Foxes, Badgers, and Otters Oh My!

Entrance to the Bristol Zoo

          As promised, this week we will be talking about animals! England and America are pretty similar with the types of animals they have, but there are some native animals here that I think are pretty cool. I asked my friends to tell me their favorite British animals, so we'll go through those and then I'll introduce you to a few of my own favorites. I'll also talk briefly about endangered species acts.

Greenland Sharks:

          My friend Daniel says that Greenland sharks are his favorite because they look like little old men but  also have a lifespan of up to 500 years! Despite what the name may tell you, Greenland sharks do live outside of Greenland. They're native to most of the Northern Atlantic so you can find them from Canada all the way to Northern Spain. They're about the size of great whites, so they're pretty darn big (up to about 21ft long and over 2,000lbs!). The only reason they can get so big and live so long is because their metabolism is crazy slow. They swim at less than 1mph (you walk at about 3mph normally) and they live at just above freezing temperatures. Between these two things, they hardly age. Fermented greenland shark meat is actually a delicacy in Iceland, but I'm not a fan of it.

European Badger:

           My friend Melissa says that she loves badgers because they're cute but also fearless (she says they're like her). Badgers are related to other animals like weasels and ferrets but they're much bigger. They mostly eat bugs, but they have sharp claws so be careful. They like to live in grasslands, so sometimes you'll see them while you're out for a walk. They like to live in clans, or cetes, and usually live with between 2-15 other badgers. They use their big claws to dig a hole where their whole cete can cuddle up and sleep. A male badger is called a boar, a female is a sow, and babies are cubs.

Hedgehog:

       

           Multiple of my friends said they love hedgehogs. I'd only seen pet hedgehogs before coming to England, and now they're my favorite things to look for when I go hiking. I even rescued one from a  pool once after it fell in. Their spines actually aren't sharp so he was easy to pick up and move. They're only about the size of my hand, and they mostly eat bugs. My favorite thing that hedgehogs do is called "anointing". Its a very weird behavior where, when the hedgehog smells something new, it licks/bites it and then makes a foam with its mouth and spreads it on its spines. We aren't sure why they do this, but the guess is that it helps them camouflage. Sadly these cuties are facing endangerment as their numbers have dropped by 50% since 2000. This has happened mostly because warmer winters are messing up their hibernation schedule.

European Otters:

          These are my favorite animals to see when I go for a walk near a river. Unfortunately they tend to wreak havoc on other local animals, so many parks will have special gates to keep the otters out. They usually eat fish, but have no issues eating birds, amphibians, and even other small mammals when there aren't any fish... hence the otter gates. They're currently moving toward being threatened species because of pesticides, habitat loss, and hunting. Good news in the U.K. though because the number of sites where these otters live has increased 55% since 1954. Fun fact: otters are the only amphibious members of the weasel family. Yes, that means that they're related to badgers.

 

This is an otter gate 

Stickleback:

          Honestly these fish aren't that interesting, but I am currently doing some research in a lab and I'm working with them. I figured I'd show you what kind of animals I work with as a biology student. They're found in nearby rivers and then brought to the lab to use. They're not very smart they're super easy to catch. They are predators though, and they feed on smaller fish. One cool thing about them is that the males turn bright orange when they're ready to mate.

Some other cool things that live in England:

 

Red Fox

Red Squirrels.  Fun fact: most oak trees are planted because squirrels forget where they bury their nuts. They're currently endangered due to diseases like squirrel pox

         Is it a worm?  Is it a snake? Neither! It's actually a legless lizard.

 Water Voles eat 80% of their body weight every day! They're also endangered due to habitat loss

Brexit and Conservation:
          One of the issues in the U.K. right now is that most of the endangered species regulations are actually E.U. laws. This means that once Brexit happens, the country will no longer have to follow any of those laws. Basically, Parliament has less than a year to fill in those holes so that hunters and poachers won't suddenly be able to go out and hunt with no regulations. Leaving the E.U. also means leaving the common agricultural policy (CAP). Right now, about £3,000,000,000 per year is spent on farming through CAP, but most of that goes to farming output. This puts a huge strain on the countryside. Leaving CAP means that England has the opportunity to change where that money is going, and to redirect it to conservation efforts. Basically, Brexit will allow the U.K. to reshape its environmental regulations, so let's hope that they choose to focus more on conservation so that future generations will see red squirrels, water voles, and hedgehogs.

          I hope you've all enjoyed learning about some British animals. Which ones were your favorites? I also need to ask for y'alls help. I am going to be interviewing a middle schooler here and would love if you could propose some questions for me to ask them. Let me know in the comments what you would like me to ask in the interview!