Bits for Pets Blog

The chaffinch is the most common bird to be seen in Scottish gardens, according to a recent survey.

The study, by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), found that the species visited almost three quarters (72.9%) of Scottish gardens.

This amounted to an average of 5.46 birds per garden.

More than 27,000 Scots took part in the charity’s Big Garden Birdwatch in January, with at least 6.5 million birds being counted across the UK.

The house sparrow and starling also made it into the top three in Scotland, with averages of 5.09 and 3.83 respectively.

However, the study found less songbirds visiting gardens, with blackbirds, song thrushes and robins at their lowest levels for five years.

The decline could be a result of less birds migrating during the mild winter and the abundance of food in the countryside.

The study showed there was also a “significant decline” in the number of greenfinches spotted this year, with the average falling from 2.2 per garden in 2006 to 1.55.

Jonathan Osborne, RSPB Scotland’s Birdwatch organiser, said: “It is great that so many people in Scotland helped us this year by spending that hour looking out for garden visitors.

“The event can only ever be a snapshot, but over the years helps us develop an idea of the state of our garden birds which are an important indicator of the environment we all live in, and how that might be changing.”

The goldfinch entered the study’s top ten for the first time ever.

TOP 10 MOST COMMON GARDEN BIRDS IN SCOTLAND
1 - Chaffinch
2 - House sparrow
3 - Starling
4 - Blue tit
5 - Blackbird
6 - Greenfinch
7 - Great tit
8 - Robin
9 - Dunnock
10 - Goldfinch

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A beetle thought to be extinct in the UK since the 1940s has been rediscovered in south Devon.

The short-necked oil beetle was found by an amateur entemologist during a wildlife survey on National Trust (NT) land between Bolt Head and Bolt Tail.

The beetles were last recorded at Chailey Common, Sussex in 1948.

Up to 40 of the insects, which survive by hitching rides on miner bees as larvae and then eating the bees’ eggs, were found at the Devon site.

The beetle, which gets its name from the highly toxic oil secretions it produces when threatened, is also known as Meloe brevicollis.

The adult beetles, which live for about three months, lay up to 1,000 eggs in a burrow in soft or sandy soil and eggs hatch in the following spring.

Once they have hatched the young larvae crawl up on to vegetation, often lying in wait in flowers, where they hitch a ride on mining bees and are involuntarily taken back to the bee’s nest.

But the flightless creature’s natural habitats and the populations of bees they rely on have been decimated by intensive farming practices.

The NT said the coastal strip of land where the oil beetle was discovered by Bob Beckford had been managed less intensively as farmland, creating a habitat where the beetle could survive undisturbed.

This site will now be monitored and the lifecycle of the beetle examined in more detail so the land is managed in a way that helps the insect flourish.

David Bullock, head of nature conservation at the NT, said: “The discovery of a beetle that was thought to be extinct for nearly 60 years is an amazing story of survival, particularly for a species with such an interdependent lifecycle.

“It’s great that this oil beetle, with its fascinating lifestyle, has survived against all the odds and is back in business on the south Devon coast.”

SHORT-NECKED OIL BEETLE:
Adult beetles are flightless, large and slow moving
The bodies (especially of females) are swollen
The wing cases are short and rudimentary
The young larvae are known as triungulins after their three claws
They then devour the bee’s egg and also the protein rich pollen stores the bee intended to provide for its own larvae.

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MAN can claim to be a dog’s best friend thanks to first-aid courses that teach devoted owners how to perform “mouth-to-snout” resuscitation, heart massage and dress wounds on their injured pets.

At least 15 pet first-aid courses are run by veterinary colleges and animal charities around Britain and they are proving increasingly popular with owners.

The courses include advice on how to treat a variety of less serious ailments, such as burns, poisoning, heatstroke and bee-stings.

Like first-aid courses for human patients, some let students work on dummies, substituting the human version for lifelike dogs and cats made of rubber and fake fur.
Background

* Taking the lead at Crufts: Day one

* Crufts: Best of breed results day two

* Crufts: Best of breed results day three

* Crufts: Final results

The popularity of the courses is testament to the growing notion that animals are treated as additional members of the family rather than being seen as just a pet. It may also be, however, that some owners would rather learn to treat minor injuried than pay increasingly expensive vet bills.

“People are more aware about how to treat each other and, as dogs increasingly become part of family, they also want to learn more about caring for their pets,” said Leslie Heaton-Smith, director of the College of Animal Welfare, which runs the monthly courses. Sessions cost £140, last one day and are taught by a vet in Leeds, Edinburgh, Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire and Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. Heaton-Smith added that the college would launch a first-aid DVD at Crufts today.

Owners attending the courses are told to leave their pets at home. Instead, they practise medical techniques on two dummies imported from America: Fluffy the cat and Jerry the dog.

As well as learning to dress wounds and apply splints, the models allow the students to practise more serious first aid, such as blowing into the nostrils and pumping the chest. Without training, someone attempting this might kill their pet or simply blow air into its stomach rather than its lungs.

The courses have been welcomed by vets. However, they warned that owners who thought they would be able to diagnose their pets could end up giving the wrong treatment.

Mark Johnston a vet in Sussex and spokesman for the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, said: “They may try to do things which are not necessary and make things worse. In some cases it is far better to get the animal to the surgery and get them seen to quickly by a vet.”

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WHEN Luca the lucky lizard went walkabout in her owner’s car, she could not have imagined the trouble she would cause.

Luca’s owner, Andrea Smith, and daughter, Chelsea, were driving the water dragon back from a pet shop after stocking up on some of her favourite food, including mice, when she decided to go for a wander.

In one quick move the pesky pet, which is a foot-and-half long, managed to jump off Chelsea, 17, and into the footwell of the car where she tucked herself out of reach by climbing behind the console and wrapped herself around the gear stick.

Mrs Smith pulled the car over to the side of the road, fearful she would crush her beloved Luca - who was named after Chelsea FC legend Gianluca Vialli.

Although she could see the end of Luca’s tail, not even a couple of wax worms could tempt her from the new nest and Mrs Smith decided to call for help.

Breakdown company The AA told her they could not deal with “livestock” so she reluctantly decided to call 999 and a firecrew from Chelmsford were despatched to Roman Road, Chelmsford on Saturday afternoon.

But just before they arrived a traffic warden wandered past and was preparing to swoop when Mrs Smith told him: “I know you are about to give me a ticket, but I have a dragon stuck in my gear box”.

He relented and the fire crew arrived and soon got to work and after five minutes of pushing, pulling and unscrewing they uncovered Luca.

Luca, who is about two-and-a-half years old, made a final dash for freedom but was finally grabbed by a firefighter sat in the driver’s seat.

Yesterday in Writtle, near Chelmsford, she was back in her viquaruium , which combines land and water, along with pal Lulu, another water dragon.

Mrs Smith, who is a service engineer, said she was grateful to the firefighters who stopped Luca’s luck from running out.

She said: “I could have killed Chelsea - bits of dragon in your gearbox cannot be good for anything.

“I took the guys chocolates and a thank you card as if it had not been for them, she would have been killed - they totally and utterly rescued her and me, as I would have been at the mercy of my bosses as it is a company car.”

Sub officer Andy Harding from Chelmsford fire station said: “Luckily the lizard was tame and so when we loosened off the plastic console cover where it was hiding we were able to reach in and grab hold of it.”

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A growing number of cat shootings in Cheltenham has led police to warn people with pellet guns or air weapons that they can be traced by ammunition.

Gloucestershire police have had a number of reports of cats being shot in the Leckhampton and Prestbury areas.

Police say ballistic checks will be made on pellets retrieved from the bodies of injured animals.

Pc Sarah Ward said that in every case, animals and their owners had suffered considerable distress.

She said: “Many of the animals targeted belonged to elderly people who view their pets as part of the family - when one is injured or even killed it can have a devastating impact on them and their well being.

“However, once we have retrieved a pellet from an animal there is every chance forensic examinations will lead us to the specific weapon that fired the projectile and, subsequently, to the owner of that weapon.”

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A Tibetan Terrier called Willy has been named Best in Show at the 116th annual Crufts dog show.

The six-year-old, whose full name is Araki Fabulous Willy, won the award at the NEC in Birmingham on Sunday.

Willy is owned by John Shaw and Neil Smith of Gloucester, who said winning the prestigious title was “the biggest accolade you could ever wish for”.

More than 25,000 dogs and 143,000 visitors attended the event, which opened on Thursday.

Mr Smith, 48, breeds dogs and also owns a boarding kennel in Brockworth, near Gloucester.

He said: “We may have to think about retiring him now because there is nothing left for him to do.”

Willy’s handler, Larry Cornelius, from California, said: “It was definitely worth the trip, he has won the breed here four times in a row, but it’s the first time I’ve shown here.

“He’s done everything I’ve ever asked of him, and I think he is a truly fabulous dog in every way.”

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TheDaily Echo in Southampton are running a ‘Pretty Pooch Competition’. If you think your dog measures up, why not send in a photo? The Daily Echo will be running a special supplement on April 4, when readers will be able to vote for their top dog.

Send your pictures to Newsdesk, Southern Daily Echo, Newspaper House, Test Lane, Redbridge, Southampton, S016 9jx.

Or email them to newsdesk@dailyecho.co.uk.

Make sure you include your dogs name, your full name, address and a daytime telephone number.

Click Here for details!