UK : Scot : Scots foxed by random foxes...

This topic has 10 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated May 18, 2006 at 12:04 pm by andy ridgeway.

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May 17, 2006 at 5:13 pm #1037846
General Lighting
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A wild canine conspiracy?

Newcomer to islands foxes experts
Scottish Natural Heritage has appealed to people in the Western Isles to report sightings of foxes. Foxes are not indigenous to the islands and the agency fears they could prey on birds and other wildlife.
SNH said foxes had been spotted in Lewis and Harris and asked people to get in touch with other sightings.
David MacLennan, area manager, said it was a mystery how the animal reached the Western Isles, which has problems with other non-native species.
He said: “There are two ways they could come – they either sneak on a boat and somehow or other get across without anybody noticing.
“The other option is that somebody took them here deliberately.”
Hedgehogs are another non-native species and the policy of culling them on North Uist and Benbecula to protect ground-nesting birds has proved controversial.
The total number of hedgehogs reached about 4,000 since a handful were introduced in the 1970s.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/4986958.stm

Published: 2006/05/17 09:16:05 GMT

© BBC MMVI
May 17, 2006 at 6:12 pm #1073812
Raj
Participant
it will be wolves next…
:alien_abd
May 17, 2006 at 6:35 pm #1073809
General Lighting
Moderator
rajsuspect wrote:

it will be wolves next…
:alien_abd

maybe, they are still around in Scandinavia… isn’t Scotland full of big cats anyway?
May 17, 2006 at 9:58 pm #1073817
andy ridgeway
Participant
they should let all the foxhunters go there on holiday

like sex tourists to thailand

ie: ok, it’s not very nice but out of sight out of mind innit
May 17, 2006 at 10:44 pm #1073810
General Lighting
Moderator
andy ridgeway wrote:

they should let all the foxhunters go there on holiday

like sex tourists to thailand

ie: ok, it’s not very nice but out of sight out of mind innit

Scotland was the first place in the UK to ban foxhunting! Which makes this the more curious; why would foxes stow away on boats to end up on an island when they have a safe habitat on the mainland?

It may well be the foxhunters deliberately introducing the animals there to piss off perceived “eco-warrior” types.. maybe even to try and justify the resumption of hunting…:alien_abd
May 18, 2006 at 10:05 am #1073813
Raj
Participant
General Lighting wrote:

maybe, they are still around in Scandinavia… isn’t Scotland full of big cats anyway?

i think we still have some wildcats and mystery big cats but you only ever see the paw prints pretty much; maybe another conspiracy theory?
May 18, 2006 at 10:08 am #1073814
Raj
Participant
General Lighting wrote:

maybe even to try and justify the resumption of hunting…:alien_abd

since i suspect most foxhunting in scotland was/is done by shotguns and lamping at night due to the up and down nature of the terrain i’m not convinced; i like your eco-warrior annouynig theory better…
:alien_abd
May 18, 2006 at 10:27 am #1073811
General Lighting
Moderator
rajsuspect wrote:

i think we still have some wildcats and mystery big cats but you only ever see the paw prints pretty much; maybe another conspiracy theory?

“big cats” other than lions and tigers are often smaller than many realise, many only the size of a large dog

this Lynx was caught in the middle of suburban NW London

http://www.bigcats.org/abc/realcats/larathelynx.html

Scotland would be an ideal habitat for similar species. Apparently only Lions are easy to watch, wildlife photographers/nature watchers describe looking for other cat species like “trying to find an unwilling pet cat in a huge garden on the day of a vets’ appointment” 😉
May 18, 2006 at 10:38 am #1073815
Raj
Participant
General Lighting wrote:

“trying to find an unwilling pet cat in a huge garden on the day of a vets’ appointment” 😉

yup thats surely a serious mission; i have helped people hunt their cats for hours [literally] to take them to the vet for essential life saving treatment….you find them in unbelievable places
never assume cos you cant see a way in the cat is not hiding there; we have extracted a large cat from a space the size of a small shoe box with no obvious entry – we had to lift the item off from above to check in desperation as we knew the cat was shut in that room overnight…and had to be in it somewhere…..
:alien_abd
May 18, 2006 at 11:39 am #1073808
gavsta
Participant
just a thought but i’m sure these people on the islands keep dogs, seeing as its farmland and things, its probably one of their offspring been left to die and gone feral and is breeding with something else in the wild.

DINGOOOOOOOO.
May 18, 2006 at 12:04 pm #1073816
Raj
Participant
gavsta wrote:

just a thought but i’m sure these people on the islands keep dogs, seeing as its farmland and things, its probably one of their offspring been left to die and gone feral and is breeding with something else in the wild.

DINGOOOOOOOO.

lets hope that the locals have been handed charts with pictures and labels so they can tell the difference then……
LOL:crazy_fre
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