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Name calling: it’s not big, and it’s not clever. Luckily, after a lifetime being fat, ugly and ginger, I’m immune to it. And I’ll need all that immunity
Flindt on Friday: Trouble with dogs and their barking owners >More in
Springer Watch. It would be similar to the BBC’s
Springwatch, but somewhat less fluffy.
It would bring an accurate picture of how out-of-control dogs – yes, mainly springers – are wreaking environmental havoc on the countryside.
Such is the seriousness of the matter, even the National Trust has been known to put up signs saying “Loose dogs destroy ground-nesting birds”.
It’s an issue that goes completely unnoticed by most dog owners, and it hasn’t got any less of a problem since lockdown, during which dog ownership somehow and mysteriously became compulsory.
What farming needs (I decided after a lengthy evening of internet-based car browsing) is a small pickup.
I’d been checking out all sorts of huge machines with names like “Destruktor”, “Waste-Layer” and “Scarer of Small Children”, and they all have the same problem (apart from silly names and too much chrome): the pickup bit is useless for most real farm applications.
I’ve had a couple out for a play here on the farm, and practical use has confirmed this.
They’re brilliant if you really do want to slot in a Euro pallet loaded with bricks (as they do in the glossy brochures), or you’re one of those pickers-up who arrives on a shoot with at least two dozen springers crashing against the sides of the fibreglass canopy.