THE famous white stripes of the humble badger seem to have been put to an unusual use lately, saving the taxpayer money for paint and council contractors a few seconds on their long days. Reader Kevin Maul was on his way home from work when he noticed double white lines had been painted on an S bend near the county border on the A338. Lying sadly amid the fresh paint, however, was a badger who had breathed his last more than a week before. Mr Maul, who had been posting flyers for his business Lawntender around Fordingbridge and Damerham, said: “I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw him, this poor old badger who had been there over a week. “I’d seen him every day as I went by and wondered if he was going to be picked up. Then on Friday I drove home to see his body between the lines – they had painted the road, but left a gap where he lay.” More
(AD Remarks ~ This shows the strange happenings we have these days! A few years ago, surely the line painters would have removed the poor animal with a shovel in seconds.)
There are now more accidents involving deer than ever before – and the problem is getting worse. Gary Ennes had only one thing on his mind as he drove his Ford Fiesta home one evening along the A1060 in Essex, with his workmates following 100 yards behind. It was early December and after a long day at work Gary was thinking ahead to a family party planned for Christmas Day. Sadly, he never made it. “The next thing I remember was waking up; I thought it was the day after,” says the 60-year-old electrician, “except that I was in a strange bed…” In fact he was in intensive care and just regaining consciousness after hovering on the brink of death for five weeks. “I woke up in a different year,” Gary says. To the horror of his workmates, a deer bounded across the road and cannoned through Gary’s windscreen before crashing straight out again through the rear window. He was left fighting for his life with nine skull fractures, a smashed jawbone, a brain haemorrhage, a broken wrist and thumb. It took three years of painful operations and rehabilitation before he returned to work. A freak, one-off accident? Sadly not. Gary’s experience is far from unusual and, as figures obtained by Telegraph Motoring show, it’s becoming an increasingly common scenario. Experts we consulted estimate that accidents involving deer on British roads are on the rise by up to six per cent a year. We shouldn’t be surprised; traffic levels are rising and there are more deer than at any time in the past 1,000 years thanks to mild winters and more woodland cover. An average of 15 to 20 motorists die each year after encounters similar to Gary’s. A further 1,100 are seriously injured and some 700 sustain less serious injuries. More
(AD Remarks ~ A much under-estimated problem on the roads. For the drivers there is not much that can be done to avoid the animals, given so little reaction time. Perhaps roads can be protected more from this risk in know areas.)
A local Labrador helped himself get out of a scorching situation by taking matters into his own paws. Donna Gardner said 11-year-old Max is not just a dog. He’s like another member of the family. “You have to know Max,” Gardner said. “He’s a very smart dog and he just does things that I don’t think a normal dog does all the time.” The chocolate lab proved that a couple weeks ago. Gardner said she took Max with her when she ran an errand, but forgot the dog was still in the car when she returned home. “I came in and started cleaning and about an hour later I heard a horn blow,” she said. Gardner went outside, but didn’t see anybody. “So, I came back in the house and I started cleaning again and the horn blew again,” she said. This time, Gardner said she saw Max sitting in the driver’s seat of her car. More
(AD Remarks ~ Bet he was barking mad to be left in that heat!)
A STOWAWAY cat hitched a 30 mile lift in a BMW’s spare wheel compartment – but was only discovered when the driver reached Beaconsfield. The tail of a female tabby was spotted sticking out the side of the car when the motorist stopped off at the Beaconsfield service area off junction 2 of the M40. However, it could have been an even longer journey for the unwitting furry traveller on Saturday. The pair were travelling from London to Manchester and only stopped to get a drink. Station Manager Danny Whitelock from Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service was called out at 11.43am. He said: “As the driver got out of the car he noticed something sticking out near the back wheel, above ground level. “He touched it and it moved and he realised it was a cat’s tail. More
(AD Comments ~ Wonder if there will be a happy ending with the cat safely reunited with it owners?)
Wildlife campaigners are calling for more “amphibian-friendly” roads to protect common toads from being crushed under vehicles during their spring migration to breeding ponds across the country. Volunteers for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (Arc) are hoping to save nearly 40,000 migrating toads from road traffic this year. The charity has urged authorities to introduce measures to help the amphibians, such as “toad tunnels”, wildlife bridges and lowered kerbs that the creatures can climb. Meanwhile, under Arc’s annual Toads on Roads scheme, people carrying torches and buckets will head out during spring evening to help the toads cross busy roads at designated points. More
(AD Comment ~ Will the authorities spend any money on such schemes, when they are unable to afford to grit and repair our roads anyway? When all these tunnels and bridges dont appear, the campaigners may well be hopping mad themselves!)
County Durham man banned from driving after cyclist reported seeing pet being dragged along country lane. A dog owner too lazy to walk his pet has lost his driving licence after getting caught walking the animal while driving his car. Paul Railton, 23, of County Durham, had wound down the window of his Nissan Navara to exercise his lurcher when police caught him. Officers reported seeing him driving at 5mph along a country lane. Yesterday, at Consett magistrates court, Railton pleaded guilty to not being in proper control of a vehicle. Sharon Lowrie, prosecuting, said a cyclist alerted police that two men were dragging a dog along from a car. She said: “The driver was hanging on to the dog’s lead through the driver window, approaching a blind summit.” Railton was told to put the dog in the back of the car and was allowed to go, but five days later police turned up at his home to charge him. A police statement read out to the court said that “due to the narrow road there was no area for other cars to pass ng pet being dragged along country lane. More
(AD Comment ~ An unusual way to lose your licence.)
Motorway traffic was brought to a standstill in Blackpool on Sunday as police attempted to catch an escaped wallaby. The animal, which is privately owned, was seen bouncing down a road near to Junction 4 of the M55. Police slowed traffic while RSPCA inspectors attempted to catch the animal. A Lancashire Police helicopter was also at the scene. The drama began at 8.55am after several motorists called 999. It ended four hours later when a vet was drafted in from Blackpool Zoo to sedate the wallaby with a tranquilliser dart. The animal, which was cornered by police in a garden, is now safely back with its owner. Insp Alistair Campbell of Blackpool Police: “We had nine officers at the scene and the police helicopter was also deployed. We slowed traffic on the motorway down to 30mph. More
(AD Comments ~ Nice to see such a large Police pressence to corner the escaped marsupial)
While listening to Bill Carpenter describe what happened to his SUV Wednesday night, you’d think he had been attacked during a safari. But he and his wife Deena were driving home from church on U.S. 81 in Enid when they hit an elephant. “Probably half a dozen people said ‘you hit a what?,”" Bill recounted with a smile. Enid Police say the 4,500-pound animal ran down the street from the Garfield County Fairgrounds after being spooked by an employee with the Family Fun Circus. Part of its tusk ripped a hole in bill’s car, and broke off. More
(AD Suggests ~ Could have been much more serious! And a good story for the old guy to tell.)
Highways Agency highlights the dangers to deer and road users during autumn and the following spring. Up to 74,000 collisions between vehicles and deer happen on UK roads each year, figures from the Highways Agency show. Most deer are killed but thousands are left to die of injuries and the worst times of year are coming up; autumn and spring, especially around dawn and dusk. The Agency reports that each year people are killed and injured in road collisions with wild deer, and there have been over 1,000 deer-vehicle collisions recorded since September 2007 on the motorway and A-road network alone. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Generally quite small animals, but can cause some severe damage)
A tortoise nicknamed Freeway crossed five lanes of London’s M25 motorway and survived. Driver John Formby spotted Freeway and pulled over to rescue him. Mr Formby, from Worthing, said: “I saw this bundle in the road and thought it was a bit of debris. I went to swerve it but noticed it was moving – then saw it had a head. “I couldn’t believe it was a tortoise crossing the motorway, through traffic travelling at 70mph. “I pulled over and ran 400 yards back up the road to get it. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Very lucky to survive, and could have caused a dangerous situtaion on the motorway)
Global warming has led to a change in their breeding and migrating patterns and this has forced the Department for Transport into a rethink on the rules which governing temporary road signs. As the law stands councils can only put up “migratory toad crossing” signs between February and May. But under the changes announced by the DfT these signs will go up in January giving the toad – officially a “biodiversity priority species” – an extra month’s protection. It is estimated that there are around eight million toads in Britain, rather fewer than there were just after the war. The European Common Toad is found throughout the country, while the Natterjack is found in north west and southern England, according to John Wilkinson, research officer with Amphibian and Reptile Conservation. “Because of changes in our climate they are breeding and migrating earlier in the year,” Mr Wilkinson added. More
(AD Thoughts ~ This might just save loads of toads from the roads)
Catherine Lawrence’s face was badly bruised and her car written off after the collision with the horse near Tasman. Catherine Lawrence thought the airbag had gone off in her car after she crashed. It came as a shock when she realised it was actually a horse. Mrs Lawrence, 74, is nursing a badly bruised face and injured eye, but is lucky to be alive after the horse catapulted through her windscreen into her Nissan March on Wednesday night. The horse was killed instantly and ended up draped across the seats, while the roof was peeled back by the impact. More
(AD Comments ~ Shows how dangerous large animals can be to motorists. Horses can be very unpredicatable when they get frightened)
Miss Dixon-Yeung, 27, was driving to the supermarket when the creature appeared from beneath the bonnet of her silver Audi TT. She enlisted the help of Asda worker Joe Moore to remove the removed the reptile, which was later identified as a harmless North American corn snake. It was then released in fields at the back of the store in York. Miss Dixon-Yeung said: “I’d been away on a conference so I jumped in the car to pick up some groceries last week. “It was a very hot day and I had the windows down and my music blasting out when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the windscreen. “It was bright orange and I soon realised it was some sort of snake trying to get in to my car. I’m absolutely terrified of snakes so I panicked and reached for the button to do up the windows, but I was shaking so much I couldn’t do it. “I daren’t stop in case it got me so I really put my foot down and swerved the car quickly from side to side to try and shake the thing off. Other drivers must have thought I’d gone mad. More
(AD Thoughts ~ Snakes alive!)
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