BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

September 2020 BBC Wildlife 95

A

s a fieldecologist,

I delightinthe

senseofdiscovery

whenfirstvisiting

a surveylocation.A well-

studiedmapmanifests

asa vividlandscape.One

summer’sevening,I was

doinga birdsurveyina small

patchofmeadowinnorth-

eastEngland.Thesitewasa

riotofcolour,invitinglywarmintheglow

oflateevening.

Mysurveyroutetookmedeepintothe

meadow,wherethereedsandrushesgrew

thickerandtallerandthediversityofplant

lifebuoyedmyspirits.Innotimeatall,the

soft,bristlingreedswereovertoppingmy

head.Creaturesonceconsignedtoground

levelwerenowateyeheight.Stickyblack

slugsclungtostemsallaroundmelike

gummysweets,tinyspidersfastidiously

abseiledpastandbutterfliessettledintothe

canopyforthenight.

I pushedonthroughthetallvegetation

andlistenedfora moment.Songthrush,

wrenandthethin,staccatochirringofa

reedbunting.Purringtrafficonthedual

carriagewaynearby,assortedclicksand

chirrups of creepy-crawlies.

“Bwweahh!” Something large suddenly

rose through the reeds close by. A tawny

formobscuredbyfoliage.

Biggerthana fox.Thesound

ranginmyears.

“Bwweahh!”Thenit leapt.

It wasa roebuck,taking

totheair,clearofthereed

tops,anotherworldlybound

ofstaggeringheight.His

proudantlersandvelvety

facecaughta glintofsetting

sunashisbody

twistedinmid-air.Springing

andskipping,hiswhite

rumpblinkedinandout

ofviewashebounced

awayandoutofsight.

Thebuckmusthave

beenhunkereddown

inthegrass,rudely

interruptedbymy

blunderingintrusion.

IntheUK,wehaveso

fewlargemammals,and

nowildlifeofparticular

dangertohumans.Buteventhis

smallpatchofmeadow– a seemingly

insignificantsquareona map– hadyielded

a startling,wildsurprise.

Ruminant in the rushes

TA L ES F R O M T H E B US H

When Carolyn Cowan went on a late evening bird survey,

she had an encounter that certainly bucked the trend.

for falconry arising from captive-

bred stock or resulting from

birds that cannot be returned

to the wild, without interfering

with the wild populations of

peregrine falcons.

Ken Bradley, Wiltshire

Wet markets

Thank you, Mark Carwardine,

for your article on live animal

markets and the spillover of

COVID-19 into humans (My

way of thinking, June 2020).

You argue that the issue of

these markets is no longer

China’s decision alone.

Personally, I don’t think the

Chinese government is much

concerned with world opinion

on their internal affairs and I

don’t see their long-running

war on nature ending soon.

Our influence elsewhere

may be more fruitful. As Jane

Goodall said in her recent

interview on Radio 4’s The Life

Scientific programme, we have

to tackle poverty and invest in

local communities if we want

to conserve wildlife and protect

the environment.

May I suggest we need

to take a critical look at our

own industrial exploitation

of animals in what we

euphemistically call meat

farming. We know from

previous scares (bird and swine

flu) that there are novel viruses

lurking out there in the billions

of animals we breed to eat.

Ian Pickford, via email

Now, more than ever, an

urgent review is required into

the future existence of these

markets. The global pandemic

should be a big wake-up call for

everybody. It is just completely

incomprehensible to me to

hear that, in some places, these

markets are still open.

There needs to be a collective

effort from the world to put

pressure on China, and other

nations where these markets

are commonplace, to close

them down indefinitely.

Stewart Miller, via email

OUR WILD WORLD

CAROLYN COWAN is an ecologist,

writer and photographer from Scotland,

currently based in northern Thailand.

QUIZ ANSWERS (see p90)

1B, 2A, 3C, 4B, 5A, 6C

Springing and

skipping, his

white rump

blinked in

and out of

my sight.

S

T

Have a wild

tale to tell? Email a

brief synopsis to

sarah.mcpherson@

immediate.co.uk

Carolyn Cowan; below: Getty

A meadow at dusk

can provide a quiet

resting place for a

roe deer (inset).