caterpillars from hell

The mountain behind Loutraki, apparently called Mt Loutraki/Perahora is extremely interesting and very dramatic. I didnt expect it to be quite so exciting. The legally protected forest directly above Loutraki,(see photo for details about how it is protected...legally but not, as I found out, actually) and going towards the monastery of Agias Triadas, is very dry indeed, which means that there is vegetation which is unusual in its adaptation to these harsh conditions.

However, the conditions are now much harsher than even these tough plants have evolved to deal with. The lack of water...so that streams and springs are all dry...except one trickle, that was obviously once upon an time a torrent.. as one can see by the water loving trees of the riverine forest that are now trying to cling to life beside it..can only mean that a combination of climate change and uncontrolled extraction of the water for human use is destroying this very special environment. The legal protection afforded this unique place suggests that its value is well understood by those who understand these things. That it is rapaciously and illegally exploited by those who don`t understand these things, or, that if they DO understand they don`t care, means that legal protection, means NOTHING if the "political will" to enforce the law is missing.

Loutraki apparently used to be a high class resort.. and then the Casino came, and a lot of things changed. Certainly there is a lot of gambling going on.. and not just in the Casino. Have a look at the photo of the state of many of the trees in the forest. How much do you bet Loutraki`s forest will survive into the next century? No takers? what a surprise. Look also at the photo that shows just how many trees-what proportion of the forest -is in poor health.

One of the obvious symptoms of trouble in the pines is that they are (on this dry side of the mountain, where they are already in poor health) infested with the caterpillars from hell. These are the larvae of the Pine Processionary Moth, and they are without natural enemies and almost impossible to control by the poisons known to humanity because they are so fucking tough.

The photo shows the secret of their success.. they live in a nest woven of silk which provides absolute protection. Each horrid caterpillar is covered in awful hairs which are poisonous, so if you touch one you will get a very nasty reaction. I know because, where I used to live we had pine trees, and we used to biologically control the caterpillars by collecting the nests (using tools, so we didn`t actually touch them) and using them as fuel in our burner. Well, the warmth of the kitchen awakened the sleeping caterpillars (they return to their nests in the evening to avoid cold) and they emerged from their nest AND from the sack it was in. They proceeded to invade the house, and, unbeknown to me, crawled over my underwear (drying by the burner). Well, readers!!!! I had to spend the next two days sitting with my private parts in a cold bath.

In the two photos you can see the effect of an infestation of these caterpillars on a pine branch, and can contrast this with a branch in good condition. There is also a photo of a nest.

The caterpillars live in a tiny nest when they are tiny. They feed and excrete and soon they are two heavy for the nest they have built. So..in a solid lump they fall to the ground. Hitting the ground stimulates them, and they writhe and squirm, until one caterpillar starts to move in a purposeful way. They are programmed to follow this caterpillar, and head to tail they form long strings, and march until they happen upon another tree of the right kind. If they don`t find a tree.. they starve to death. Under natural circumstances this limits their survival. But where trees are close together and unhealthy, and there are no other tree species, they prosper and take over an entire forest.

On the dry side of the mountain at Loutraki the effect is catastrophic. On the damp side of the mountain, where the trees have the strength and health to repair themselves, it is negligable.

Few parasites are designed to kill their hosts.. and these caterpillars aren`t either, but where they are attacking hosts that are already weakened..well, you can see the results.

The pines they are attacking are the kind that include fire in their usual life cycle.. and obviously the caterpillars cannot survive fire..but now we try to control fire in the forests, so the caterpillars seem to be indestructable, and the forest very vulnerable indeed.

I knew George, who is allergic to most things, MUST be kept away from these bastards. BUT alas.. dust dropped on him from above.. and caused the rash you see in the photo..

Because the weather was cold and damp when I was in the Loutraki dry forest, the Pine Processionary Moth caterpillars were dormant. So I have included a picture of another kind of nest building caterpillar.. these parasitise wild pear trees..and you can see them just setting off for a day`s destruction of the pear tree. The sun warms them quickly because of the insulating qualities of the nest, and so they are able to be active earlier than other kinds of caterpillar.. which gives them an advantage.

YESSSS!!! I have even managed to post a VIDEO!!!!!!!!

It is below. It shows a group of YET ANOTHER kind of community living caterpillars..I saw these little buggers waking up in the sun..see how they all writhe and squirm as they are programmed to do, they do this for ages, and then one sets off..and everyone else can then set off too. I thought you`d lke to see their behaviour. At first when I saw them I wondered what on earth was causing this wriggling and lashing about. Then I realised: noone can move out of the nest til one accidentally moves off. Isn`t Nature wonderful?

Where good molluscs go bad. Welcome to sexyland.

We got across the canal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We reached Corinth outskirts the night before. We camped in the area of Agios Georgios where we were given a great big field to eat (GEORGE) and to camp in, (ME)

In the morning I awoke to find a blurred but sinister shape above me. It was a snail, trying to get me, but my wonderful tent was keeping it at bay...

was this a good omen or a bad one?

On our way to the bridge at Loutraki we had to cross the main street of Corinth.

George took the opportunity to release the inner child of many of the good burgers of the town by doing a large dropping in the square. There was a lot of sniggering, and NO gentlemanly attempts to spare my blushes by pretending nothing untoward had happened.

Quite the opposite:

Poooooooh!!!!! smellyyy!!! said someone in perfect English

Sue mentioned she would like to see some closeups of George. What redblooded horse owner could resist an invitation to show off the many excellences of her pride and joy? So..TWO photos of George - after we crossed the canal. Which..after all the fuss I made, and all the worrying and dreading I had been doing.. was REALLY easy.

George was totally unaffected by the noise of the traffic bumping over the bridge, which six years ago had sent him insane. There was hardly any traffic. So we walked across the bridge. Cars waited patiently, drivers waved in a friendly way. Couldn`t have been easier.

But I had got myself so worked up that I had to have a couple of hours rest once we got across.

Last time we crossed the canal we then went into Loutraki, passing a huge sign which said "Welcome to sexy land"

I don`t know if the sign is still there as I decided NOT to go into Loutraki and along the promenade, but to go up into the forest above Loutraki and cross the mountain there.

Ought to be easy but was difficult. You see the roads and those on my map had no real similarity. Well. When I found myself on a four lane highway, I decided I`d better ask someone where I was. I spotted an outrageously handsome young man unpacking his sports equipment from his posh car prior to going into a sports centre.

Excuse me..I said.. could you help me?"

He gave a start, like a frightened fawn, and then ignored me. So I asked again.

"depends what kind of help" he said sheepishly.

Whatever kind of help did he THINK I wanted?

He was relieved to find I only wanted him to look at and interpret the map.

For several hours George and I climbed the steep paths into that very interesting and splendid forest.

It was when we stopped for the night that I realised that maybe it was something about my appearance that may have unnerved the young man in Loutraki.

Split crotch johdpurs.! Just the thing for sexyland, of course..but..

But enough to make any respectable young man very apprehensive indeed.

O the shame!!!!! I`ve mended the johds now, but I have to wear my fleece, tied round my waist and covering my bum....and I`ll have to do that until I get to a place which sells sweat pants..,because my OTHER johds gave up the ghost some time ago.. though less publicly..

More about the very wonderful forest above Loutraki later.. I`m writing this in an internet cafe because POXY VODAPHONE have yet again messed up my contract...

Just a quick reminder that if you go to MY COMPLETE PROFILE you can find two other lesser blogs: About George and Bling`s Blog. Both of these have got extra info..

And also don`t forget to have a look at the PAGES.

Blog again soon as I get Vodaphone under control...

Welcome to all new followers, and great to hear from all the people who left comments.

poison is queen

From Erymanthos we got to Klitoria..lots of opportunities for adolescent humour in that name..and from there we went to Planeteri. We went there because we met some Norwegian persons, who recognised me and G from Athens News, and they recommended it. And very strange it was too. The waters come out of the ground at Planeteri in a very dramatic way. There is a most splendid plane forest there. And also,the first fish farm in the Balkans. They produce trout and salmon.
We camped in an abandoned restaurant. There was hardly any grass to be found for George, but luckily we had a large amount of corn that some nice people in Klitoria had given us.
Next morning we set off up Helmos. When we were most of the way up we met some local persons digging a hole in the road, in order to get water for a village lower down the mountain. Since the name of that village is "Valtos" (Marsh) This must be an indication of climate change, or change of water use. The state of the mature, but not elderly, firs on the mountain is also indicative of some kind of change-almost certainly in the water table on the mountain. You can see from the photo that a worryingly large proportion of trees are dead or dying.
While we were chatting with one of the guys George took the opportunity to snatch some grass.
"Don`t let him eat!!" he said in an agony of concern.

"The snow sucks poison out of the ground and spreads it over the grass"
It seemed that he thought that this happens on all mountains, not just Helmos.
To avoid upsetting the guy, George and I had to travel another half hour before we could stop for a break. I couldn`t bear for this kind person to feel that I didn`t believe him.
So far George has not suffered any ill effects.

Where we stopped for George to graze there were some juniper bushes. On these there were strange jelly- like excrescences. They were translucent and weird. I`ve never seen anything like them. I thought they might be some kind of parasitic fungus. I`m still not sure that they aren`t. But when I looked with my hand lens I saw tiny orange maggot type creatures on them. If you look in then photo carefully you can see them. Had they made the jelly, or were they feeding on it? anyone who knows the answer please comment.

Next we revisited Stymfalia. As we approached there was the most incredible noise like the clamour at a nesting colony of birds.. what could it be?
FROGS!! Stymfalia was full of water, and the frogs were as noisy as I have ever heard them.
I decided to stop and record them. Unaccountably, and of one accord, they fell silent.
Stymfalia seemed in really good shape though . It has actually dried up completely recently, so this very wet winter has helped it. Lets hope that some improvement in what the EU persists in calling "wise use" of water policies will protect the lake for the future.

You`ll be glad to hear that the bronze taloned birds are still in residence. Or something WORSE actually lives in the reeds. George noticed them. These birds are normally invisible, because they are small and unassuming. However they make noise like pigs being slaughtered. So of course George went into freakout mode. Eventually one of these birds, known as water rails, emerged from the reeds onto our path. Research has shown that people would rather believe what they believe than change their opinion when faced with absolute proof that what they believe is bollocks. George is the same. He refused to admit that this small bird was the cause of the terrifying noise, and went on being terrified.
Nemea? This is where the Death fairy holds her court.
She organises the local people -the Pera Brisi taverna in Asprocambos is the centre of her activities-so that they carry out her plan to wipe out all oxygen breathing life on earth. They also deal with the threat posed by visiting environmentalists by vastly overcharging them so they don`t want to come back.

The Death fairy is absolutely inexorable in her attack on life.. and attends to every tiny detail. For example, no one is permitted to dispose of any poison container safely. In the photo you can see how every empty bottle carelessly chucked away furthers her plan of total destruction of the environment.Even an empty bottle can do useful work killing off plant life in areas not normally dealt with by vine growers.

These people have formed an association, the title of which when translated into English is something like "The Pan Nemean Association for the Prevention of Photosynthesis". This organisation is hugely powerful, and its aims are furthered by the widespread and constant use of herbicides to attack PLANT LIFE. As we know, plants conduct photosynthesis, and thus reduce carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. We all know that if the rainforests go, we go too.

The Death Fairy has worked hard and long to get rid of the rainforests, and is now attacking Greece. Nemea seemed a good place to start because her plans had already been well advanced by the vine growers.

No but seriously.. it must have been a fairy that made the people decide to destroy themselves, and their environment, and their source of income -mustn`t it?

Couldn`t have been multinational agribusiness, could it?

Look at the photos of the poisoned ground..which is for the spreading of nets..to dry grapes..NEXT Autumn. The herbicide is spread now to keep these HUGE areas clean of all life all year round. I have also put a photo of the traditional way of keeping the ground clear of high growing plants (grazing by sheep and goats) The Death fairy has managed to stop this healthy and traditonal practice almost everywhere.

Then just LOOK at what she has persuaded the vine growers to do to the land.

There are signs telling motorists to follow the "wine routes" of Nemea. But somehow its not quite like the "wine routes "in France. Elegant chateaux? No! what rich educated person would choose to live amidst such a countryside and risk their health and that of their children?

In France the vineyards often have some semblance of life. They have even bred a small sheep that can live in vineyards, eating up the unwanted grasses, but not tall enough to harm the vines or steal grapes.

The Death fairy HATES that kind of thinking, and forbids her followers to get ideas like that.

In the small areas not poisoned (tops of hills, rocky outcrops, riversides) there is still considerable biodiversity. But compared to the hills with the same type of Geology which are protected near Stymfalia, the variety of life is strikingly less abundant.

Travelling through Nemea is still a very sad thing to do.

Messinia, which was even worse 6 years ago, is much better now, with great increases in organic production, two or three particularly harmful chemicals have been banned, and the ban seems to be working.

The olive tree people of Messinia are changing their ways, slowly, but definately.

The Death fairy has lost ground there. So she has concentrated on making sure that the vine workers remain unreconstructed.

Such a dreadful thing to see.

signs

As usual photos are in the wrong order, BUT since I needed cheering up, and these signs amused me they may amuse youall too. The bottom one made me laugh a lot...and if it were true Bling would still be alive.

Everyone I ask says that it is hunters that put out poison..I`m still obsessively asking people about poison...up here on Erymanthos it is usually put out in bits of chicken, so a lady whose husband had lost his valuable German Shepherd told me.

All agree that it is hunters that do it. As if we needed proof that there are plenty of intellectually challenged hunters about look at t he next sign...er??? yes it seems that the poor pig farmers have been losing their pigs to.. hunters. I saw some of these pigs.. they are kind of crossbred pigs and boar. They REALLY arent in the least wild, and don`t look like boar..so??? duh!

Next photo shows George after climbing Mt Erymanthos... he is now on the way down.

But something in his expression suggests that there is a LOT of uphill in the Southern mountains. He didn`t even have to carry his fat rider, as we met two donkeys who came with us and gave George the horrors, so I had to walk.

The last photo is of Perywinkles in the frost.. just to prove that its pretty damn cold up here in the mountains. But also I thought the blue and the grey looked so nice together.

Erymanthos is a very fine mountain indeed, and before you get to it you can pass through a most AMAZING oak forest near the village of Panopoulos.

On Erymanthos there is a large area of stoney splendour, then some Firs, and then some wonderful holme oaks, and then there is also a fabulous plane forest. And crystal streams?you betcha! think of the best crystal torrent you know, Erymanthos has got one just as good.

Also, in one of these streams I found tiny molluscs, the like of which I have never seen. I think they are kind of mussels, but I`m not sure. Each one is about 1cm max, and they put out those rude looking..things.. are they feet? eyes? reproductive organs?

I`ll have to wait til I get home to find out, unless someone can tell me on the blog.

failed!!!

Well..yes, well...I saw the newspaper..all very nice and so on but NOTHING about poison (surprise) the local broadcast..people have been stopping me all day to congatulate me on my prospathia...but NOTHING about poison.
Then an hour`s faffing about with ERT where I managed to stumble out some stuff about changes to the environment and then suddenly its the Dimarchos talking, and I haven`t said a WORD about poison,and then its the ippikos omylos talking and I havnt said a word
about poison...I don`t think I`m cut out for diplomacy.....
Not news to anyone who knows me, not news for me, but I really did think I`d manage SOMETHING. Next time.
It was very nice..I was just walking through the village of Tragano when an old bloke who was sitting reading the local newspaper jumped up and rushed across the road to shake my hand.
"I was just reading about you!" he said "and I looked up, and there you were!"
The dimarchos of Tragano also stopped his car when he saw me, and sweetly, got out of the car and gave me a carton of orange juice to take with me. Lovely!!!

Hitting the bigtime

.

Well, here we are in Andravida. George is looking out of his STABLE, which he doesnt really like much, he has just been being gussied up for the telly. He, and two pedigree Andravidan horses went to the Frankish church and showed off for the local programme. You can see the two horses, with their riders, Kostas (our host) and Sakis. Pretty fine horses (though overmartingaled bitted and almost everything else) and excellent temperaments.

You can also see a whole lot of media persons. The Dimarchos arranged this extravaganza.. and suddenly I find myself riding through the streets of Andravida attracting a large crowd to talk to the telly.. who I NEVER talk to. And, oh, the newspapers, ditto.

BUT this time I had a plan. I would talk to them as long as I got the chance to talk about poison in the mountains to LOADS of people. AND I DID. You`d have been proud of me readers. Its just whether what I said gets cut or not...

There`s another chance though... ERT picked it up and asked me to stay another day for a detailed live report.. not about poisoned dogs, natch, but about the Greek environment. But they agreed to let me say a bit about it, and they said they wouldnt be able to cut it afterwards as it was going out LIVE.

So everyone, please watch ERT (OK, I don`t know which ERT,I just know it goes all over Greece,) and the minute you see me incoherently trying to explain stuff in excrable Greek phone the channel and tell them "YEAH, I lost a dog too.." and so on. You never know it might do some good...

Evil is unspectacular and always human

Please go to You Tube and for this Blog`s theme, which I still am not able to put a link for you for.......please choose Don Edwards singing COYOTES. this is for two reasons: it is another song which is elegaic in its theme.. a celebration and regret of what we are losing, and more especially it is about those survivors..coyotes, or jackals.
When I was at Isari, not far from Lykaeio, and hardly ANY distance where I saw all the dead foxes, and was able, by putting her on her lead, to save Bling from that particular mass poisoning event, I heard Jackals singing. Although I have seen jackals before, and lived in a village where they sometimes returned the village dogs evening bark, this was the loveliest chorus.
I only heard it because three children, Armando, Ronaldo and Julia, told me that I might hear them. They told me about the song with great pride. It was something special that their adopted village (they were from Albania) could offer a nature
loving visitor.
So that night, when the dogs did what in 101 Dalmatians Walt Disney calls the "twilight bark" I listened. And sure enough, suddenly, the dogs fell silent as the voice of the wilderness filled the air with its strange and eerie beauty.
At that time I didnt know about the deadly capsules that did for Bling. I knew that foxes were systematically attacked in that area, but I thought it was with the "usual" poison that these arseholes put out all over Greece.
I had wondered why all the foxes had died right near the path, as in my (unfortunately extensive) experience ,what wild animals do when poisoned is creep away to die in a hidden place, they don`t drop dead on the spot. That was before I knew what a deadly deadly cocktail was being fed..before I had seen a capsule.
And now that I do know what people are capable of doing to their own home mountains, then I realised how little likelihood there is that Julia, Armando and Ronaldo will continue to be delighted by the jackals, and how I may be one of the last travellers to that lovely place to hear them.
That seems to me something that needs to be said again.
How can there be an agency that sells idiots the possibility of wiping out something as lovely as a jackal`s song? Some "humans" are enabling other "humans" to destroy everything that is truly beautiful. It can only be for commercial reasons.
Another thing, as one comment on my previous post points out, is that these capsules are likely to be attractive to children too. We all know that, whatever you do ,a toddler`s first impulse is to stuff something interestingly new in its mouth. I lost Bling. But someone could have lost a child.
I also got an email from someone who tells me that in her village goats and sheep have also fallen victim to poison. The police? "bring us the body of the poisoned creature and we will conduct an investigation."
Yeah right.
In a village I lived in the cop and the mayor were the two people who did the poisoning.. albeit with the less immediately lethal, but neverthe less murderous , mixtures of herbicides and other domestic items which they make up to their own particular recipes.
OK thats it for poisons for the time being.
I`ll be back with a proper blog soon.
Don`t forget to listen to Don Edwards explaining why we need coyotes.
The quote in the title of this post is from a poem by Auden entitled "Herman Melville."

"

Good dog Bling

Today Bling was murdered. Fortunately she had had a lovely morning, and the week we have been on the road she has enjoyed almost constantly. So her life was chock full of joy.

I tried everything to keep her safe.But, actually, whatever one does one cannot keep pets in Greece safe from the malevolence of other humans.

In Greece, where poison is so common and so dangerous, you feel that you are helpless to protect those creatures that you love and who are dependant on you. Not being able to keep a dependant and beloved creature safe makes you helpless and angry.

After I reached Krana I was so full of grief and fury that I shouted at everyone, that there was someone, amongst them who they must control.

Of course I was incoherent and sobbing, but perhaps they understood something about their responsibility for keeping death off the mountain. Some people said that if their dog was killed they would be after the perpetrator with a caribina. Another said, we can`t stop it, it happens every year, the police can`t catch them. Another said.."He could at least have made a written sign to warn people coming up the track."

But NO warning would have kept Bling safe- she was on the lead. If it had been normal poison, which is put in a bit of meat or sausage, I would have seen it.

But this was different from what I have ever seen. A man in Krana asked me what it was. It was a white capsule..a bit like the special dog treats I bought for Bling.. no wonder she grabbed it. She spat it out immediately, but the man in Krana told me that these capsules, which are sugary on the outside, and which have yellow beads inside, are so potent that when the animal bites it, and it breaks, they are dead.

These are, unsurprisingly, illegal. I had never even heard of them.

But the man in Krana told me, some people have access to them. usually illegal hunters get them, because they want to kill foxes. If an animal bites one of these they are dead straight away. Like those suicide pills that spies are rumoured to carry.

There are several organisations which work to stop the use of poison in towns to get rid of strays. We must also do something to stop this slaughter in the wildplaces.

For the time being, EVERYONE, every where , the mountains of Greece are deadly for dogs. I don`t know how you can go for a walk and keep your dog safe..Bling was ON THE LEAD, I was watching for poison..and I failed totally to protect her.

There are irresponsible criminals who want to kill foxes or beechmartens, and don`t care what else they kill. Its bad enough that they can kill foxes and dogs and get away with it, but also, how many bears and wolves and jackals fall victim to these people?

People ask me all the time if I mind being alone. Usually I am Ok.

But sometimes, when I need someone to comfort me, being alone is almost unbearable.

Here are two of the last pictures of Bling. She was always so full of joy and zest for life.

In these photos you can see how pleased she is that she is coming when called, and will get a reward.

She SO loved being on trips with George. She enjoyed everything. She loved it when I made up her little tent out of saddle bag and George`s Numnah. She was so happy and proud when I got her a bucket of water to drink, because she didnt want to have water in her bowl, but to lap water from a bucket, just like George.

Oh no I`ve started crying again.