Fox – Page 3 – See Animals Wild

April 30, 2021July 1, 2022

Republicans and fox news have decided that cut Biden has promised to make will mean 4 pounds of meat a year

The need for America to cut it’s carbon footprint by 50% in the next decade under biden’s plan has been attacked to absurd proportions.

Republicans have been arguing against doing something about climate change for decades. It should therefore be borne in mind that the speed of cuts necessary now has been made necessary by previous republican governments. Now this has to be remembered that this did not come from something Biden said, and in there more honest moments some republicans will admit this, unfortunately for the time being though it is clear that the noisy republicans are all in with this fake attack.

Here is an explanation of the problem

France – Alps

The French Alps

The French Alps cover an area of 38,000 square km, or just over 15,000 square miles. As with many other European countries, France has not been happy to share its space with predators, and so all were exterminated by the the second world war

The French Alps border the Alps from many other country and has a result wildlife from the rest of the alps has been able to spread. Back in the 1995 some of the Italian wolves started migrating across the border, On this occasion the wolves set up a territory and became established. Over the next 25 years the wolves have increased dramatically so that now there are between 500 and 600 living in the french alps. While they have been expanding far into France the core consisting of 50% of their population is still in the French Alps.

There are no bears in the french alps, they still exist further south in Italy, as well as in the Dinarac alps that run from northern Italy, east and south into the Balkans down to Albania in the South East. It is therefore possible that they will return on their own in time, and given a young dispersing bear can cover large distances, it is always possible for them to return. The important thing is to remember that this is prime bear habitat, and that it is therefore highly likely that one day they will be back.

However, apart from the returning wolves there are now a few lynx that live wild within parts of the French Alps.There are other mountain ranges that lie close by which host more lynx, however I have listed them separately. While lynx tourism is a fantastic boost to the country, it should be noted that lynx are incredibly shy and so are not seen often. This shouldn’t detract from the interest though as their impact on the ecosystem is very clear. When walking in areas with animals like lynx, looking for signs of their presence can be a rewarding pass time – particularly with young children who are unlikely to have the patience to see the animal assuming it will appear anyway. Tracks and droppings are often not to hard to find.

Different parts of the French alps have different levels of human presence. If you are looking for wilderness, the Southern french alps are one of the wildest regions of western europe.

Chamois mouflon and marmots are common here as well as roe deer.

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The French Alps cover a large area, and the wildlife is pretty wide spread. Unfortunately often to see wild animals in their native habitat you need a mix of luck and patience with a little knowledge mixed in. As we make links these will appear below the news section below.

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Hides

There are many animals that are almost impossible to see. This is for a variety of reasons, but the most common is that the animal is nocturnal and or shy.

For this reason hides are very useful. They essentially consist of something that the people can sit in, so that they are invisible to the wildlife in the area, allowing the wildlife to approach without fear.

In the UK the majority of hides are set up for bird watching, though I have also visited badger hides. In Europe the majority of hides are set up to watch bears (many were once hunting hides), though if lucky wolves can be seen from these on occasion as well. In Africa there are all sorts of animals to be seen from a hide at night – generally animals rarely seen during the day, such as Aardvark.

Some hides have beds so you stay in them throughout the night, others are used just in the evening or the morning. Also of interest is where the hide is, for instance if the hides below lies in Sweden. Due to its latitude, during the summer months it is bright enough to see for much of the night, which obviously makes visits more valuable. Other hides will have night vision googles, still more will mount infrared or visible lightsi

If you own or operate a hide and would like to be listed on this page please click here

Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean - Boar Watching

The Forest of Dean is perhaps one of the biggest and healthiest woodlands within the UK.

Part of this is down to its significant population of wild boar.

Before humans hunted wild boar to extinction, they were a highly important part of our ecosystem, and generally woodlands in the UK show their absence.

What do I mean? One of the benefits of wild boar is that their rooting behavior. While humans often do not like this, as this rooting behavior can destroy gardens or picturesque roundabouts, areas that have had this treatment are perfect for trees to germinate and start to grow.

Indeed we were astounded walking around the forest to see so many small copses of new tree nurseries. In this sense wild boar fulfill a similar niche of being ecosystem engineers as beavers in rivers.

Apart from the boar, there is a healthy population of deer. Roe deer exist here naturally. Fallow deer were introduced by the Normans and this is the most common species to see. In recent years Muntjac deer have also recently become established and are fascinating. There are a small number of red deer that still exist though seeing these is a lucky day.

Wild boar are surprisingly large animals and we have had a couple of encounters with them on our visits.

The best way to spot them is by driving some of the back roads in the early evening.

I have once spotted a family from the car, and this year two boar ran past while we were walking a forest path.

Both were in a similar location. I will put together a page of information that will be sent with any booking made from the accommodation further down the page, or I can provide just this information for £10 if you have found a place to stay elsewhere.

View of the forest

River Wye running through

Boar track among dog tracks

Dung beetle at work

Droppings - Pine marten?

More rooting behavior signs

The Forest of Dean is a truly wild woodland. While it is scattered with villages and towns, this is the only place I have seen beetles actually behaving as dung beetles, in the UK.

The government has also started a process of translocating pine martens to the area, and while the animal is shy, signs of its presence will increase over the next few years. If the translocation is successful, then it will also slowly remove the grey squirrels from this wood, which apart from being good for the health of the trees, will allow red squirrels to recolonize.

Visiting a place like this allows you to hunt for signs of the animals such as tracks, as well as spotting the actual animal itself.

Boar are highly intelligent, and fascinating to see. Care should be taken as they can be dangerous, particularly when they have young.

Places to stay

Below is a variety of lodgings which are close to wild parts of the forest. There is also a link to search all accommodation available within the forest of dean. Any bookings support the work of the site. The places we have listed are close to where we have had our sightings, however boar are found throughout the forest so do not feel restricted to just the places we listed.

Campsites will be listed below the hotels.

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Campsites coming soon

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February 3, 2020May 13, 2020

Fox Hunt on the edge of Wales crosses through a nature reserve

Fox hunting was banned in the UK a substantial time ago. In theory people do not hunt foxes anymore, the traditional hunting organisations now follow a trail set down.

This is, I am sure, great fun, however there are significant numbers of people who dislike it, as it is not uncommon for a fox to accidentally be killed on these trips.

Continue reading “Fox Hunt on the edge of Wales crosses through a nature reserve”

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