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dead animals in locks

harve90

By harve90
in Cruise Diaries & Reports

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Dave_P Veteran

Dave_PDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted (edited)

Dead things in the cut can end up looking quite different after a few days since they swell up a lot. Having said that, if you've seen a lot of animals which are definately all the same in a short stretch of canal, it's likely to be caused by humans, either by hunting or deliberate drowning. Dead animals often end up trapped in locks, but that doesn't mean they started there.

 

Beavers went extinct in the UK a few hundred years ago but there have been recent reintroductions into specific parts of the Scottish highlands, especially around Perthshire.

 

There have been a few isolated beaver sightings in Devon following a very small breeding programme there. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25822883

 

Even if we end up with beavers right across the UK, it's very unlikely we'll see them in any canals. It's just not the right habitat for them. They need natural running rivers through mixed woodland to build their lodges and dams. They then create their own lake above the dam in which to hunt fish. Fascinating creatures.

Edited by Dave_P
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Jerra Veteran II

Jerra

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They then create their own lake above the dam in which to hunt fish. Fascinating creatures.

Beavers are herbivores!

 

Edit: To add they will use almost any type of water including marshes, digging tunnels in banks if conditions aren't suitable/require lodges.

Edited by Jerra
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  • 3 weeks later...
mark99 Veteran II

mark99

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Beavers are herbivores!

 

Edit: To add they will use almost any type of water including marshes, digging tunnels in banks if conditions aren't suitable/require lodges.

 

 

Yes I thought that - they don't hunt fish or animals.

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headjog Collaborator

headjog

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hedghogs swell to 12 inch diameter and if you squash them with the boat phew!

"Mphhh................................h......h...........................................................................h........................................................................!"

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  • 1 month later...
jenlyn Veteran II

jenlyn

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I don't believe that you will find any beaver nesting wild in the UK. I also think that they build lodges in rivers. I don't think they can possibly be beavers. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/wild-beaver-spotted-in-england-for-first-time-in-800-years-8717543.html

How do we know geff whyatt didn't progress from voles :-O

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LoneWolf Rising Star

LoneWolf

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I wish this topic would go away or get locked. It's not very family friendly.

 

I

 

I found a dead badger trapped in the bywash weir thingy recently but have resisted the urge to post a picture of it

 

 

Dead animals are part of life though so maybe not something we should be protecting 'families' (i assume you mean children) from

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carlt Veteran II

carlt

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Dead animals are part of life though so maybe not something we should be protecting 'families' (i assume you mean children) from

When calls to BW about the bloated carcass of a sheep fell on deaf ears my son wanted to watch when I moved it away from the mooring and popped it with the pointy end of the boat hook to make it sink.

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LoneWolf Rising Star

LoneWolf

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When calls to BW about the bloated carcass of a sheep fell on deaf ears my son wanted to watch when I moved it away from the mooring and popped it with the pointy end of the boat hook to make it sink.

 

I would have been interested in seeing that too. did you let him?

 

I remember when i was about 5 or 6 visiting an uncle whose house backed onto a canal. I found a huge dead fish floating in the reeds and hooked it out with a net and then very proudly ran into the house with it to show all the grown ups....

Having no sense of smell, I was a bit baffled by all the commotion this caused

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HappyBunny Collaborator

HappyBunny

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I was going to suggest it be moved to "Recipes" to see if there were any culinary solutions to the problem.

 

laugh.png I once wrote a short cook book, in the early 80's ... "101 tasty treats with roadkill" ... but failed to find a publisher .... too far ahead of the times methinks

 

Yes and then had to fill balloons with water so he could re-enact the incident on the bank.

 

good parenting clapping.gif I was, and still am, a massive fan of dead things. My half of my bedroom as a child, much to my sister's dismay, was a shrine to decomposition .... though animals and birds later had to be consigned to behind the garage. I developed an unhealthy fascination with skeletons BUT went on to have a brilliant career as an archaeologist for many years, thanks largely to my parents actively encouraging my "hobby"

 

I know it;s not in a lock but Number One in my Top Ten Best Dead Things Ever was this whale that washed up on Skinningrove beach when I lived in the north east.

 

whale_zps766b104a.jpg

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madcat Experienced

madcat

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Maybe it's just me, I'm pretty tough about most things and could regale you with some horrid tales but there is one area of sensitivity that I do have . I don't want to upset you and I don't want you to upset me with sad stories.

 

I understand the interest in bones and stuff, I'm on the look out for a rams skull with horns .

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HappyBunny Collaborator

HappyBunny

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Maybe it's just me, I'm pretty tough about most things and could regale you with some horrid tales but there is one area of sensitivity that I do have . I don't want to upset you and I don't want you to upset me with sad stories.

 

I understand the interest in bones and stuff, I'm on the look out for a rams skull with horns .

 

Don't encourage me ... but if it is horny rams you are after, go to St Kilda ... outer outer hebrides .... there is a feral herd of seaweed eating soay sheep there, who are left untended, but subject to various research programmes .... of course you can't remove anything from the island as it is a world heritage site and massiely protected, but the skulls are amazing .... and no mammalian predators ... and it is the best place in the world wub.png

 

kilda_zpsec8b17f4.jpg

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