Sawfish

If you have any underwater trees that need harvesting, the Sawfish is the underwater robotic device for you.

The Sawfish swims up to your submerged tree, attaches an airbag to it and cuts the trunk with its 55 inch chainsaw.

It is estimated that there are 200 million trees at the bottom of lakes created by hydro dams.

There was a murder in my kitchen last night.

It's not unusual for me to come home and find an anatomy lesson laid out on the door mat. Meadow voles, mice and shrews are the usual subject. But last night when I opened the door I was really upset to see a slender but bloodied white corpse laid out to greet me.

Although the body had been moved from the scene of the crime, it didn't take long to find the location of the dastardly deed. In the kitchen the garbage bin, recycling boxes and compost buckets had all been disturbed in the fight. My first instincts told me the cats were the prime suspects, but then I noticed a clue as the true perpetrator of the crime. Blood was splattered up the side of the kitchen cupboards and across the ceiling. This must surely have been the work of Hannah, who has been known to dispatch a hare with a quick back-breaking flick of her head.

This is no way to treat a house guest. The victim could well have been the same weasel that has been visiting our house in winter for several years. A much better rodent control operative than any cat we ever had. We used to hear it galloping through the ceiling space, but the renovation we had done a couple of years ago probably stopped its access to that safe haven. This year he took up residence behind the fridge, probably sleeping on the evaporator plate on top of the compressor motor. We had been concerned about what would happen if the cats cornered it, expecting the weasel to inflict serious harm, if not death, so for a week or so we kept the cats and dogs out of the kitchen unless supervised. But then the weather warmed up and we didn't see it for a few days and thought it had moved out. Unfortunately not.

Its hard not to feel sad about the demise of this lovely creature, but it had probably killed something every day of its life. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

Guinness really is good for you

According to this BBC report, Guinness can prevent those nasty blood clots that can cause a heart attack.

As a long-time drinker of the black stuff, this can only be good news. I'm not so pleased about the fact that these tests were carried out on dogs.

Still on the subject of Guinness, I recently came across bottles of draught Guiness in the liquor store with a new widget that allows one to drink straight from the bottle. I always thought that canned 'draught' was a compromise, but drinking beer from a bottle is just so uncouth I just don't think I could bring myself to try this product. Well, maybe I'll twist my arm, if just to say I tried it.

The Hermit of Gully Lake.

Willard Kitchener MacDonald has lived a reclusive life since the mid 1940's in the woods around Gully Lake in Nova Scotia. In May 2003 a flue fire burnt his hut to the ground, along with an area of surrounding forest.

He was reported missing earlier this week by friends who haven't seen him since Sunday. Yesterday's snow storm hampered the search.

An unusual visitor

Last night while I was working at the computer I heard a noise at the window. Looking around, I saw a bird struggling to find a perch on the ledge of the office window. It didn't seem concerned about my presence so I moved closer to the window and saw it was a very small owl. I made a sqeeky noise with my lips and its head swivelled right around to look straight at me with its big yellow eyes. But it held its ground for maybe another minute as it surveyed the gravel car park and lawn in front of my studio, no doubt on the look out for food. It is welcome to all the rodents it can catch around here.

I am sure that this must be a Northern Saw-whet Owl from its small size. I checked out the structure of the vinyl window this morning and find it hard to believe that it found a foothold there.

This is my second encounter with a Saw-whet. The first was a few years ago at dusk when I was taking the dogs for a rather late walk. We were following a path I have hacked through the alders at the back of our house, and this owl was perched just above head height. Again I was surprised how tolerant it was of our presence, especially with four dogs running around. As we drew close it flew off down the path where it found another perch where it waited again until we got just that little bit too close.

Suffolk Punch DNA bank

According to this BBC report, there are only 18 stallions on the studbook for this magnificent breed of horse, which over the centuries has carried men into battle, pulled their ploughs and hauled their timber.

Now the Rare Breeds Survival Trust is raising money to preserve DNA from this and other rare breeds of British livestock, some of which are rarer than the Giant Panda.

Let me find you a filly for your proud stallion seed
to keep the old line going.
And we'll stand you abreast at the back of the wood
behind the young trees growing
To hide you from eyes that mock at your girth,
and your eighteen hands at the shoulder
And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
and the nights are seen to draw colder
They'll beg for your strength, your gentle power
your noble grace and your bearing
And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
in the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

Read all the lyrics to Heavy Horses by Jethro Tull.