When is an alien not an alien?

OK – a test for you! Which of the list below would you say is a non-native or so called “alien” to the UK?

1)      Little Egret

2)      Fallow Deer

3)      Ground Elder

4)      Rainbow Trout

5)      Little Owl

6)      Oxford Ragwort

7)      Brown Rat

8)      Red-Legged Partridge

9)      Sycamore Tree

10)   Brown Hare

11)   Charlock

12)   Collared Dove

(Answers at the bottom of this page)

The Non-Native Species Secretariat defines non-native plants and animals as those that have been introduced to the country by humans, deliberately or accidentally, since the last Ice Age (around 10,000 years ago)

A study in 2005 revealed an unbelievable 2,721 non-native species living in the wild in England - 66% of which are plants.

Most non-native species, sometimes known as "aliens", do not cause problems, but a minority are deemed "invasive" when they have negative impacts on wildlife, habitats or the economy.

The introduction of non-native species is rising sharply due to the increase in trade, transport, travel and tourism. World globalisation has offered species new pathways and increased opportunities to establish in new areas.

The term alien or non-native species should only be applied to species that have been moved around the world by people and released – deliberately or accidentally – into areas outside their natural range. Such introductions are one of the primary drivers of global biodiversity loss and are a serious issue.

From the list of 12 species at the top of the page, only numbers 1 & 12 (the Little Egret and the Collared Dove) arrived here under their own steam and as such can be deemed to be native to our shores - the others are aliens!!

Collared Dove first bred in Norfolk in 1954

The Little Owl was introduced to this country

Brown Hares are thriving - but not everywhere.

Hares enjoying the warmth of the early morning sun

I stood on the Cornish Devon border a few years ago with a group of 17 farmers (what do you call a group of farmers? Your thoughts please!) and I asked them if they had seen any Brown Hares on their farms lately. Only one chap put his hand up to say that he had seen one about a year ago.

In parts of the western side of the country, the Hare is not doing that well, probably due to farms becoming less “mixed” (arable and grass) and generally more dominated by grass, in particular silage grass rather than hay, which is not ideal for leverets. These all grass farms tend to be difficult for those lucky leverets that survive the silage operations to hide away, as the grass is so short and that makes them incredibly vulnerable to Fox and Buzzard predation. Leaving areas of uncut rough grass dotted around the farm can certainly help. 

Across much of the rest of the country though, Hares are thriving and seem to be doing particularly well this year. Early morning is a great time to see Hares and the photo that I have just taken shows eleven individuals enjoying the warmth of the early morning sun! There were actually 15 present – but I did not have a wide angled lens with me to get them all in!

Leverets can be wonderfully naive, as this little one demonstrated by ambling along and stopping just a couple of metres or so away, taking its time to check me out, before continuing on its way. Good job I wasn't a fox disguised as a grey haired old man!! 

A Leveret checking me out!

The Fox and the Leveret

The Fox - a top predator

A Leveret - very vulnerable to Fox predation

I have just finished giving a number of talks around the country on various topics, including the Brown Hare, a much loved species that seems to hold a special place in people’s hearts and always seems to draw a good sized audience.

The talk on Hares is quite wide ranging and covers history, mythology, ecology and reasons for population declines where they have occurred and how we can go about restoring these low or lost populations.

As well as managing habitats on farmland to make sure that Hares have a good round the year food supply and cover for leverets to hide in, I also talk about the predation on Hares by, in particular, Foxes. Research by the GWCT has shown on numerous occasions that Fox predation plays a key part in holding back population growth, even where suitable habitat has been put in place.  To support this I put up a graph which clearly shows the importance of reducing Fox numbers if you want Hare numbers to thrive.

It is interesting how people from all walks of life recognise the impact that one species may have on another and will often raise questions about the need for “predator control” and welcome the chance to have a discussion on the topic.

However, the other night almost the first “question” was “I’m an ecologist and I have come along this evening to learn more about the Brown Hare, not the “demonisation” of the Fox”.  It was quite interesting that the audience immediately leapt to my defence (not that I needed them to but it was kind of them anyway!)  I tried to start to answer his question rationally, because I certainly don’t expect everyone to understand the necessity to control one species to help preserve another; however he did not appear to be interested in my response, saying that all the figures I had displayed were GWCT figures and therefore they would show that wouldn’t they!   (I pointed out that all the data had been peer reviewed by yes, “Ecologists” – but he just smirked.

Eventually, the Chairman asked him to continue his rant with me after the question session was over as other people also had things they wanted to ask about. As soon as the evening wound up, he came straight up to me to continue his outburst, literally shaking with anger and red in the face. He was completely past any sort of rational debate, so I gave him my card and suggested that he come to our headquarters in Fordingbridge to talk to the scientists who carried out the research. I haven’t heard a thing from him.

So, why am I telling you this! Well, it really is all about a question of balance I think. The countryside is a complicated place, with numerous different things impacting on wildlife and the habitats that they live in. There is also a plethora of opinions out there as to how we should go about managing this countryside of ours and I spend much of my time working with people from other organisations, finding common ground so that a clear message can go out to the land managers, who also of course have varied opinions on what is Ok and what is not!

GWCT research clearly shows that sometimes, but certainly not always, part of the problem behind the decline of a certain species, or the reason why it is not responding to good habitat management, is predation. The Brown Hare and Grey Partridge are two such species. This is however, not always the case. Take the RSPB’s excellent Cirl Bunting project in the West Country, which is a resounding success without even a passing mention of bashing a Magpie or Carrion Crow on the head.

 This is why we need good, practical research science carried out by good practical ecologists BEFORE we know how to properly manage habitats and the species that rely on them.

The whole episode has left me wondering; Do you think that there are ecologists out there, who on finding something that helped the species they were studying, but that they disapproved of, would just sweep it under the carpet?   

The illegal poaching of Hares - may have begun to run its course.

A "longdog"

Illegal coursing with “longdogs” – a collective name for Greyhound, Whippet and Lurchers – can cause huge amounts of damage, disturbance and angst amongst the farming community. 

During some weekends it is not uncommon to have up to 50 people, with assorted vehicles and dogs charging across fields and through gates (sometimes literally) in pursuit of hares. Big sums of money are placed on certain dogs in the hope that they will be the one that demonstrates the most skill and ultimately catches its quarry.

On a smaller level, but still hugely disruptive are local poachers who enjoy running their dogs at hares and can turn up at any given time, day or night, disturbing wildlife, letting stock out and damaging property. In some cases farmers have been so completely distraught by the constant hassle and threatening behaviour, that they have reluctantly been driven to completely cull out the local hare population to stop the constant intrusions.

So, I was delighted to hear of the following cases local to me, that ended in prosecution.

   

In a case heard at Aldershot Magistrates Court, two men pleaded guilty to entering land at night as a trespasser with the intention of taking game in Quarley, near Andover. One was fined a total of £825 and the other a total of £620. The two dogs involved in the offences were ordered to be forfeited and re-homed by the police.

In a different case, Basingstoke magistrates fined a man £165 plus court costs after he entered a guilty plea for daytime poaching near Whitchurch in Hampshire. The court ordered two of his three dogs that were seized to be forfeited. These are the first prosecutions by officers in Hampshire where courts have ordered the forfeiture of dogs which have been used in poaching or hare coursing activity. The successful partnership agreements put in place by the force’s dedicated Countrywatch officers allows forfeited dogs to be re-homed across the UK with responsible owners. The dogs used in these offences are considered a factor in the commission of a crime by the offenders and are seized as evidence. Historically, offenders have considered themselves at low risk of sanction; even if prosecuted, dogs and vehicles would not be seized, allowing them to continue their criminal activity.

I am also beginning to hear of reports from across the country that at last, the police, working closely with keepers and farmers, are also beginning to be successful in the courts. Hopefully, this will dampen the appeal of this widespread criminal activity with its far reaching consequences.   

A white Hare or a plastic bag?

Today's white hare

"My white hare"

One of the best bits about my job is when people contact me about interesting things that they have seen or found. Today, hidden away amongst a plethora of yawn provoking E-mails, lay one that brought a smile to my face from a North Hampshire farmer.

He had spotted a white Hare on his farm and had managed to take a photo of it. Knowing that I had filmed one not far from his farm back in 2010, he kindly sent me the photo as he knew I would be interested, as indeed I am. 

I doubt that it is the same beastie that I caught up with three and half years ago, as it is a dangerous world out there if you are a Hare and being white does not help one little bit! But the thought that it is highly likely that his genes continue to live on in the local population is rather wonderful.

“My” hare had a rather nice story behind it. It was harvest time and the farmer saw what he thought was a white plastic bag out on the stubble field. Moaning grumpily about rubbish and litter-louts, he strode purposely out across the field to pick it up. But as he drew near, it got up and ran away!

He kindly rang me to tell me his news and as soon as the weekend arrived I went to his farm to see if I could photograph it. It took me two trips and a long “stalk” to finally catch up with it, but it was a superb experience to spend some time with this beautiful creature.

There is a lot of mythology connected with Hares which fascinates me – but that is perhaps a blog for another day (or find out by coming on one of my Brown Hare courses that I run!), but a white hare would probably have been viewed in days gone by as an omen of some sort.

Seth Lakeman, the English folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, wrote a song about a white Hare and one of the verses goes like this: 

“Careful you don`t catch her
Give her right of way,
For she will look upon you,
Steal your soul away”    

Brown hares



Brown hare

I ran a course today for the Sussex Wildlife Trust on the brown hare. As always, there was a great mixture of people of all ages and background attending – a couple of ecologists, two others who wanted to work in conservation, a few retired folk, a forensic psychologist and a number of people who just loved hares and wanted to learn more about them! (What better reason do you need!!) There was also one lady who loved to do stitch work and she had come along to learn more about hares so that she could improve her work. It is interesting how many painters, sculptors, carvers and photographers come along to courses on hares – they are obviously wonderful creatures to inspire creativity. Entertainingly, the course was actually held in a painter’s studio this time, with a scattering of paintings depicting nudes freely dotted across the walls, which meant I had to be on particularly good form if I was to keep the full attention of the guys in the audience!

After lunch we went up onto the South Downs to see if we could spot a hare or two and to discuss further the habitat requirements that they need to flourish. Charlie, the head keeper on the estate joined us and I think everyone really enjoyed tapping into his extensive knowledge. They also told me that they were fascinated by the work he does for the Grey partridge on this wild game bird estate and how that in turn benefits so much of the other farmland wildlife, including hares. However, as it was only one degree above freezing and a strong easterly wind was making its presence felt, we did not linger for too long. The hares too were sensibly keeping a very low profile – not one was spotted!!
If you want more information on brown hares, contact the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust