February wildlife

[Anthony Darby]

This is an awesome achievement. Auckland zoo has bred Lesser Short-tailed Bat twins. The species is an endangered New Zealand endemic. http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2014/02/aukland-bats.html

[Anthony Darby]

Here's an interesting encounter! http://m.koreus.com/video/wapiti-vs-photographe.html

[Margaret]

Here's an interesting encounter! http://m.koreus.com/video/wapiti-vs-photographe.html

Amazing, Anthony. Thank you for posting.

[Steve Garvie]

I'm not for a minute suggesting you condone the photographer's behaviour Anthony but I always feel that such photographer/observer interactions should be avoided at all costs.

Wapiti are powerful beasts and watching this video it wouldn't be difficult to envisage a situation where a well-placed thrust of the antlers could have perforated the photographer's chest wall or enucleated an eye.

It is amazing how reckless people are when watching/photographing mega-fauna. There are major incidents almost every year with elephants and vehicles in Kruger, RSA as a consequence of inappropriate invasion of an animal's space -especially involving bull elephants in musth.
Here is an example:

Obviously, people can get badly injured or even killed during such interactions and the other issue is that the animals involved are almost always labelled as problem beasts and so are shot!

There are also issues that arise in third party observations where the emotions of the photographer are severely tested. Here is an example of one such experience that we had in Samburu NP, Kenya:


This plucky young Oryx went head to head with a leopard but there could only ever be one possible outcome! We were strongly tempted to intervene but the cardinal rule in wildlife photography is to observe and not to interact.





My daughter was inconsolable!

[David Nicholson]

My daughter was inconsolable!

Why, had she wanted to eat it?

[Tim Ingram]

Taking the dog for a walk today we came across these characters just around the corner from the garden. They certainly look like wild boar, unless a neighbour is keeping them as pets. Any woodland is quite some way away so it would be interesting to know quite where they have come from. They wouldn't be too welcome in the garden! (and I am not sure what the dog would make of them if he got loose - he and the mother eyed each other up almost in a friendly way, but the piglets weren't around then!).

[Maggi Young]

If someone is keeping them, Tim, then they could be in big trouble for allowing them to stray - large number of regulations around the keeping of any pigs.
Mum would surely be a risk to  your wee dog- especially around the piglets - just be glad you didn't meet "Dad" .

[kindredspiritkevin]

Anyone know much about predators of RamsHorn Snails?

Today I found a cache of almost 100 (Yes, really, 100) empty RamsHorn snail shells underneath a clump of Cortaderi Richardii about 18 inches from the edge of the pond. The pond has vertical walls but I've put a flagstone at 45° between the top of the wall and the bottom of the pond to allow entry and exit for those who wish to do so.

The pond has newts and frogs besides sticklebacks. But 100 empty shells in one place seems extraordinary. (to me.) And these RamsHorn shells are big.

[Maggi Young]

Snail Kites ? But not too many of those near you, I would think 

Might it have been a hibernation (??) site and  they had just died and decayed?  Certainly does seem odd.  Maybe you'll have to lay in wait?

[Anthony Darby]

Ramshorn snails are totally aquatic. Finding the empty shells under a clump of Cortaderi richardii would suggest they've been fished out, possibly by a shrew, that has deposited them in a convenient spot where he/she can eat his/her takeaway at leisure.

[kindredspiritkevin]

What is even weirder is that last autumn, when I lifted up a ridge tile, one of a few i have scattered around and that frogs like to skulk under, a lizard shaped creature darted out, black and about six inches long. He headed into the Pampas Grass. I have newts in the pond but they're the greeny brown ordinary ones. According to reference books, there are NO great crested newts in Ireland, but what I saw might match the description of one. If it wasn't a Great Crested Newt, then what was it? I thought I was dreaming but I actually SAW a six inch long, totally black, lizard creature scurrying very fast. And No! I hadn't been drinking!

[Steve Garvie]

What you saw was possibly a Common Lizard -Ireland's only native reptile (excluding Leatherback Turtles). They can look quite dark in cool weather.

They are apparently found in most Irish counties including Limerick: http://www.lacerta.de/AS/Bibliografie/BIB_4273.pdf

[kindredspiritkevin]

Thank you, Steve. I think you hit the nail on the head because it moved quite fast when disturbed. I hadn't known that there were Lizards in Ireland! As they're good swimmers, then this fellow could quite possibly be the owner of the stash of RamsHorn shells.

[Anthony Darby]

Is your pampas grass the New Zealand species above?

[Anthony Darby]

This is doing the rounds on Facebook: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/8930070/Worlds-biggest-insect-is-so-huge-it-eats-carrots.html What a shame the facts are so wrong. Apart from one medium sized Australian species, spreading in Northland, all wetas are wingless, so how can this one have "a wing span of seven inches"?