@beztheranger@OC Happened to me in Memphis. The host asked me to send him pics of the empty cupboard as proof. Not sure if he thought i was looking in wrong place or if all cooking utensils had been removed by a previous guest..guessing the latter as he sent replacements.
@RobertEFuller As someone who has also had their Instagram hacked and had to start again i feel your pain.
Followed your new account. Good luck with building it up again.
Wild London David Attenborough
I'm getting so many posts from lovely people absolutely outraged at the misinformation regarding hedgehogs and slugs presented on this show yesterday, so I'll just address it here.
David Attenbourough is a really lovely man, and has done an immense amount of good for us, our wildlife, and our planet.
But he, like any other TV presenter, relies on programme researchers for script content.
The researchers, in turn, rely on who they *perceive to be* experts in the field.
Unfortunately, they were taken in by some clever branding and chose the wrong people:
A self-proclaimed 'hedgehog expert', often funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (see their most recent dangerous misinformation, and my response, published here:https://t.co/YWqTd4PIkv)
And the London Wildlife Trust.
Recently the London Wildlife Trust engaged me as an expert consultant on a 4 page spread article about hedgehog myths.
Many of you have seen my interview, and the draft of the subsequent article.
I was sent this draft (see 1st image below) for approval, to which I agreed.
However, before going to print, an executive at London Wildlife trust decided to do some editing of his own.
It's shocking, I know, and would be unbelievable, if not here in actual print.
I've included two versions of the full article below:
the first draft approved by me and the team at LWT, and the second actual printed version, after executive 'editing'.
It was this same London Wildlife Trust who co-produced the Wild London documentary and "provided expert help and advice".
So now you know.
We're all shocked.
But of course, as usual, it's the poor hedgehogs who will suffer.
People won't provide food for our critically endangered hedgehogs, or bother keeping their garden natural and wild, now they've been told that hedgehogs eat slugs.
After all, there's plenty of them to go round.
Rescues all around the country, who are treating hedgehogs dying of lungworm from being forced through starvation into eating slugs, will feel so demoralised and invalidated.
Like you, I'm furious, frustrated, and bone-wearily saddened.
Pumpkins:
Halloween is one night.
Tonight.
If you have to waste a food item (and I strongly suggest you don't), please put it out for one night, then safely dispose of it.
Please DO NOT put it out for the wildlife.
Once you've handled it, cut it, left it out in the open, unrefrigerated, it will not be hygienic or safe for anyone to eat.
Pumpkins are a low-acid vegetable, so once they are cut and left at room temperature, pathogens will rapidly grow on the flesh, producing mould spores.
Our precious wildlife do not have any magical properties that protect them against food poisoning.
Additionally, this time of year there are baby hedgehogs around, born too late to find natural food, desperate to eat anything to stop the pain of starvation.
Pumpkin has a laxative affect so it would be particularly cruel to leave it out for starving wildlife to eat in desperation, causing them to lose precious fluids that may make the difference between life and death.
So no matter what you read elsewhere, please DO NOT put your discarded decoration out for the birds or any other wildlife.
Please DO NOT compost them either, as a composting pumpkin can produce highly toxic tremorgenic mycotoxins, which will be deadly if the compost bin is not properly secured and is accessible to wildlife (or pets).
Many hedgehogs, seeking the warmth of a compost bin, die this way every year.
Once you've used the pumpkin as decoration it's waste, fit only for the bin.
Please help get this vital message spread far and wide, to save precious lives and prevent suffering.
@MthrJacquiT Had Eternal Beau stuff for wedding gift 35 years ago. Used it every day and replaced broken items from charity shops until 4 years ago when we downsized. Couldn't take it all so gave it away as a full set.