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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

1, A blue tit taken at Manifold Valley. Vicky.

2, A young deer (i think) taken at calke abbey. Vicky.

3, A waterfall at a local park. Vicky.

4, Snow drops in my garden. Vicky.

5, Robin red breast taken at Black Rocks. Vicky.

I thought that you may be interested in this article from the BBC Somerset website. You can also see a video clip on the site.

A little foot note. As well as Tom Done being a member of the diocese, with a little investigation I found out that he is a Farmer and member of the National Farmers Union. I was also told the the Bishop is not to pleased with Tom.

Church wants badger cull debate

Church leaders in Somerset have said the government’s decision not to cull badgers does not help farmers.

The Bath and Wells Diocese has called for talks to solve the problem of bovine TB after rural affairs secretary Hilary Benn refused to order a cull.

Tom Done, of the diocese, said: “Cattle farmers are facing bankruptcy, depression and some are even suicidal.”

Reported cases of TB were up by 40% in 2008 and 20,000 beasts were slaughtered on farms across the south west.

Mr Done, chairman of the Diocesan Rural Life Group, said: “We can have a positive debate between the badger groups, farmers and the department for environment, food and rural affairs – with all sides looking at the interests of one another so we can have healthy wildlife and cattle for the benefit of those of us who love our countryside.”

Pauline Kidner, from the Somerset animal sanctuary, Secret World Wildlife Rescue, which looks after 100 badgers a year, said: “My immediate response was perhaps they ought to stop reading the bible and read the report by the Independent Scientific Group.

“That is a research project done over a period of eight years costing the government

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

I needed to ask Vicky who is staying on Holiday to let us have some photographs for tonight Photo Page or there would have only been a couple to go on. If you have any photographs please send them in.

This is a photo of Mr farmers new wood from the valley. Vicky.

This is a photo of inside Mr Farmers new wood. Vicky.

Fungi in Mr Farmers new wood. Vicky.

A photo of fungi in Mr Farmers new wood. Vicky.

A tree from the cottage door. Vicky.

People are predictable. Today at Pitpear Farm the next farm to Denbury up the Valley owned I believe by a Mr.Webber, there was a day of shooting. Mr.Webber was the person who we outbid for the Wood. I was told that he was very upset that he was outbid, and I should think even more so when I phoned him the day after telling him that the reason that we had purchased it was to stop him shooting in the Wood, and that under no circumstances was he, members of his family or any person that he may invite to shoot on his land were to be in the Wood with a firearm or to shoot into the Wood. Maybe today’s shoot had something to do with that.

When we visited the Wood last Sunday to look it over before the auction there was a Pheasant Feeder hanging from a tree. The feeders are put up to encourage Pheasant to the area so that they are easier to shoot. The feeder had been taken down the morning after I had phoned Mr.Webber. I don’t like Game Bird shooting I believe it to be the foulest of all blood sports and that includes Fox and Deer Hunting with Dogs. My beliefs put aside there are times when it has to be tolerated. We have another local Farmer who has shoots. What I have seen of the way it is organised I can just about tolerate it.

Because of other pressing work that needed doing on the Farm I was unable to see if any one was shooting in the Wood. The two times that I went to the Wood there was no one in it. After the coming week I will have more time. I will also start looking at the options of webcams to monitor the Wood. What ever I will make sure that no one enters the Wood for shooting.

There are people who should not be allowed Firearms Licences. Those people who are dangerous and those that do not consider other people or Wildlife. Those people should have their licences revoked.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page I…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page.
I have had a problem with my email, yesterday and today. If you sent any photographs in please resend them in case I did not get them.

The first is from Elaine.

The Horses from Elsie. It is near here where Max is taken for his walks. He does not like the horses though. Another one following of more horses in the same field. Elsie

The last two. Hello Mr. Farmer,
Here are some scans of my dogs. The four pictures together are of my last dog, Bud (as in Budweiser – well, we DID run pubs for twenty odd years!!) He was a real poser and would always look into the camera lens. The picture on the top right was taken just a few days after we collected him at 7 weeks old. I had taken a till upstairs to count and he sat under the table resting his chin on the wooden slat. This was a very endearing habit he retained throughout his life. If he wanted anything, he’d rest his chin and look you in the eyes, as if to say “resist me if you can”!! The photo of the handsome Bud was taken when he was about 10 months old. We went to Centerparcs for two weeks each year so we could have a relaxing holiday with our dog!! The last picture is of (l to r) Tynus and Guinness, the two GSDs we had when we lived in Cornwall. Unfortunately, they have rather “alien” looking eyes because of the flash, but they were gorgeous!!
I really miss having dogs so much, it’s just not possible at the moment. Still, I do have wonderful memories!! Hope you like them, Julia

This Government seems to have found a way of allowing a Badger Cull, believing that they will not be blamed for it. The article in the Sunday Independent.
http://environment.independent.co.uk/nature/article3293973.ece
The farming and animal health minister, Lord Rooker, is giving it his backing, and believes that Government has “no justification” to reject it. I cant remember Rooker doing anything of any good as an MP, so I wouldn’t expect any other answer from him. What these Minister keep forgetting is that they and their Government are put their by us, and the majority of us are against a Badger Cull. And they should and could stop any cull, if they were minded to it.

The National Farmers’ Union and the National Beef Association reckon that they have persuaded 70 per cent of the Farmers in the designated area, to take part in the first of three yearly culls. I think that they and the Farmers that they reckon that they have persuaded, to consider what action can be taken against them. Although I don’t believe that there is a 70 per cent of Farmers in the area who would participate. These figure are NFU bluster after being proved to be an insignificant body. Farmers are not people who need leaders, as was clearly shown in the recent call for a Deer Cull on Quantocks. You can do something about a Badger Cull.

Do not insure with the NFU Mutual Insurance. The NFU’s main source of income.

If Farmers do start to shoot Badgers.

Stop buying British Beef and Beef Products and where possible British Diary Products. There then wont be a reason to cull the Badgers. Even a small reduction in Beef and Beef products, will depress the Beef Market. Reducing Farmers income by more than the incidents of TB costs.

Farm Holidays make up a large part of Farmers income. Find Farm Holidays away from Beef and Diary Farms.

Lobby your local MP. email Hilary Benn, Jeff Rooker and the Prime Minister. There is also a petition on the governments e.petition
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/stop-badger-cull/
A new petition is maybe needed. Someone on the Forum might like to get one going on the Government site.

We were going to wean Willow off of Lady today, but there was so much to do today we are going to have to do it tomorrow.

Emmi and Gypsy have settled in well. Gypsy is still a bit wary, but she is coming up to us and allowing little touches. She is eating very well and has grown in the short time she has been here. We were a little concerned about Emmi, she was not eating all of her feed. After trying different ways of introducing the feed to her, we have managed to get her eating, what we hoped is sufficient, always putting more out than she is eating. She really enjoys our hay, she will eat all that we put in front of her.

Neither Emmi or Gypsy have shown any signs of being ill, so today we introduced Arnie to them. We stable both Emmi and Gypsy and let Arnie walk freely in the corral in front of the stables. Initially he ignored them both making his way to his stable hoping for hay. After getting him out he put his head quickly into both of the stables, going back to Emmi, where he stayed for a good hour. There were a few squeals, but a lot less than I had imagined that there would have been. Emmi seems to be a very kind laid back Horse.

Arnie completely ignored Gypsy, so we let her out of her stable. By this time Arnie had found some hay, as gypsy got close to him, he put his ears back, flicking his head in Gypsy’s direction. Arnie was a bit to large, so with a squeal she ran off. We had one fright when Gypsy went into a stable, we didn’t notice that Arnie went in with her. We didn’t give Arnie any chances of hurting her and got him out. He will get use to Gypsy, This morning you may have seen him playing with Willow in the Horses main field.

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The 5th and 6 of May are the days when…

The 5th and 6 of May are the days when the Rooks fledglings leave their nest, I have never seen them fly on these dates, I have only seen them high up in the branches of the tree that their nests are in the Rookery. We have two Rookeries on the Farm and I must admit I have found them to be a nuisance and noisy. They cause other farmers, especially crop farmers real problems when they sow their seeds for their crops. The Rooks will also eat the young shoots, they can do a lot of damage.

Some farmers who have rookeries will go out on the 5th and 6th of May and shoot the fledgling out of the trees, many young Rooks are killed every year. Other Farmers will shoot earlier when they are laying their eggs and try to stop them laying by shooting at the nests.

Some years back we had a problem with the Rooks with our Ostrich eggs. If we did not collect the eggs in time, the Rooks would break into the eggs with their beaks. They were worth up to