General (County) Update - 7th September 2010

• After last week's brief Indian Summer (do you know where that phrase actually originates from by the way - more at the end of this post), we have gone helter skelter into autumn here - with blustery heavy bands of rain crossing the country.
• This rain hasn't deterred the dragonflies though - plenty of common darters and migrant hawkers are about, as is normal for this time of year.
• My cycle rides to work along the river Kennet are quite strange - every hundred yards or so for a few days, I come across a dead shrew, lying on the towpath. I used to have a bit of fun with stories of dead shrews. I used to persuade people that one happened across dead shrews (and not mice) on pavements because they were very sensitive to noise! The shrew would pop out of some roadside woodland, start to cross the road and as soon as a car passed by - the noise from the engine / tyres would give the shrew a heart attack, and it would keel over there and then on the pavement. The noise wouldn't bother mice or other wee mammals - that is why you only found dead shrews on pavements! I seriously told people that if you shouted at a shrew, it would keel over dead.
• The truth is far less interesting though - shrews taste terrible. At this time of year, new, young predators like cats, foxes etc... are learning their skills and killing everything that moves - including shrews. Once the shrew is in the predator's gob - and chewed slightly, the fox or cat spits it out - they really taste that bad! Now THAT is the real reason one finds dead shrews on paths, towpaths and pavements!
• Indian Summer eh? This phrase doesn't come from the Indian subcontinent, but probably North America instead - North American native Indians tended to harvest their crops in October - an Indian Summer....