Saturday June 27
There was a loud, sharp yell from above, but I didn’t mind. I’m incorrigible, you see. I just smiled benignly and the ring-necked parakeet hurried away; for parakeets always seem to be late for an urgent appointment. I was staying with old friends in Highbury, which is in That London, as you probably know. I was drinking in their garden and looking at the sky, the wildest habitat in any city.
If you read the current British Wildlife, you will see that I am a bad person for that benign smile. I wrote a piece saying that hatred and loathing of introduced species is unhelpful and unhealthy. To long for the extirpation of Spanish bluebells seems – well a bit UKIP. The only socially acceptable outlet for xenophobia in these hard times. It seems that some people in conservation think otherwise.
I’m not advocating free rein for the English mink, and I applaud the work that’s been done to eradicate rats from oceanic seabird colonies. But I’m not going to get all hard-line about the Chinese water deer that live all around me, nor the little owls that nest in the garden.
Besides, I don’t suppose it’s possible to kill off the British parakeets, any more than our grey squirrels. They’re here now. Might as well enjoy them; better than hating, after all. The only way to get rid of them was to keep them out in the first place. That was also the case with ash die-back.
I’ve got a field guide to non-native species and it reads like a book of hate. This is an issue better met with tolerance and understanding. Like most others. And if such an issue reveals me as a bad person, I’ll just have to live with it.
Well, bad person, may I join your club? Walking on the Heath (Hampstead – quite near Highbury, really) just yesterday, there were all these parakeets – and they do seem to be constantly rushing, don’t they? Perhaps, if he were writing now, Lewis Carroll would rewrite the role of the White Rabbit (“I’m late, I’m late…”) for the Ring-Necked Parakeet. We also saw one apparently chasing a Grey Squirrel from the tree it was in.
There’s a small nature reserve, only about a couple of acres, if that, tucked in between Kings Cross and St. Pancras stations, where the Grand Union Canal runs between them. We went to a talk by a nature photographer there (sorry, name escapes me) and he reckoned that the cull then being attempted (4 or 5 years ago) was a mistake: it wouldn’t work and anyway the supposed threat to native species was misapplied – parakeets weren’t the culprit. Farming methods, lack of set-aside, pesticides, etc, etc, were much higher up his list of culprits.
Excellent attitude that could save this crazy world.
Try living in Australia… And loving foxes. The blind hatred is quite demented. Usually from the kind of people who enjoy killing animals for their own jollies.
“Where Do Camels Belong” by Ken Thompson is perhaps a more balanced look at non-native species than the book you have.
Enjoy all your writing.
Lies that life is black and white is what the Minnesota Bard opined. Even naturalists will have diverse opinions but I guess that they all love nature which is the important thing. Just keep giving voice Simon. It is such an articulate one and even those who disagree can at least understand what you say and some may even change their mind! So sad about the turtle dove, we must try to protect all species within reason.
I couldn’t agree more !
Hi Simon, This has nothing to do with your latest blog, but quite late in life I’m off for my first safari mainly to be spent in the Okavango Delta. It was suggested we bring a book or two that can be shared with the other travellers (just a handful of us) for our time in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Thought I’d share “One Million Aliens” with my fellow travellers (all American). May they be touched and inspired. There was a pic in The Times last week of a Lion who had found the shower facilities at one of our camps most commodious. I recalled your encounter with a well fed best. I shall keep calm. Miss you annual wildlife count from Wimbledon. It seems some think its just about the tennis.
My best,
Ian
Hi Simon,
I agree that we’re probably stuck with ring-necked parakeets and grey squirrels. And although I wish they weren’t here I can’t help but derive at least some pleasure from watching them. The parakeets make my regular trips around the M25 a little more interesting, though I also fear for some of our native species should they manage to spread into the surroundng countryside.
It seems that you are ok with the control of rats and mink and presumably do not wish to be seen as either ‘xenophobic’ or associated with UKIP as a result? You seem happy to separate non-native species into the ones that we should welcome with open arms and those that can be wiped out with immpunity and I’m not sure what your criteria are for putting them into one category or the other. Mink can be killed off presumably because they have adverse impacts on water voles? Yet the grey squirrel has already led to the loss of the native red squirrel across large parts of Britain. We know that the impacts of non-natives are unpredictable. We also know that once they become well established they are either impossible or very difficult (and very expensive) to eradidate. The problem with the more welcoming attitude you espouse is that it is likely to encourage the establishment and spread of more and more non-native species. We dont yet know which of those will have serious adverse impacts on native species but experience tells us that there will be impacts and we may well lose more native speices as a result.
Going back to grey squirrels; If we did have the technology to be able to eradicate them relatively cheaply and easily would you support their eradication (like the mink) or would you continue to welcome them with open arms (like the Chinese water deer)?
I had been thinking very much the same thing about introduced species and wondering if I was in a majority of one, so many thanks for putting my mind somewhat at ease. It’s striking to me that the hatred seems to be reserved for animals that somehow don’t fit in or look out of place (hence, Little Owl fine but Ring-necked Parakeet, bad). But having said this, I can’t help remembering an earlier post with a different tone on Red Squirrels, which begs the question of how we should react to the Greys. We are large, we contain multitudes, of course, but I suppose the litmus test has to be whether active harm can be demonstrated from the introduction or not. In the case of the Ring-necks, despite efforts to demonstrate competition for nesting sites, I’m not aware that any such harm has been proven.
But as to your wider message – that it’s an issue better met with toleterance and understanding, like most others – well, I couldn’t agree more.
Ben.
Yes indeed, it’s an issue full of contradictions. Knee jerk hatred always seems to be the wrong way to go about just about anything.