Processionary Caterpillars

Just up the road from me is a garden that has a lot of pine trees,I took these photographs, these nests are the nest of processionary caterpillars. These small caterpillars usually around 3 - 4 cm long are covered with as many as 63,000 pointed defensive hairs containing a toxin, these hairs break off and can become airborne. Contact with the caterpillar's hair can cause a severe allergic reaction in both people and pets, if breathed in it can trigger breathing difficulties and irritation to the eyes, mouth and throat. Some dogs are attracted to the caterpillars sniffing or eating them can cause a severe reaction in a dogs mouth and tongue, this can cause part if not all of the tongue to die.


If you discover the caterpillar nests in your garden or land it is very important not to try to remove them yourself even if the nests are empty,to remove the nests you need one of those paper suits that cover you from head to foot and at least a mask and goggles but preferably a complete hood with a filter for air, remove the nest from the tree and burn it, later burning the suit its self, caterpillars that are on the ground can be picked up with a shovel and put on a fire, again you need to be wearing at least a mask to do this job to be safe seek the advice of a professional or ask your local mairie. Do not let children or pets play near the nests and warn children not to handle the caterpillars.

Château de La Rouardaye

5 minutes from our house is a Château in the small hamlet of Chambots,near Bains-sur-Oust.


A former Lord of Rouardaye was the judge who heard the case of Gilles de Rais, former comrade of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years War. The central part of the castle was restored in the seventeenth century, and Denis Fabroni Chambots purchased it in 1678 for the sum of 6000 pounds. The château, was sold in 1822 to Francis QUELO Pioger's family and was extended in the early nineteenth century.

Random today pics

First daffs of the year
&
Lucy Looloo pleading not guilty to burying bones.

Last night.

I've a lot of photographs to post from last night, I will get round to it later, but I want to share this.

What I saw today.

I would have liked to have shown you the photograph of the small deer grazing in the field but by the time I got the camera out it ran into the woods, so I will show you this instead.

Hughs Fish Fight.

http://www.fishfight.net

DISCARDS AT SEA

Around half of the fish caught by fishermen in the North Sea are unnecessarily thrown back into the ocean dead.

The problem is that in a mixed fishery where many different fish live together, fishermen cannot control the species that they catch.

Fishing for one species often means catching another, and if people don’t want them or fishermen are not allowed to land them, the only option is to throw them overboard. The vast majority of these discarded fish will die.

Because discards are not monitored, it is difficult to know exactly how many fish are being thrown away. The EU estimates that in the North Sea, discards are between 40% and 60% of the total catch. Many of these fish are species that have fallen out of fashion: we can help to prevent their discard just by rediscovering our taste for them.

Others are prime cod, haddock, plaice and other popular food species that are “over-quota”. The quota system is intended to protect fish stocks by setting limits on how many fish of a certain species should be caught.

Fishermen are not allowed to land any over-quota fish; if they accidentally catch them – which they can’t help but do - there is no choice but to throw them overboard before they reach the docks

By supporting this campaign, your name will be added to a letter to be sent to Commissioner Maria Damanaki, members of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform Group, and all MEPs.

"To Commissioner Damanaki, Members of the European Parliament and all member state governments,

I have seen images of dead and dying fish discarded in European waters.

I understand that the current Common Fisheries Policy leads to discarding on a vast scale; for example, half of all fish caught in the North Sea are being discarded because of the current quota system imposed by the CFP.

I want this senseless waste of food to end. I want you to use your influence to stop this unacceptable and shameful practice.

I am supporting the Fish Fight campaign to help bring about this vital change in our seas."

The Next Moon

I'm rereading The Next Moon, by Andre Hue. Amazon describes the book as;
" 'A gripping story: There cannot be many clearer or more detailed accounts of the operations of the French resistance, and Hue's death-defying adventures make for riveting reading' New Statesman Andre Hue was something of a daredevil. By the age of twenty the Anglo-Frenchman had survived shipwreck and years undercover in France, sabotaging German supply lines. Returning to Britain, he was recruited by SOE to parachute behind enemy lines on 5 June 1944, to unite resistance forces in Brittany and paralyze local German troops during the Allied invasion. Though Hue’s mission was fraught with difficulty – he missed his landing site, his secret base camp became the site of a pitch battle and a band of Cossacks tried to hunt him down – he knew that thousands of lives depended on his success or failure."

What I'm going to do is work my way through the book, visiting or in some cases revisiting the places mentioned in the book, If you don't have a copy its worth buying, on Amazons web site there are copies for sale from 60p (Sterling), click on the link on the right hand side of this blog.

I was searching the internet for some information and older photographs of the railway station at Guer where André worked, its was from here he started working for the French resistance, I wanted some old pictures to put along side the photographs I will take of some of the places I visit, I found this, its a picture from 1915, German prisoners of war at the station at Guer.



You can find André Hues obituaries here

That's the wood cut up for the next week or so, this little lot will be kept by the door, the rest is undercover by the shed, the chickens always come for a look after to see what they can find, a Robin also joined them today

Brittany Links

Brittany links is a simple Trade Directory and Classified Ads site for English speakers living in, or visiting, France. The Link I have provided (above) is for Brittany, for other regions of France click here.

To All My Readers.