Did St Nicholas visit your house on Christmas Eve and deliver presents? And was his sleigh powered by eight reindeer; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen (and then there’s Rudolph too)? Real-life reindeer, or caribou, are having a tough time of it, and not through sleigh-pulling exhaustion (see also here and here).
BLOG
Hot or cold?
Did you have turkey at Christmas? Is it still hanging around – if so, have a look at this. If it’s driving you to drink have a look at this. This north American woodland species was once nearly extinct because of overhunting but now is a common sight in many US states. How many feathers…
Nights drawing out
If you are following my thoughts on horses I’m afraid you didn’t get the best possible run from Master Overseer but the Welsh National is always an exciting race to watch. Have you noticed how the nights are drawing out now? No, neither have I really but the fact is that we are well past…
Pandas strung up.
This shocking image of a gamekeeper’s gibbet was on view at Towcester racecourse yesterday. How awful to see so many globally threatened pandas displayed in this way. A spokesman for the Notional Gamekeepers’ Association said ‘Well, you know how it is, pandas are lovely animals but it’s a ‘balance of nature thing’ and you’ve just…
Nasty, brutish and short
I had a great aunt who believed that robins were unlucky and so when one arrived on a Christmas card the said card would be torn up and thrown on the fire. How many robins do you see on your Christmas cards? David Lack was a famous English ornithologist who did much to increase our…