Badgers

So, I've been researching badgers a lot recently.  I wanted to share a book that I've been reading.  If you have any interest in badgers at all, then it's well worth a read!  

George E. Pearce is a farmer, wildlife rehabilitator and badger specialist.  He has many years experience with everything badger, and acts as consultant to many farmers, developers, courts and the police.  Badger Behaviour, Conservation and Rehabilitation is a book filled with knowledge, information and stories, and in my opinion was over far too quickly.  So if you have a spare bit of time for reading and this peaks an interest, I highly recommend dipping in.

One Planet Development

As a student in conservation, I am fascinated by the Welsh Assembly One Planet Development.  It's a scheme that under very strict conditions, allows people to build sustainable off-grid lifestyles.  People who have the knowledge and understanding of what it means to live sustainably, and can prove that they can support themselves from their own land, are, most notably in Camarthenshire, being given planning permission to build eco-friendly homes in places where they would not normally get permission.   You can find out more about it here.

Of course, this is something I would love to do.  I've fallen in love with a piece of land, which contains woodland, and I think has true potential for an amazing way of life.  I have been investigating all sorts of avenues, including the growing of hemp (that comes with a price tag) mushrooms, and a variety of other crops.  I'd love to have a working horse, the land is quite steep, and a horse would be ideal for dealing with bracken and retrieving logs.

I've been looking into growing hemp for a variety of uses.  It can be used as a building material, oil to run vehicles on, and fuel.  All of these things would help towards a sustainable lifestyle.  However, a license to grow hemp costs around £600, regardless of the area you wish to grow.  Seems fair for a large scale producer, but for a couple of acres for self use would be totally unrealistic!

Still, I'm keen to keep investigating, and with a bit of luck will be able to make steps towards making it happen.  I would love to hear from other people with a similar mindset.  Anyway, I have an exam in Biology first thing in the morning, I should be revising!

Hafod Estate, Fungi and Fossils

So I was definitely feeling the need to get out after Christmas.  Since finishing uni on the 17th, I hadn't been out much. It had all been Christmas prep, shopping in Shrewsbury, food shopping, and tidying up at home.  I start to get cabin fever easily.  So boxing day me and OH ended up going for a walk at Hafod Estate, near Cywmystwyth.  Having researched the estate quite heavily for a uni assignment, it was bitter sweet returning there.  A man named Thomas Johnes took over the estate, in the late 1700's with a powerful vision, of 'picturesque landscape'.  He spent a vast fortune taming the wild, Welsh landscape and building a beautiful mansion. 

The mansion was later demolished, quite some time after the death of Johnes, but it just seems so wrong after the time and effort he put into the site.  The estate, somewhat smaller than it was originally, is now owned by National Resources Wales who are, along with the Hafod Trust making attempts to restore some of the grandeur.  There are beautiful walks around the grounds and forestry.  I could write an entire series of blog posts on Hafod, but I won't just now.  

A recent Pine Marten reintroduction project, handled by Vincent Wildlife Trust, has seen several pine martens released at Hafod, which appear to be doing well there.  I've not been lucky enough to spot one yet but hope to one day.  Most of what we focused on was fungi.  An old fallen tree provided us with a plethora of exciting finds.  But my favourite has to have been the Winter Polypore, a first for me and a very special mushroom.

The Winter Polypore (Polyporus brumalis) is one of the few true mushrooms, aside from Boletes, that have pores beneath their caps instead of gills. They grow late in the season, hence the common name winter polypore, and the scientific name translating to 'having many pores of winter'.  

They are common throughout Britain and Ireland, they are saprobic, meaning they grow on dead wood, fallen branches of deciduous trees, most commonly beech. They can vary in size from 2 to 8 cm across the cap, and the crinkled nature of this one is not strictly typical.  They are tough and rubbery and although not poisonous, are considered inedible.


I have the great excuse that, whenever I am out and about, that I am researching and revising for my course.  I am studying conservation and it covers a vast subject area.  Yesterday we headed out to Llandrindod Wells to look for fossils and revise my Geology for an upcoming exam in January.  We were lucky enough to find a fair few Trilobites, none quite perfect, but pretty awesome anyway.  This little fella is one of my favourite finds.




And of course, I can't go anywhere without stumbling across fungi! So here is a little icy Snowy Waxcap that I was happy to find.  I won't go into waxcaps right now, that's a whole series of posts too, and I will definitely return to them in the future!