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How to reduce biodiversity
nutcutlet
Posts: 27,445
I wonder how many species were lost in this one
In the sticks near Peterborough
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Posts
Indeed, how sad. As if anyone would be walking through said underpass or likely to come into close contact with the caterpillars. I notice in the photo with the article there is no pedestrian access. If the council workers hadn`t been "inspecting" they would probably never have been noticed and the moths would have emerged in peace and none the wiser. If thats the area you live in I suggest you get on to your Council and tell them to stop wasting your council tax and killing wildlife indiscriminately and needlessly.
Good idea wishbone, will do
In the sticks near Peterborough
Yes, sad, but if the caterpillars were these, it may have been necessary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_processionary
Here in The Netherlands we get them every year in towns and cities and they make some people really ill. Many towns and cities have special numbers you can call to alert them to an infestation. In Belgium it was so bad some years ago that they called the army in to help get rid of the caterpillars.
I tire of hearing about 'infestations' of this or that and how some creature has gotten in our way. Why do people have to make such a fuss about what is essentially nothing?
Just adding my post above wasn't in response to kleipiper's comment, just my opinion on the article/issue in general.
The article says, “Direct contact with the caterpillar can cause mild irritation. If you are affected, the rash will be similar to severe nettle rash. The discomfort should pass after a few hours. "
Working on that premise, can we safely assume that Peterborough City Council employees are now working to eradicate all stinging nettles, wasps, bees, ants ....... and mounting a lookout for any jellyfish working their way up the River Nene ......
Just a thought - Nut, are you (or is anyone you know) aware of any bat colonies in the area of Queensgate and the city railway station? Won't the eradication of an important food source for bats impact deleteriously on their chances of survival?
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
How on earth have we all managed to survive so long with all these 'dangerous' creatures around us....
I wholeheartedly agree Edd ...and a spray for that would be excellent
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Give it a couple of days and I'll send the link to this thread to the council
There's always someone, who knows someone who heard that someone's aunt died of something in the natural world. Or more likely, read it in the paper or social media.
Most people survive all the minor injuries of life and some of the major ones as well
In the sticks near Peterborough
pansyface, no idea how the Belgian army tacked the problem that year, but those caterpillars are becoming an ever bigger problem here on the continent
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And it's definitely more than a light skin irritation for many people. I know that people have ended up in hospital with severe breathing problems as a result of inhaling the hairs which these caterpillars shed in their millions, and they can also cause serious damage to your eyes.
And the nasty thing is that those hairs apparently remain toxic for at least 10 years.
In the region where I live they estimate that there will be at least 6 million of those nasty little creatures this year
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I hate large-scale extermination of living creatures, but sometimes it seems necessary
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Not sure if the ones in Peterborough are the same as what we've got here though...
They're Brown Tail moth caterpillars here kleipieper. (if they've been correctly IDd)
http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=2029
In the sticks near Peterborough