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 In America it is called Sudden Oak Death in England and the EU Phytophthora ramorum or P. kernoviae. What ever the name it has and is likely to cause significant damage to oak and other trees. The disease was first identified in the US in 1995 and the EU in 2002. In the EU the fungus appears to be a more virulent variant of the fungus and has been named P. kernoviae after were the disease was first identified (Cornwall - Kernow in the Cornish language]. At present in England the disease appears to be confined to Cornwall and South Wales. Outbreaks of the disease have been reported throughout Northern Europe.
The disease is fatal to oak trees and infected trees die within a year. Other species in which the disease is usually fatal are redwood, sweet chestnut, horse chestnut, beach, magnolia and eucalyptus. In England rhododendron and viburnum and highly susceptible to Phytophthora but does not kill the plant and acts as a reservoir for the fungus.
If the disease becomes universally established in the US and EU the economic consequences could be devas tating. Farmer and hikers should be aware of the disease and report suspect trees to DEFRA. Accurate diagnosis can only be made in a laboratory. It is not a legal requirement but ramblers in know infected areas are urged to wash and disinfect their shoes and vehicles before leaving travelling to other parts of the country. The right to roam does not carry a right to destroy! DEFRA must provide free wash points. DEFRA have produced a poster that can be downloaded showing how to recognise diseased plants and trees
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Common Ragwort
Common Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). Its that season again. A native plant but is poisonous to horses and some other animals. DEFRA has a website with instructions as to how best to control the plant. There is no question of the complete eradication of this plant but control is essential. Well worth reading are DEFRAs recommendations
Hunting Act
February 2009 is the fourth anniversary of the Hunting Act. Although the Act is bad knee jerk legislation the countryside has learnt to live with, and to survive the Hunting Act. Trying to predict what future Governments will do is difficult to predict. I think whichever party is elected to power the Act will receive very low legislative priority a nd the best that can be hoped for is that the act is amended to clarify its intent and to allow strictly regulated hunting. Repeal of the Hunting Act is unlikely.
The hunting lobby believe that this will make it inevitable that the law will be repealed after an general election and a new Government. With the economy in tatters, unemployment at an all time high and the banks behaving badly I still do not see any Government allocating time to the repeal of this very bad legislation. I still believe that the Act will just wither in the vine in a similar way that the Blasphemy Act withered.
Another part of this saga is the fact that any party repealing the Hunting Act will loose votes so to soften the loss of votes the repealing party will have to come up with other legislation that is workable and acceptable to all points of view. Now there’s a thought!
Any new Hunting Act is likely to be made because of ruling by the EU and that will in all probability legislate along the lines that all forms of hunting will be permitted in Europe provided that the objective of the hunt is to provide food for the table and not just for pleasure. Hunting with dogs would be reinstated by the back door as fox can be eaten. I recall that many many years ago a Chinese restaurant in Worcestershire was fined for serving fox. They were not fined for serving fox but representing it as chicken. Customers did not notice the difference and it was years before the restaurant was brought to book. Of course, after it was disclosed this very good and popular restaurant quickly lost its customers and was soon to go out of business.
Squirrels are good eating as are pigeons and game birds so shooting would be safe. Last year a Worcestershire restaurant served squirrel but had to discontinue the menu item as some of general public objected to killing and eating those lovely cuddly gray pests. I suppose that when fishing, fish could no longer be put back and would have to be taken home and eaten. I don’t have a problem with this provided that fish stocks can be maintained. Time will no doubt give us its answers as it always does.
I think that we have the answer now. The Government is too busy to consider the Hunting Act although they say that when there is parliamentary time they will give the House a free vote on hunting. Under a free vote there is unlikely to be a majority if favour of hunting and so we must work with what we have even if the legislation is poorly drafted which of course it is!
Meet the Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) - Good guy or bad?
 Badgers are nocturnal mammals. They live in extensive underground earth works called setts. The badger weighs less in southern, warmer areas and heavier in northern areas. In the north badgers hibernate in the south, including England, they do not. Badgers are territorial, each group is called a clan, is led by an alpha male and consists of about 10 - 14 mature animals. Usually but not always there is only one breeding female in each clan. After impregnation the female can delay implantation of the ovum until the most suitable time to produce young. Males are called boars, females sows and the young cubs.
The Eurasian badger is widely distributed across Europe and Asian, including the islands of Iceland, Ireland, Japan, England and all the larger island in the Mediterranean. England has the highest density of badger per hectare. It is a ancient animal that has changed little in tens of thousands of years. Badgers are omnivores and eat earthworms, beetles, frogs, small mammals, fruit, nuts and berries. Its favorite food of earthworms are abundant in cow pastures that bring badgers in contact with cows and, indirectly, man.
Badges evoke strong emotions. Over the years they have been hunted, put with dogs for sport, hunted by foot by lamping and protected. They are presently protected by law and a license is required to handle the animal. Badgers are susceptible to Bovine Tuberculosis, so are cattle - Mycobacterium bovis or bTB. The organism is related to the human form of the disease - Mycobacterium tuberculosis - however, humans are only rarely infected by the bTB strain. Presently farmers believe that badgers spread bTB to their cattle causing substantial loss and are asking the English Government to cull badgers to prevent to spread of bTB. The many badger protection societies take the opposite view believing that badgers do not present a threat to cattle and that it may be the cows that spread bTB to badgers. DEFRA have recently conducted research to determine the danger posed to farmers and the results are awaited with interest.
P.S. The Royal Society in an independent report says there is evidence that a link exists between badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis 10,000 cattle, a growing number, are slaughtered each year in England that test positive to bTB. Apparently Mr. Hilary Benn still does not know what to do. Recently he has said that the feelings of the people must be taken into account when considering a cull of badgers. Does Mr. Benn believe the problem will go away if he does nothing or is he going to call a referendum on culling badgers?
June 2008 - So DEFRA and the farmers say cull and the Government say don’t cull. Where do we go next?
March 2009 - Now we know - Hilary Benn, Rural Affairs Secretary has announced that farmers in the six worst affected areas (South West, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) will start vaccinating badgers against Bovine Tuberculosis starting next year. Training of farmers has started who will catch badger in cages, vaccinate then release. Benn failed to say who pays for this programme.
Butter Mountains, Wine Lakes is this the right way to go about solving these problems?
The answer according to the pundits of Brussels to the wine lake is to destroy years of viniculture by digging up long established vineyard. Vines grow overnight but take many years to mature and yield berries of vintage quality. Is it a serious move by the doyens of the EU to capitulate in the face of stiff competition form the New World and hand, on a plate, wine production to others? Is not the lasting solution elsewhere? I think that it is, let the industry fight back by improving the marketing of the product and educating the public as to how wines are labeled and classified. Changing the labelling to the system of the New World of wines only endorses their products. Cutting down the vines is a negative approach to the situation. To destroy the new vineyards of Kent that are winning global awards for their wines and fizz would be a national catastrophe. Improved marketing, developing alternative income streams and protection of the cultural heritage is better than paying compensation for grubbing up vines. I have yet to hear what alternative land uses are being suggested by the EU when the vines are gone and what help is being offered to develop the alternatives income streams.
Wine producers and consumers - what do you think? Why are the Americans and Russians buying French wine at record prices if New World style is the way to go? Anyway cheap wine from Australia is a thing of the past as two failed harvests have dried the wine lake. Will their wine be as popular when the price goes up?
Governments of the world are pouring money into banks at the top so that banks can lend more money thatcannot be repaid. Perhaps the money would be better spent to retire consumer debt, the money released would filter up to the banks. Will Greece destroy the Euro as a world currency? Is Britain in any better condition than Greece? Will the US succeed in bringing the Euro to parity with the Dollar? Will parity stop the decline of the Dollar as a world currency?
Pest control.
Furry, nice, cuddly, a garden friend, pretty but it is a rodent that destroys our woods and forests and native species! Yes, it is a grey squirrel (sciurus carolinensis) imported from America. A number of black variant have been spotted in England. The black “grey” squirrel moves faster and is more disease resistant.
 Recently a restaurant in Worcestershire announced that it was serving terrine of squirrel as a starter. The protests were immediate, vociferous and threatening so the dish was quickly remove. It will be interesting to see how the general public will react to the cull of gray squirrels by poisoning that will take place over the next three year. Whatever the reaction the cull is long overdue and will give our native red squirrel (s. vulgaris) and our forests a chance to recover. It may also stop the spread on squirrel pox.
There are other problems the ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), mink the New Zealand flat worm and so on. Shoot them and there are gun protests, hunt rodents on horses with dogs and it is cruel - so is birth  control pills for animals the only solution? What do you think?
Here is another problem animal that was immortalized by Beatrice Potter. The RABBIT! Did you know that rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) cause British agriculture economic loss in excess of £100 million annually. One rabbit per ha can reduce production by 1% a nd where there are rabbits there is always more than one per ha. I seem to remember a wartime song that was something about run rabbit run and guns, get going with your guns as they are good eating - see the cookbook below for recipes.
Well Bugs Bunny seems safe (Bugs was actually a hare) as you can no long apply for an order from DEFRA to exterminate the rabbits on your neighbor’s property that are eating your crops.
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Incidentally, squirrel is often on the menu in Spain - it is excellent and if we eat the problem it would quickly reduce the numbers. For example in Cairo, Egypt you do not see too many pigeons except in the pot. Is this a solution to unwanted specSo it is hard times again so get out your gun and a hunting we will go.
So man is the greatest predator ever so let’s make gray squirrel a delicacy and in no time we will have eaten all the grays leaving England’s red supreme. I would guess this will bring in the protest mail!
If you click below you will be redirected to a site that has some delicious recipes for cooking what you shoot
Need to know how to cook: Venison, squirrel, duck and other animals that you have hunted? Jerry’s Bait and Tackle shop has published some great recipes animals that you will not find in the average cook book.
Click here to access these recipes.
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