Hazards of Butterflying

[Jack Harrison]

It might be an uphill struggle to be fit for next season. The repair (skin graft) is not going too well and might have to be done again. There are even dark mutterings about "therapeutic use of maggots"......to clean up the wound.

Now of course for an entomologist injured in pursuit of his hobby it would be serve me right, but ugh.

Jack

[eccles]

Ouch! Sounds like you're suffering, Jack. Take care.

[Jack Harrison]

eccles:

Ouch! Sounds like you're suffering, Jack.

Kind thoughts, but at least I am suffering no physical pain whatsoever.

Damned Geranium Bronze though. If anyone ever catches one please STICK A PIN THROUGH it and send it to me. I would quite easily be able to overcome my dislike for collecting in these circumstances.

Jack

[Jack Harrison]

I had thought that the last word had been said on this subject but no. Wiki quote:

Seok Joo-myung (November 13, 1908 – October 6, 1950) was a Korean entomologist

During the Korean War, he was mistaken as one of the North Korea's Peoples army and got shot in the middle of chaos to protect his samples. It was said that just before his tragic death, he shouted: "I know only butterflies"

By the way, my injured leg is still not right but is on the mend albeit still very slowly.

Jack

[Padfield]

I wonder if you could get purple emperors to lick gently at the supurating wounds instead of maggots. I believe they like that sort of thing.

Best wishes for 2009, Jack.

Guy

[eccles]

ewwwww....

[Jack Harrison]

The worst thought is to contemplate what it might have been feeding on before. It might have been you-know-what or even worse, some of Sussex Kipper's disgusting shrimp paste belachan.

Anyway, shouldn't be needed on my leg now. Progress is slow but there is definite progress at last. I can now have a shower without having to wrap my leg in cling-film (that was to keep the dressing dry). That might sound a trivial step but for me is a major one. New dressing each day after the shower. Thanks guys. It's all paid for by the NHS out of your taxes.

Jack

[Shirley Roulston]

Hi Jack,
Tea Tree oil is fantastic, anyone who goes near your leg make sure they wash their hands with the oil in the water and you, if you can have a bath put some in the water.
Regards Shirley

[Dave McCormick]

Hi Jack,

Good to know there is progress on your leg starting to get better. I'd agree on Shirley on Tea Tree oil. I have used it before and it would be a good thing to use, smells nice too.

[Jack Harrison]

I have been carrying out some minor research – admittedly lacking real scientific rigour – into one of the hazards we often encounter when visiting nature reserves, namely dogs and in particular, the evidence they leave behind indicating that they have used the path. Linear transects along obvious routes into the reserves were undertaken. Counts of "evidence" were made at intervals divided into 100 metre sections.

Two sites, Totternhoe Quarry in Bedfordshire and Devil’s Dyke, Cambridgeshire, were selected for this study; similar results would have undoubtedly have been found on a local footpath near to my home.

It is apparent that the most hazardous area is not in or even close to the car park but several hundred of metres into the reserve. The fall-off in apparent activity occurs quite abruptly at about 800 metres beyond which conditions become relatively benign for the butterfly watcher.

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As indicated, this survey would hardly stand up to Peer Review as many factors have not been considered:
Type of dog
The age of the dog
The age of the dog owner
Whether or not the dog is on a lead
Was the evidence left on the outward or return part of the walk?
... and so on
Nevertheless, it is hoped that you will have at least a little insight into one of the most frequently encountered hazards for the butterfly watcher. It might also be useful for Reserve Managers in helping them determine the best places to erect dog-waste bins; it would seem the car park is not necessarily optimal.

I take the opportunity at the start of a new month to wish my fellow butterfly enthusiasts a productive season.

Jack

[Hamearis]

THE LACK OF POO IN CAR PARKS IS NOT COS DOGS DONT POO THERE BUT THE OWNERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SEEN SO THEY PICK IT UP.
BAN DOGS FROM NATURE RESERVS ISAY.

HAM

[Susie]

Happy April 1st, guys.

[Padfield]

I didn't get time this year to prepare my usual amusing fake picture. So thanks to Jack for this piece of great scientific research!

I should add, though, that my own dog, who obviously never poos anywhere she thinks people might be walking, actually found me a Camberwell beauty today, at a site where I have never seen them before. She insisted on climbing a stony, thorny hill that I had had no intention of going up, and as we climbed it one of us put up the CB, which flapped around in our faces, settled for a millisecond, then cruised off over the bushes. Great moment. Thank you doggie.

Incidentally, last April 1st I posted a fake orange tip gynandromorph. It didn't win many votes in the UK Butts photo comp but it did result in a gynandromporph specialist requesting permission to use the photo! He was embarrassed but saw the funny side when he learnt he had been duped.

Guy

[Charles Nicol]

Jack...maybe you could also plot a Frequency Poolygon

[NickB]

Jack...maybe you could also plot a Frequency Poolygon

Surely "Foolygon"?

[Charles Nicol]

Perhaps you could do a Hypoothesis Test.... it would have to be Single-Tailed

[Jack Harrison]

I had simply thought that my research was a load of cr*p.

Jack

[Trev Sawyer]

Jack. You should write up your research... in a "faeces". I'll get my coat

Trev

[wavelea1]

Good thread but no-one's mentioned Lyme's Disease yet - hopefully this means none of us has yet met one of the tics.

I have noted that signs warning of their presence are appearing in Devon and Norfolk.

Mike

[Shirley Roulston]

The hazards of Butterflying comes in a package like this: Along the sides of the fields there's a good chance of seeing Peacocks and Small Tortoishells, to-day even though its very windy I thought I'd go around the field and suddenly I thought I could hear something growling, I walked into the middle of the field and looked very carefully along the thick gorse bushes and something moved through the fence into the next field, so back to the house and looked through an upstairs window and got the big lens out and this has to be the feral from hell, how do you fancy having to face this.

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Shirley