Does Rewilding have to include wolves?

[CupofJoe]

We didn't see any of those while there. That doesn't mean that aren't there, probably in huge numbers. However, we did joke about the lack of Foxes, saying that they've all moved to the suburbs. Foxes in the suburbs raid food waste bins (they know how to open them) and don't seem fearful of man. Those in the countryside are probably still more shy and wily.

And are somewhat larger than their country cousins I read a while back...

 

[hitmouse]

I was sitting quietly in a field the other week having a cup of tea, and I saw a stoat moving through the hedgerow. Haven't seen a wild one for years. Probably only seen a weasel, for a second, once. Hard to spot but lots of them around.

 

[Dave]

I saw a stoat a few weeks ago on the Polesden Lacey estate. To be perfectly honest, the group of us were talking so loudly when we were walking in Knepp that I'm surprised we saw anything at all. Generally, I now try to practise what I'm christening 'mindful walking' - walking more slowly and quietly, with no rush, looking up in trees and also down at the ground, along gaps between foliage, and at sunny ant hills where there may be reptiles sunning themselves. Too many people are walking, running and cycling at break-neck speeds in order to build-up that statutory number of 'steps' that their Apple watch or Fitbit insists they reach for the day, that they can't possibly appreciate the beauty they are passing through and missing.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

We didn't see any of those while there. That doesn't mean that aren't there, probably in huge numbers. However, we did joke about the lack of Foxes, saying that they've all moved to the suburbs. Foxes in the suburbs raid food waste bins (they know how to open them) and don't seem fearful of man. Those in the countryside are probably still more shy and wily.

I've lived in rural area for over thirty years and I have seen one fox in that time and it was dead by the side of the road. I've seen way more deer, badgers, bunnies. We know there are foxes because my friend lost chickens to them.

 

[hitmouse]

I saw a stoat a few weeks ago on the Polesden Lacey estate. To be perfectly honest, the group of us were talking so loudly when we were walking in Knepp that I'm surprised we saw anything at all. Generally, I now try to practise what I'm christening 'mindful walking' - walking more slowly and quietly, with no rush, looking up in trees and also down at the ground, along gaps between foliage, and at sunny ant hills where there may be reptiles sunning themselves. Too many people are walking, running and cycling at break-neck speeds in order to build-up that statutory number of 'steps' that their Apple watch or Fitbit insists they reach for the day, that they can't possibly appreciate the beauty they are passing through and missing.

The thing that really made me look beyond the superficial when outdoors was birdwatching. Started just over 20 years ago, and realised it was not just about birds. It just got me into the habit of looking more deeply at the outdoor environment. Birds interact with the environment, they don't just exist in it. Understanding the species of trees and hedgerow plants, and how they behave through the seasons has also helped.
So there is a bit of a zen thing going on, but also some practical ecology.

 

[Parson]

On the "rewilding" front. On my golf course there are a couple of manmade ponds. (filled from wells and used for irrigation) One enterprising member thought these ponds needed "gold fish." --- don't ask --- anyway he put these large (I assume "farmed") fish into one of the ponds last year. They loved being near the inflows and would all pile up there. It wasn't long until a couple (I saw 3) mink moved into another of the ponds and I caught them raiding the gold fish pond. Soon there were no gold fish to be seen in the pond. And the mink seem to have moved on. Last week I hit a ball into the pond (Grrrr!) and I looked in the shallows among the grasses and lo and behold, there were some small gold fish hiding like a "wild" gold fish would.