Saw-sick Steve

The large hairy spiders that enter our houses, often in autumn, all belong to the tegenaria group and are usually one of 3 species; Tegenaria agrestis, T.duellica, T.domestica. All have the ability to pierce skin, though are highly unlikely to do so. I too remove them by picking them up and have never suffered a bite while doing so, but this is down to both the spiders reluctance to bite and it's inability to puncture the tough skin on the palm of your hand. However, they will bite if they feel threatened and are certainly capable of penetrating the softer skin on the back of your hand, or somewhere like your upper arm or leg if you were unlucky enough to be in such a situation. The sensation of a bite is unlikely to be little more than a minor irritation, a slight 'pinching' feeling, certainly a lot less painful than, say, a bee or wasp sting. However, while the latter two species mentioned will leave no after affects, the first mentioned, T.agrestis, can have a nasty reaction with a minority of people, leading to local inflammation around the bite area, swelling and in extreme cases, necrosis. However, before anyone takes this as a green light to squash all big hairy spiders, it's worth mentioning that the biggest, meanest looking one of the three, Tegenaria duellica, actually out competes T.agrestis and prevents it taking up residence in areas it inhabits, pushing it to more marginal areas - i.e, not human habitation.

Sorry ELG, not to take anything away from the USA's participation in WW2, but there were only 7 US pilots involved in the Battle of Britain, and there was no 633 squadron. American pilots had to pretend they were Canadian to avoid loss of citizenship due to the strict neutrality laws in place at the time in the US. Regards the contribution of the Soviets, the top ten battles (of WW2) in terms of men, machinery, participants, casualties - or any other way you choose to measure it - all occurred on the Ost-front.

And on a thread about ignorant racism - oh, the irony... To be honest though,I rarely hear a Cornish accent in Cornish pub these days - usually some Cockney or other 'lifestyle' refugee holding court about the thick locals, and whining about how where they come from has been ruined by '' all them immigrants, mate''.

I don't think anyone can deny that Elephants acknowledge and maybe even possibly recognise the dead remains of their kin, but to describe that behaviour as 'mourning' in the conventional sense of the word is probably a step too far. Regarding the mythical 'Elephants graveyard', Ian Douglas-Hamilton (who spent the best part of his life studying elephants) in his definitive work 'Among the Elephants' gives the idea short shrift - as do 'New Scientist'. I'm afraid that a link to a site entitled 'UFO Digest' does little to bolster your case.

You were right the first time - it's a juv Wren. Legs are deceptive as Wrens often 'squat' down and are longer than you think, watch one next time it's bobbing. Juv Robin would also lack the eye stripe. Andy C - great pic, rarely see a Hobby down here let alone a nest. Great task to undertake, even better if you got paid for it!

This may be of interest; http://epetitions.direct.gov.u​k/petitions/7337 - Petition that Convicted Rioters should lose their benefits.

I have a few days off, and look what happens... It's inexcusable what happened, and no one in their right mind can condone this sort of totally selfish behaviour, but when you're living in a society that demands instant consumer gratification and you perceive yourself as having no stake in that society you can see how some people seek to justify their actions under some sort of warped 'victim' mentality. I can't help feeling that an erosion of responsibility and culpability in our society is quite a large factor in this. Nobody is actually held responsible for anything any more. The bankers can steal millions, and get away with it. The politicians can steal thousands on their expenses and get away with it. The NotW bosses can hack the phones of murdered school girls and seemingly get away with it. Footballers can do what they like and get fined pocket change. Your kid can do what they like, and it's not your fault as a parent. No one's accountable. Nobody gives a toss anymore. Anything goes. Seriously, why not go knock over a Dixons? Why shouldn't you? Everybody else is. The hammer never falls. If a banker can 'help himself' to £10m he hasn't earned, why shouldn't the man on the street 'help himself' to a 50" telly he hasn't earned? The banks is just one example. They ballsed up massively, whilst doing things that were really rather dubious morally and ethically. The fall out? Well, nothing really. Nothing at all. Carry on. That said, this was outright criminal behaviour motivated by pure greed and opportunitism, not some political protest or cry for help. Nice to see the Turkish community in North London, succeeding where the Met failed totally in protecting their community. I used to live in Hackney, and you don't mess with those boys.

Surely, all this implies is that refresher training is irrelevant when it comes to accident reduction?

Portmeirion is where they filmed 'The Prisoner', not Porthmadog. Beautiful area, i lived there a while back, can definitely recommend the cycle way from Dolgellau to Barmouth - stunning. The Rhinogs offer some great walking, I did a fair bit of footpath work on the Roman steps back in the day, nice camp site at the bottom near Cwm Bychan. The Precipice walk is a good circular (and easy) walk around Dolgellau, with great views of the Mawddach estuary. Coastal walking is great, but the Lleyn Peninsula really stands out. That should be more than enough for a few days.

Deffo ground beetle larvae, probably Violet Ground beetle, Carabus violaceus, judging by the size.

At a glance it looks like one of the Oedemera species, hard to confirm 100% from a piccy, but if I was a gamblin' man I'd go for Oedemera nobilis, male at top, female below - hope that helps!

Docile they may be, but I can assure you that bumblebees can definitely sting! Also, unlike honeybees, their sting isn't barbed so they have no problem stinging repeatedly. That said, you've really got to go some to make them sting, and while I wouldn't recommend it as a wise course of action, I managed to relocate a nest I inadvertently dug out last year by picking it up at night and moving it by hand. Managed to stay sting free too.

Just going through this now with my 5yr old Collie, I'd never heard of it either. Came on really quickly, first thought he'd strained his neck but Vet thought meningitis. Really thought we'd lost him at one stage, but he came round quite rapidly after a couple of days on antibiotics and steroids. Wasn't aware it could reoccur, he seems fine now and only had 5 day course of tablets. Just as well I've got a tame Vet, the costs are frightening - a bit like paying for healthcare in the USA!

Great film! Too many to list, but off the top of my head in no particular order; ''Raging Bull'', ''Taxi Driver'', ''Once upon a time in America'', ''Once upon a time in the West'', ''Scarface'', ''Life of Brian'' and a particular favourite that I'm surprised no ones mentioned - ''Apocalypse Now!''.

Now then, just to remind us, which was the first town in the UK to have street lighting? (clue - it wasn't Camborne!) 'Oll best matey, have a good one and 'ope yer feeling better.

Ditto for me too, but I probably don't need the shortbread anyway! Echo your last point though, always good service.

Interesting theory, not sure if it applies universally though, otherwise why would trees like the Lancewood in New Zealand still grow in a manner designed to deter browsing by Moas - centuries after Moa became extinct? One often overlooked fact about our native thorns is their importance as 'nurseries' for less browse resistant climax species in semi-natural landscapes. Thick. impenetrable clumps of (especially) Blackthorn often protect the odd Oak or Beech from damage until they have got well established.

Sorry to hear that, I'll resist the opportunity to indulge in some obvious jokes at your expense. Get well soon etc... 'Ol best!

What, like viagra?

CJ, what you gone and done?

Been considering an Esse wood-fired range, how d'ya find it? Easy to get up to temp for cooking? Use much wood? Cost, ease of installation etc etc...? Cheers in advance...

If you want to see private healthcare in operation with no safety net, travel to the states. When I was over there, was advised to head for Canada if in need of treatment. The NHS isn't perfect by a long way, but I'm bleddy glad it's there. The Yanks spend nearly twice as much of their GDP on healthcare as we do, yet over 40million Americans have no health insurance at all - go figure. Be careful what you wish for...

QT ; I can well believe that as a possible reason - even the most compelling reason. However, the timing of this has alerted the cynic in me to speculate that maybe the FC are enforcing this now in order to prevent any foraging ''issues'' prior to selling off chunks of our - whoops, sorry - 'their' estate. I know that some people have been gleaning wood for years on certain sites. How embarrassing for the proud new owner of a former FC wood to have some peasant contest the fact that they are now no longer able to forage for wood on a site that had been accessible (to them, and others) for years. I may well be wrong, but this action would certainly prevent such a scenario - or am I just being too cynical?