Dead lamb on Bridgewater canal 1 mile NE of Ye Olde Inn Number 3

[Friendly kayaker]

I was paddling a racing kayak 4 days ago and noticed a dead  lamb on a narrow section of the Bridgewater canal about a mile towards Altrincham from Ye Olde Inn number 3. The stench affected a 100 yard stretch of the canal. I reported it to the Bridgewater canal helpline. Unfortunately I couldn't remove it from the canal as my kayak was too wobbly. I hope it is removed soon as it is a health hazard. I wonder whether easy exit points for animals might be a good idea. I presume as the years pass and the thickness of turf on the bank increases the height down to the water increases. That may be why I can normally only get into my kayak under bridges where there is bare stone on the sides. Even a human swimmer might struggle to climb out in some places. 

[Tracy D'arth]

Its just resting after a long bleat.

[Hudds Lad]

I'd not fancy hoiking it out if it's started to swell/stink especially after the recent hot weather. Suspect neither the farmer nor the Peel lot would fancy it either.

 

There was a dead deer in the "unstable" cutting between Brinklow and Rose Narrowboats that we reported, it was still there a month later, no way i was going to try hooking that with the bargepole  

[Alan de Enfield]

26 minutes ago, Friendly kayaker said:

I wonder whether easy exit points for animals might be a good idea.

 

No, No, thrice time NO.

 

They are a right nuisance as they are like boat launching ramps going down into the canal and take up about 1/3rd of the canal width (each side)

 

Some sections have them every few 100 yards and its like driving thru a chicane.

[magpie patrick]

13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

They are a right nuisance as they are like boat launching ramps going down into the canal and take up about 1/3rd of the canal width (each side)

 

 Most animals can clamber out (and many do) but some canals like the Bridgwater, deep to the side, hard edges and generous freeboard, are more problematic. The don't need a slipway, just a couple of steps. 

 

Of course some, like the famous cow of Fouldridge, don't take the easy option but prefer to swim through a tunnel first

[Jen-in-Wellies]

About the only place it does make sense is where the water is very deep. Often from mining subsidence, where the bank has been built up over the years as the ground has dropped. The Bridgewater is one. The Aire and Calder another. The A&C does have some exit ramps for wildlife on these sections, but the canal is very wide any way, so no problem for even commercial boats. There are even rod steps welded across the crinkle cut steel piling at regular intervals to help people get out.

[magpie patrick]

4 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

There are even rod steps welded across the crinkle cut steel piling at regular intervals to help people get out.

 

Some of those would have been useful a few years ago when I fell of the boat into the river in Bath - it was dark, and I couldn't get back onto Juno so I climbed up the rudder of a nearby narrow boat. The lady on board open the door to investigate the noise and found the monster of the deep climbing onto her back deck...

[Jen-in-Wellies]

2 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

 

Some of those would have been useful a few years ago when I fell of the boat into the river in Bath - it was dark, and I couldn't get back onto Juno so I climbed up the rudder of a nearby narrow boat. The lady on board open the door to investigate the noise and found the monster of the deep climbing onto her back deck...

By Reynold Brown - Creature from the Black Lagoon. Wrong Side of the Art. Retrieved on 2013-02-21. See The art of Reynold Brown. for additional film posters by Brown., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24833926

[Friendly kayaker]

8 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

About the only place it does make sense is where the water is very deep. Often from mining subsidence, where the bank has been built up over the years as the ground has dropped. The Bridgewater is one. The Aire and Calder another. The A&C does have some exit ramps for wildlife on these sections, but the canal is very wide any way, so no problem for even commercial boats. There are even rod steps welded across the crinkle cut steel piling at regular intervals to help people get out.

I'm quite curious to know how deep the Bridgewater and Peak Forest canals are. I'm a member of Manchester Kayak Club and the members have regular clean up days when we gather rubbish from the River Goyt. Stable open canoes are most useful for this. I believe the last haul included a couple of shopping trollies. Retrieving a dead animal is different though... the smell is so bad. 

[Alan de Enfield]

32 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

About the only place it does make sense is where the water is very deep. Often from mining subsidence, where the bank has been built up over the years as the ground has dropped. The Bridgewater is one. The Aire and Calder another. The A&C does have some exit ramps for wildlife on these sections, but the canal is very wide any way, so no problem for even commercial boats. There are even rod steps welded across the crinkle cut steel piling at regular intervals to help people get out.

 

The Foss-Ditch is an animal trap (hence the dozens of ski ramps) last time we went along it I counted 15 deer, 2 badgers and something unknown all floating upside down.

 

And, thats despite the ski-slopes every 200 yards

[Friendly kayaker]

20 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

The Foss-Ditch is an animal trap (hence the dozens of ski ramps) last time we went along it I counted 15 deer, 2 badgers and something unknown all floating upside down.

 

And, thats despite the ski-slopes every 200 yards

Which suggests ski-slopes don't work perhaps (I don't know what they look like) or are too far apart. Someone earlier suggested a simple step. I would think just cutting away 2-3 itches of turf away from the edge might be done in a way to allow animals to escape without creating the chicaine effect, hampering movement of barges, someone else mentioned earlier. It would have to be done in spots where it wouldn't cause people to inadvertently fall in. On a different note, if we encounter a live animal eg. deer in the water I presume the fire brigade are the people to call. I wonder if they might also remove dead animals as well. This task would be less unpleasant if performed as soon as an animal was noticed be it dead or alive. Perhaps there ought to be someone responsible for coordinating /improving this problem nationally. 

33 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

The Foss-Ditch is an animal trap (hence the dozens of ski ramps) last time we went along it I counted 15 deer, 2 badgers and something unknown all floating upside down.

 

And, thats despite the ski-slopes every 200 yards

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/call-action-after-animals-keep-2941118#amp-readmore-target

It seems often locals rescue the animals and also call the firebrigade. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Friendly kayaker

[Stroudwater1]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

I'd not fancy hoiking it out if it's started to swell/stink especially after the recent hot weather. Suspect neither the farmer nor the Peel lot would fancy it either.

 

There was a dead deer in the "unstable" cutting between Brinklow and Rose Narrowboats that we reported, it was still there a month later, no way i was going to try hooking that with the bargepole  

 

Don’t you mean you wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole? 
 

It’s best to leave in the water, carrion of all sorts will eat it in various ways. There’s been dead animals in water for very many centuries. Yup they smell but that eventually goes. It may help keep people out of canals as the risk from Weils  and other things are there dead animals or not. 

[Friendly kayaker]

This forum thread had lots of discussion mainly about deer and the need to cull them to reduce the number falling into canals. What struck me was no-one being responsible for ensuring all animals dead or alive are removed after they fall in. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Friendly kayaker

[Hudds Lad]

Just now, Stroudwater1 said:

 

Don’t you mean you wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole? 
 

It’s best to leave in the water, carrion of all sorts will eat it in various ways. There’s been dead animals in water for very many centuries. Yup they smell but that eventually goes. It may help keep people out of canals as the risk from Weils  and other things are there dead animals or not. 

They're ok, until they float into the vicinity of lock gates. Or if the boat in front's wake pulls it back into the main channel and you have to play corpse bingo and hope your gentle nudge doesn't pop it, or even better there's enough room to swerve it.

Similar to reedbergs, but a whole lot stinkier  

[Friendly kayaker]

52 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 

Don’t you mean you wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole? 
 

It’s best to leave in the water, carrion of all sorts will eat it in various ways. There’s been dead animals in water for very many centuries. Yup they smell but that eventually goes. It may help keep people out of canals as the risk from Weils  and other things are there dead animals or not. 

Interesting point. I hadn't considered it might be better to leave a dead animal in the water. However even if consumed by bacteria and fish, the stench from a small lamb was so bad I can't imagine the smell from a deer after several months making it very unpleasant for walkers and other users of the canal. I even wonder whether anthrax might be a risk but perhaps being in water prevents its growth. Anthrax spores can persist for a long time in the environment. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Friendly kayaker
to make clearer

[magnetman]

 

I saw a dead deer in the Thames a while ago. It was in an interesting position as passing dogs out walking their humans could get to it but by dint of it being behind a hawthorn bush the human could not get to the dog to pull it orf. 

 

One of the dogs proceeded to bite it and almost managed to drag it out of the water. It may have been a fresh piece of venison. 

 

Anything dead in the water which stinks just leave it. I did have to report the stinking human corpse I found a number of yars ago to the rozzers after checking it for jewelry which is the traditional thing to do. 

 

No gold sadly. 

 

 

 

Is the Anthrax risk this one being played on a boom box from a paddle board ? 

 

 

[Friendly kayaker]

56 minutes ago, magnetman said:

 

I saw a dead deer in the Thames a while ago. It was in an interesting position as passing dogs out walking their humans could get to it but by dint of it being behind a hawthorn bush the human could not get to the dog to pull it orf. 

 

One of the dogs proceeded to bite it and almost managed to drag it out of the water. It may have been a fresh piece of venison. 

 

Anything dead in the water which stinks just leave it. I did have to report the stinking human corpse I found a number of yars ago to the rozzers after checking it for jewelry which is the traditional thing to do. 

 

No gold sadly. 

 

 

 

Is the Anthrax risk this one being played on a boom box from a paddle board ? 

 

 

Anthrax spores can persist for a long time in water judging by this study. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2950457/#:~:text=anthracis spores can survive from,in seawater or distilled water.

As a GP myself if someone was admitted with a respiratory illness I would rarely consider the diagnosis. It is possible many cases go unrecognised and are treated with broadspectrum antibiotics with neither doctor nor patient ever being aware. Given that canal systems are so well. connected with each other and the spores can survive for up to 18 years in water it would seem the only reason we don't know about the presence of anthrax in our waterways may be the difficulty of testing for it. You couldn't test for the spores but it might be worth monitoring carcasses and certainly mention to a doctor if you have been near a carcass and have a respiratory illness. Fortunately doxycycline is often prescribed for chest infections after flu or covid as it treats staph aureus pneumona so well. Fortunately it also kills anthrax. Ciprofloxacin also kills anthrax apparently (I had to Google this) which I shall certainly remember. This antibiotic is well known for its ability to get to places other antibiotics can't. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Friendly kayaker

[Tracy D'arth]

Outside the Old #3 you say?  Could be in cold storage for Sunday roasts? Some of the meat at the Old#3 could do with tenderising.

[haggis]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

No, No, thrice time NO.

 

They are a right nuisance as they are like boat launching ramps going down into the canal and take up about 1/3rd of the canal width (each side)

 

Some sections have them every few 100 yards and its like driving thru a chicane.

It is a long time ago and might have been on the Leeds and Liverpool that I saw ramps for animals getting out. They weren't however at right angles to the bank but parallel to it, in fact, there might have been bits removed from the towpath edge to ensure that none of the ramp was in the navigable channel. 

On the Union canal up here we have kicking stones to help prevent horses falling in and I have always thought that the canals down south didn't value their horses as much as we did in Scotland 🙂 

[Alan de Enfield]

18 minutes ago, haggis said:

They weren't however at right angles to the bank but parallel to it, in fact,

 

I guess the Muntjac must be a sandwich short of a picnic, and struggle to find it even if the 'ramp' sticking out (at 90 degrees) into the canal. Imagine how many there would be if the ramp was parallel with the bank.

[haggis]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I guess the Muntjac must be a sandwich short of a picnic, and struggle to find it even if the 'ramp' sticking out (at 90 degrees) into the canal. Imagine how many there would be if the ramp was parallel with the bank.

I think the ramps were originally installed to help horses which had fallen in. I don't see canal builders even thinking about mountjacs or sheep  😀. 

[Pluto]

5 hours ago, Friendly kayaker said:

This forum thread had lots of discussion mainly about deer and the need to cull them to reduce the number falling into canals. What struck me was no-one being responsible for ensuring all animals dead or alive are removed after they fall in. 

This is definitely a horse ramp, installed so that boat horses could be got out of the canal if they fell in. On the L&LC there are quite a few places for cattle/sheep to access water for drinking, and these were usually mentioned in the deeds when the canal was built. There were also places for the annual washing of sheep, with the management tightening up on which farms were permitted at the start of the 20th century.

 

When living on my boat outside Preston Brook tunnel circa 1975, a cow did fall in the canal, and despite my and Charlie Atkins trying to discourage its direction of swimming, it ended up swimming through the tunnel, being recovered, exhausted, by the fire brigade at the other end.

[Ken X]

Pretty sure there are horse ramps on the Regents Canal. Sure I saw some when passing through.  Not seen many on other canals though apart from the L&L.

[magnetman]

There are horse ramps on the Regents section of the Grand Union. 

 

Camden and Mile end are two examples there are others. 

Camden

 

Stepney/Limehouse 

 

 

 

Never counted them but there are quite a few thinking about it. 

 

Odd thing about the design is it seems to make it more likely a horse would fall in. I bet they get some 'interesting' cyclist events these days. 

[Heartland]

Some deep waters hold hidden secrets