30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Twenty-nine.

Day 29: For today’s 30 Days Wild, I’d planned to tune into The Wildlife Trusts’ Wild LIVE: Bringing Back Beavers, however it has been postponed. Beavers went extinct in the UK during the 16th Century. For the past 20 years The Wildlife Trusts’ have been at the forefront in restoring beavers back to the rivers they once inhabited. This Wildlife Trusts’ talk was to celebrate the reintroduction of this ecosystem engineer and why beavers are so essential in the restoration of nature in the UK.

wild live

Here’s some facts on the Eurasian beaver.

The beaver (Castor fiber) was a semi aquatic mammal native to Britain before it was hunted into extinction for its fur and castoreum, a secretion used in perfumes and medicine. They are a keystone species due to their positive influence on the environment. They prefer freshwater habitats. They dig canal systems, coppice trees and shrubs, and create wetlands which in turn has enormous benefits on other species such as otters, fish and birds. As they create their environment, their influence can be seen in the reduction of flooding, increased water retention and cleaner water.

Eurasian Beaver from the Northwitch Guardian

Their home is called a lodge, made up of sticks and branches and they live in small family groups. They are herbivores and willow bark, twigs and leaves are their favourite foods. Beavers are a large mammal weighing in at around 30kg and are as large as a Labrador. Their teeth are orange due to the protective iron enamel and like all rodents they grow continuously throughout their life. They are crepuscular meaning active during dawn/dusk, and can remain underwater for 15 minutes. There are currently eight beaver reintroduction projects across the UK with several more upcoming.

Have you ever seen a beaver in the wild?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine xx

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Further Reading:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/saving-species/beavers

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/policy-insight/species/beaver-reintroduction-in-the-uk/

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/mammals/beaver/

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/beaver

30 Days Wild 2021 – Day Eighteen.

Day 18: The Wildlife Trusts’ Big Wild Weekend kicks off today with a talk hosted by CEO, Craig Bennett. He chats to an exciting panel of authors who were inspired by the natural world! You can register for the free talk here.

Nature is one of life’s great inspirations and no wonder there are so many authors who were/are inspired by its cruelty, terror and sheer beauty. Below is a non exhaustive list of authors who have been thus inspired.

The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Graham

This classic children’s story published in 1908 focuses on the adventures of Mole, Rat, Toad and Badger and is an example of anthropomorphism. With it’s evocative descriptions of the Edwardian countryside it had to make this list.

Wind in the Willows

Animal Farm – George Orwell

Animal Farm – George Orwell

Another example of anthropomorphism, with farm yard animals overthrowing their human masters but in time themselves becoming corrupted. Orwell’s anti-utopian satire is based on the Russian Revolution.

The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkein 

Tolkein heavily uses the natural world as a backdrop for his The Lord of the Rings saga. There are mountain ranges, rivers and old gnarly woods. He also uses anthropomorphism with his Ents (trees), giving them voices and personalities. The Lord of the Rings highlights that industrialisation creates an alienation with the natural world.

H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald

H is for Hawk – Helen McDonald 

This 2014 memoir recalls the author coming to terms with her grief as she trains her unruly goshawk. This book speaks loud and clear of how wildlife and nature can heal a broken heart and mind.

The Lost Words – Robert McFarlane 

It’s not just adults who are becoming disconnected with nature, children too are not learning of the magic from the natural world. Words like, conker, ivy, raven are becoming lost and this book of spells beautifully illustrated by Jackie Morris hopes to rectify that.

The Lost Words

A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson

Bryson’s 1998 autobiographical account of his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail, shows him struggling to cope in the American wilderness.

Crow – Ted Hughes – Crow

The rural landscape of Hughes’ birthplace, Yorkshire had a lasting impression on his poetry, especially the animals that populated the rolling moors. Crow, The Thought Fox and the Hawk in the Rain are just a few of his collections.

Crow

Bird Therapy

Bird Therapy – Joe Harkness

The author, struggling with his mental health, writes this memoir highlighting the importance of nature on our well being. Using bird watching as a way out of depression.

Many Victorian novelists were heavily inspired by nature, such as the Brontë’s, Thomas Hardy and Charles’ Dickens. Not to mention the romantic poets, William Wordsworth and his Daffodils, John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s To a Skylark.

What is your favourite nature inspired book?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine x