OK own up. Who did it?

[carlt]

I think the worry is that these more aggressive species are wiping out the gentler ones, (happens in humans too!) we have nearly lost the red squirrel to the greys

The grey squirrel isn't responsible for the demise of the red, Squirrel Pox is.

 

This is a disease that greys are more resistant to and is very similar to Myxomatosis and may even be a mutation of it.

 

This has been exacerbated by us changing the red's habitat so that it is more suited to the grey.

[Chagall]

They're behaving like animals!!

 

Well Yes they are, but we as supreme beings have a responsibility to control them to a degree don't you think?

 

The grey squirrel isn't responsible for the demise of the red, Squirrel Pox is.

 

This is a disease that greys are more resistant to and is very similar to Myxomatosis and may even be a mutation of it.

 

This has been exacerbated by us changing the red's habitat so that it is more suited to the grey.

 

Yes you are as usual correct, so its Man that ultimately destroys everything!....... actually, as my respected Father always pointed out, its impossible to create or destroy anything, and I would be purple before I inevitably lost that argument!

[journeyperson]

Well Yes they are, but we as supreme beings have a responsibility to control them to a degree don't you think?

 

This is like tip-toeing through a minefield, there are so many possibilities with this thread, but I think I'll just watch......

[Chagall]

This is like tip-toeing through a minefield, there are so many possibilities with this thread, but I think I'll just watch......

 

 

Oh me too!...Im gently backing out of this and stitching my hands into my pockets....

 

gone for soup.....

 

bye...

[Machpoint005]

...so why do species that moved into the canal network 200 years ago have more right to be there than a more recent arrival...

 

The question remains...

[carlt]

The question remains...

not really.....The answer is simple.

 

Those who are appointed custodians of our waterways have decided that they will cull the Zander, however pointless an exercise it is.

[blackrose]

I thought pike were able to grow larger and were more aggressive than zander - and were more common too?

 

However, if another fish species has wiped everything out including the pike, it could be a (or several) large catfish.

 

When I was visiting a friend who had a boat on the Saone near Dijon, a catfish came in close to the bank to feed as we were walking along the river. Its head was as big as mine! I didn't think we had giant catfish here but you never know - someone may have introduced one.

Edited March 9, 2010 by blackrose