"Kent"
Page last revised:
12 th November 2004
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| DATE: | ANIMAL: | LOCATION: |
| 1st March 1905 | JACKAL | Sevenoaks |
| 14th January 2003 | LAGOON WORM | Maidstone |
| 6th October 2003 | WILD BOAR | General |
| 23rd April 2004 | WALLABY | Chilham |
| 13th May 2004 | WILD BOAR | General |
| 25th August 2004 | CORN SNAKE | Bromley |
| 20th October 2004 | CRABS | Dartford |
| 5th November 2004 | RHEA | Goudhurst |
Goudhurst
RHEA
The owner of a South American
Rhea which was found in an orchard at Cranbrook Road, Goudhurst on 13th
October, has informed the RSPCA that three more of his rheas have gone missing.
The rheas escaped from a pheasant run.
The Rhea found at Goudhurst is now in the care of the RSPCA.
(Kent and Sussex Courier - 5th November 2004)
Contributed & Re-Written by: Lisa Willow
File:
Ref
No: 1841
Missing Rheas
A Rhea was discovered in an orchard behind the home of Bill Musgrave in
Cranbrook Rd, he feed it scrambled eggs and bread, but he decided that he
couldn’t look after it and needed a better home so the RSPCA was called
in and the Rhea was then taken to a Half way house in Hollingbourne to wait
for collection by its rightful owner.
But On Thursday the animal charity was contacted by a man to say that he owned the missing Rhea and that he had another three that had also done a runner. Spokeswoman for the RSPCA Klare Kennett said to the Kent and Sussex Courier "He said they had been kept in a pheasant run but they had got out. "He did not think he was doing anything wrong by putting food out for them but we had to explain that it is illegal to let them roam around. "People cannot go around releasing birds like this which could do harm to our own wildlife."
The Rhea has now been captured and has been sent to the animal sanctuary where it will be with other Rheas to live out the rest of its days.
(Sorce: Kent and Sussex Courier - 5th November 2004)
Contributed By: Lisa Willow Re-Written By: Cher Jenkins
File:
Ref
No: 1840
WILD
BOAR
Farmers warn of
wild boar dangers
Four hundred years after it was hunted almost to extinction, the wild boar
is making a reappearance in the South East - and causing problems for farmers.
It is estimated there are up to 1,000 of the large, tusked animals in Kent
and East Sussex alone.
Farmers and conservationists are worried that the rapid spread of the animals could destroy crops and lead to an increase in road accidents. Commercial wild boar farmers say the boars which actually live out in the wild are also responsible for spreading disease such as swine fever and foot-and-mouth.
Escape after
storms
Government experts are compiling
a report into the problem after scientists said a colony of the omnivorous
animals grew up in south east England following storms in 1987 and 1989 when
15 of them escaped from farms. Keith Taylor, of the British Wild Boar Association,
said drastic action is needed. He said: "We think that ideally they
should be culled, but it's easier said than done because they are nocturnal
and are difficult to find. "It would certainly require a team of professional
stalkers to find them and professionally cull them, so we don't have members
of the public or anyone else going out on a wild boar hunt."
(Source:
BBC News)
6th October 2003
Contributed by: Mark
Fraser
www.scottishbigcats.org
The Scottish Big Cat Society.
WILD
BOAR
Wild Boar Return
Guardian journalist, Leo Benedictus went looking for wild boar in Kent,
guided by Derek Harman. Boar are believed to have become extinct in Britain
during the 17th century as a result of intensive deforestation. Following
the great storms in 1989 some boar escaped from captivity near Tenertden
and others have followed suit in Dorest and Herefordshire. There are thought
to be 40 boar farms in the UK.
Wild boar (sus scrofa) typically grow up to around 5ft 11in (1.8m) in length and weigh more than 30 stone (190kg). In April a 47-stone male, nicknamed Houdini was killed while crossing a road in the Forest of Dean. Like other animals they can be dangerous when protecting young. They are swift and unpredictable. They have two pairs of tusks each used for fighting Although 90% vegetarian they are thought to pose a threat to young lambs and may well be the most dangerous known wild animals in Britain today.
Nial Moore, head of a DEFRA research agency believes that there are less than a thousand wild boar in Britain. The Game Conservancy trust suspects a higher number, pointing out that half a million are shot in Germany each year. Since 1998 Moore has lead a tracking and trapping campaign, aimed at assessing the dangers posed by boars who are probably the biggest threat to agriculture on the continent. He fears that a large boar population, currently kept in check by poachers, could easily spread livestock disease. Harman, a farmer, began looking for wild boars after his wife saw one in 1989. He showed the journalist places where boar had wallowed in wood and pointed out hairs and evidence of rooting. He believes that the goverment should bring in legislation to control hunting. After waiting for a couple of hours he was able to show the journalist two wild boar and they listened to a fight between the animals.
(Source: the Guardian - 13th May 2004)
Contributed
By: Kara
Writen By: Paul Williams, 06/08/04, http://wehrwulf.fcpages.com
Bromley, Petts
Wood
CORN SNAKE
A North American Corn Snake has
been found in the village of Petts Wood, near Bromley. Michael Dyer found
the two foot long snake under the stairs of the house in Queensway on Sunday
morning. House owner Kaye Martin thinks the snake came from a nearby pet
shop, but they said they had no record of a missing snake for six months.
Bromley police took the snake to the Eagle Heights sanctuary in Eynsford,
where it is now being cared for.
(Source: News Shopper 25th August 2004)
Contributed & Written by: Lisa Willow
File: 2004-224
Ref
No: 1547
Chilham
WALLABY
Wesley the Missing
Wallaby sighted?
Twelve year old Megan Duggan told her mother that she saw a kangaroo hopping
in grass by a roundabout the Erueka Leisure Park at about 14.30 on 20th
April 2004. Mrs Maria Duggan and her foster son, Ryan aged 8, then also
saw thecreature.
It is believed to be a wallaby named Wesley who disappeared from Badgers Hill Farm, Charing Road, Chilham, near Canterbury in August 2000 when he was eighteen months old. There have been other sightings since but this would be the furthermost from his home.
(Source: Kentish Express)
23rd April 2004
File: 2000-146
Ref
No: 1215
Contributed
by Lisa Willow
Written by Paul Williams
Dartford
CRABS
Kate Walker is a keen gardener from Powder Lane in Dartford, whilst picking
beans in her back garden she thought it started to rain heavy but to her
amazement she looked up at the sky to see that it was brown crabs falling
on her.
In Total twenty crabs fell from the sky of which the 20th crab died and she is currently keeping it under a pot to show her disbelieving friends.
33 year old Miss Walker said “ They think I'm mad, I thought it was something out of the X-Files. The crabs were covered in sand, Where have they come from? I've heard of fish falling from the sky but this is ridiculous.'' Miss Walker, who is currently unemployed, lives next to Brooklands Lake and speculates the crabs could have come from there or the Thames, which is about two-and-a-half miles away.
She said: "The lake is a possibility. They could have also come from the salty end of the Thames.''
This is not a common occurrence but it has been reported around the world that fish and also frogs have been known to fall from the sky. Why this happens is as a mini-tornado passes over the sea or lake it picks up objects that is light of all shapes and sizes, it is then caught by a storm cloud or a strong updraft which then throws it back out as if it were hailstone. Barry Gormett from the Met Office said "It can happen because of the dynamics of the atmosphere. "When there is a convective motion of air beneath a cloud, it can draw things upwards. I've heard of fish and frogs but crabs are a first.''
Other reported encounters have been :-
In 1995, Nellie Straw of Sheffield
was driving through Scotland in a storm when hundreds of frogs suddenly
pelted her car.
During 1881, a thunderstorm in
Worcester brought down tons of periwinkles and hermit crabs.
Also 1890, bird's blood rained
down on Messignadi in Calabria, Italy. 1982 to 1986, kernels of corn
rained down on several houses in Evans, Colorado. Oddly, there were
no cornfields in the area.
In 1877, several 1ft-long alligators
fell on J L Smith's farm in South Carolina.
then in November, 1996, a town in southern Tasmania was slimed. Apparently, it had rained either fish eggs or baby jellyfish.
A Korean fisherman, trolling off
the coast of the Falkland Islands, was knocked unconscious by a single
frozen squid which fell from the sky.
In a town in Guatemala, money,
blue rain, frogs and toads, fish, gold, cigarettes and Star Wars figures
have on occasions rained from the sky.
A poor village in Mexico was showered with gold. Supposedly, a treasure chest from a ship sunk off the nearby coast was whipped up by a tornado and deposited on the village.
(Source This is local London - 20th October 2004)
Contributed
by: Lisa Willow
Re-Written By: Cher Jenkins
File: 2004-267
Ref
No: 1801
Maidstone
LAGOON WORM
Small Worm delays big bridge
A tiny worm is delaying the completion of a £150 million motorway
bridge on the M2. The 8mm tentacled lagoon worm lives in the mud of the
River Medway in Kent. It is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act
so the two ends of the bridge cannot be connected until the worms are rehomed.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "The salty saline habitat
in which the lagoon worm lives is getting very rare. A new alternative habitat
needs to be created." "These tiny worms may not be the world's
most exciting creatures, but they do have a right to life, so we are doing
all we can to preserve them."
Experts from the Natural
History Museum are helping construct a new habitat further along the river.
(Source: Ananova News - 14th
January 2003)
Written by Paul Williams
File 2003-151
Ref
No: 1219
Sevenoaks
JACKAL
A fine
Specimen of a Jackal was reported
to be in the area of Sevenoaks for some weeks before it was finally shot
and killed on 1st March 1905 by Mr Willis near "The Woodman" on
the Right Hon, Earl Amherst's Estate, after evading it's capture.
On that Wednesday a shoot was organised to end the dimise of the creature that had been attacking stock and game in the area, a hunting party of about 50 guns and 70 beaters finally brought the animal to it's end, it was then taken and stuffed by naturalist Mr Hutchinson, of Derby and is now in the possesion of Mr Pocock, of Cold Harbour, in Montreal, the Head Keeper of the Right Hon, Earl Amherst's Estate.
The specimen killed, was said to be about 5 years old.
1st March 1905
Contributed by: Martin Cotterill
File: 1905-86
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