fatal. Moon Bears are the species most impacted upon by the trade in bile and gall bladders. It is estimated that more than 7,000 Moon Bears are held in bear farms across China alone, with possibly a similar number again captive across the rest of southern Asia.

There are herbal and synthetic alternatives to bear bile which are 100% equal to bear bile in effectiveness. Additionally, veterinary evidence suggests that bile from farmed bears is often contaminated with pus and other detritus as a result of the conditions in which it is extracted.
Usually bile is extracted from the bears' gallbladders twice a day through a surgically implanted tube. The process, called "milking," produces only 10–20 ml. of bile each time. Milking is clearly painful for the bears, and they are often seen moaning and chewing their paws during the process.

Sometimes the farmers just push a hollow steel stick through a bear's abdomen, and the bile runs into a basin under the cage. Surgery to insert the tube or stick is seldom performed by veterinarians - very few bear farms employ them. Roughly half of the bears die from infections or other complications.

On most bear bile farms, the bears are housed in cages that are so small that these animals are unable to sit up or turn around. The bars crushing their bodies leave deep scars. Often bears have head wounds from banging them against the bars. Many of the bears have broken and worn teeth from biting the bars. Usually claws and large canine teeth are removed – often barbarically – to remove the bear’s defences.

Captive-bred cubs are taken from their mothers at three months. Infant mortality is high. Captive mothers often eat their young, a behaviour attributed to the stress of captivity because it seldom occurs in the wild. Some farms train cubs to perform in circuses until they are about 18 months old. Milking of the gallbladder begins at three years and can continue for as long as the bear produces bile - up to 20 years.

Once their bile productivity has been exhausted, they are often left to starve to death. Some farmers will hack off their paws to sell to a restaurant as a delicacy and the bears are left to die an agonizing death from their injuries.

It's no secret that products from wild bears are sold in China. Gallbladders, once smuggled to Japan and Korea, can fetch several thousand dollars. Although the Chinese government claims that captive breeding is successful, bear farms regularly restock with wild bears caught in vicious leg-hold traps which mutilate the bear’s limbs.

Tomorrow? What is being done for the Moon Bears.

2010-04-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some interesting facts – the pleasant stuff first:

Moon Bears are actually “Asiatic Black Bears” and get their affectionate name from the crescent moon shaped markings across their chest. Every Moon Bear's chest markings are different in colour and shape; ranging from cream or pale yellow to deep orange-gold, and from deep V's to delicate crescents, some are even speckled!

They are found in heavily forested areas all across Southern Asia, from Pakistan, throughout China, to Japan. They often live at higher altitudes but have a large home territory which can take in many different terrains.

Adult Moon Bears weigh anything up to 450 lbs. with the male growing to almost double the size and weight of the female. They are similar in size and appearance to the American black bear, to which they are closely related.

They love to climb and tend to sleep in trees or caves and their diet consists of fruit, vegetables, insects, small animals, carcasses and yes, they do love honey! In fact they like it so much they will break open bee-hives with their heavy paws, often being painfully stung on their muzzle many times over just to get to the treat inside. Occasionally, Moon Bears may attack livestock or raid crops.

Moon Bears tend to be solitary and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) once they reach adulthood. They can survive for up to 35 years in captivity, though usually live for 25 -30 years in the wild. They often hibernate between November and April and tend to give birth to twins in April or May. Although weaned by 4-6 months, the cubs stay with their mothers for around the first two years of their life.

They have a large vocabulary, making clucking sounds during play, "tut-tut-tut" sounds in warning and huffing sounds when about to attack. Females are more vocal than males.

Moon Bears love water and like nothing more than swimming and splashing around! You’ll often find them lounging around belly up in shallow pools.

Like most bears, Moon Bears are highly intelligent, inquisitive, mischievous and fun loving creatures. They are resourceful, strong and determined in play and foraging for food. They tend to sleep for large chunks of the day when the sun is strongest.

Bears like all creatures are specifically designed for life in their natural environment. Two important features the bears are long, strong and sharp claws and exceedingly long tongues. Their claws aid them in climbing, digging for food and ripping things apart to access the food inside. Their tongues are perfect for extracting hard to get insects, nuts and berries from inside trees or under rocks and logs. Without these attributes it would be much more difficult for them to survive in the wild.

Tomorrow, the tragic plight of the Moon Bears.

Day 2 - So what exactly are Moon Bears?

2010-04-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

Moon Bear Week - Day 1

2010-04-17T02:27:00.000-07:00

In this week of the Moon Bear I hope to be able to tell you a little more about these wonderful, striking but sadly vulnerable bears, why they so desperately need our help and why the work of organisations like the Born Free Foundation and Animals Asia is so vital. You may also be interested to know a little about me and why I decided to ‘champion’ the Moon Bear.

But first, let me introduce myself; I’m Diane Reeves and I'm the author of ‘Jia Ting’ which is a story centred on a family of Moon Bears – or the Asian Black Bear to give them their correct title.

If you’re reading this then I’m surmising that you're probably an animal lover, likely a keen reader, possibly a writer and maybe a supporter of the Born Free Foundation or another animal charity. If you are any of these things then we already have something in common.

What else about me? Well, I’m 45 and have been married for 24 happy years – 4 for me 20 for him – yes, I’m joking – and we have a 15 year old daughter. I’m a full time civil servant having worked for the Home Office on Merseyside for almost 25 years. Indirectly, this is what led me to writing.

My work doesn’t really allow for much creativity and as I approached my mid forties, I felt I needed more than facts, figures, procedures and processes in my life. But what?
Now, I can’t sing – at least not in public. I can’t play a musical instrument - although I’ve always had a hankering to have a go at the Saxophone or the Banjo, but that’s another story! I’m not sporty – unless you count supporting Liverpool FC. I was thrown out of my Art class at school for ineptitude, and you really wouldn’t want to see me attempt to dance.
Writing was about the only thing left and I figured I was moderately articulate so thought I’d give it a shot. I completed a Creative Writing Course at Liverpool’s JMU and have been writing in fits and starts since then.

‘Jia Ting’ is my first submission since I began writing less than 2 years ago. To say I was stunned when I learned that my story had been successful is something of an understatement!

My love of animals was forged in childhood. My mum was a Kiwi from good farming stock and we always had an assortment of critters at home. We also ran a city cattery for many years and I loved to help out after school. Whenever possible, we would ‘escape to the country’ and this brought me into contact with various farm animals, donkeys and horses – although being a ‘Townie’ I always had a healthy respect for anything which didn’t sit, stay or walk to heel!

These days we just have a 7 year old Golden Retriever at home and my daughter has a horse at a yard nearby – that’s enough responsibility for a working mum.

So why Moon Bears? Well, about the time I saw the Bridge House call for submissions, I was at my local vet’s surgery and they were selling calendars in which some of the veterinary nurses had posed to raise money for the Moon Bears. To be honest, I’d never even heard of Moon Bears then but after hearing a little about the rescue work that the Animals Asia Foundation is doing in China I went home and did some research. I can’t tell you how shocked and distressed I was by what I discovered.

It seems most people are aware that animals such as Tigers, Giant Pandas and Polar Bears are under threat and on the endangered list, but this is only because these are the sexy, beautiful, cute, or iconic images which seem to get all the publicity. Now, I’ve always been a sucker for the underdog and so, in the hope of raising their profile and contributing something to alleviating the suffering of the Moon Bears, I decided to write about these remarkable creatures.

Whenever I mentioned to friends that I was writing a story about Moon Bears, the response was always “What Bears?” I think this just illustrates how little people know about them and the terrible cruelty they endure in China and throughout Asia.

If I can help to raise awareness – even a tiny bit – and make more people sensitive to their plight, by doing something which I enjoy, then I think that’s the very least I can do.

More about these beautiful creatures tomorrow.

Image Gallery

2010-04-16T01:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I have tried to cover most things this week- and tried not to overlap too much with the Snow Leopard- sorry if it's been a bit of a mixture. Hopefully, like all these posts the message is clear- animals belong in the wild- not in cages. And what organisations like Born Free do is pick up the pieces after humans have interfered- hunted, captured, destroyed habitat- etc. I think the same story is emerging with all of the animals featured on the Blog and it's a sorry one.

If we stop one person from going to a zoo then we've achieved something- but let's hope we stop a lot more than that. We need this message out there LOUD and CLEAR!

So I will end with some pictures and let you decide which ones you'd rather see...

Sure the cubs are cute but what kind of life will they have- I suspect this:

Seen enough?
Wouldn't you rather see this?

Or this- a leopard hunting

I will leave you with this image-

Next Week Diane will delight you with the Moon Bear

Leopards and Conservation

2010-04-15T12:42:00.001-07:00

Intelligent and agile leopards are skilled hunters who rely on stealth, camouflage and lightning-speed reactions. But many wild populations are under threat due to human pressures and habitat loss, while captive animals are exploited in zoos and circuses.

Africa’s leopard subspecies are not considered in immediate danger of extinction but the IUCN Red List, which lists all rare species of animals, classes Asia’s leopard subspecies as Endangered and Critically Endangered.

Born Free are involved in a number of projects-

Website

Adopt leopard triplets click here to find out more

Tomorrow: Photo Gallery

Leopards in Art and Literature

2010-04-14T03:34:00.000-07:00

I did not come across that much when I searched for this-apart from the Rudyard Kipling story yesterday and a number of children's books. The leopard is used a lot as a metaphor as in changing spots but does not have the symbolism associated with it like we saw for the wolf. However I have come across a whole mish mash of leopard things that I have put in for a bit of fun!

The Last Leopard

The Leopard

The Leopard

Natural History

Paintings

Toys n Disney!

As I said just a random selection today!

Tomorrow the serious stuff: Born Free and Leopard Conservation

Can a leopard change its spots?

2010-04-13T01:44:00.000-07:00

Where did this phrase come from?
Answers on a postcard...

The bible!

Here cones the religious bit then-

Jeremiah 13:23 (King James Version):

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Hmmm... interesting, so they can't then?

Well perhaps in a way they do because like humans, they shed skin and fur so in its lifetime the leopard will regenerate its coat. And I suppose the extreme paleness of the spots in the melanisation process is an alteration that gives us the black panther.

But in reality this phrase that's used a lot in every day language actually has a pretty profound meaning. It's about the innate sense of something; of being what you are and as the human can not change the colour of his skin (or shouldn't be able to- and it still doesn't change who he is) the leopard can't change his spots, not the tiger his stripes and so on.

So why then do humans have an obsession with becoming something else- God I even watched part of the TV show last night about extreme plastic surgery with the guy that became a tiger! And is this not what humans do all the time to animals? They take them from the wild, ask them to live in cages or swimming pools, to perform for treats- I actually think they do it for fear and the hope that the treat they'll be given will be their freedom.

Maybe its the humans that should be changing?

As for leopard skin- synonymous with the image of brassiness and tart is a real shame when you look at the real fur... on the animal...

Now here's the science bit:

Leopards may sometimes be confused with two other large spotted cats, the cheetah and the jaguar. However, the patterns of spots in each are different: the cheetah has simple spots, evenly spread; the jaguar has small spots inside the polygonal rosettes; while the leopard normally has rounder, smaller rosettes than those of the jaguar.

Leopards show a great diversity in physical appearance, particularly because of the wide variations in color coat and rosette patterns. The leopard's rosettes are circular in East Africa but tend to be squarer in southern Africa and larger in Asian populations.The leopard's yellow coat tends to more pale and cream colored in desert populations, more gray in colder climates, and of a darker golden hue in rainforest habitats. Overall, the fur under the belly tends to be lighter colored and of a softer, downy type. Solid black spots in place of open rosettes are generally seen along the face, limbs and underbelly.

How did the leopard get its spots then? No lets not delve into divergent evolution and taxonomy- let's ask the great fiction writer, Rudyard Kipling:

http://www.sff.net/people/Karawynn/justso/leopard.htp

Well there you have it...

But why do people want fur with spots- of you have the time this is very interesting:

http://www.endangeredspecieshandbook.org/trade_spotted.php

I suppose a leopard can change its spots if its fur is ripped off it and made into a coat but I'd know what I prefer to see:

Maybe its not the leopard that needs to change its spots but the human that needs to change its ways.

Tomorrow- Leopards in art and literature

A leopard in my kitchen

2010-04-12T01:08:00.000-07:00

The Leopard is the smallest of the four big cats in the genus Panthera- the others being?
Were you paying attention?

Lion, Tiger, Jaguar.

Once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, the leopard's range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in Pakistan, India, Indochina, Malaysia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a "Near Threatened" species by the IUCN.

Compared to other members of the Felidae family, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. It is similar in appearance to the jaguar, but is smaller and more slightly built. Its fur is marked with rosettes similar to those of the jaguar, but the leopard's rosettes are smaller and more densely packed, and do not usually have central spots as the jaguar's do. Both leopards and jaguars that are melanistic (completely black or very dark) are known as black panthers.

We will meet the Black Panther in May.

Behaviour

Purring
As we saw yesterday leopards don't purr properly but they do make a rattle that sounds like purring and like our domestic cats is often used to show contentment but not always. The purring is more of a signal of submission and acceptance in our pets. It's thought to be a signal to the mother when suckling that the kittens are receiving nourishment and because in moggies it is a true purr they can still do it while suckling. Moggies also purr when at the vets, even being put to sleep indicating its role in submission.

Leopards on the other hand roar and this vocalisation is used to signal many things in much the way moggies meow. Leopards produce a number of vocalizations, including grunts, roars, growls, meows and "sawing" sounds

Paws n claws
Look at your cat's feet- go on... I'll wait....

la la la....

Oh he's out climbing a tree? Hunting? Just not in the mood?

That's cats for you!

Well leopards also have pads and retractable claws.The pads allow silence when hunting and the function of the claws is naturally a lethal weapon.
In much the same way your moggies will thread the back of your lovely new sofa (ignoring the perfectly positioned super scratching post you bought at Pets At Home) leopards do the same on trees. It is not so much sharpening claws but more the stripping off of old worn out claw sheaths.

Rolling Over
Moggies often greet by rolling over and showing their belly. This is a sign of submission and is also thought to be a way of assessing your mood. But when you touch the belly it often results in play. That said if you have a particulary intimate relationship with your cat it will let you rub its belly (Cagney loves it!)

Leopards are solitary animals apart from when mating. They can then be seen rolling and exposing their belly.

Spraying
This is an obvious scent marking behaviour, seen in leopards and your moggies (neutered and entire males (and females) although the smell is less pungent in castrated tom cats.)It is regarded more like a newspaper, announcing all the feline movements into and out of the area. It's exactly the same in leopards and other big cats.

Burying faeces
It is thought that burying faeces is an act of subordination when a less dominant moggie wants to cover his tracks, perhaps hide scent if their are kittens not so much a fastidious act by the cat that makes cat owners gloat at the superiority if the feline over the canine! Dominant tom cats often do not bury faeces.

Leopards generally do not bury faeces either but use it as a territorial mapping.

Grooming
Moggies don't only groom to clean but also because unruffled fur is a better insulator so after you;ve petted a cat she will want to smooth out the coat and also remove the prodominance of your scent on her.

Cats grooming in the sunshine has another function. Vitamin D in manufactured in the sun and the licking of warm fur is a means of ingesting Vitamin D... not many people know that...

A leopard does the same thing...

Tail wagging
Cats wag their tails when it is in a stage of conflict. The cat wants to do two things at once, but each impulse blocks the other. For example: If your cat is in the doorway wanting to go outside, and you open the door to find it raining, the cat's tail will wag because of internal conflict. The cat wants to go outside, but doesn't want to go into the rain. Once the cat makes a decision and either returns to the house or leaves into the rain, the tail will immediately stop wagging.

Leopards have been seen tail swishing in social encounters which is considered to be more of an invitation to a male. Interesting!

Climbing
Is what leopards do best- they spend most the of the day in a tree and move around by night. They are fantastic climbers and pouncers... jumping for their prey
With its head low, legs bent and belly nearly touching the ground, a leopard will try to stalk to within three to 10 meters before pouncing. If it misses, it will seldom chase its prey.

After a successful pounce, the leopard paralyses its prey with a bite through the back of the neck that damages the spinal cord, then strangles the victim with its powerful jaws.

Usually the kill is then taken by the neck and dragged to safety, away from other predators. Leopards often store their kills in trees, out of the reach of lions and hyenas. This requires great power, but is not a problem for leopards - they are renowned for their strength and can haul a carcass of at least their own weight up the vertical trunk of a tree.

This massive strength means a big adult leopard is capable of killing prey up to the size of an eland - almost 10 times its own weight! Small prey such as mice, rats and small birds are swatted to death with a single paw strike.

And we will all have watched out moggies stalk and pounce on birds in much the same way. In fact while Blogging there was a horrendous squawking and in came Cagney with a female blackbird in her mouth! Luckily after chasing her in the garden in socks and screaming for the neighbour's pleasure she dropped it and it flew away- back to its babies I hope.

So I'll let you decide if you have a leopard in your kitchen...

Tomorrow: Can a leopard change its spots?

Big Cats Don't Purr...

2010-04-11T02:28:00.000-07:00

properly... they have a kind of one-way sound and not the two-way rattle we are familiar with with our domestic felines and what big cats do that they don't is ROAR. This is made possible by an elongated and specially adapted larynx and hyoid apparatus. (However, the snow leopard cannot roar, despite having hyoid morphology similar to roaring cats.) When air passes through the larynx on the way from the lungs, the cartilage walls of the larynx vibrate, producing sound. The lion's larynx is longest, giving it the most robust roar.

But what else distinguishes the big cat from the small cat? It is not a biological classification, in fact it does what it says on the tin- it's about size. However, big cats do roar and they don't purr (properly). The term has been used to describe the cats in the genus Panthera and includes the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard- also known as the 'great cats.' More recent definitions extend this group to include the cheetah, snow leopard and cougar.

The largest big cat is the tiger

Photos of BIG CATS:

Tiger

Lion

Jaguar

Leopard

Cheetah

Snow Leopard

Cougar

Pay attention- here comes the science bit (well I do have an MSc in ecology so what did you expect!)

The Cats in Perspective

The Cat Phylogeny

Reference: Johnson, et al. The late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: a genetic assessment.
Science 311 (6 January 2006): 73-77.

However a more recent study reveals that the snow leopard (not shown above) and the tiger are sister species, while the lion, leopard, and jaguar are more closely related to each other. The tiger and snow leopard diverged from the ancestral big cats approximately 3.9 Ma. The tiger then evolved into a unique species towards the end of the Pliocene epoch, approximately 3.2 Ma. The ancestor of the lion, leopard, and jaguar split from other big cats from 4.3-3.8 Ma. Between 3.6-2.5 Ma the jaguar diverged from the ancestor of lions and leopards. Lions and leopards split from one another approximately 3.1-1.95 Ma.

The small cats belong to the genus Felis

All cats have similarities and prefer to be solitary hunters unlike dogs. Cats also have retractable claws which is what defines them apart from dogs (now all go and play with your pet's feet and find out...)

The domestic cat has a dual personality remaining a kitten with its human and as soon as that back door is open it becomes the independent hunter, gone without looking back. The dog, on the other hand looks back at its owner and says aren't you coming with me?

But what is interesting is what behaviour of the wild cats, let's take the leopard as this week's animal - do we still see in our domestic felines? Well you'll have to read tomorrow to find out, won't you?!!!! Eh?

The Leopard

The ever so frightening Blog Owner's pets

Cagney

Lacey

Hmmm.... frightening aren't they?

Welcome to the Week of the Leopard

2010-04-09T23:58:00.000-07:00

Leopard Aware is the highly original story by Richard Adams that kicks off the collection of very special stories featured in Gentle Footprints.

Richard Adams is best known for his best selling novel Watership Down, first published in 1972 and now a classic. Although the novel won the Guardian Prize for Children the novel is a literary masterpiece that appeals to adults and children alike.

His career spans four decades of fiction writing with novels and short stories. Here at Bridge House Publishing we are very honoured to feature Richard Adams as our guest author.

As a supporter of animal causes for many years he reemphasised to me the need to educate and inform and that is what we hope this collection will do. It's not just about beautiful stories but about conservation and the message that animals belong in the wild.

Writing about wild animals in an adult collection is more of a challenge than people might realise. We are all familiar with the speaking animals in children's literature but what we wanted was a more realistic portrayal, retaining a sense of wildness of the animal. We received a huge variety of submissions and it was a difficult selection but I had in mind what I wanted and we got it!

But of all the stories the one that seems to be a stream of consciousness in the head of an animal is Richard Adams's story Leopard Aware

He told me imagines that animals do not think as we do and are driven by basic instincts. In this new story (written as Richard Adams is about to turn ninety years old on May 9th, we catch a glimpse of a leopard hunting. It's very poetic and is very different from anything else we received or included in Gentle Footprints

I wil finish with a sneak preview for those that have not seen it yet...

Time passes slowly I creep creep but now THING now THING stop, alarmed, and sniff sniff I all drooling expectation now. Mustn’t make least noise O BLAST CRACKLE STICKS CRACKLE O BLAST STICKS UNDER ME STOP THING WARNED THING gets message THING turns turns now run. All long legs long legs all clutter of legs but for me all dash out dash out towards THING dash DASH now nothing nothing but THING all running leaping away and I running empty belly says FASTER but THING FASTER TOO I leap nothing but faster faster and THING faster but faster faster faster and THING faster but now I closer can smell THING but can smell its smell, hear its breath I am nothing but hurtling leaping claws out leap not far enough. Soft soil under claws THING AH THING SLOWER now again I’m LEAPING AH CLAWS INTO SOFT FUR THING’S fur on flank and claws cling cling smell of BLOOD THING’S BLOOD THING struggles but slower slower now THING STUMBLING falls on side and I panting growling onto it all noise nothing but noise nothing but biting bloody biting. BLOOD WARM TASTE BLOOD SHLOOP DRIBBLE ALL PLEASURE GNAW TEAR GULP.

Copyright Richard Adams, Gentle Footprints, Bridge House Publishing

Tomorrow Leopard Facts

Wild Futures

2010-04-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

Extracts from For Pepito:

It was damp and dark inside and if someone appeared in the doorway there was nowhere to escape to. Anyway the chain on his neck didn't let him go far. But he preferred being outside and sometimes when a group of humans appeared at the fence he could keep very still beside the shed and they didn't even see him. He only ever saw humans now and the memory of his own kind had faded.

...

The little creature didn't remember that day seven years before when at the age of only eight months he had been torn from his mother's arms. That was the last he had seen of his social group. Probably they had been killed, although Pepito could have no concept of that.

If that action sealed the monkey's fate, what's the alternative for the former pet?

There are a number of primate rescue centres in the UK but as you'll have gathered the one I know best, and trust, and who Born Free support, is the Wild Futures Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall. They know and respect all of the residents and emphasise their psychological as well as physical well-being. This was the sort of thing Emma in my story thought about. She wanted Pepito to be returned to the wild, but if not that she wanted him to be with people who would know what baggage he carried.

And such baggage the capuchins take with them... Tanya, Mickey and Jackie lived for ten years in a converted garage. Mr Monkey spent five years on his own in a converted aviary. Coco and Chanel were kept in a caravan. Joey was taken from the wild as a tiny baby and spent the next nine years on his own in a tiny cage, never going outside. His bones didn't form properly and he has been left with permanent disabilities.

On arrival they have a full medical check and gradually, at their own pace, are given the chance to learn how to be monkeys.

In addition to providing a home for life for all the individuals they take in, Wild Futures supports various projects in Latin America, covering primate rehabilitation, conservation and environmental education for habitat protection - and, crucially, campaigns against the pet trade. The editors of Gentle Footprints have provided a link to their website in the bit at the end of my story, but here's a sneak preview of that:

http://www.wildfutures.org/support-our-campaign

http://www.monkeysanctuary.org/

You could treat yourself to a mug or packet of wild flower seeds from the online shop - or even adopt a gorgeous clever capuchin monkey for only £3 a month!

Next week: Richard Adams' Week of the Leopard.

Return to the wild - or not

2010-04-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

It's a huge undertaking to get captured primates back to the 'wild' and the programmes that exist are mainly carried out in private reserves owned by organisations or individuals.

First former captives have to be nursed back to health, tested for diseases that may not exist in wild populations, integrated into strong social groups and provided with predator avoidance training. Any such programme has to be linked to education and anti-poaching activity as well as habitat protection work.

When the Monkey Sanctuary, a small UK charity, was assessing its woolly monkey troop (New World monkeys like capuchins) for release in the 1990s the cost would have been in the hundreds of thousands. Cost apart, though, a major factor that led to the decision not to go ahead was identifying one of them as a carrier of hepatitis. The woollies by then were third generation in relation to the original monkeys rescued from the pet trade. It meant they didn't have the psychological damage the former pets had, but the discovery highlighted the potential problems of disease transfer between the captive-born and wild-born animals. Also, there are land tenure complications in Latin America that mean protection of an area can't be guaranteed in the long term, and the government-run programmes generally don't allow the release of animals born outside the country.

For the capuchins, all former pets, it's even harder because they've all suffered mental trauma, which manifests itself in abnormal behaviours and can flare up in times of stress. The one in my story pulled out his fur and rocked. Then, they've all been denied a natural upbringing and have no knowledge of primate hierarchy and social skills. Many have been castrated or had their teeth or nails removed, which would affect their social standing and ability to survive in the wild. Most have had inadequate diets and some are in the early stages of diabetes, so would not survive.

As Liz Tyson of Wild Futures (the new name for the Monkey Sanctuary) says, "The act of taking a monkey from its natural environment and keeping it as a pet in the first place generally seals the monkey's fate in that it cannot be returned."

This was what the young hotel workers in my story, who were desperate to get Pepito out of the garden and swinging through trees, hadn't bargained for. More tomorrow, including an extract from the story.

Mischief is in the eye of the beholder

2010-04-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

I hope you don't think some of the pictures I've chosen for this week are a bit samey. I wanted to show capuchins in their proper environment in the forest. This one just breaks my heart thinking about Jessy from yesterday... She should have been up there too.

Back to symbols: traditionally the monkey is considered symbolic of mischief, mimicry and deceit, but also admired for its cleverness, curiosity and inventiveness. A pattern emerges of intelligence vs roguishness.

For example, the Hindu monkey god Hanuman was renowned for his courage and faithful selfless service but in his youth he abused his powers to pester the saints living in the nearby forest.

Then, in African folklore a monkey sits in a tree and teases a lion. The monkey is aware of the powerful and predatory nature of the lion but can control it by guile and intelligence.

Dream symbology suggests the monkey stands for lust, self-satisfaction and trickery or fragility, inspiration, a sense of freedom and capacity to imitate.

The Chinese Monkey King was strong, speedy and a warrior. He combined playfulness with a cunning mind. In the Chinese zodiac those born in monkey years (1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992) are intelligent, quick-witted, observant, curious, charming and sociable. They'll try anything once, don't miss a trick and don't care what people think of them. Any truth in any of this, monkey year people? (Don't forget the year starts mid-February.) In a monkey year what appears impossible is possible (next one 2016).

It seems to me that although we interpret them as being mischievous, it's just monkeys being themselves - and perhaps we're a bit jealous of their freedom. Last year Born Free was involved in an operation to translocate up to 200 primates that had been living in and around the grounds of the presidential office in Lusaka, Zambia. The animals - vervets and baboons - were escaping on to the nearby golf course, hotel, local residential properties and embassies in the area and were being considered a "nuisance". The last straw for the president seems to be when one peed on him during a press conference (to much hilarity). It was estimated that the whole translocation process would cost US$50,000 and would involve predator avoidance training and exposure to naturally occurring fruits and seeds. (Photos from Sky News.)

More tomorrow about returning captives to the wild.

The primate pet trade

2010-04-06T02:22:00.000-07:00

Reading these blogs I have to admit I've been surprised and saddened week after week - that "dancing" bears haven't disappeared from the streets, that foxes are still being hunted, that it's still legal to shoot lions for "sport"... I also find it difficult to understand in the twenty-first century that there's no outright ban on keeping monkeys as pets in the UK. The UK government agrees it's inappropriate to keep a primate as a pet so perhaps after the election we should write to our MPs. It would be a start, but of course it's a highly lucrative, global, trade.

For now, animal welfare agencies in the UK have worked hard to establish a primate code of conduct but that's all it is, a code. The hotelkeepers in my story who have a monkey in the garden were just ignorant but even people who love their pets don't always bother to find out what the animals' real needs are. The real needs of a capuchin are to live in trees with others of their kind.

Further, if taken too early from their mothers, whether in the wild or captive born, the infants demonstrate needy behaviour that makes some humans want to treat them as babies. This is Jessy from the US, adopted by a couple suffering from empty nest syndrome.

Jessy, seven weeks old when they got her, stayed latched on to her adopter's arm 24 hours a day for the first six months, and for months after that had panic attacks every time the adopter left the room. There was a bit of a problem when Jessy started to nip at the adopters but they sorted that one out by having her teeth removed.

There are apparently around 15,000 like Jessy, some with a wardrobe of clothes, their own bedroom and sitting up at the table to eat. Some people argue that these animals are lucky to be leading such a pampered life but Ben and Emma in my story certainly didn't see this as an alternative for Pepito, the monkey in the garden who they were clear needed to be with others of his kind, and in trees.

We need something lighter tomorrow so a bit about monkey symbolism.

(And thanks today to Graham Bailey for permission to use his photos taken in Ecuador, more at grahambaileyphotography.com.)

The disadvantages of being cute and clever

2010-04-05T01:03:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that the inspiration for my story was a little resident of the Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall who we 'adopted'. Adopters are kept in touch through photos and news and my son and I fell in love with him - he'd had a really bad time but was brave and resourceful. He learned to climb trees and persevered with the socialisation and is now an invaluable member of the group, helping new arrivals to settle in.

Capuchins are very agile and capable as well as being one of the most intelligent monkeys. For example:

Capuchins have very dexterous fingers that give them perfect precision grip
They employ a variety of nut-cracking techniques using rocks as hammers
In the wild they use rocks and sticks as ammunition to scare off predators
They crush up millipedes and rub the remains on their backs to repel mosquitoes
Their brain to total weight proportion is high (1.9% of total weight in comparison to 2% for humans, 0.9% for chimps)

Although it would be preferable that studies were not conducted and the animals were just left alone, investigations have demonstrated that if given the choice capuchins will consistently opt for both themselves and a friend to receive food rather than just themselves; are able to choose a food they prefer from a token with a symbolic representation on it; and can recognise their friends in photographs.

Unfortunately for capuchins, all of this makes them very attractive as working animals or in entertainment, and their cute looks, especially as babies, make them seem like a good idea for a pet. More on that tomorrow.

Speaking the right language

2010-04-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

Size: Head and body: Up to 22"/56cm

Tail: Can be body length again

Weight: 3-11 lbs/1.3-4.8 kg

Average life span in the wild: 20-25 years (up to 40 in captivity)

Diet: Omnivorous (fruit, nuts, seeds, insects, bird eggs, small birds)

Capuchins live in highly social groups of between six and forty members. In the wild they spend the day mainly in trees.

They have a long infancy with childcare shared within the group (males too). Then there's an extended pre-adult period: like us, they have a lot to learn. For survival they need to understand complex group dynamics and hierarchies. Important methods of communication they pick up at this time include body language, facial expression, social grooming and interactive play and vocalisation.

There are various subspecies within the category, with no final agreement on classification. Learning the right language seems to be crucial: when the monkey that inspired my story, a weeper capuchin, was rescued from the pet trade and placed in a sanctuary, he met another resident, a black capped capuchin, who greeted him with an excited high-pitched black cap greeting. This unfortunately was similar to an aggressive high-pitched weeper attack noise, and was interpreted as such. After that, the two never quite hit it off.

Pepito in my story is forced to live on the ground, alone, chained up. The tragedy of wanting to return him to the wild is that he has no social experience - doesn't know how to forage for his own food, won't understand the dangers from others of his kind as well as predators and doesn't know how to communicate.

More about these clever creatures tomorrow.