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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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Posted: 27 Jan 2013 at 10:15pm |
Ben where I lived 1961-1970 on west side of Lake Windermere we ONLY had red squirrels at that time. Now they have both, so not sure how that is working out. I had never seen a grey one till I moved to Dorset and was amazed how fearless they were compared to reds, which were much more elusive.
We also had pine martins. Again very elusive and seen by very few of the locals in their lifetimes. A couple used to put food out for the red squirrels and got pine martins coming to take the food as well. We saw just one in our stay there. |
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Suz
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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wow! thats quite a story Suzi! i had to google the Riley Pathfinder. never heard of those!
im in Cumbria at the moment funnily enough. snow everywhere altho rain is coming in now. saw a Red Squirrel a few days ago! of course i scrabbled frantically in my pocket for the camera but of course it departed before i was ready - dammit! |
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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Yes Ben I did watch the BBC Winterwatch, only because my brother had tiped me off about the 62/63 special. Yes they had a hard time in Devon then with the cold and sheer depth of snow.
We lived in the Lake District then. I would say we didn't suffer with huge depth of snow so much as its lengthy stay plus the bitter cold. I was 11 years old. My mother was overdue with her third child and went into labour in the early hours of Xmas Day. It was bitterly cold with lying snow and ice. There was no ambulance service and we were 13 miles from the hospital! It was touch and go whether Dad would get our old car started (Riley Pathfinder). He did and they had a white knuckle ride to the hospital where my sister was born as soon as they arrived. Once home my sister never went outdoors until March as it was so cold. There were bits of ice on Lake Windermere until May! We were skating on the lake and sledging but it was so cold. Yes vehicles did go onto the lake. The ice was over 12" thick but I can't remember the exact depth. It was a bit scary being on it as it cracked and groaned. I often wonder how we managed with no central heating, good weatherproof clothes etc.! My husband is from Surrey and the snow started there on Boxing Day I believe. We already had ours up north. Sorry completely off herp topics here! |
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Suz
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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hey Suzi, venturing a bit off-topic here as herps werent mentioned (livestock was), but did you see the BBC's recent "Winterwatch" special on "worst winter of the 20th century" 1963?
how marvellous to see motorists on the Thames! http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01q9d86/Winterwatch_1963_The_Big_Freeze/ |
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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After hours of heavy rain in East Devon with our road on the point of flooding it has now started to snow!
Well Lee I don't seem to see much of my newts, although I know there are plenty of them. I've been out with a torch but I never see them. Most of my finds are underneath things that I move or from watching the pond in warmer weather. |
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Suz
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calumma
Senior Member Joined: 27 Jun 2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 375 |
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Newts too Suzy, even when it's not so mild. I regularly see newts active beneath icy ponds.
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Suzy
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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I think you'll find that frogs are about most of the winter when it's not actually freezing or snowy. I see them in my pond when it's mild in winter. The thing is how much energy do they waste being active when there's unlikely to be much food about?
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Suz
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Richard2
Senior Member Joined: 01 Dec 2010 Status: Offline Points: 285 |
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Last night, 19 December, after a whole day of heavy rain, a Common Frog hopped across the road in my headlights. Do they wake up when it floods?
Merry Christmas, everybody.
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longcrippler
Member Joined: 11 May 2007 Status: Offline Points: 19 |
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I certainly seemed to have sparked off an interesting and knowledgeable discussion. Thanks for all your thoughts. I asked because one of the areas I regularly see grass snakes is along the ditches of an artificial flood relief channel. Most winters, and recently a couple of times in the summer too, the whole area is submerged with excess water from the river for days at a time. The snakes always reappear, though. I was wondering if they recolonised every time.
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Noodles
Senior Member Joined: 05 Dec 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 534 |
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That is interesting,
thanks Rob. The point I was making was that there has to be some form of
antifreeze mechanism for cell 'freezing' to occur; meaning there is no animal
that can technically be frozen, thawed and expected to function
afterwards. I really didn't know the use of glycerol as antifreeze occurred in our native species, which is very interesting. Does this occur in many UK species (snakes etc) do you think? Presumably any hibernating reptile with fat reserves has the ability to produce it but how much of a drain on these reserves is glycerol production in say a Common Lizard and, as a result, how long can tissue be successfully 'frozen' for? I wonder is this a partial reason why Common Lizards retain such large fat reserves in the tail; to adapt them to more hostile, wetter and more prone to freezing environments. Presumably a lizard with a lost tail would not be at an advantage in a frozen hibernaculum! Species that do not use glycerol in cell protection would surely benefit from a warmer than ambient hibernaculum above the minimum activity temperature range, although it does seem logical to me now that all temperate evolved species of reptile would have this ability to some degree. I’m sure it’s all very complex between species! A really interesting and current topic, given the recent weather, and thanks again for taking the time to reply Rob, Chris, Caleb.... |
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