Tag Archives: toxic

New Forest: evening barbecues and uninvited guests

A recent spell of mild, sunny weather finally brought forth the idea of having a barbecue to my mind. What could be more pleasant than to invite a few friends over to enjoy an alfresco feast in an English country … Continue reading

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New Forest: Look, but don’t touch the animals

This week I had a long Twitter conversation with someone concerned about the amount of people feeding and petting the donkeys at Hatchet Pond, near Beaulieu. In one incident a family went even further, and were trying to force a … Continue reading

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Ragwort: friend or foe?

I’ve recently begun the task of checking for and clearing any ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) from my hay meadow and the paddocks that my field-kept ponies will be using during the summer. This is one of those essential jobs in pasture management … Continue reading

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New Forest: pannage season is for the pigs!

Here piggy, piggy! Pannage season is here! (14 September 2015). Just as the first sight of a swallow in the spring signals the start of summer, so too the sight of pigs loose in the New Forest heralds the beginning … Continue reading

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New Forest: killing with kindness.

Since writing last week (March 2015) about people hand-feeding and petting the free-roaming ‘wild’ ponies on the New Forest I’ve had several readers get in touch to tell me about incidents they’ve witnessed. Some of these incidents have included families … Continue reading

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