{"id":19818,"date":"2019-06-02T13:06:50","date_gmt":"2019-06-02T13:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/?p=19818"},"modified":"2021-01-19T13:37:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T13:37:59","slug":"nature-take-it-or-leave-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/nature-take-it-or-leave-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Nature: Take it or leave it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Ben<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I come from a family of hoarders, and much of my childhood was spent slavishly furthering that great tradition \u2013 toy buses, coins, Dandy comics, badges, postcards, stamps, those utterly useless wee sheathed pens you used to get at every visitor attraction across the land, and much more besides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A lifetime of stuff. And yep, I\u2019ve still got them! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, unless you count Munro-bagging<\/a> as collecting (it\u2019s difficult to take a mountain home thank goodness!), my urge to collect dissipated into my teenage years and I naively assumed my collecting days were long behind me. But 30 years later, when I clean the inside of my car before taking it for a service, I\u2019m reminded how I\u2019ve made a spectacular return to old habits and how insidiously my vocation fills every nook and cranny of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nLike most hillwalkers\u2019 vehicles mine is a Tracey Emin-style modern\nart installation depicting my recent walking history. The seats are\nlittered with random kit, maps, leaflets and expired car park or\nferry tickets, and the footwell carpet is coated in dried seeds, sand\nand small stones. However, in the storage tray on the driver\u2019s door\nI find an assortment of different coloured snail shells from\nSutherland. In the passenger door, a handful of nibbled scots pine\ncones I\u2019d collected to teach local primary school kids about red\nsquirrels. In the pit below the hand brake, a scallop shell from\nHarris and a flaky grey stone from West Lothian, imprinted with a\nfossilised leaf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
How can you resist?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nBeneath the mass of papers on the back seat I discover a protective\nglass pot wrapped in a freezer bag. Inside is a grey paper sphere the\nsize of a table tennis ball – a wasp nest I had to remove from the\nranger hut at Linn of Dee last summer. It has a dozen hexagonal cells\ninside it, half of which contain the silk cocoons of wasp larvae that\nnever hatched. \u201cWhy\u2019s it there?\u201d you ask. Erm\u2026why not? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThe car now clean, I drive it down to the local garage. Before\ngetting out I open the glove compartment to get the locking wheel nut\nready for the mechanics. Fumbling blindly, I instead find a fox skull\nand three ptarmigan feathers that I happened upon on a remote\nhillside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phenomenon isn\u2019t confined to my car, of course. As I sit typing away in the kitchen, over on the windowsill I can see the old wren nest that tumbled out of some bushes we were clearing over the winter. Upstairs are a perfect pair of red deer antlers** that I found lying next to one another in the Cairngorms<\/a>, exactly where they\u2019d fallen from the stag\u2019s head. The only such pair I have ever found. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOver in the porch, behind the shoe shelf, stands an unremarkable\nstick of birch from an Argyll lochside, perhaps 2ft long. Look closer\nand you\u2019ll see how one end has been cut cleanly and diagonally by\nbeaver teeth. It was the first beaver evidence I\u2019d ever seen in\nScotland so yep, of course I took it home. And on the top shelf of\nthe bookcase sits a rather fierce but anaemic looking stuffed stoat.\nSomeone who reads my blog inherited it from her dad. She didn\u2019t\nwant it in her house but didn\u2019t want to throw it away either, so\nshe gave it to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nThere\u2019s much more at home if you care to look, but let\u2019s turn our\nattention to my workplace. On my desk there\u2019s a red deer skull I\nfound on the estate. What purpose it now serves and how long it will\nsit there, well, who can say? And lastly, on the windowsill of my\nwork accommodation there\u2019s a Small White butterfly that I found\ndead under the sink when I moved back to the flat in the spring. I\nsaw no reason to dispose of it, it\u2019s rather pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nStrewn across both my work and my personal spaces, I\u2019ve accumulated\nthis random assemblage of items without any conscious thought, and I\nknow I\u2019m not alone in doing so. Many of us seem hardwired to\ncollect nature stuff, especially when we go away on holiday. But why?\nWhat\u2019s the point? What purpose does any of it serve other than to\nattract dust or to perhaps appal and unnerve our more squeamish, less\noutdoorsy friends? Are my natural trinkets any different to the other\npointless things I\u2019ve collected in the past?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mesmerising and seductive <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well, most of my natural curios evoke clear memories of places and experiences, so in that sense they\u2019re as much mementos or souvenirs as anything else I\u2019ve collected, but I\u2019m sure they\u2019re more than that too. For starters they can be exceedingly beautiful and, just like works of art, beautiful objects are nice to have around. The jay\u2019s feather I found in an Aberdeenshire<\/a> forest, for example, sports shades of blue so mesmerising and seductive I can barely believe it\u2019s real. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMoreover, having natural objects dotted about the place is oddly\ncomforting to me in a way that my childhood tat, oops\u2026..I mean,\n\u2018collectibles\u2019\u2026.just isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI genuinely like having something of the outdoors, indoors. If I was\nfeeling spiritual then I might describe taking natural objects into\nthe home as a kind of reverence I suppose, borne of respect and\nfascination for the unfathomably complex system that produced them.\nThey subsequently have an amazing ability to educate and enlighten,\nto help broaden my understanding of the species in question and, by\nextension the natural world in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nIt could be as simple as seeing how water beads on the surface of a\nfeather, which then gives you an insight into how birds stay dry, but\nmy most educational find recently has been the deer skull from\nInverey. I\u2019ve seen a lot of deer skulls in my time of course, but\nuntil now I\u2019d never actually studied one close up, so had never\nnoticed the wildly meandering lines on the cranium before. After some\nrummaging online I\u2019ve since learned how the skull is made up of\ndifferent plates (separated by these lines or \u2018sutures\u2019), whose\nmobility allows both the skull and the brain to grow. But in so doing\nI\u2019ve also learned that the more \u2018meandering\u2019 or interlocked the\nsutures on a skull are, the greater stresses and energy absorption\nthe skull can endure. Essential, if you\u2019re a stag headbutting its\nrivals during the rut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Every day is a school day<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\nI learn something new from almost everything I take, but as\nenlightening as my accidental hobby might be I do wonder if I should\nbe taking any of these things. When I started writing this article I\nintended it as an amusing and uplifting tribute to the natural world,\nbut given I eagerly espouse the ultra-low impact \u2018leave no trace\u2019\nethos, especially in my work as a ranger, I started to wonder if I\nwas being hypocritical. \u2018Take only photographs, leave only\nfootprints\u2019, <\/em>isn\u2019t that how the saying goes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nFeeling a wee bit adrift I put the question out on Twitter and was\nsurprised at how many people were already following a strict \u2018leave\nit where you find it\u2019 policy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u2018We built a small collection of minerals and work on the\nprinciple that if we\u2019ve already got a sample, we don\u2019t need\nanother. We still go looking for them, but now we just look and\nleave\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u2018I now take pictures on my phone of feathers, shells,\ninteresting plants etc and take those away with me instead\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u2018If we take things home then we have no reason to return to\nnature. Special things belong in special places\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nHave I been naively, albeit innocently, espousing the \u2018leave no\ntrace\u2019 ethos where it suits me, and flouting it where it doesn\u2019t?\nWhile such introspection might seem over-the-top, it\u2019s no bad thing\nto re-evaluate our environmental footprints on the places we pass\nthrough and visit, especially given our increasing numbers, both in\ngeneral population terms and in tourist numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cAch, don\u2019t be silly!\u201d I told myself. \u201cIt\u2019s only tiny\nthings you take and it\u2019s very low impact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nYep that\u2019s true, but that\u2019s the same mentality that sees people\ntake deadwood from a pine woodland for their fire, or not pick up\nafter their dog. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u201cWhat harm can it do?\u201d you think. \u201cIt\u2019s just me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nBut like so many things these days, no, it\u2019s not just you. One\nperson taking a small handful of deadwood from a native woodland on\none day of the year, very little impact. One person per day doing\nthat all through the summer, every summer, effectively stripping ALL\nthe deadwood from that woodland, the ecosystem is fundamentally\ndamaged. Possibly for years. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnd so it dawned on me, I had unwittingly become Candice-Marie from\nthat exquisite Dorset beach scene in Mike Leigh\u2019s 1976 film, \u2018Nuts\nin May\u2019:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith (her husband):<\/strong> What are you doing?
C-M:<\/strong> Just collecting some pebbles to take back.
Keith:<\/strong> Well, you shouldn’t do that, you know
C-M:<\/strong> Why not?
Keith:<\/strong> Well, if everybody did that there wouldn’t be any pebbles left.
C-M:<\/strong> Don’t be ridiculous, Keith.
Keith:<\/strong> Well, there wouldn’t. There are thousands of pebbles on this beach. I told you what happened at Brighton in Victorian times!
<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\nThe film is a well-observed commentary on earnest, self-appointed,\nrule-loving middle class guardians of the countryside that feels\nscarily close to home. I\u2019m not sure whether I\u2019m Candice-Marie,\nKeith, or even both at the same time, but there\u2019s truth in both\nviewpoints. Clearly some things are so abundant and widespread that\nthey will not be missed if they are absent. But that\u2019s not to say\nthey aren\u2019t valuable to ecosystems in themselves. Not pebbles on a\nbeach, necessarily, but as someone on Twitter did point out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\u2018In Greenland I was told that musk ox remains were legally\nprotected from disturbance. Didn\u2019t know why, but looking at the way\na little ecosystem thrived off them\u2026.everything plays a part in a\nhuge system\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nRespondents rightly acknowledged the questions of abundance or rarity\nwhen taking things, and responsibly advocated restraint in protected\nareas, but there was a general perception that \u2018waste products\u2019\nwere, for the most part, okay to take. That\u2019s pretty much where my\nown views probably were, but I\u2019m also keenly aware that in nature\ngenerally, nothing is wasted. Everything that is seemingly left\nbehind as waste is extremely important in both decomposition and\nnutrient recycling. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Take it or leave it? I did the latter. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\nI\u2019ve seen loads of bird nests lined with other species\u2019 feathers.\nAnd how about antlers? Examine any you find on a hillside and you\u2019ll\nlikely see teeth marks from all manner of mammals, including other\ndeer, as they\u2019re a valuable source of calcium and other nutrients.\nI\u2019ve been as guilty as anyone else for picking an antler up and\nthinking \u201cach, it\u2019s just one antler. There must be loads of\nothers out there\u201d. But who else is thinking that exact same thing?\nBack to Twitter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThink of a bag of sweets on your desk – each passer by takes just one, thinking you won\u2019t notice \u2013 soon they are gone.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\nOf course, most of Scotland\u2019s ecosystems have already been directly\nimpacted and degraded by our actions so they\u2019re hardly\nself-contained, pristine systems akin to the Greenland tundra. And\nyes, feathers and pebbles and bones and wotnot will probably<\/strong>\nnot be missed in the grand scheme of things. Even so, I do find\nmyself coming around to the idea of leaving things where they are.\nPrimarily for ecological reasons but also for our collective\nenjoyment, for as one person put it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to enjoy collecting keepsakes\u2026.but in recent years I prefer not to strip that experience from others. If I spot something interesting I instead leave it in place for others to enjoy in situ.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\nI really liked that idea but I still wasn\u2019t entirely convinced,\nchiefly for another reason that many folk cited:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel there is some common sense needed. And getting children interested in nature is very important\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t been allowed to collect feathers, shells, bones & stones, my childhood would have been considerably duller and less educational\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\nI\u2019ve witnessed first hand how much more engaging and stimulating\nactual physical objects are in the classroom. Skeletal remains and\nstuffed animals in particular, kids absolutely love, and my stuffed\nstoat has certainly had a worthwhile life, educating kids about\nmammals and mustelids. True, almost without exception the kids always\nthink it\u2019s a meerkat, but that\u2019s advertising for you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nAnyway, as someone else said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do you feel a photo?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\nPhotos have their place of course. Just last week I was in Braemar\nprimary school showing the kids photos of insects sitting on my hand,\nbut sometimes there\u2019s just no substitute for the real thing – the\ntouch, the smell, being able to see the true scale of something, and\nsometimes even the very act of taking something indoors teaches you\nsomething unexpected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nI still vividly remember taking a soaking wet spruce cone home,\nputting it on a shelf and then forgetting about it. A few days later\nI was marvelling at how the smooth missile-like object had completely\nopened up in the dry interior of my home, thus teaching me the\nimportance of weather in seed dispersal. Now, when kids pick up a\nspruce cone in a forest, I tell them to take it home and to watch\nwhat happens, which they eagerly do. Can you provoke that same\nwide-eyed wonder with just \u2018before and after\u2019 photos? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given we\u2019re increasingly disconnected from the natural world I think it\u2019s even more important that we\u2019re able to show it to people up close. Especially if it\u2019s not possible, as it often wasn\u2019t for some West Lothian schools I used to work with, to experience things in a natural environment. Some of their local greenspaces and parks were too dirty with dog poo and litter to visit safely, and the schools couldn\u2019t afford to bus their kids up to the cleaner country parks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Before and after. Nature\u2019s a great teacher. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Still, regardless of what you take and why you take it, due consideration needs to be paid to the impact you could have. Truthfully I\u2019m still not sure where I stand, so please don\u2019t take anything in this article as me trying to tell you what you should do, rather I\u2019m thinking out loud really. There certainly needs to be a balance somewhere, between minimising our impact on the processes that sustain and nurture the natural world, and bringing objects home for inspiration, education or whatever. A strict \u2018leave it where it is\u2019 policy is a sure-fire way to take control of your environmental impact, whereas anything else requires a subjective assessment and judgement at the time. In that event it\u2019s not always clear what\u2019s right or wrong, what might be harmful or not, but as someone on Twitter said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we just do our best\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\nPersonally, I\u2019m still a nut in May and probably always will be, so\nwhile my inner Candice-Marie can\u2019t promise she\u2019ll stop taking the\nodd thing home, my inner Keith can honestly say he has already\nstarted reining in her collecting impulses in light of writing this\npiece. I took a dead emperor moth home from the Borders the other\nweek, much to the dismay of my better half, who hates moths. It was\nvery beautiful of course, utterly fascinating and I thought I could\nuse it in an educational capacity, but after a week or so I came to\nmy senses and put it back outside. A week later I found a beautiful\nsun-bleached deer antler while I was tree-planting in Glen Geldie,\nwhich I did unthinkingly pick up with the intention of taking it. But\nin light of this article I thought better of it. I\u2019ve got a\nbeautiful perfect pair of antlers already, after all. Why do I need\nany more? So I left it where it was, for nutrient recycling and for\nother people to pass by and enjoy. And no doubt my cupboards, shelves\nand windowsills, not to mention my long suffering better half, will\nbreathe a huge collective sigh of relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n** BY THE WAY\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forming your own wee \u2018nature stuff\u2019 collection or taking stuff from the outdoors more generally isn\u2019t as straight forward as you might think, because depending on what you take, pick or dig up, you could very well be falling foul of the law or contravening the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. And yep, that includes antlers! I\u2019m going to write more about this in my next column for Walkhighlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I come from a family of hoarders, and much of my childhood was spent slavishly furthering that great tradition \u2013 toy buses, coins, Dandy comics, badges, postcards, stamps, those utterly useless wee sheathed pens you used to get at every visitor attraction across the land, and much more besides. Thankfully, unless you count Munro-bagging as collecting (it\u2019s difficult to take a mountain home thank goodness!), my urge to collect dissipated into my teenage years and I naively assumed my collecting days were long behind me. But 30 years later, when I clean the inside of my car before taking it…<\/span> <\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/div>\n

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