"Staffordshire"
Page last revised:
8th November 2004
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| DATE: | ANIMAL: | LOCATION: |
| 1940 | WALLABIES | The Peak District (NT) |
| 1970s |
PORCUPINES | Need further info |
| 22rd January 2003 | BURMESE PYTHON | Birmingham |
| 20th June 2003 | CROCODILIAN | Churchbridge |
| 17th December, 2003 | SNAKE | Birmingham |
| 25th August 2004 | FOUR HUNDERED SPIDERS | Werrington |
| 8th September 2004 | EAGLE OWL | Burton on Trent |
| 1940's | NILGAI | Roaches |
| 1940's | YAK | Roaches |
EAGLE OWL
Owl takes Rabbit
An escaped eagle owl killed the pet rabbit belonging to the Royal Oak pub in market place Burton. The owl has been in the area since July, killing a mother duck.
The rabbit was running on the flat roof of the pub when the owl swooped.
The licensee Gordon Alexander reported the sighting to the independent bird register in an attempt to find the owner. They can be contacted on 0870 6088500.
Burton Mail 8th September 2004
Contributed
by: Lisa Willow
Written by: Paul Williams
File: 2004-232
Ref
No: 1711
SNAKE
Snake snoozes in house
A Birmingham woman alerted the local Police force when she found a snake coiled up asleep in the lounge of her home. Sushila Bibi called Emergency services when she saw the snake in her lounge in Woodland Road, Handsworth. The West Midlands Police said they had been alerted to the potentially poisonous reptile on the Wednesday morning.
Worried Ms Bibi described the snake to the emergency operator as having orange and black markings, she'd feared for the saftey of her four children.
Coiled up!
Upon the arrival of the police force, the slippery serpent was found
coiled up in her lounge fast asleep she said. It was taken away by the officers.
Ms Bibi said that she thought she might had seen a snake in her bedroom several
weeks before the incident, but has no idea where it came from.
When the snake had been properly identified it turned out not to be poisonous after all, and was given to a reptile expert who hopes to rehome it.
(Source: BBC News - 17th December, 2003)
Contributed by: Lisa Willow
File:
2003-92
Ref
No: 952
(Source - Birmingham Evening Mail)
15ft Python pulled from Birmingham Canal
Astonished RSPCA inspectors pulls a real life "monster of the deep" from a Birmingham canal.
Walkers, joggers and cyclists have been pounding a towpath in Edgbaston unaware of a near 15ft Burmese Python lurking in the depths, just feet away below the water.
The oversized serpent, capable of killing a child, has been fished out of the Rotten Park Road canal in Edgbaston by the RSPCA yesterday. It was spotted by a terrified passer-by. It was not clear how long the reptile had been living among the old tyres and shopping trolleys, but experts said it hadn't been dead to long.
RSPCA Inspector Rob Hartley, based at the rescue centre in Barnes Hill, said: "It's like something out of a horror movie, This thing is massive, we've never seen one this big before. It's a monster. We've measured it at fourteen and a half feet and up to 14 inches wide. It probably weighs at least 11 stone. It could kill a child by wrapping itself around it and suffocating it, We don't know whether it simply got too big for someone to look after and they let it go free or it escaped."
Inspector Hartley said that the snake's size indicated it had been well keeped by whomever, even though it would have devoured around 24 dead mice or day-old chicks a day. He said the Burmese Pythons were relatively common pets, but usually only reached about six feet in captivity.
In July 1993 an 8ft pet snake killed a 15-year-old boy whilst he slept in his bedroom in the USA. The snake had bitten the boy on his feet and hands before wrapping itself around his stomach and neck and suffocating him to death.
RSPCA inspectors have appealed for anyone with information about the canal snake to phone 08705 555999
22rd January 2003
Contributed by: Nick Redfern
File: 2003-24
Ref
No: 444
PORCUPINES
In the 1970s a pair of Crested Porcupines escaped from a Stafforshire zoo living free for around 2 years, however it has been said there is no evidence of then actually breeding during their period of freedom.
Comments:
Well if know ones watching ...... Ouch !!!!!
File: 1970-57
WALLABIES
The wallabies of the Peak District came from a small private zoo in the grounds of Roaches House near Leek. The zoo was established in the mid 1930s by Henry Courtney Brocklehurst, and the wallabies originated from Whipsnade Zoo stock.
Shortages and restrictions during the second world war caused problems for even the largest British zoos. For many small zoos, feeding their animals and maintaining fencing became impossible, and in 1939 or 1940 five Bennett’s wallabies escaped from Roaches House.
The original wallabies bred and colonised the moorland to the north west of Leek, as well as woodland around Hoo Moor about 10 miles north, across the Derbyshire border. The population stabilised at an estimated fifty animals, though the harsh winters of 1947 and 1963 reduced the numbers for a time. The wallabies are reported most often at The Roaches, an area very popular with tourists, but have been seen in woodland in quieter parts of the Peaks. They have been proclaimed extinct several times since the 1950s, but usually turn up again after a few years.
A Yak and a Nilgai escaped from the zoo at the same time. The yak lived wild on the moors until at least 1951.
Contributed & Written by: Lisa Willow
File: 1940-26
1940's
Contributed & Written by: Lisa Willow
File: 1940-277
Roaches
YAK
A Yak escaped from a local zoo the same time as some Wallabies
in the 1940's, the Yak was last seen in 1951
1940's
Contributed & Written by: Lisa Willow
File: 1940-276
Crocodile type creature seen in Staffordshire Lake
Late
in the evening of 20th June 03, I received an email from Jonathan Downes from
the Fortean Times, about a Crocodile type creature, that had been sighted
over in the West Midlands, this was my very first close to home chance of
an investigation and with it being so close I just couldn't turn down the
opportunity, so off the wife and I went on the 22nd June to Churchbridge in
Cannock armed with binoculars, camera, camcorder and plaster of paris, to
see if we could either see the creature ourselfs and get it on film, or at
least find some sort of evidence of a Crocodilian living wild near to Canock
Chase. See: Expeditions & investgations for a report on our findings
20th June 2003
File:
2003-7
Ref
No: 612
FOUR HUNDERED SPIDERS
400 Huntsman Invade HouseEmma Bradurys house has been overcome with an estimated 400 Huntsman spiders, it is thought that an eggs sac came into her house through a bunch on bananas that she bought from her local Supermarket which has not been named. The Supermarket has since apologised for the incident and has sent around pest controllers to deal with the situation.The Huntsman Spider also known as Isopeda, Isopedella are native to AustraliaAnd belong to the Family Parasite, They are relatively harmless and if they were to bite it would just be painful and may develop a swelling in the area of the bite. They don’t kill prey by the use of a web , they use their jaws to catch their prey.Even though they are harmless Emma is very worried that one of her children may get a nasty bite from one of them.Experts say that the Huntsman wont last long in this country as the climate is far too cold for them to survive.
(Source: CBBC Newround - 25th August 2004)
Re-Write By: Cher Jenkins
File: 2004-259
Ref
No: 1785
If you have any further information on any of these, or any other reports for this or other areas, then please let us know
Thank you
Chris Mullins
Co-ordinator
BEASTWATCH UK
info@beastwatch.co.uk