Hello Everyone

I have been dipping in for a week or so but have not had time to introduce myself properly. This is partly due to a new baby arriving on Saturday.

Anyway, as the name suggests, I live and work (in the wildlife/countryside field) on the UK south coast. I am located on the Dorset/Hampshire border and am lucky enough to be a stone's throw from the New Forest.

I suppose I am a bit of a generalist when it comes to wildlife - I know a bit about everything but am always keen to learn more. My particular interest are probably invertebrates, carnivorous plants and more recently skulls.

I also like growing fruit and vegetables, including the more exotic and unusal in my greenhouse. My garden is a work in progress!

Anyway, hopefully when I get time I can make a useful contribution to the forums.

Best wishes

South Coast Ranger

Hello South Coast Ranger, welcome to the forums. Congratulations on the new baby!

New Forest is a wonderful part of the country. I've been camping there a few times and always enjoyed it.

Hi South Coast Ranger

What a lovely area of the country you are in. Sounds like you have a lot of interesting interests, the skulls sound intriguing, how did you get into that?

Anyway, I look forward to reading more of your posts xxx

Howdy South Coast Ranger, and congratulations on the new baby.

Lovely part of the country you live in, although the last time I went camping in the New Forest a pony stuck its head into the tent and ate all my biscuits

Hi Guys

You really shouldn't feed the ponies, ho ho. Once my friend saw someone feeding them meatballs!

I got into skulls by getting into heads! Heads don't keep very well.

Education is part of my job and skulls are a great way to talk about diversity, feeding and adaptation. It's also fun (but a bit smelly) to rot a head from a roadkill and then glue the teeth back in. (Did I just say that)

SCR

Everyone's got to have a hobby.... I suppose

Hello SCR, amusingly enough, I have a colony of dermestid beetles to help me with bone cleaning. I don't have many skulls, but they are fascinating. One of my favourites is the North American Beaver skull. Because the teeth never stop growing, I had one example in which the incisors were almost three inches long! Quite remarkable.

Welcome to Wildlife UK!

Kingfisher

A beaver skull would sit nicely in my collection. I think I will have a long wait for a road kill although European Beavers are possibly going to be formally reintroduced into the New Forest soon.

I think Dermestid beetles are the way to go for me. I need the weather to get warmer here first.

I did have a woodpecker skull which is fascinating because of the way the tongue sits around the bone to act as a shock absorber.

Hello South Coast Ranger. How is the baby?

Thanks for asking Jamie.
He is noisy and growing!
This is how I look at 4am
This is how I look at work