Seil Chat

Nick B says:

Where did the badgers go and why have I not seen an otter for so long? Hints and mutterings are heard, but no-one says anything tangible. Is it happening or not? Someone must know, and maybe they have internet access ."

Something bad is going on. What do you think? - Someone spill the beans please........

I blame Ring of Bright Water - it's all Gavin (I like musical theatre) Maxwell's fault for portraying thick, local oiks as otter bashing ditch diggers. Perhaps the men from the water board have been otter panning as they go about their daily business?

The otters and badgers had a gang fight to the death. Sadly it was a draw.

I think that was it.

Yes that'll be Gavin where have all basking sharks gone, oh yes now i remember i killed them all Maxwell. Perhaps Terry Nutkins could tell us how much musical theatre Gavin frequently enjoyed and if he liked clams or oysters.

sorry herbie did they use broken sea urchin and gnawed twig as weapons

So you got fooled by all that furry niceness smokescrren stuff too, DS. Don't be taken in, both species know depths of vicious depravity our most warped and twisted imaginations could only cower in horror at. Their most fearsome weapon is speed and evil cunning, or rather their two most fearsome weapons are speed and evil cunning, combined with rapacious voracity for astonishing violence. Sorry, their 3 most fearsome weapons...........

So you got fooled by all that furry niceness smokescrren stuff too

depths of vicious depravity

evil cunning

Sounds a bit like someone I know! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

Maybe someone dobbed the badgers into the council for altering their sets without the neccesary planning permission ......or the otters got grassed for selling locally caught seafood from the side of the road......

To be serious for a while. Has anyone noticed that the Strathclyde Police Wildlife Crime Officer is giving a talk on Tuesday evening in Easdale School at 7.30pm. The hosts are the WRI but the meeting is open to anyone interested.

Thanks for that information, I hadn't heard.

in response to Spiderman - I just passed an otter at the old Salmon Centre building - it'll still be there now unless the raptors have devoured what was left of it !

I wonder if that was the same roadkill otter and the top of Loch Feochan this morning - Freshly squeezed but too squished for a sporran - not that we "Scandos" wear sporrans!

If you're interested Scottish badgers also have a forum

Bit sad 20 posts by the badgerking and only one reply - You must be doing something right NikkiB???????????????

Maybe we could all register to get them up and running:

www.scottishbadgers.org.uk/talk/index.php

Link below takes you to Strathclyde Police Press Release regarding investigations into the blocking of four setts on Seil and the poisoning of two golden and one fish eagle just inland from Seil.

www.strathclyde.police.uk/index.asp?docID=4059

May not be of interest to those who prefer to post reports regarding gang fights between otters and badgers...still; whatever tosses your caber as they say.

NOS

Makes you despair of the human race doesn't it?

Some time ago I was driving home late one night and came across 5 owls lying dead in the road near Loch Seil. It wasn't until a long time afterwards that I realised they'd probably taken some poisoned bait meant for something else. Wish I'd done something at the time.

My eyes are wider open now.

.
Thanks NOS for a note of sanity and a useful link.

Quoting from the report:

Raising awareness of the problem amongst the local community is a key priority as they will be instrumental in the successful convictions of people for disturbing badgers.

Raising awareness of local problems and issues is at least part, I hope, of the function of this board.

I suggest everyone who hasn't already should follow NOS's link in his post above and reads it - it is a bit of an eye opener if you didn't think the post topic was serious.


NickB

i think we need to protect our local birds they are few and far between

Umm there is not and never has been a shortage of otters here......the key to finding them is not to look for them..( I know this sounds like two opposing ideas but trust me it works).

I have seen otters quite recently whilst coming to Luing. Though friends have seen them on occasion too, I was unaware that there was many in the area. Are they not fiercely territorial? Unfortunately I have not seen a badger yet.

Sometimes I really wonder how rumours start, but now I know. I have never seen as many otters around the island for quite a few years, in fact they have even been seen walking down the street in Ellenabeich recently! As for badgers, numbers have definately declined but don't blame the landowners without proof. Thankfully we live in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty and I really cannot beleive that any landowner on Seil (or any sane person) would condone the blocking of badger dens. But, if anybody is harming badgers, they deserve the full force of the law upon them.

.

I have never seen as many otters around the island for quite a few years

Glad to hear that there are plenty of otters around. As many of you know we have been away for a year, and before we left they seemed to be getting scarce. I need to get away from the keyboard more . . .

So - otters OK, but the badgers seem to have made an enemy or two somewhere . . .

NickB

Haven't seen many badgers but they are nocturnal so unless your out and about in the midldle of the night well need i say more. Seen otters in cuan from the ferry last week and many other places over the years.