lotusinthemud

getting rid of ants cheaply, naturally.....and humanely

Vinegar: Wipe down your countertops, cupboards and any other places where you've spotted ants with a 50-50 mixture of white vinegar and water. Repeat throughout the day to maintain the efficacy.

Why This Works:  Two reasons, really: ants hate the smell of vinegar, and it removes the scent trails that they use to get around

::link

kashmir suspends stray dog cull

The programme to poison hundreds of stray dogs in the city of Srinagar has been halted after animal rights campaigners threatened court action on grounds of cruelty.

urgent: please help secure a ban on the unnecessary trade in seal products

From IFAW:

In a matter of weeks, the European Commission will make an announcement about the trade in seal products in Europe.

As you may know, there is already a ban, which forbids the trade in products from young harp and hooded seals. However, seals as young as 13 days old are currently killed to provide products for Europe and the rest of the world.

Please take action today and ask our Government to insist on a ban on trade in all seal products in Europe.

This is a rare chance to make a real difference and to help stop animal cruelty. Closing down markets for seal products will help bring commercial seal hunts to an end. Nothing less than a full ban on all seal products will do.

IFAW has conducted opinion polls across Europe, which show that the majority of people* are opposed to the Canadian commercial seal hunt and that the majority support a ban on the trade in seal products. In the UK, recent polls show that 69% of the public support such a ban.

*Of those expressing an opinion. Polling was conducted in UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands,Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden, Slovenia and Finland.

the next human plague is likely to come from wildlife

Scores of infectious diseases have emerged to threaten humans in the past decades as viruses leap the species barrier from wild animals and bacteria mutate into antibiotic-resistant strains, scientists have reported.

beware of moles but don't worry about badgers

Paranoia has reached new heights, or depths. Does one cry or chortle? Sadly, it doesn't bode well for the badgers.

British forces have denied rumours that they released a plague of ferocious badgers into the Iraqi city of Basra.

Word spread among the populace that UK troops had introduced strange man-eating, bear-like beasts into the area to sow panic ::link to Huffington Post

::more here

poor wee thing

Here's (brother-in law) Dougal's photo of this little great tit - bet he wished he'd stayed cosy and warm in his nest.

u.n. urges world to slow extinctions: 3 each hour

OSLO (Reuters) - Human activities are wiping out three animal or plant species every hour and the world must do more to slow the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs by 2010, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Scientists and environmentalists issued reports about threats to creatures and plants including right whales, Iberian lynxes, wild potatoes and peanuts on May 22, the International Day for Biological Diversity.

....."We are indeed experiencing the greatest wave of extinctions since the disappearance of the dinosaurs," said Ahmed Djoghlaf, head of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity.
::link

pig fat to be turned into diesel

How greedy and self-centred can mankind get!

American oil company ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods, the world's biggest meat producer, have announced that they will produce diesel from pork fat.

Cows and chickens will also be transformed to power motor vehicles

Thanks to Prasada for this. As she says:

This is about as bad as environmentalism gets

buzzing off - are bees getting stressed out?

These creatures may be small but they are vital to food production. Where are they disappearing to? If they are dying, why?

David Bradshaw has endured countless stings during his life as a beekeeper, but he got the shock of his career when he opened his boxes last month and found half of his 100 million bees missing.

In 24 states throughout the country, beekeepers have gone through similar shocks as their bees have been disappearing inexplicably at an alarming rate, threatening not only their livelihoods but also the production of numerous crops, including California almonds, one of the nation's most profitable.
::link ::from NYT article here

 

toads, confused by the warm weather, and looking for love...

...and crossing roads in the dark, en route to a pond, have been coming to a sad end. My brother-in-law,Dougal Urquhart, Country Park Ranger on Mersea Island (off the north east Essex coast), and my sister were out on a rescue mission last night. Read about this on his weblog about the wildlife on the island :: link