Getting too old for this...

Re: Getting too old for this...

Mark Naguib — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 19:45:53 GMT

I couldn't agree more with Neil - I thoroughly recommend everyone with sufficient space should build a fish-free garden pond for amphibians! (I'm very jealous of your grass snake - it takes a bit of an effort to find them around here!) Arlo - If you are looking to keep some non-native species indoors then these are fairly simple vivs that might give you some ideas (apologies for poor quality phone photos!).

Re: Getting too old for this...

Neil Wheadon — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 18:54:03 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Crikey, I've never noticed them before. Where do they hang out?[/quote]

OK to everyone else who doesn't live in Royston Vasey / Coleford / Arlos secret bunker please ignore this bit.

The Crayfish live in Mells Stream and we have a family of them living close to our house, under the shadows of a small bridge, however anyone seen with a bucket, rod and line or a deep sea trawler will have their webbed feet amputated because these are the white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes), the only native crayfish species in the U.K. The white-clawed crayfish has been in significant decline in parts of England for some time. The amount of flesh in them pincers (that's the Devonian side coming out) is minimal!!

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"] My youngest is absolutely FASCINATED by small creatures (I'm lined up to build her a froggarium or a froggery or whatever you call a home for frogs. A pond, I guess).[/quote]

However I would recommend digging a pond in the garden. We've dug one and the children and my wife love seeing the contents. Frogs, snails, newts (lots of them) and this year a grass snake has taken residence. However don't even think about putting fish in it.

Neil

Re: Getting too old for this...

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 17:52:42 GMT

Malcolm. How politically incorrect, tut,tut,tut.

Wynne

Re: Getting too old for this...

Malcolm Ness — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 13:11:44 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"] whatever you call a home for frogs.[/quote]

France.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 12:34:59 GMT

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]

Of course you could just walk along the river near your house and get a feast of these wee beasties...

[/quote]

Crikey, I've never noticed them before. Where do they hang out? I know, the river, but do they congregate anywhere in particular? And how do you catch one? Presume a hand net. My youngest is absolutely FASCINATED by small creatures (I'm lined up to build her a froggarium or a froggery or whatever you call a home for frogs. A pond, I guess).

Re: Getting too old for this...

james herriot lied — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:56:30 GMT

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]

Of course you could just walk along the river near your house and get a feast of these wee beasties...

[/quote]

Assuming that's a saucer, I recognise the ones on the periphery as Bovicola Ovis, but what's the monster in the middle? It must be almost an inch long

I completely missed the spider crabs on our local beach this year - although they tend to get as much of me as I do of them. Mussel season in three months...

Re: Getting too old for this...

james herriot lied — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 09:49:31 GMT

Surely a pair of buckled-up stilettos would have been appropriate - you'd have stuck the landing beautifully.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Jenny Smith — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 16:11:04 GMT

[quote user="james herriot lied"]

Well, I guess if they were going to drop you from that height, the choice of footwear would be a bit irrelevant. I suppose you'd just expect, in these risk-assessed times, something in a heeled jackboot design with suitably industrial fittings.

[/quote]

I did a skydive last week, only footwear requirements were that they had to be securely fastened(!) and no hooks - like walking boots have to lace up, as they can get caught in the lines. I jumped in my running trainers :)

Jenny

Re: Getting too old for this...

Laurence Webb — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:07:57 GMT

Of course you could just walk along the river near your house and get a feast of these wee beasties...

Re: Getting too old for this...

Laurence Webb — Mon, 19 May 2014 22:27:29 GMT

[quote user="james herriot lied"]I'm a nudibranch fan[/quote] I just had to google that, in case it was some sort of al fresco liberated swimming.

Re: Getting too old for this...

james herriot lied — Mon, 19 May 2014 21:21:39 GMT

Took the eldest with us to the Red Sea when she was tiny, but Sri Lanka was the first time both offspring have been to properly warm seas, with in-your-face sealife (me, I'm a nudibranch fan, but it doesn't appeal to six year olds). Turtles, turtles everywhere. Rainbow wrasse galore, puffer fish, rays, clown fish. Magic.

Re: Getting too old for this...

james herriot lied — Mon, 19 May 2014 21:15:27 GMT

Has anybody mentioned glider lessons? Had one a few years ago, and when I get old and rich it's something I'd like to do more of.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 19 May 2014 17:11:14 GMT

[quote user="james herriot lied"]Did they really let you go up in loafers?[/quote]

What, you think I should have been wearing a pair of brogues?

Re: Getting too old for this...

Anonymous — Mon, 19 May 2014 15:25:46 GMT

[quote user="james herriot lied"]
I retired from diving years ago, as the UK is cold and miserable (and so's the diving),
[/quote]

Having just spent the weekend in Stoney Cove it was cold but not to dark and dismal Some interesting wrecks and Vobster is good too.
Mind you really looking forward to a week in and on the red sea in just over 2 weeks much better

Re: Getting too old for this...

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 19 May 2014 15:21:36 GMT

[quote user="Gillian Mostyn"] but why not use modern gadgets when they are so helpful and fun?[/quote]

Absolutely, I quite agree. So why bother walking? Use a quad bike.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Gillian Mostyn — Mon, 19 May 2014 15:12:13 GMT

Of course everyone should be able to use a compass and a map - but why not use modern gadgets when they are so helpful and fun? A GPS does so much more than simply help you navigate! (It isn't simply a 'Tom Tom' for walkers - turn left at next path.....!!!!!!)

Luddite.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Utlendigur — Mon, 19 May 2014 13:59:35 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]If you can't navigate with a compass and a map..........................[/quote]

Re: Getting too old for this...

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 19 May 2014 11:43:57 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"](have you still got the GPS I recommended)[/quote]

Bah.

If you can't navigate with a compass and a map..........................

Re: Getting too old for this...

james herriot lied — Mon, 19 May 2014 11:21:45 GMT

Recently in Sri Lanka, which was an underwater blast: I retired from diving years ago, as the UK is cold and miserable (and so's the diving), but if I could afford more Indian Ocean trips, I think I could be persuaded to take it up again.

Did they really let you go up in loafers? ;-) (can't get the smilies to work)

Still think climbing's better than everything else, though.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 19 May 2014 09:04:55 GMT

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]Where did you go? That looks like fun. I may consider a go too.[/quote]

Hi Lawrence,

I did it with these guys: http://www.skyschooluk.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/skyschooluk in a place near Norton Ferris.

They tend to fly in this country only till May, then August onwards. Rest of the time they run their training courses in Spain, because the weather is rather more predictable.

I have a bit of a problem going away to Spain, but thinking about trying to do the training in this country later in the year.

[quote user="Laurence Webb"]

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Yup - got my scuba ticket, but not really tempted by the waters around our shores![/quote]But you've got a flooded quarry less than 2 miles from your house. Just squint a bit and it will look just like the Red Sea.

Actually a friend goes SCUBA diving there. I'll find out how horrible/otherwise it is.[/quote]

I did go and sniff around when we first moved here. It's a very pretty spot - but the Red Sea? I think you'd need a blindfold and a heated suit!

Re: Getting too old for this...

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 19 May 2014 08:48:22 GMT

Perhaps I'm a bit biased by the lower Severn estuary. Every loo from Shrewsbury down passes here on its way to the Atlantic.

Wynne

Re: Getting too old for this...

Linda Filshie — Sun, 18 May 2014 10:53:02 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Most of the sea around Britain is far too polluted

Wynne

[/quote]

Not true - we have cleaner water than many warmer climes! Just bloody cold!

[/quote]

Having done a lots of diving off the west coast of Scotland, I can confirm we have some fantastic diving in the UK. Soft corals, cuckoo wrasse, nudibranchs, anemones, conger eels - there is some amazing sea life around. I've dived in the Caribbean and off the Barrier Reef too and while it's certainly easier to dive in warm water it's not necessarily any more rewarding. Not sure I'd be tempted by the delights of Stoney Cove though!

Re: Getting too old for this...

Julie Innes — Sat, 17 May 2014 23:29:55 GMT

Good for you, Gillian! I am currently bricking myself at the Tough Mudder event I am signed up for in 4 wks time! I'm scared, but perversely looking forward to it too!

Re: Getting too old for this...

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 17 May 2014 19:01:24 GMT

Sorry- can't resist it...... After finishing my 96 mile walk yesterday I celebrated by... Climbing Ben Nevis today. In the snow and rain! Nuts.

Re: Getting too old for this...

Bob Russell — Sat, 17 May 2014 10:48:37 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Most of the sea around Britain is far too polluted

Wynne

[/quote]

Not true - we have cleaner water than many warmer climes! Just bloody cold!