SQUIDGY THE OTTER - January 2008

In a previous life I worked as an Executive PA for the Industrial Relations Officer at British Coal, formerly known as the National Coal Board.

But after the closure of every DEEP COAL MINE in Yorkshire, the jobs were gone and all staff were made redundant.

Having worked since the age of 15, I took redundancy, although I was saddened to leave a place where I had virtually grown up. It was my family in a way, we were one big happy family, but that era of my life came to an end.

Being adventurous and an outdoors type of person I decided to travel, and not for me, money stuck in the bank, no I used the money to see the world.

My Motto: YOU'RE A LONG TIME DEAD...


Here I am running a tombola stand, raising money for good causes !! That's me on the left. !

So off I went to Africa on a camping safari.

I landed in Nairobi and my luggage landed in Jo'burg.

Well, with only the clothes I stood up in, I had to make friends quickly and thanks to the kindness of strangers, I was soon kitted out in all manner of clothes and shoes. The monkey's ran off with my only pair of knickers when we were camping in the bush, but that's another story.



But what an adventure I had in Kenya,

Hot air ballooning over the Masai Mara, stories round the camp fire...

Spotting the big five...


LIONS GETTING LUVEY DOVEY

Coming face to face with a Hyena....yikes



CREEPING HYENA WANTING A TASTY BIT OF SQUIDGE

I dined at the Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi and tasted crocodile and snake...



But the biggest thrill of all was camping in the African Bush, listening to the blood curdling screams of the hyenas and the frightening roar of the King of the Jungle.


A majestic cheetah resting on a termite mound


The Kenyan people were so gracious and kind, softly spoken, colourful and beautiful.


The Masai, fearsome warriors



ELEPHANTS NEED PROTECTION FROM POACHERS

Which leads me into my blog, about Kenya, the Dark Continent.

HEADLINES IN TODAY'S PAPER....

Does anyone now doubt that the people of Africa were better off under colonial rule despite all its faults?? Or that the benefits of democracy on the continent have been greatly overstated?

I don't know much about politics, but what I do know, and have seen with my own eyes, is the poverty in Kenya, the shanty towns, the tiny, overcrowded, wooden shacks that home generations of families from babies to grandpas.

The African politicians and leaders are powerful, some are greedy and corruption is rife. It is this rampant corrupution which has meant that, despite hundreds of billions of pounds in oil export revenues, some African states, such as Nigeria are even worse off than they were in the 1970's.

Yet, successive rulers made themselves billionaires while in charge.

Zimbabwe, a potentially prosperous country, is now a complete horror story, with Mugabe deliberately starving his perceived enemies.

Ethnic cleansing, starvation, poverty, diseases and lawlessness.

South Africa is having to deal with millions of starving Zimbabweans who flee from the Mugabe tyranny.

The betrayal of Africans by their corrupt politicians is shameful, and who suffers??

it's those in the shanty towns, those striving to make a living, who walk many, many miles, to earn a meagre existence from the tour operators who run the safari's, the hoteliers, the airports. Even the beach pedlars who trade their wares in the markets and along Mombasses' beaches, make their living from tourism.

January is the peak season in Kenya, yet tourists have now been told to keep away, Without Tourism, surely this country is in fear of collape and yet more deprivation.

Tourism is absolutely essential in Kenya, not only for the peoples of Kenya but for the protection of wildlife, to fund the Park Rangers, who put their lives on the line every day fighting poachers.

Without tourists and the revenue they bring, people will die, are dying. The wildlife, such as the black rhino may become extinct.

Already in Kenya there's tribal fighting, families destroyed, people murdered because they belong to another tribe.

Neighbour against neighbour,
friend against friend,
Tribe against tribe

Instead of a peaceful transfer of power in the Kenyan elections, there is a reversal to tribal loyalties.

When two tribes go to war !!!

The lure of these enchanting islands is just too hard to resist. I have no willpower, I am completely under their spell.

I fell in love many years ago, not with a person, but with an island, this island...





An adventure for 2008 - all welcome to come along,

Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag, and smile, smile, smile......we're off In search of adventure.....



I thought I had dunroamin, but after reading WESTWORD, I'm hungry for adventure, my travel lust has been re-ignited, and I am planning a trip to the small isles in search of more island experiences and photographic opportunities.



Has anyone been to CANNA??

Does anyone know anything about CANNA

Bed and Breakfast, camping?

I have been over to MUCK and most islands in the Outer Hebrides, but I am following the ORCA trail to Canna in May or June.

In my WILDABOUTBRITAIN forum I have asked if any members want to join me on this adventure.

Do you think anyone will take up the challenge?

Will keep you posted, I'm off to dust off me tent right now.

Anyone joining me on this trip of a lifetime to Canna, must have

1) a good sense of humour

2) a sense of adventure

3) be able to erect a tent

4) and cook a good breakfast.

Tee hee, I'm excited already. CANNA here I come

Is June too early for the Orca's??


REMEMBER SQUIDGY, Planning and preparation (note to myself, I talk to myself all the time)




No!, I'm not MUCKing about, and I don't need to be Eigg-ed on either, It may be a bit of a RUM do, sleeping in the open, beneath a big SKYE, but give me a COLL, and simply ask, CANNA come too??

xxxx

I am feeling rather shaky today,

In fact,

I am feeling shocked,
nae, disgusted,

Over the last few weeks I have put lots of effort into turning my photographs of Coll into lovely slideshows both on AOL Pictures and Bubbleshare.com

These are public slideshows and albums, open to the public and the world wide web,


and tonight, guess what???

ERICA AND SABRINA (from a web address too rude to mention) have spammed me

and left a block of text

containing unmentionable comments on my slideshows

CLOSE YOUR EARS if you are young and innocent, like myself, because

it was all about you know what

Large things, big things, making things bigger,

RUDIES.

that sort of thing....
and I mean

Tacky and smutty
Lurid and Inviting - to click that www.

leading to

the Lord only knows where....

OH MY WORD, THIS IS AWFUL



Does Carol ever have to deal with this on our Wholesome BBC Island Blogging - fighting spam by ladies of little virtue...

I mean to say,

this is just not on.

This is a violation and anyone looking at my beautiful slideshows, seeing that sort of tripe, just what would they think

rubbish and filth, come back Mary Whitehouse !!

I'm not a prude and have indulged in a bit of cheeky banter myself, but this is a whole new ball game to me.

How can you stop this sort of thing? indiscriminate spamming....

It's time it was stopped, FULL STOP.

I am feeling rather light headed and must go lay down, I am in SHOCK....


Utterly Disgraceful and an infringement on all decent people

Squidgy's in a huff and needing a furry hug off Flying Cat


PS : Erica and Sabrina, the only pussies I am interested are my own...



MY DEVON REX'S



This is Strawberry

and this is



Murphy.

If anyone knows how to stop this awful spamming, I would be grateful for your advice.

Tut, tut, eyes raised to the ceiling
shaking head in dismay...

What's the world coming to???
.
Must go lay down, like our beloved blogging colleague TWS, the Squidgy family have become the Squitty family and are also suffering from the Norwalk Virus. The last thing we need is
this type of
Titilation.


PS : anyone with Winter Flu/Norwalk, DRINK FLAT COCA COLA

Okay, so I'm leaving myself wide open for this one, and yes, I will take it on the chin.

But I'm going back in time, to the days of my youth, when I was young and foolish and didn't know any better. The days, when it was cool and trendy to wear Fox Fur and Mink Coats.



Yes, it is with regret that I too was once a victim of fashion trends and owned a beautiful blue fox fur. I went to Harrods in London in it and when I think about it, all around me, young girls did the same, wore fur, some had those nasty coney (rabbit fur) coats, whilst more well to do, older ladies wore minks down to the floor.

But therein lies the problem, young people are impressionable, they may see a famous celebrity wearing some fabulous white ermine, and give little thought to the many animals who died to make such a creation.

But, I'm older and wiser now, the world has moved on, and fox fur, leopard skins and mink are seldom seen wrapped around the neck of air headed bimbos.

The world knows about the plight of the Whales, the Tigers and elephants being slaughtered by machine guns for their ivory, but OTTERS???

Has anyone heard of the rare, thought to be extinct, HAIRY NOSED OTTER?



I may have mentioned before, but I do get a number of emails from strangers, my definition of a stranger being

.... A friend I have yet to meet....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7189767.stm
Link to the BBC Story


Yesterday, I received one such email with a link to a most disturbing story about Otters being trapped, killed, skinned and their fur sold for clothing.



With the kind permission of ANDY, a research worker in Cambodia...
I would like to quote from his blog on the
ILLEGAL KILLING OF OTTERS.

http://andybrouwer.blogspot.com/


Everyone always thinks about tigers and leopards or elephant ivory but the trade in otter furs is huge. Recently, there was a massive haul of 778 otter skins in Tibet and we are regularly receiving reports of more and more skins found. Two days ago, we had an email from Cambodia saying a research team at the Tonle Sap Lake had just found 10 skins of smooth-coated otters and six skins of hairy-nosed otters at four different village houses. And this is just the tip of the iceberg - just one small area and one find. It is even more worrying that many of the skins being traded are from the hairy-nosed otter, which was believed to be extinct in 1998 - but small populations have been found in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. At this rate of hunting, the hairy nosed otter will soon be really extinct and, this time round, there will be no great discovery of remnant populations." The main market for the furs is Tibet, where otter fur forms part of the national dress, the chupa: one chupa may contain skins from as many as six otters. These highly decorated costumes are worn at festivals and official state functions and are seen seen as a means of demonstrating the wealth and status of Tibetan culture.


The 'Furget-me-not' campaign will raise funds to start immediate work in Cambodia using a team of already present researchers. The team will train local rangers and government staff to ensure the legal protection of otters is enforced, and will also encourage the local communities to take part in the otter conservation programme. Dr Yoxon said: "Combating the illegal otter fur trade is a matter of urgency because, without doubt, it is threatening the otters’ future existence. Most otters are captured by fishermen who are very poor and simply seek to earn additional money. By engaging these fishermen in the research and conservation of the otters instead of shunning them as hunters and problematic villagers, we can give these people an otter-friendly alternative to their destructive activities and provide real protection for the species."




The FURGET-ME-NOT organisation is based in SKYE, Scotland, so isn't it reassuring to know that Scotland, once again is leading the way in animal conservation.

The work is being done with great understanding and compassion, realising and taking on board that those killing the otters are poor and need the money to feed their families.

By offering these poor fishermen other alternatives, including money, not to kill the otters, means a win win situation for everyone,

oh except those FASHION ICONS in Tibet,

who like the silly young girl with a fox fur around her neck

and the well heeled rich old biddies with minks down to the floor

think fur demonstrates wealth, status and fashion.


THINK AGAIN, YOU L-OTTER R-OTTERS.


And finally to finish, I wonder if some of these rare hairy nosed otters could be introduced to Scotland?

and if not, why not???

Thank you to the I.O.S.F. (International Otter Survival Fund) for the work that you do in protecting otters the world over.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I was reading a blog today from our colleague Island Life on Harris, who is having a bit of a rant, a bit of a moan and I suppose, feeling rather out of sorts with her world right now.

We've all been there haven't we, so

I left a comment, saying something like, been there, done that,

been through the ringer too, several times in fact.

Just over a year ago, I was a victim, I moaned, whinged and took my sorrow, my anger, my grief out on anyone and everyone,

In fact I turned into someone I hardly knew and never want to know again!!!

A person who was snappy, aggressive and intolerant.

Things had gone dreadfully wrong in my life

OKAY, most of it was not of my own making, but nevertheless there were serious issues and they built up and up and up.

We almost lost the house and were deeply involved in some serious litigation.

At Christmas we had a sudden death in the family

I spent most of Christmas beside a loved one's bed, watching them draw their last breath and

feeling helpless.

Whilst this period of unhappiness was going on in my life,

I was being bombarded with phone calls and letters from two sets of solicitors


Everyone wanted a piece of me....

I still had to function, I still had to make meals, clean the house, see to the animals, look after the family, fetch me, carry me,.

and somewhere along the way,

I lost me.






I lost that girl with the infectious laugh, the optimism, the free spirit, outrageous at times, but kind and caring. That person simply disappeared under a blanket of doom and gloom and despair.

Was it stress that took over??
or
Was it just life which had ground me down?

Ground me into nothingness

A person unable to function any more,
A person unable to see the funny side of anything?

Stress should never be underestimated, it is both damaging and debilitating.

But one day I snapped out of it

I woke up and thought,

You are a loser
The people who have done this to you are the winners, and
The only person you are hurting is yourself.

You are a loser, you are destroying yourself.

From somewhere, and I don't know where, I managed to find some inner strength to pull myself back from the brink.

only just mind, I was close to the edge.

One more push and I would have gone, but somehow, and to this day, I don't know how,

I held on.


Now, nothing grinds me down, nothing.


I write, I sing, I go for walks
I take photographs

Do my blogs and make as many friends as I can.

I LOVE LIFE, AND YES, LIKE ISLAND LIFE, I MAY HAVE A WEE MOAN, WHO DOESN'T?

But I don't SWEAT the small stuff.


This week I had an awful scare, I thought I had cancer

and went immediately to the Dr's.

I thought I was dying
I braced myself for that sad frown on the Dr's face
of picking out suitable hymns for my funeral.

But again, I was lucky,

The lump proved not to be cancerous
and I am not going to die.

I am alive,

and from now on,

I will make each day count,

each day I will do something good

each day I will do someone a good turn

each day I will try to make the world a better place.



EACH DAY, I WON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF.


I have one life
and I am going to LIVE IT!!!

FROM CAOLAS


TO SORISDALE,

From one end of the island to the other

a hobby I greatly enjoy......

is the simple pleasure of beachcombing... walking along a deserted beach, like some modern day Robinson Crusoe,

Seals are my only company and swim alongside me, curious, but wary

I am startled by the shrill call of the oyster catchers as I rudely disturb their morning feast.

There are tracks in the sand, I hope the otters are about, but spotting them is difficult. They are shy and elusive.


Evidence of my beach combing activities can be seen all around the Squidgery Garden. A message in a bottle, the ink has run on the paper, the writing is blurry making it indecipherable, but I keep it anyway. Many colourful buoys adorn my fence, buckets with holes, useless for their intended purpose are transformed into colourful plant pots. Fishing nets are used to support climbing plants, and of course pretty shells brighten up my flower borders.

Along the beach I stroll, always on the lookout for some amazing find.

But today, it's so peaceful and my mind floats like a piece of drift wood, I'm floating, drifting, I'm dreaming, not really paying attention..

and then something moves. I am jolted back to reality. Camera to the ready...

Yes, It's an otter, definitely... Yes!

I'd know that black head anywhere...



She's swimming straight towards me, I can barely contain my excitement,




Suddeny the otter flips over, and reveals...

Flippers and a spotty belly, - A SEAL,

I was so sure it was an otter, oh well,



The light is going, it will be dusk soon - I must head home.

Suddenly I hear an unmistakable sound. I stop to listen. It's like a whistle, high pitched, shrill, but it's not a bird. It's coming from the fresh water burn.

Could it be??? I plan my strategy like a military operation and tie the dogs up. The wind is in my favour.

My heart is pounding.

Stealthily I creep through the marram grass. I am above the burn, I peer over the ledge, careful not to slip, not to make a sound. Silently I fit a long lens to my camera.

I am shaking, I cannot focus the camera, I zoom in and out. The image is blurred, the lighting is bad, but I am undeterred.

I can barely breathe, I creep forward,

My hands are shaking, my eyes mist up...

I have entered another world. I am in their world now. A magical world.

Amongst the washed up flotsom, the brush heads and the yellow welly, I spot a tail,

IT's not a SEAL this time.



There below me, playing in the burn is



I have not been spotted, yet

The otter calls, a high pitched, shrill whistle.

Who is she calling to? She's not very old, where is her mum, her brothers and sisters??



Suddenly, she slips into the water, have I frightened her, did she hear me breathe?

could she hear my heart pounding..??



There's another otter. Two cubs.

My very own RING OF BRIGHT WATER. I am in heaven.




I take photo after photo, but the light is almost gone.




The otter cubs call for their mother.. I am tempted to wait, to prolong the moment. I want to see what she has brought for her cubs. But she will be more wiley, more wary, more alert, she will spot me

and the magic will be gone.....





all images taken by Squidgy the Otter