My mind was focused today on the impact introduced foxes have had on Bute in the last few years. Having had no foxes for 100s of years the wildlife and the domestic animals of the island have adapted to life without foxes. Suddenly we got foxes, and how. The effect of this is easiest to see in the loss of lambs, hens, ducks and geese, but the invisible effect on voles, shrews, hedgehogs. hares, rabbits and countless other species must be much greater. Today Annie McDougall of No 2 holding Gortans discovered that the fox had killed all three of her geese. I have been a wildlife enthusiast for many more years than I have been a vet, regularly watching badgers, getting exited by the discovery of a bank vole rather than the usual field vole, wondering why the shrew I found under a concrete slab was different till it was identified as a water shrew. It seems rather a shame to me that a unique environment such as Bute has been damaged even if the intention behind the introduction of the fox was well meaning.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 23:22:02 +0000
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