tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post2074457260062494817..comments2023-11-17T11:50:03.451-08:00Comments on About a Brook: Water Voles, Dredging and Jeremy VineKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16365185962131795210noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-35996533483956493052015-04-04T04:03:55.242-07:002015-04-04T04:03:55.242-07:00And it can be hard to tell otters and mink apart s...And it can be hard to tell otters and mink apart sometimes.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365185962131795210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-64579112046859594302015-04-04T04:03:07.922-07:002015-04-04T04:03:07.922-07:00Are you sure they weren't mink? There've n...Are you sure they weren't mink? There've never been any records of otters wiping out a colony of water voles, as otters are native and in the ecological balance. Mink, on the other hand, can steam through and erase voles in a matter of weeks.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365185962131795210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-49744274102476906272015-04-04T03:01:33.482-07:002015-04-04T03:01:33.482-07:00We had a thriving colony of water voles on the Riv...We had a thriving colony of water voles on the River Itchen near Bishopstoke, whole lot disappeared when otters appeared on the river<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-34276492465223625992015-04-02T11:32:02.440-07:002015-04-02T11:32:02.440-07:00That's nice. There's still nothing here.
...That's nice. There's still nothing here.<br /><br />I've emailed my piece to the EA, and Jeremy Vine's read my comments on Twitter, so that's good. Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365185962131795210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-25464144046131379342015-04-02T05:03:15.243-07:002015-04-02T05:03:15.243-07:00Thanks very much to both of you for these spot-on ...Thanks very much to both of you for these spot-on comments. How depressing that this over-heated, inflammatory and ill-informed garbage was put out, and with such damaging spin on it... Sadly this is the sort of thing that can take hold in the run-up to a General Election as well.. <br /><br />Kate, have you contacted the Press/tried to get the above published as a letter to The Guardian, The Times - and all the rest, frankly...? It's brilliantly expressed and may significantly help to limit some of the damage done... <br /><br />Very upset myself, too... A lovely antidote was a nice plump vole putting in an appearance yesterday, for the first time in 8 pretty chilly days.WendyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-26515949886836277482015-04-02T02:22:13.980-07:002015-04-02T02:22:13.980-07:00When you think of all the hard work that goes into...When you think of all the hard work that goes into educating and spreading the word about nature, and then you get coverage like this yesterday, it makes you want to weep.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365185962131795210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2966802467050066236.post-37945725186092271972015-04-02T02:08:10.429-07:002015-04-02T02:08:10.429-07:00I wrote a piece on this yesterday too and came to ...I wrote a piece on this yesterday too and came to much the same conclusion- that the cost looks high but isn't in reality and the real problem was in the reporting, which, as you say, was done by people who had little or no conservation knowledge. My concern is that they've done significant damage to public perception of the need for conservation schemes like this by concentrating on headlines about cost and not bothering to do their research properly.<br /><br />Signs of voles awake as last on our river here- glad they've come through the winter.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com