Nurturing nature is good, coercing it, not so much...| Emma Kay

Portsmouth City Council is closing off a large portion of Castle Field this week in order to create a safe place for the migrant dark-bellied Brent geese over the coming wintry months.
Southsea Costal engineering team setting up fake geese at Castle Field. Picture: Habibur RahmanSouthsea Costal engineering team setting up fake geese at Castle Field. Picture: Habibur Rahman
Southsea Costal engineering team setting up fake geese at Castle Field. Picture: Habibur Rahman

This ever-popular and much needed green space is to be cordoned off to us mere mortals in the colder months until 2026 and the geese are going to be enthusiastically encouraged to land there by artificial means of decoy birds and the sound of Brent geese speak for ‘lots of grass here, comrade’.

These beautifully plump mossy brown geese are, and quite rightly so, an internationally protected species. They make a tremendous flight every year from the coldest parts of Siberia to land on our modest lush fields and salt marshes. This ancient flight path has been their yearly journey for millennia, long before we came along with our castles and concrete.

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One of their normal feeding sites is Clarence Field, which has been commandeered for heavy construction plant to deal with our eroding sea defences, so Natural England felt the need for an alternative needed to be found.

But why do we feel the need to do this? They are not without the sense to adapt.

They have been making their marathon journey of 1,800 miles for centuries and have been overcoming obstacles of disappearing feeding grounds on the way. They will naturally flock to areas that are isolated away from most human activity.

We have plenty of these areas already stretching along our local coast to the northern slopes of Portsdown Hill.

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Trying to get them to land in Castle Field, a place where we naturally flock in great numbers noisily and with our pooches predictably yapping at the indignity of the geese using their natural walking arena is not going to reduce the stress levels of the geese, with or without an unnatural barrier around them.

Nature is something we should nurture and observe not control. Our green spaces couldn’t be more needed by us and have become akin to the Emerald City of Oz and are seen as tiny pockets of peace against the pandemic.

As much as we try to nurture nature, sometimes we need to leave it to its own devices.

Reptiles can be loving pets too

People are trading in fur for scales. An explosion of exotic animal stores has sprouted up in the area.

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The new reptile store at Leigh Park has lots of scale-babies in need of love.

With skin like delicate eggshells and never blinking eyes, they are a far cry from the rotund hamster or the floppy-eared rabbit. I am fascinated by the menagerie of brightness. When people think of reptiles, they do not consider the colour cocktails of scales and shimmer.

Snakes, lizards and frogs carry their own unique charms. Cold blooded by nature does not mean cold blooded by heart – my gecko gives us a lot of pleasure.

Maybe it is time to consider something new and exotic in our lives?

The cat which won’t shred your curtains...

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Robotic cats are the new in thing at care homes. No mess and no large vet bills are certainly a big draw for care home residents.

More importantly, they have provided something rather special to people who have been unable to have much contact with their families during lockdown.

Nationally, 200,000 older people have not spoken to friends and family for months.

People with dementia have the same wants and needs as everyone else. If they had a pet previously Robocat can be therapeutic without the pressure of responsibility.

Technology has been crucial during these fearful times and if it can provide wellbeing to some of our most vulnerable people, why not?