What are you afraid of

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Bodycon
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Bodycon »

Scotland is rather benign, we have a few Adders here and there, who will always get out of your way if possible, but the real deal in terms of making you run when you see them are Midgies. Of course it is only the females that draw blood.
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Dust »

It's it true there are no snakes in Ireland?
Big and Bashful
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Big and Bashful »

Bodycon wrote: Mon Jan 10, 2022 8:29 pm Scotland is rather benign, we have a few Adders here and there, who will always get out of your way if possible, but the real deal in terms of making you run when you see them are Midgies. Of course it is only the females that draw blood.
And around the coast we have plenty of jellyfish, that can give you a nasty itch! What else? oh I have heard that mackerel can give you quite a surprise if you go skinny dipping! There are things that really shouldn't be nibbled!
I am the God of Hellfire! and I bring you truffles!
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Kirbstone
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Kirbstone »

About 15,000years ago the ice retreated off the European landmass and small animals including snakes migrated gradually northward colonizing areas with new vegetation. There was a simultaneous rise in sea levels which flooded the Irish Sea and later the English Channel making islands out of Ireland and Gt Britain.
The Irish Sea is deeper than the English Channel and Ireland was already cut off from those migrating creatures which included snakes and moles, so we have none of either except in zoos.

Britain remained attached by land to Continental Europe long enough for some snakes &c. to migrate there before the shallower English Channel flooded.

Tom
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Fred in Skirts »

Kirbstone wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:26 am About 15,000years ago the ice retreated off the European landmass and small animals including snakes migrated gradually northward colonizing areas with new vegetation. There was a simultaneous rise in sea levels which flooded the Irish Sea and later the English Channel making islands out of Ireland and Gt Britain.
The Irish Sea is deeper than the English Channel and Ireland was already cut off from those migrating creatures which included snakes and moles, so we have none of either except in zoos.
Britain remained attached by land to Continental Europe long enough for some snakes &c. to migrate there before the shallower English Channel flooded.
Tom
Now wait one minute Tom, it was Saint Patrick that drove all of the snakes out of Ireland! :lol: :rofl: :hide:
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Kirbstone
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Kirbstone »

You're absolutely right of course, Fred. How remiss of me not to have remembered that little detail.

Depending on whose story you believe, there was this little boy who asked his Mum very seriously, where did Mankind come from? To this profound question the Mum launched into the story of the Garden of Eden and Adam & Eve &c &c.

Still a bit curious he put the same question to his Dad one day, so the Dad launched into the historical/genealogical/ archaeological evidence found mostly in East Africa about the various Ape-like hominid species, ending up in the emergence and dominance of Homo Sapiens....ourselves.

Confused, the boy returned to his Mum and told her what his Dad had said about ape-like creatures &c evolution &c., to which his Mum supplied the complete answer.........'Oh. your Dad was just talking about HIS side of the family!'

Tom
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Fred in Skirts
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Fred in Skirts »

:lol: :lol: HA HA HA HA HA ! :lol: :lol:

I love it Tom!!!
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Dust »

I've been told that they can't even breed captive snakes in Ireland for some scientifically inexplicable reason. People have always like bringing in exotic animals from faraway places. You'd think by now some would have gotten loose and started reproducing at some point since then if it was simply a matter of none coming over at the end of the ice age. Invasive species are a thing everywhere else...
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Kirbstone
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Kirbstone »

We have Mink. These were all imported and 'farmed' at several locations throughout the country. Some while ago the bottom fell out of the price of mink pelts as it became unfashionable to wear real mink (or any other furry animal) and the mink farms went bust & released their captive creatures into the wild where they went ferrel (probably the wrong spelling).

Since then we have wild mink everywhere which predate on poultry and are a menace. Climatic conditions here suit them and they reproduce and thrive.

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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by miloshlavka »

What I'm afraid of? In these months mainly of Putin's war (according his propaganda: "special operation") against Ukraine (it's < 1000 km from us). And then I'm afraid of climatic changes.

I like both Ukraine and Russia (and all this world), but I don't like Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (sometimes called as Putler = PUTin / hitLER).
And I'm very glad that my favo(u)red Russian musician Boris Grebenschikov (Борис Гребещиков) stands against this Putin's crime. He performed at 2nd March in "The Trobadour", legendary club in London (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubadour,_London) and at 20th March 2022 he sang his song Dubrovsky (Дубровский) on the anti-war festival SOUND OF PEACE in Berlin. The record of this song namely from this event is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNbDRjpStjE or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xqfgM-4ykE
(Notice: This song is related to Vladimir Dubrovsky, the hero of the story "Dubrovsky" by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. A noble robber, taking revenge on the landlords for his father. Masha - mentioned in the chorus of this song - is his beloved, the daughter of the main enemy of the character. This song is, however, situated to later times - in the Pushkin's century there weren't any aeroplanes, of course. Kostroma, Saratov and Tver are Russian cities.)
Text of this song (English translation with using translate.yandex.ru with my little corrections and subsequently the Russian original) is here:

Source: teksty-pesenok.ru

Lyrics by
Boris Grebenshchikov
Dubrovsky

When in dashing years there is a smell of people 's misfortune
Then at the midnight hour quiet discreet
An old man comes out of the forest
And look closely - he's not an old man at all
And on the contrary, very young - handsome Dubrovsky

Wake up my Kostroma, get up Saratov and Tver
It 's not like we're going to be in trouble forever and cry about bread
Dubrovsky takes an aeroplane, Dubrovsky flies up
And he flies over the sinful earth, and writes, and writes:

Don't cry, Masha, I'm here
Don't cry, the sun will rise
Don't hide your eyes from God
And then how will he find us?
Heavenly City of Jerusalem
Is shining through the cold and ice
And here it’s standing around us
And waiting for us, and waiting for us

He threw his sword and his shield, threw his revolver into the ditch
He realized that there was no one to take revenge on and he breathes happily
In a difficult hour for the motherland, his airplane is flying over us
Beautiful as an iconostasis, and writes, and writes:

Don't cry, Masha, I'm here
Don't cry, the sun will rise
Don't hide your eyes from God
And then how will he find us?
Heavenly City of Jerusalem
Is shining through the cold and ice
And here it’s standing around us
And waiting for us, and waiting for us

Текст песни
Борис Гребенщиков
Дубровский

Когда в лихие года пахнет народной бедой
Тогда в полуночный час тихий неброский
Из леса выходит старик
А вглядись - он совсем не старик
А напротив, совсем молодой - красавец Дубровский

Проснись моя Кострома, вставай Саратов и Тверь
Не век же нам мыкать беду и плакать о хлебе
Дубровский берет ероплан, Дубровский взлетает наверх
И летает над грешной землей, и пишет, и пишет:

Не плачь, Маша, я здесь
Не плачь, солнце взойдет
Не прячь от Бога глаза
А то как он найдет нас
Небесный град Иерусалим
Нам светит сквозь холод и лед
И вот он стоит вокруг нас
И ждет нас, и ждет нас

Он бросил свой меч и свой щит, швырнул в канаву наган
Он понял, что некому мстить и радостно дышит
В тяжелый для родины час над нами летит его аэроплан
Красивый как иконостас, и пишет, и пишет:

Не плачь, Маша, я здесь
Не плачь, солнце взойдет
Не прячь от Бога глаза
А то как он найдет нас
Небесный град Иерусалим
Горит нам сквозь холод и лед
И вот он стоит вокруг нас
И ждет нас, и ждет нас
Everyone should be honest and prudent: to keep promises and, on principle, never to promise anything to anyone.
Sorry for my English. I try not to make spelling mistakes, but for this reason my writing is very slow.

Miloš H., Nový Knín, Central Bohemia
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Sinned
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Re: What are you afraid of

Post by Sinned »

Thank you for that and it is an interesting take on what is happening at the moment. Putin's [0] invasion of Ukraine is all over the media at the moment. Our press is probably more honest about what is happening "on the ground" than Russia's but there is still probably still a lot of disinformation being spread both deliberate and accidental through the difficulty of immediate verification of claims. The latest offerings paint the Russian soldiers as inhuman rapist, murdering thugs than soldiers. That is probably unfair but until until all this is over and inquests are held we will have to wait on that. War crimes happen in any war and will those perpetrators be held to account? Maybe, maybe not. Will his failure to subdue be his downfall? Difficult to say as coups and revolutions can overtake events with remarkable suddenness. Economic sanction is a two-edged sword - they will affect the US less than Europe but we will be feeling the effects for years to come. I had hoped that this topic would have remained out of this site but ....

[0] He's being called "Poo-tin" over here over the phonetic pronunciation of his surname.
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