Tag: conservation

Bring Back The Beaver!

As it is revealed that red kite numbers in the UK have risen from just 13 in 1990 to 2,000 today, we join those backing the reintroduction of the beaver and the white stork to Britain

Reports this morning that the reintroduction of red kites to the Britain has been “one of the most successful reintroduction projects in the world” gives hope to us all.

Next, with Tony Juniper, chair of Natural England hailing their being “strong momentum” for other reintroductions, we today join those backing those working towards returning beavers and white storks also.

Beavers have already been successfully reintroduced in Knapdale, Scotland and on the River Otter in Devon and 13 licences for them have been issued since 2017. Their dams, as with otters also, provide habitats for other species and also store floodwater and filter pollutants.

Speaking to the Guardian, Juniper remarked: “A very eloquent case has been made by conservationists for the return of the beaver… [Reintroduction will] put back some of the living fabric of our islands that’s been depleted over many years from habitat destruction, persecution and chemical pollution.”

White storks, meanwhile, have fledged chicks in the wild for the first time since 1416 recently also. Though considered “generalist predators,” the White Stork Project declare “[they] could be a means by which we can reignite our affection for the natural world and it could act as an emblem for environmental restoration.” The partnership are aiming for a population of at least 50 breeding pairs in southern England by 2030.

Here, at a time of international crisis, is a ray of hope we should all celebrate and support. All hail the return of the biodiversity boosting beaver.

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July 20, 2020
Angry About Otters

Wiltshire manor house owner proves himself a fine example of an ‘angry person in a local newspaper’ in ranting about otters

Whilst most people are worrying about where they can buy bog roll during the coronavirus lockdown, 83-year-old John Aeberhard of Steeple Ashton has taken the time to contact the Wiltshire Times to “warn other fishpond owners to beware” about the threat of otters.

Manor house owner Mr Aeberhard, previously the protector of 30 goldfish, koi and other carp, told the paper’s reporter, one John Baker, of how 22 of them were “killed in raids on his pond.” He remarked: “I and my grandchildren are very upset, as the fish all had names.”

At first, Aeberhard blamed a heron – of which he’s previously shockingly admitted to catching two in “heron wires installed above and the perimeter of the pond” – but when his gardener suggested “it could have been otters,” the pensioner decided to install electric wires.

Describing these carnivorous mammals as “in reality vicious fish killers,” Mr Aeberhard plainly will be leading the way in calling to eliminate these beautiful creatures. Thankfully British law still protects these them and on the government’s guidance website for clarity, we point this ‘Angry Person In A Local Newspaper’ to the paragraph that reads: “You’re breaking the law if you capture, kill, disturb or injure otters.” He should also be made aware: “If you’re found guilty of an offence you could get an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison.”

Now, Mr Aeberhard, please be civil and leave the descendants of Henry Williamson’s ‘Tarka’ alone. And whilst you’re at it also, leave the herons be as well.

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March 29, 2020
Moron of the Moment – Larysa Switlyk

Sex toy up the bums of sheep shover Larysa Switlyk takes to social media to moan about what she’s had to quite deservedly endure

Larysa Switlyk likes to boast about shoving sex toys up the bums of sheep she’s shot. She doesn’t like criticism however and now, after she bragged about getting an award for her deviant conduct, this wicked wench has taken to deleting the missives of anyone who dares call out her disgusting antics.

In an Instagram post yesterday, Switlyk – an off-the-scale example of a dumb blonde plainly on crack – shared news that she’s “stopped Googling [herself] because [she] was tired of reading fake news” about her appalling behaviour and bizarrely announced: “God has a plan for us all… God knew I needed to cleanse the toxic people out and not allow anyone to hold me back from my true potential.”

Aside from bleating about the “trials” she feels she has had, in her deluded mind, to “endure,” this personification of evil then posted about how she was “honoured” to have Kimberly Guilfoyle, the batshit crazy lover of the elephant massacring moron Donald Trump Jr. following her and curiously announced: “You rock sista [sic]!” In October last year, we called out a PR named Norah Lawlor and a morally bankrupt animal charity named Rescue Dogs Rock NYC for holding an event involving these frankly vile individuals.

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February 19, 2020
The Icing on the Cake

Octagonal Victorian Gothic landmark in Westchester County, New York available for rent; Bono was filmed there and it includes the only domestic Egyptian Revival room in existence

A Victorian Gothic house in Irvington, Westchester County, New York that resembles a wedding cake has been put on the market to rent for £30,300 per month ($40,000, €33,200 or درهم147,000 per month).

Built for a financier named Paul J. Armour between 1859 and 1860, this octagon shaped and domed landmark was subsequently home to the author Carl Carmer (1893 – 1976) – best known for his widely praised book Stars Fell on Alabama – between 1940 and his death. The building was later the main setting for the less popular (and seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959) 1981 horror film The Nesting and then completely renovated by the award winning conservationist architect Joseph Pell Lombardi.

The Octagon House in 1882 and 1975

The Octagon House in the 1981 film “The Nesting”; the then owner launched a $1 million lawsuit against the filmmakers after they supposedly trashed the building

Known alternatively as the Armour-Stiner House, the Carmer Octagon House, The Octagon House or simply 45 West Clinton Avenue, the National Register of Historic Places listed residence is being marketed by agents William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty as “one of the most visually unique homes in the world.” It stands on a plot close to the Hudson River of 3.05 acres, provides 8,400 square foot of accommodation and has a drawing room, dining room, ballroom, 7 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Within the grounds is an original Lord & Banham conservatory and a carriage house that provides garaging for 4 vehicles.

Especially impressive architectural features of the building number the only domestic Egyptian Revival room still in existence, an attic with a staircase to a stunning cupola and a wraparound veranda with 56 columns. In the 2007 film Across the Universe, the billionaire Irish singer-songwriter Bono (playing a character named ‘Dr Robert’) described The Octagon House as the “Headquarters of the League of Spiritual Deliverance.” It most definitely abounds in such.

September 10, 2017
An MP’s Manor

Norfolk manor house owned by anti-Brexit Conservative politician Lord Prior of Brampton for sale for £3 million

David Prior – now The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior of Brampton – undoubtedly was a decent and able Member of Parliament. Educated at Charterhouse and Cambridge, he became first an investment banker with Lehman Brothers and Lazard and then subsequently represented the Norfolk North constituency between 1997 and 2001.

A Conservative but one with a belief that “the role of the market is hugely limited in health and social care” and that Brexit will be “a terrible mistake”, 62-year old Mr Prior – whose father was the “Tory wet” Jim, later The Rt. Hon. The Lord Prior PC (1927 – 2016) – acquired Swannington Manor, ten miles north of Norwich in 1990 with his wife and has recently put it up for sale for £3 million ($3.8 million, €3.5 million or درهم13.8 million).

Standing in 96.5 acres, Swannington Manor is a Grade II listed red brick built house that dates to around 1700. It retains many period features, extends to 7,519 square foot and includes 5 reception rooms, 8 bedrooms and a self-contained annexe. A 3 bedroom lodge – let on a protected tenancy – stands beside the property’s entrance gates and aside from various outbuildings, barns and stores, there are formal and informal gardens, a kitchen garden, a heated outdoor swimming pool and a hard tennis court.

Primarily to the south and west of the house are grazing meadows, water meadows, a trout stream, a series of ponds and areas of woodland. These have been maintained with conservation and duck flighting in mind and form what the selling agents Savills describe as “a small sporting estate”.

Surprisingly, given his comments about Britain leaving the EU, Lord Prior of Brampton was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 21^st December 2016.

April 13, 2017
Ghislaine Maxwell

The favourite child of the crooked newspaper tycoon ‘Bouncing Bob’ Maxwell, New York based Ghislaine Maxwell has been described as “smart, funny, beaut[iful], kind and sarcastic” (more…)

January 8, 2015