Okay -What is a Naturalist?

  

In one of those "we are stupid and so are people" items on the interest it asked "What is a naturalist?"

It answered its own question:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/lifestylegeneral/what-is-a-naturalist-really-it-s-not-just-old-blokes-in-safari-hats/ss-AA1KzPMk?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=d6504460c8344b8adc4fa18c81bd8b48&ei=46#image=2

"A naturalist is someone who studies and observes nature, but not necessarily in a lab coat or with a PhD. They’re people who pay attention to the living world, whether that’s birds in their back garden or fungi in the local park. You don’t need fancy qualifications, just genuine interest and the willingness to actually look at what’s around you.

"It’s really about developing a relationship with nature through observation and understanding. Naturalists learn to recognise patterns, identify species, and understand how different parts of ecosystems connect. They’re the people who notice when the swifts arrive in summer, or can tell you why certain mushrooms only appear after rain."

It left out that naturalists get no recognition or reward and do all the dirty work that Zoologists then use to get...recognition, rewar5ds and grants!

Thomas Pennant on Foxes in 1771

 

 

The painting depicts "A Fox Stalking a Brace of Partridges" by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, a renowned 18th-century French Rococo painter celebrated for his animal depictions  Note the lack of muzzle black "tear stain","black socks" and other red fox diagnostics which would make this a good historical depiction of an Old European fox type.

Pennants British Zoology 1771  p 74

 This animal is common in all parts of Great Britain, and so well known as to not require a description….

P 75

 

There are three varieties of foxes found in the mountainous parts of these islands, which differ a little in form, but not in colour, from each other. These are distinguished in Wales, by as many different names. The Milgi or gre-hound fox, is the largest, tallest, and boldest; and will attack a grown sheep or wether (castrated male sheep)  : the mastiff fox is less (smaller), but more strongly built : the Corgi, or cur fox, is lest (smaller), and lurks about hedges, out houses, and so on and is the most pernicious of the three to the feathered tribe. The first of these varieties has a white tag or tip to the tail : the last a black. The number of these animals would soon become intolerable, if they were not proscribed, having a certain reward set on their heads.

P 74

In warm weather it will quit its habitation for the sake of basking in the sun, or to enjoy the fresh air ; but then it rarely lies exposed, but chooses some thick brake (hedge), and generally of gorse, that it may rest secure from surprise. Crows, magpies, and other birds, whoi consider the fox as their common enemy, will often, by their notes of anger, point out its retreat.

Pp 71-72

The fox is a crafty, lively, and libidinous animal : it breeds only once in a year (except some accident befalls its first litter ;) and brings four or five young, which, like puppies are born blind. It is common received opinion, that this animal will produce with the dog kind.

P 72 -73

The fox sleeps much in the day, but is in motion the whole night in search of prey. It will feed on flesh of any kind, but irs favourite food is lambs, rabbits, hares, poultry, and feathered game.  It will, when urged by hunger, eat carrots and insects ; and those that live near the sea coasts, will, for want of other food, eat crabs, shrimps, or shell fish….

In France and Italy, it does incredible damage in vineyards, by feeding on the grapes, of which it is very fond.  Thje fox is a great destroyer of rats, and field mice ; and like the cat, will play with them a considerable time, before it puts them to death.

P 73

When the fox has acquired a larger prey than it can devour at once,  it never begins to feed til it has secured the rest, which it does with great address. It digs holes in different places, returns to the spot where it had left the booty ; and (supposing a whole flock of poultry  to have been its prey) will bring them one by one, and thrust them in with its nose, and then conceal them by ramming the loose earth on them, till the calls of hunger incite him to pay them another visit.

P 73

 

Of all animals the fox has the most significant eye, by which it expresses every passion of love, fear, hatred, and so on.  It is remarkably playful, but like all other savage creatures half reclaimed,  will on the least offence bite those it is most familiar with.

 

It is a great admirer of its bushy tail, with which it frequently amuses and exercises itself by running in circles to catch it : and in cold weather wraps it round its nose.

Naturalist/Mammalogist and Wildlife Historian Brief Cv

 

 Field Naturalist specialising in Mammalogy and wild canids and felids in particular.

From 1977- acted as a UK police forces advisor on exotic animals and formed the exotic Animals Register (EAR) in 1979. Also advised farmers and farmers groups as  well as other official bodies on exotics in the UK. Has cooperated with a number of UK colleges and universities including Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea. The long term project makes him the most experienced (the only) naturalist working on this matter and studying any long term effects on the ecosystem.

1976 set up the British Fox Study concentrating on UK foxes and their history which resulted in The red Paper Vol. 1 Canids (2009) and The Red Paper 2022 Vol. I Canids looking at the history of the wild canids in Britain and Ireland/Eire including foxes, wolves and other released for hunts. Extinct Canids Study is a part of the Fox Study.  Again, this is the longest ongoing study of foxes in the UK.

Has looked at extinct canids and felids and written extensively on them including Hokkaido wolf and Falklands wolf.

As part of the British Fox Study a new project was set up in 2021 -The Fox Deaths Project which is unique in that foxes that have died under unusual circumstances or with odd symptoms are submitted via Bristol University Post Mortem Services and investigative PMs carried out at Langford Veterinary School. This is the only project of its type in the UK and revealing a great deal about what, other than cars, is killing foxes.

In 1980 the Wild Cat and Hybrids Study was set up and since its inception  has made a number of breakthroughs in over 40 years (as with the Fox Study) on British and Irish wild cats and their history. Island wild cats as well as feral cat colonies are one aspect of the Study. 

1. A Method For Grading Sightings Of Non-Native Cats: Application to South and West Wales, UK: Professor  Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea and Terry Hooper-Scharf Exotic Animals Register.

Proceedings of the 2^nd Eastern Cougar Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2004  

2. Exotic Cats In Britain: An Historical Perspective, Professor Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea and Terry Hooper-Scharf Exotic Animals Register, Proceedings of the 2^nd Eastern Cougar Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia, 2004  

3. (Contributor) Survey effort and Sighting Probabilities for Non-Native Cats in Carmarthenshire, Professor Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea, Swansea Geographer 2004  vol. 39

4. The Biography of Perceived Encounters with Pumas and Other Exotic Cats in South and West Wales, UK; Alayne Street-Perrott, Alaric B. Smith Exotic Cat Group University of Wales Swansea and Terry Hooper-Scharf Exotic Animals Register. 2004

5. Felids: Wildcats, Ferals and Hybrids, Terry Hooper-Scharf. Vale Wildlife Group, 2000

6. UK National Wolverine Population and Evidence, Terry Hooper-Scharf, Vale Wildlife Group, November 2000

7. The Red Paper: Foxes, Fox-Domestic Dog, Hybrids, Arctic Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Coyotes: An Extensive Study of Vulpes vulpes in the United Kingdom and Releases/Escapes of Non-Native Canids; Terry Hooper-Scharf.  Black Tower Books, 2011

8. The “Girt Dog” of Ennerdale: Hyena, Thylacine or Escaped Exotic Cat: A Naturalist’s Assessment of the Evidence. Terry Hooper-Scharf. Black Tower Books, 2018

 9.  The Current Threat To UK Fauna And The Introduction Of New Fauna Species Terry Hooper-Scharf. Black Tower Books 2021

Popular subjects with a heavy wildlife slant to them

10. Some Things Strange and Sinister Black Tower Books, 2009

11. Some More Things Strange and Sinister Black Tower Books, 2010

12. Pursuing The Strange and Sinister: A Naturalist's Viewpoint Black Tower Books, 2012

13. Mysterious and Strange Beasts Black Tower Books, 2012

14. The Red Paper 2022: Canids

15. The Red Paper 2022: Felidae

16. The Red Paper 2025: Wild Menagerie

Six other non wildlife related books

Various other unlisted papers and articles 2000-2024

One can only make assumptions -and not good ones.

 

One thing I hear from people is "Why don't you send your books to Sir David Attenborough? He is interested in conservation so the documented extermination of British foxes and wild cats ought to interest him"

Well, I did try. Twice.  I asked Attenborough Productions in advance whether Sir David or they might be interested in copies of The Red Papers  -Canids and Felidae-and they said he/they would and Sir David "always responds" to such things.  I sent the two books. It was recorded that they had arrived but after two months I asked whether the bvooks had been received? No response.

There was a suggestion by someone that even though it said the books were delivered I ought to know that this is not always a fact. True.

Therefore I phoned Attenborough Productions to make sure that any such books would get to Sir David and was told "absolutely. Addressed to him here then he gets it no one else".  I then sent two more copies and at the same time a brief email and explaining what the books were and I even mentioned that the late David Bellamy had called the original Canids Red Paper "explosive for British wildlife history" and then I waited. And waited. A month later I emailed and asked whether they could confirm that the books had arrived? Nothing so I left it another week and phoned. The books had been received but they could not comment as they had not read them as they went to Sir David.

A month later and a polite "sorry to take up any of Sir David's time but---" email. Nothing. So I sent a letter covering things and "hoping" that the books had reached him. I knew that they had and so did my bank account from ordering the copies and sending them signed for!

Almost a year one and another polite email and nothing. I did read and hear how other books sent to him had received responses.  We know that he is involved in 're-introducing' wild cats to Scotland so the true history and the fact that the genuine wild cat was exterminated in the 1860s (fully documented) might not have sat well.

How about the fact that the proven three variations in the Old British foxes (Greyhound, Hill and Cur) were exterminated by humans through hunting and that what we see today are the results of importations going back to at least the 1600s (all documented)?  Well, we know he was great friends with many landed gentry involved in hunting and, of course, his decades of friendship with the late Queen Elizabeth ( a well known blood sport enthusiast) and he is also friends with the current King and Queen as well as Prince William and Katherine who are all blood sport enthusiasts.

The thing is that the BBC and then Attenborough Productions have full control on his image. Anything negative would not be allowed online. We know that most of his documentaries have had staged "in nature" incidents exposed but such staged scenes are common for TV natural history programmes.

Attenborough 'hunted' and trapped animals for Zoos which was a norm though that gets sort of glossed over (even if his series was called "Zoo Quest").

Even a search carried out over two weeks made it no clearer what his views on fox hunting were. Checking Google all it could come up with was:

"Sir David Attenborough has not made public statements on the specific issue of fox hunting with dogs in the UK, as his work typically focuses on the natural world and animal behaviour rather than human activities or laws like fox hunting. While he has narrated documentaries like The Hunt and The Life of Mammals, which show predators like Arctic foxes and lions hunting for survival, his commentary does not extend to commenting on human blood sports."

As one person put it to me: "Why do you think Attenborough would have been interested in your books? He is an establishment figure and on fox hunting alone he could have spoken out and ruined them all -including the pro hunt BBC people and his beloved Royalty. He is not rocking any boats"

It is unthinkable that someone so interested and promoting wildlife conservation would be happy to laugh and talk to people who go out killing wildlife for 'fun' and "bloody" their children after their first hunting kills (Harry and William). As pointed out, Attenborough has never made a clear public statement on fox hunting and if he were against such activities and for preserving British wildlife the repercussions from a public statement could destroy the 'sport'.

One can only make assumptions -and not good ones.

EVERY Year Like Clockwork

 Oh look, its cubbing season and another anonymous person posting the exact same bs as every other year for the past ten.

Next it'll be the ginger or ginger and white cat seen having been snatched by a fox or foxes.

Owners and moderators on the FB groups posting this year after year need reporting as they know what is going on.

Concerned with wildlife health and welfare

 

I have been told, again, that I seem to be very concerned with wildlife health welfare.

😐

Of course I am. I am not a member of the Green Party so I do care about the environmental and wildlife crisis that is currently taking place. Next year will be my official 50th (I don't count when I was learning as a child) year as a naturalist, researcher/archivist. I have read many thousands of news and items and journals going back to the 17th century, hundreds of books going back to the 16th century and that learning continues.

We saw what one might call The First Modern Mass Extinction during the early Medieval period up to the 1500s. Bears, lynx, wolves, boar and many other species (land and air) wiped out by humans. By the start of the 17th Century much wildlife was imported from Europe to replace "beasts of the chace" for hunting 'fun'  -the bigger mammals were no longer around to kill and so the Old wild cat and Old fox species were put on the list.

By the mid 1830s it was apparent, and written about frequently, that the Old fox was heading for extinction and there was much discussion. But discussion not about saving the species but about what would happen "to our sport". Yep, if foxes went extinct then there was nothing else to hunt and kill. Hares died out in many areas due top hare hunting as did otters and many others including deer.

From the early (possible) 16th century on the importing of animals to hunt increased but that meant constant "re-stocking" and Leadenhall Market imported at least 2000 foxes a year to hunt and the actual number with the number of importers in England must have exceeded 3-5000 per year. 

However, the 1860s can be seen as the Second Modern Mass Extinction with Old Fox and Wild cats, red squirrels and others falling into the gaping hole. More Red squirrels imported and yet shooting clubs were still noting with pride the hundreds of squirrels their members were killing. I doubt that a genuine British Red squirrel exists today. When importing stopped due to World War 1 and then anti rabies legislation wildlife took a downturn and never -despite the many false claims- recovered.

Foxes are still shot for 'fun' nightly which means those 'sportsmen' (it is what they call themselves) are actually helping drive foxes to extinction as we are calculated to have already lost 65-70% of the fox population.

We lose badgers every year to cars and 99% of drivers do not even report hitting an animal whether fox, badger or even a deer (hopefully the damage caused hitting the latter ran into the hundreds in repair work on the precious car).

There are people who will kill or try to kill pet dogs and cats as well as abuse horses and cattle. "A Nation of animal lovers".

We have seen the increased decline in hedgehog numbers and there is little doubt that the 2030s will see the Third Modern Mass Extinction with many mammals and birds, etc joining the fox, badger and hedgehog.

Treating wildlife for injuries in the wild for minor injuries and ailments is beneficial in that there is no stress on them from being trapped, caged and then held for a period of time where the treatment can take longer to work.  But wildlife vets and rescues need to step out of the dark ages and into modern times.

A fox does not depend solely on eyesight to survive as hearing and smell are the main senses. Blind in one eye "It can't survive in the wild -kill it. A badger that a wildlife hospital felt was blind had survived a long time until an unblocked drop point in the ground meant it got trapped. Again, badgers do not solely rely on eyesight but the vet declared it could not live in the wild and no wildlife rescue was asked whether they could take it on so -kill it.

I often wonder whether these people "cast the bones" before making their decisions. They certainly do not listen to people who deal with foxes and badgers daily.

A leg injury in a fox "It cannot survive in the wild -kill it".  I even wrote a piece about how well three legged foxes survive and at least two such vixens have had a couple of litters with no problem. https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/fox-leg-amputation-reason-to-kill.html

A facial injury: "Can't be treated -kill it" BUT why kill the fox?  With severe infection and necrosis I can understand and the smell and black skin will tell you when it is too far gone. One vixen with cubs had a facial injury and talk was of trapping which would mean killing it or "euthanising" it. It was decided to start treatment and give it a set period to note any success and that way it could still feed its young cubs. The facial injury healed and the vixen is still alive.

Mange is NOT a death sentence that destroys organs and leads to a nasty death. It just needs treating as soon as possible and in the last three years over 600 local foxes have been successfully treated (previously the local wildlife rescue had any fox with what someone decided was "35% mange" put down. The new regime there is treatment (under veterinary advice) and that has saved 600 foxes rather than wipe them out.

This item may be of interest: 

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/treating-infections-facial-injuries-and.html

The answer to the statement  "you seem to be very concerned with wildlife health welfare" is "Yes, I bloody well am and so should you be now get off your ass and help!"

What The Experts Said.... And Then Started Chickening Out!

(c)2025 BF&WCS

Now I am not going to mention names or the institutions, however, everything is documented and my colleague LM has been privy to the responses.

For The Red Paper 2022 Canids I had a number of photographs of "fox masks" (masks being the trophy head of a fox killed in a hunt and with starving hounds it is usually all that gets left) on shields (wood plaques with dates and locations of the kill. Some were quite obviously not foxes -there were jackal like heads and the most obviously odd were those that were clearly coyote or wolf like.

That I believed that these were jackal, coyote or wolf does not matter. What I needed to get was confirmation from experts who knew these canids. I learnt from my first attempts to get jackal heads identified that as soon as you stated "Killed by a hunt in England" things went very quiet. So what I asked people who are experts and deal with wolves and coyotes on an almost daily basis is whether they could confirm that the masks were coyote or wolf -no deception just asking for their professional opinion.

I got all of the masks confirmed as wolf or coyote and one possible Eastern Coyote. One mask I was told looked coyote like...but slightly fox like and was "odd". That mask was sent by accident and was a jackal head so it would seem odd to them.

I had all the confirmation I needed from 4-5 experts  at well known institutions. When asked where the masks came from I explained and as soon as I stated England... back pedalling was so fast, confused and even contradicting their own statements!  I did offer full information and even sent copies of the mask shields with the details on them but no one was talking any more -although one brave soul DID stand by his identification.

Why the sudden reversal and denial of their own opinions? It was explained to me by someone who would know that it was probably out of fear of rocking the academic boat. They don't want to upset their colleagues in the UK over this as it might have those colleagues responding angrily or making cooperation difficult and a lot of people from different universities cooperate on papers.

That is highly believable. Their statements are on the record so why cause problems -maybe one day they will come around or even accept a copy of The Red Paper Canids as offered?

My policy is still to ask other experts for confirmation of an animal and I have always done that via museums, etc.. It is just a pity that academia is so butt clenching when it faces up to dogma or things their colleagues have just never bothered looking into.