GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

Malcolm Ogilvie · 15-05-2015, 08:28 AM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On Thu, 14 May 2015 08:59:08 +0100 (BST),
(Nick Maclaren) wrote:

In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

There not room for lynxes (or wolves) to be reintroduced here and I just
wish people would stop banging on about it.
Yes once upon a time we had them, in the 17th century. i have enough
nuisance with foxes without lynxes or wolves being reintroduced.

You are factually wrong as regard lynx. There is ample room; whether
there is for wolves is more debatable, but the answer is "yes, with
reservations." Also, your implications are nonsense. Even the
wildest of foxes are naturally scavengers, and do not avoid humans;
neither lynx nor wolves are, and both do. Furthermore, there are
plenty of places where lynx come into contact with human habitation,
and there is essentially no problem.

So far, I have never seen anyone argue rationally against lynx;
every single one has used purely emotional fury. I could provide
some (weak and dubious) rational arguments against, but opponents
don't seem capable of even that.

Well said, Nick!

Tina, as usual one might say, puts emotion way ahead of facts, when in
fact she should be supporting the introduction of lynx because in some
areas they prey on red foxes! Here's part of an abstract of a Swedish
study of the effects of introduced lynx on the existing red fox
population:

"The annual lynx predation rate was 14% on radio-tracked foxes and 4%
on snow-tracked foxes. The population indices of foxes in the main
study area decreased by about 10% annually during the study period.
The population decrease could potentially be explained by lynx
predation alone, but we acknowledge some alternative explanations. Our
results point out the possibility that red fox populations can be
significantly limited by allowing lynx populations to recover."