New badger culling trials given go ahead across England

23 August 2016

Badger culls are to be carried out in five new areas of England in a bid to control bovine TB, the BBC has learnt.

Shooting of badgers will begin in early September in South Devon, North Devon, North Cornwall, West Dorset, and South Herefordshire, the BBC understands.

Culling is part of the government's 25-year-strategy to eradicate the disease, but opponents say there is no evidence culling is effective.

Dorset, Gloucestershire and Somerset are already practising culling.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would not confirm the selections had been made but said it was "currently considering applications for further badger control licences as part of the usual licensing process".

However, the BBC understands that culling companies have already been selected, and marksmen trained for the new locations.

Tony Francis, a farmer who had TB in his herd near Okehampton in Devon, said he had signed up to one of the new cull zones to try to prevent the disease from returning.

'Take control'

"It's an issue which has been going on for decades," he said.

"No-one has really got on top of it. I think the agricultural industry feel we've got to try and take control of it."

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Concerns after porpoise and Loggerhead turtle found dead on North Devon coastline

By NDJPeter | Posted: January 18, 2016

CONCERNS have been raised after a large number of dead animals were discovered washed up on the North Devon shoreline.

Yesterday, the Journal reported that Matthew Steele, 12, and friend Jess Hunt, 15, had discovered the animals while walking on Woolacombe beach.

Among the creatures they found washed up on the shoreline were nine dead gannets, one seagull, a cormorant, three jellyfish, one seal and two dead fish.

Speaking to the Journal this morning, mother Karen Steele said the group was shocked by the discovery, and said she was concerned it was part of a wider issue.

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Jellyfish in North Devon

Is this North Devon's biggest jellyfish of 2015?

By NDJFran | Posted: August 21, 2015

HAVE you been spotting lots of jellyfish on North Devon's beaches this year?

Well we think we might just have found one of the biggest.

Frank Biederman took this photo at Instow beach which shows a huge, beastly-looking jellyfish on the shore.

Comparing it to the pair of feet behind it shows just how big the sea creature really is.

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Large jellyfish spotted on Westward Ho! beach

By North Devon Journal | Posted: July 30, 2015

A LARGE jellyfish has washed up on Westward Ho! beach this morning.

The picture, taken by Phil Rayment, has got many people on the Westward Ho! Community Facebook page questioning what type of jellyfish the creature is.

One person thought it could be a Portuguese man o' war - a jelly fish with venomous tentacles, that candeliver a painful sting.

However, Megan Morris, a member of the Facebook page, said she believed it was a Velella, commonly called a By-The-Wind-Sailor.

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PICTURES: Thousands of jellyfish invade Westward Ho! beach

By North Devon Journal | Posted: July 12, 2015

HORDES of spineless creatures invaded a popular beach on Thursday. Westward Ho! was so full of the jolly jellies that people took to Facebook to share pictures - and express amazement.

Pictures: 

Walker rescues octopus stranded on misty North Devon beach

By NDJDuncan | Posted: April 15, 2015

A WALKER has rescued an octopus which he found stranded on a misty North Devon beach.

Dave Browne was walking his dog in Instow this morning when he noticed a “white ball” on the sand.

“I gently nudged it with my foot and it started to move,” he said.

“I then realised it was a living octopus which had been washed up on the shore.

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Peculiar fish washes up on North Devon coast

By NDJDuncan | Posted: February 14, 2015

A STRANGE fish has washed up on the North Devon coast.

It was discovered yesterday at Northam Burrows by Nick Porter, who was walking his dogs when he spotted what he believes is a Parrot Fish.

He said: "Interestingly, the carcass was not apparently decaying as you would expect a fish to do.

"The skin was hard and leathery."

Source:

Weird creature with 'rodent-like teeth' washes up at Woolacombe

By NDJDuncan | Posted: January 21, 2015

A PECULIAR creature with ‘rodent-like teeth’ has washed up on a North Devon beach.

Delphine Sutherland found the dead fish while walking at Woolacombe and posted a photo of it on Facebook to try to find out what it was.

Ilfracombe Aquarium director Lawrence Raybone said it looked like a trigger fish, typically found around the coasts of Spain and France.

He said: “It’s more commonly found by sea anglers during the summer months while this shoaling animal is heading north on its migration route.

“It has a powerful set of jaws with rodent-like teeth which it uses to great effect breaking the shells of crab and urchins.”

The trigger fish owes its name to its long frontal spine to the dorsal fin locking in an upright position a bit like the safety-catch of a trigger.

This mechanism is used to wedge itself into rock crevices for safety and to express aggression or interest in a mate.

Source..

PICTURES: Huge shark caught near popular North Devon beach

This is the jaw-dropping moment an angler fishing for pollock hooked a whopping 450lbs shark less than a mile from a popular North Devon beach.

Graeme Pullen, 62, was making the most of a large shoal of the small white fish when the 8ft long porbeagle shark took his bait. 

Graeme shouted to friend Wayne Comben 'never mind the pollocks' as his rod bent over double and he began an almighty 30 minute fight to reel in the monster catch.

The shark was so big it sent Graeme's 17ft fibre-glass boat spinning in circles.

The huge fish opened its huge jaws right in front of Graeme, exposing its razor-sharp teeth and even left a bite mark on the side of the vessel.

Greame, who caught the epic encounter on his onboard camera, was able to legally tag the shark's dorsal fin before releasing it safe and well.

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Lambs suffer as outbreak of Schmallenberg virus hits North Devon

Scores of sheep on farms across North Devon have given birth to deformed or dead lambs due to the Schmallenberg virus.

It’s expected that as lambing gets fully under way hundreds of lambs in the area will either be aborted, born dead, or badly deformed and will have to be put down.

The first signs of flocks with the virus were seen during the summer, but only now are the deformities happening in numbers.

The south West vice chairman of the National Sheep Association, Bryan Grifiths, said he believes all the early-lambing farmers are seeing deformed lambs in their flocks.

The virus has hit the lambs from pedigree flocks which lamb early in the year.

The majority of sheep farmers in North Devon are holding their breath in the hope that their flocks might have some immunity because they were bitten by the midges which spread the disease before they became pregnant.

They won’t know the whole story until February/March 2013 when most of the lambs are born.

North Devon vet Mike Glover of Torch Veterinary and Equine has seen the disease in two flocks and is aware of Schmallenberg cropping up on other farms where the deaths aren’t being reported.

The virus is not a notifiable disease.

Warkleigh farmer Andrew Hammett keeps 800 sheep at Broadmoor Farm, and started lambing his Poll Dorsets a fortnight ago. He’s lost around 60 already because of Schmallenberg and fears his numbers will be down by as many as 200 out of an expected 600 lambs.

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Lambs-suffer-outbreak-Schmallenberg-virus-hits/story-17587585-detail/story.html

Holsworthy fishery fined for keeping illegal fish species

The owners of a Holsworthy fishery have been ordered to pay nearly £35,000 in fines and costs for keeping two invasive species of fish in lakes.

The case, taken by the Environment Agency, is the first of its kind in the region.

Checks at Clawford Fishery, a commercial fishery owned by John and Wanda Ray, revealed the presence of two potentially invasive species, topmouth gudgeon and wels catfish, in several of the 16 lakes at the site.

The fish removal and clean up operation at Clawford cost around £170,000 and lasted several months.

Appearing before North Devon Magistrates' Court the defendants were fined a total of £4,950 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs after pleading guilty to five offences under the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980.

The Environment Agency said it will continue to monitor the site, but early indications are that the operation has been successful.

Matt Brazier, from the Agency, said "Invasive non-native fish pose serious risks to our native species and habitats and are incredibly costly to the angling industry and the vital recreation and employment opportunities it provides.

"The Environment Agency is working hard with fishery owners and the fishing industry to prevent their spread and where high risk invasive fish are stocked illegally we will take appropriate action to ensure they are contained and removed."

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/Holsworthy-fishery-fined-keeping-illegal-fish/story-16949344-detail/story.html

Bird-spotters flock to see American visitor in Exeter

HUNDREDS of birdwatchers from around Britain homed in on one of the boggiest parts of Exeter – to see a robin.

But this was no ordinary red-breasted bird.

It was an American robin, of a type not seen on these shores for nearly 30 years.

A member of the thrush family, the large songbird was a long way from home after being blown thousand of miles off course. It ended up among the red berries growing in the midst of the picturesque Exminster Marshes.

The rain-swept marsh land proved a home from home after the bird travelled over the Atlantic. And word soon got out that it was in town.


It is thought to be the first American Robin to come to Devon since 1982.

Word of sightings quickly spread among the close-knit bird watching fraternity and hundreds flocked from all over the country to catch a glimpse of the rare visitor.

Excitement was high at times as the bird-watchers, loaded with cameras, tripods, binoculars, telescopes and even sound recording gear, tripped over themselves to get the best views.

Though common in North America, there have been only 24 recorded sightings of the bird in the UK since 1950.

Tony Whitehead, RSPB Press Officer in Exeter, said: "It's quite a rare bird, but when they do turn up Devon and Cornwall are the two places that have the majority of records for the American Robin."

The male seen in Exeter over the weekend is thought to have been swept over to England by the same Atlantic storms that brought torrential rain down on the heads of the bird-watchers.

Mr Whitehead said: "They are migrant birds and fly from North America down to South America in winter. Some get caught up in tropical storms or weather systems and get hurled across the Atlantic."

So far it's been a good year for America in Devon as the robin is the third stateside visitor, with birders spotting an American Golden Plover and Carolina Wood Duck recently.


By Rebecca Lomax

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Bird-spotters-flock-American-visitor/article-2896910-detail/article.html

Bereaved swans inseparable after their blind date

TWO lonely swans who had both lost their mates have found love again.

The pair have settled down to a new life together at a small holding at West Anstey, thanks to the match-making efforts of Diana Lewis from the North Devon Animal Ambulance (NDAA).
Usually, swans mate for life so it was hit-or-miss whether or not the two would take to each other.

But, after a cautious introduction, nature took its course and the new couple are now inseparable.

Their happy ending came about through coincidence.

A couple near South Molton rang to say their cob was so distraught at the death of his mate, they were going to return him to a swan sanctuary upcountry and asked Diana for a swan carrier.

By coincidence, the NDAA had also learned that a couple from West Anstey were looking for a mate for a lonely female swan on their smallholding.

Diana played cupid and brought them both together for a first date to see if each could find love again.

She said: "It was quite a magical thing to watch. They were very wary at first and circled around for some time, getting slowly closer and closer.

"In the end they came out onto the bank and sat down together. It was really very sweet and very rewarding because both of them deserved a new and happy future together."

Liz Sharpe and her husband John run the smallholding in West Anstey where the birds have settled; it has two lakes for wildfowl.

Liz said they were getting on very well and had become inseparable.

She added: "If he had arrived earlier we would have possibly had some cygnets but it was just a little bit late in the season. We are optimistic we might get some cygnets next year."

http://www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/news/Bereaved-swans-inseparable-blind-date/article-1085031-detail/article.html