682 reports of shooting and destruction of birds other than birds of prey.
210 reports of shooting, trapping and nest destruction of birds of prey.
42 reports of taking, possession or sale of birds of prey
36 reports of egg collecting incidents
27 reports relating to illegal disturbance or photography of schedule 1 birds in the same year.
How many do not get reported?
Thursday 3 September 2009
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Thunder, Gordian and Horsehair Worms
Recently I met my dear friend and plantsman Keith Nichols for a mardle, he lives in Kessingland and recently observed a long thin hair like worm wrapping itself around one of his plants. He was at some loss as to what it could be and turned to me for an answer.
Without a voucher specimen to hand I knew that Keith had found a Horsehair Worm.
I soon returned home but did not turn as usual to the internet but spent a useful and very productive afternoon in my library looking through my Victorian literature on these strange creatures in my collection of books. These slender up to 15” long thin worms are also called Gordian worms, related to nematodes. When immature they are parasites of many insect species and other invertebrate animals but never Humans.
Us Naturalists are not sure how immature horsehair worms infect hosts but a telephone call to some more eminent scientist friends of mine believe that they encyst on vegetation near water and are eaten by the host. The cyst breaks down and the larva penetrates through the intestinal wall and into the body cavity. Other Naturalist friends tell me that the larvae randomly penetrate the body of any spider or invertebrate that passes nearby
Horsehair worms are often seen in puddles of water and other pools of fresh water, swimming pools, water tanks and as well as on plants. They are especially common after a rainfall. Horsehair worms may even be found inside homes in toilets. This can cause considerable concern as people often worry that they may have found some type of human parasite!.
My ancient Suffolk dialect books tell me that the name Thunderworm is a frequent name for the worms too due to their appearance in puddles after rain.
Without a voucher specimen to hand I knew that Keith had found a Horsehair Worm.
I soon returned home but did not turn as usual to the internet but spent a useful and very productive afternoon in my library looking through my Victorian literature on these strange creatures in my collection of books. These slender up to 15” long thin worms are also called Gordian worms, related to nematodes. When immature they are parasites of many insect species and other invertebrate animals but never Humans.
Us Naturalists are not sure how immature horsehair worms infect hosts but a telephone call to some more eminent scientist friends of mine believe that they encyst on vegetation near water and are eaten by the host. The cyst breaks down and the larva penetrates through the intestinal wall and into the body cavity. Other Naturalist friends tell me that the larvae randomly penetrate the body of any spider or invertebrate that passes nearby
Horsehair worms are often seen in puddles of water and other pools of fresh water, swimming pools, water tanks and as well as on plants. They are especially common after a rainfall. Horsehair worms may even be found inside homes in toilets. This can cause considerable concern as people often worry that they may have found some type of human parasite!.
My ancient Suffolk dialect books tell me that the name Thunderworm is a frequent name for the worms too due to their appearance in puddles after rain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
