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Post by saturniidave on Apr 10, 2013 18:01:44 GMT -8
I see none of you are aware of the damage she also did while she was in power. There have been people here dancing in the streets celebrating her death, which I personally think is out of order, because they hated her so much for what she did. But, love her or hate her I do admire her for sticking to her guns and not bending to peer pressure.
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Post by saturniidave on Apr 10, 2013 17:59:26 GMT -8
Apologies to Dunc for the misquote. I must have had a senior moment there mate!
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Post by saturniidave on Apr 6, 2013 17:41:16 GMT -8
Well I can see both side of the coin here. Yes there have undoubtedly been many 'creature' hoaxes, the Loch Ness Monster for one and the African Dinosaurs, but on the other hand I personally have experienced things I can't logically explain. I have seen a few UFO's (and I mean that in the literal sense, unexplained flying objects) but I would not say they were proof of extraterrestrials, and what you could call 'apparitions' also. However, the Loch Ness Monster was known from 'compelling evidence' until the evidence was shown to be a hoax. Even the famous 'Surgeon's photograph' was eventually explained as a hoax. Saying that I have been to Loch Ness on many occasions and once I (and several others) did see a wake travelling up the loch with no apparent explanation for it. I have a photo somewhere. That animals can lead a very secretive existence is beyond doubt, even large ones. Was not a new species of large deer discovered fairly recently? There ARE big cats in the U.K. regardless of what Dunc says, even the Forestry Commission has owned up to the fact that several of its wardens have seen them. There are two Mountain Lions in Kent right now, it is known where they came from and they are both female so they will not breed. I know people who have seen and described them to me, and shown me photos of footprints. They are all over the U.K. but at a very thinly spread population so they are rarely seen. I am certain they breed as they have been around for too long to be the same individuals, some types have even been shot here. What I am saying is large mammals can live in a relatively populated area without being seen, so why not a large unknown ape? It is not beyond the realms of possibility.
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Post by saturniidave on Apr 3, 2013 17:25:56 GMT -8
Sorry Pete, I don't know the exact heath but I believe the fire was in 1947. All my specimens just said 'Witherslack' and the date on the labels.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 31, 2013 17:22:18 GMT -8
Well I AM in the U.K., and I have not heard of any species being overcollected to extinction. The cases of Large Coppers and Large Blues often quoted were doomed from habitat destruction anyway, maybe unscrupulous 19th century collectors didn't help, but they would have disappeared sooner or later with or without collectors. I would love to know which day-flying moth the guy is going on about, I am not aware of any driven to extinction apart from by habitat changes. Yes, farming, or captive breeding, would solve a lot of problems. Even the rare fritillary quoted above would benefit. If collectors took a few gravid females, bred them, kept a few back for their collections and released the rest it would be a win-win situation. But as such species are protected by law it won't happen.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 31, 2013 17:11:56 GMT -8
Me too Jean-Marc!
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 9:10:47 GMT -8
Single Malts from Ireland??? Poor boy, you are obviously suffering from the dreades 'Gawd did it' syndrome. Everyone knows the best single malts come from Scotland. I have one by my side even as we speak, a nice 12 year old. A little young but very smooth!
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 9:01:57 GMT -8
HAhahaha! Best laugh I have had for ages! They even posted the BLUE Birdwing (urvilliana) instead of the GREEN one (priamus) !
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:57:52 GMT -8
Another thought, most of the sellers on the Insectnet auctions were American and will not export out of the U.S. for obvious reasons. This narrows the field even more as us European collectors could not buy anything. I say close it down.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:54:35 GMT -8
The Prees Heath colony are normal argus. I had 8 pairs of masseyi and compared them with Prees Heath specimens. They were different, but very similar to normal argus from elsewhere. The Portland ones are NOT cretaceus no matter what some people say! I also had 8 pairs of cretaceus from Kent, totally different. Masseyi were dealt the death knell when the habitat was destroyed by fire, not by over-collecting.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:49:51 GMT -8
Sad to say I had all these species in my British collection, but only one poor mazarine blue. I had 24 pairs of Large Blues from Cornwall, Devon, Gloucestershire and one pair from Barnwell Wold (and also Chequered Skippers from there). Reading these posts I now wish I had never sold it , but at the time I needed the money and I had every species so the job of collecting them was 'finished'. I still have the moths though, and there are still many species missing from that!
Radovan, regarding the 'extinct' British species like virgaurae etc. It is possible for some, like that particular one, to have been a resident in the 17th and 18th centuries, but others like L magaera etc are usually regarded as accidental imports or immigrants, carried here on bard ships or planes. Some like B. dia have been recorded a few times (even recently) and undoubtedly have blown here from the continent. But these species are only known for a very few legitimate British specimens, so you would never find one for sale.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:37:46 GMT -8
Personally I think it is unlikely. The pin would not be black at that time, black pins only came into fashion in the late Victorian/Edwardian period. Pins at that time would have been hand-made in steel or brass with a wire-wound head.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:35:13 GMT -8
Oh, one other thing. It strikes me as odd that batavus at Wood Walton required a lot of care and reintroductions to maintain, but rutilus that were introduced to Tipperary maintained themselves unaided until the marsh they were on dried out and they eventually disappeared.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:32:47 GMT -8
i wish I could find the reference (poor old brain is fried by drugs) but I did read that DNA sequencing has shown that dispar dispar and dispar batavus are genetically inseperable. I personally have seen many specimens of both subspecies and would defy anyone to tell the two apart without data. The land bridge between Europe and Britain was apparently a marshy plain and would have been ideal habitat for them, so I guess they were only separated when sea levels rose. I had three pairs, two in reasonable condition and one A- which I sold for £500 a few years back. The other two pairs are still in the collection which I sold last year. Regarding Paul Smart, I can't say I had much time for him either, I did visit the museum many years ago and dealt with Chris. I have heard that he eventually went totally mad and was kept in a secure facility under heavy sedation.
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Post by saturniidave on Mar 29, 2013 8:14:17 GMT -8
Nice one John, some familiar moths there that I get in my garden!
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