The Forestry Commission and Defra have announced a more rigorous approach to controlling grey squirrels. Their review, undertaken at the behest of former Defra Secretary Owen Paterson, concludes that more could be done to address the threats posed by grey squirrels to woodlands and to red squirrels, which they infect with the deadly squirrel pox. It recommends a specific management prescription within countryside stewardship schemes, revision of the good-practice note on culling greys and research into new traps, chemical agents and the impact of predation by pine martens.
CLA president Henry Robinson backs this more robust approach, but reiterates a call for the relicensing of warfarin, ‘by far the most effective tool in controlling grey squirrels’.
Barn owls bounce back
The British Trust for Ornithology has reported a rise in barn owl nesting figures.
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‘It had the air of an ex-rental, and that’s putting it politely’: How an antique dealer transformed a run-down Georgian house in Chatham DockyardsAn antique dealer with an eye for colour has rescued an 18th-century house from years of neglect with the help of the team at Mylands.
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A home cinema, tasteful interiors and 65 acres of private parkland hidden in an unassuming lodge in KentNorth Lodge near Tonbridge may seem relatively simple, but there is a lot more than what meets the eye.
