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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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Posted: 19 Jun 2010 at 4:40pm |
thanks for sharing your experiences and thoughts will. good points there.
heres another angle; a wealthy landowner dug a lake outside his home in nearby tetbury. he put large fish in it. probably carp. the following year quite a few adult GCNS turned up there to breed (no-one knew from where). so this was colonisation of NEW breeding habitat, not established. he broke no laws reg GCN. it seems accepted that GCNs and predatory fish do not make equal bedfellows with the formers larvae losing out heavily to fish predation. i knew this and was concerned but given that i was only the mate of the shepherd there, it wasnt my place to inform any herp body of the situation and go through proper channels. or even say or do anything since its my mates boss. but given that the long-term survival of a BAP species at the pool was in jeopardy to possibly not even a native species, could i have removed them unlicensed since they surely needed "rescue" from plight? or is it "tough luck newts" and let what will be, be? despite their "1981 special protection"? and if i can remove, to where? a pond of my choice? it would have to be far enough away that they couldnt return. cheers will, ben |
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will
Senior Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1830 |
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Good Q Ben; I was told a few years ago that rescuing a GCN from the path of an oncoming car would not require a licence, provided it was immediately released on the other side of the road. Likewise a pond with lots of well grown larvae which was in imminent danger of drying out could also have its larvae taken to a nearby pond so they could complete their metamorphosis as an emergency action without a licence. But what if this act were to become an annual event, ie the translocation of larvae from one pond (known to be liable to desiccation) to another was planned in advance ? my interpretation is that this would then be licensable, but I don't know what others think?
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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why did ken say that if it wasnt illegal? it suggests that he thought it was. (so did i). thanks for the info then j. though this prompts the question of how a "rescue" is defined legally.
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herpetologic2
Forum Coordinator Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1511 |
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So where is the crime in that? - rescues do not need licenses!!! J |
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Report your sightings to the Record Pool http://arguk.org/recording
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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had enough of TRUE stories?
click away then. fancy another? strong stomach? ok, lets RAUK! its lunchtime at school. given that its summer, 2nd year pupils flock down the playing field to play their little games of trying to impress one another or simply kick a ball in the sunshine. a group of us are standing around when one spots a dead frog in the grass. it was far from fully grown though certainly not a metamorph. its innards were exposed and, in retrospect, i suspect that it had been assualted by an avian. a youth bends down and, taking a piece of string from his pocket, ties one end around one of the frogs legs. then, in an attempt to win the crowd over with a brand new "trick", he stands up and begins to swing the ensemble around his head like some crazed and misinformed cowboy. well boys will be boys. after a few orbits however, and with all of us looking on, the string must have worked its way loose. because to everyones astonishment and utter hilarity, the frog suddenly flew off and went straight............ into the open mouth of a mesmerised onlooker. you dont need me to tell you how he reacted. a sick story with a foul ending. ok. but what a shot. ben |
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Donny
Senior Member Joined: 11 May 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 70 |
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I also saw that Ken Livingstone herping documentary with the GCNs in the
swimming pool, it was great.
I also remember running away from quite a few farmers, gamekeepers etc as a youngster ("Hey!@! Don't you know this is private property?!?!"). Wonder what would have happened if I had stood my ground and told them I was simply looking for frogs? Edited by Donny |
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Liz Heard
Senior Member Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Location: South West Status: Offline Points: 1429 |
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Lal, i saw a tv prog once about Red Ken and his lifelong herp interest. at one point during the show he was removing GCN's from a swimming pool somewhere in suburbia. home counties. i know he had a licence then at least because he reached into his pocket, unfolded it and held it up to the camera to show us.
if hes ever contravened the WCA to save newts then personally i admire his honesty in admitting it as a public figure with a lot to lose. in my humble opinion, as far as protecting the future of GCNs goes, the act makes life difficult legally for those who can help the species - such as people with them in their garden ponds like me. at the other end of the scale (and where its full weight is needed most desperately) its woefully ineffectual at deterring/punishing developers etc. as RAUKers know all too well. given that his political enemies would no doubt leap to point out his "criminality" in "interfering", leaving him open to lost votes, i think it was a brave and honest admission if true. sounds like he put the animals first in spite of all this. good on him i reckon. i dont obey laws that dont make sense either and he obviously knows enough about amphibians to carry out a simple rescue. hes been quite instrumental in developing amphibian habitat (inc GCNs) in central london too. cant remember the name of the site but it was also featured in the prog. incidentally, another famous person and one of kens biggest supporters politically also shares his love of salamanders and the like. namely the brilliant poet ATTILA THE STOCKBROKER. ive even known him to incorporate newt puppets amusingly into his live show. |
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Suzi
Senior Member Joined: 06 Apr 2005 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1025 |
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Lovely story Gemma. Brave girl you were - expect you still are!
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Suz
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lalchitri
Senior Member Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Status: Offline Points: 160 |
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Ken Livingstones 'criminal' record also involves newts AKAIK.
On LBC during a mayoral debate he was asked about his criminal past and I remember him saying it involved rescuing newts from a drying up pond where they would otherwise have died. They must have been GCN's and he must have been unlicensed. |
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Reformed Teetotaller
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administrator
Admin Group Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Status: Offline Points: 10 |
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Leaving out the 'modern' tales of newt surveys which
include having my car door blocked by an over ambitious security guard one night amongst other things and the usual 'have you lost something' inquiries whilst searching the vegetation, of which I have about 40 replies to now,(my favourite being I work for British Nuclear Fuels Limited and I'm checking on a reported leak) my earliest recollection of a herping confrontation was when I was about 13 years old. I had found a couple of toad corpses on the road outside a local fishing pit so planned a night trip to find the population. This turned out much easier than I had expected as the male's calls gave them away immediately and I shone my torch to see their little faces poking out of the water. Whilst enjoying this new herping experience I heard a car approaching on the road, soon I was dazzled by the headlights of the car and a voice shouting from the driving seat 'wot ya doing??'. At first expecting the bailiff of the fishing pits it soon became apparent that it was actually a local youth who went by the delightful name of 'skull'. Now skull, or Mr. Skull as it was best to call him, wasn't known for being terribly bright nor particularly pleasant so I was now wishing I was hiding in the reeds with the toads as there was little chance of outrunning him. After several attempts at trying to explain away my reason for being at the pits in the middle of the night with a powerful torch I gave up and told him why I was there. Having seen the toads for himself he left with a smile, I had survived and I honestly think Mr. Skull had a new found interest in wildlife! Edited by GemmaJF |
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