The Sloth Bear's Tale: Dancing no more

From www.ironammonite.com

In the summer of 2009 I visited Wildlife SOS as part of 'Chasing the Monsoon', to learn about the plight of India's dancing bears. My first stop was the Daroji bear sanctuary in Hampi. Here I met Samad Kottur, a local science teacher, who works to protect and rescue Sloth Bears.

Filmed by David Heath, directed by Kalyan Varma, Production Manager Mandanna Dilan.

From my blog of 25th July 2009:

"Most of the sloth bears Samad has rescued have been from the brutal art of bear dancing - a traditional livelihood which has been practiced in rural India for centuries but which has been illegal since the wildlife protection act of 1972. Yet until very recently during the breeding season bear poachers would wait outside a den for the mother to leave in search of food for her young. They would swoop in, grab and bag the young cubs and sell them for less than 30,000 rupees (about 350 pounds) to Kollanders, the traditional bear dancing community. 'Here they begin a life of pain and discomfort.' Sammad told me, 'After a few months their canines are ripped out, their claws are clipped, males are castrated and a red hot iron is used to pierce their sensitive nuzzle through which a coarse rope is threaded.' it is the pain of pulling on this rope that makes them dance as they are dragged from village to village and made to perform, standing on their hind legs and used as puppets on a string. All the while enduring severe pain and punishment. 'they are severely malnourished and are only given the very poorest food to survive on' says Sammad with a tear in his eye 'when we rescue them they are in really bad shape'." Read more.

Seeing wild bears at Daroji made my subsequent trip to the Bannerghata Bear Rescue Centre even more heart-wrenching. Here I was introduced to some of the resident bears, and showed the strict daily routines that the vets and carers go through to ensure that these beautiful animals live out the rest of their days, trouble free and as healthy as can be. To see the drastic and devastating effect that 'dancing' has had on Sloth Bears is something that will stay with me for a long time.

Wildlife SOS have informed us that as of 2009, all the remaining dancing bears have been rescued and are now being cared for at rescue centres across India. To help support their continuing work, and ensure that these rescued bears can be cared for, please visit www.wildlifesos.org

For more on Sloth Bears from our 'Chasing the Monsoon' expedition click here.

Dancing bear with rope through his muzzle. Photograph by Troy Snow (used with permission)

The Forgotten Kingdom - A Bioblitz Adventure

From www.ironammonite.com

Searching for the strange life forms that lurk in the dark, damp places of Blaise Castle estate, Bristol. A Bioblitz adventure in Fungi by Paul Williams & Donna Dixon.

Although expectations were low due to the late spring and recent dryness, 19 species were discovered including Puffballs, Earth Stars, Brackets, Slime molds & Oyster Mushrooms… yum, yum.

Filmed as part of the live media from Bioblitz Bristol 2010. Visit the Bioblitz Blog.

A beautiful Oyster Mushroom, Photo by Donna Dixon

Short Film: 'Plastic Bag' from Supermarket to Sea

http://futurestates.tv/episodes/plastic-bag

This short film by American director Ramin Bahrani (Goodbye Solo) traces the epic, existential journey of a plastic bag (voiced by Werner Herzog) searching for its lost maker, the woman who took it home from the store and eventually discarded it. Along the way, it encounters strange creatures, experiences love in the sky, grieves the loss of its beloved maker, and tries to grasp its purpose in the world.

In the end, the wayward plastic bag wafts its way to the ocean, into the tides, and out into the Pacific Ocean trash vortex — a promised nirvana where it will settle among its own kind and gradually let the memories of its maker slip away

Ideas wanted for BBC British Wildlife series #AnimalsGuide

Request for ideas from Paul Williams, www.IronAmmonite.com

We will look at this green and pleasant land through the eyes of the animals, to produce a televisual 'rough guide' for wildlife living in modern Britain.

We are looking for interesting ways that wildlife has adapted to live in less traditional habitats. E.g. Foxes moving out of woodland to live on rubbish dumps, bats roosting in lofts, peregrines using skyscrapers as if they were cliffs, rooftops allowing safe places for ground nesting birds. Stories which may be a bit anthropomorphic but allow us to reveal something about the nature of britain. The ornithological opera of the dawn chorus, birds visiting on their summer holidays, criminal grey squirrels stealing the nuts of reds - reds being trapped in conifer forests. You get the idea!?


If you know of wildlife which is fairly predictable to find in the summer months, and which has an unusual way of living then please get in touch. You can leave a comment to this post or @reply on Twitter

We are ideally interested in charismatic animals which we think of as being typically British, but we are open to suggestions. The programmes are curretly divided into 'woodland animals' including species such as squirrels, crossbills, hedgehogs, badgers, deer, woodpeckers etc, we also have programmes focussing on 'coastal animals' 'freshwater animals' and 'grassland/heathland animals'.

Thanks for reading.
Best wishes,

Spot the Rattlesnake!

From www.ironammonite.com

Can you spot the timber rattlesnake Crotalus horridus in the photograph below?

This rattlesnake's excellent camouflage is one reason why it’s a good idea to wear gators and tread carefully when visiting the woods of upstate New York. Timber Rattlesnakes are potentially one of the most dangerous snakes in North America with enough venom to kill a person. Fortunately they have a relatively mild disposition and before striking, will hold their tails high and rattle like mad to try and scare you off. If you do get too close they may strike in defence.

Rattlesnakes are sit-and-wait predators - they wait for prey to come to them. They find a suitable place, which might be alongside a track rich with the scent of mouse urine, and then they coil up like a spring. They are capable of waiting, silent and still, for several days until a mouse comes along, at which point they have enough pounce in their coils to strike up to two thirds of their body length. Instantly injecting enough venom the mouse is dead before it hits the ground.

Thankfully most snakes tend to only inject venom when they are feeling peckish. Otherwise it's a bit of a waste. So if you are bitten by a timber rattlesnake the bite is usually 'dry'... but still painful, and definitely a reason to go straight to hospital.

To reveal the location of the rattlesnake in the photo click the image below. You can see the sequence from 'Life in Cold Blood' below. This is the first time a wild rattlesnake strike has ever been caught on film.

Photograph taken by James Brickell on a shoot for 'Life in Cold Blood'

Timber Rattlesnake sequence from Life in Cold Blood

Open Music Archive - Music in the Public Domain

Open Music Archive is a collaborative project to source, digitise and distribute out-of-copyright sound recordings. The archive is open for anyone to use and contribute to. A useful resource if you are looking for public domain music for your films. Public Domain means that all intellectual property rights have expired and that the work may be used by anyone for any purpose.

Big Fat Bloodsucking Leech

From www.ironammonite.com

I was quite surprised when this swollen beast dropped out from between my toes!
Filmed during our 'Chasing the Monsoon' expedition in South India, 2009.

With thanks to my good friends Kalyan Varma, Mandanna Dilan & David Heath.

Sir David Attenborough to present 'Flying Monsters' 3D

Sir David Attenborough is about to take his career into a whole new dimension, by making Europe's first programme specifically for 3D TV. The legendary broadcaster has signed up to write and present Flying Monsters 3D. The programme will be broadcast later this year on Sky 3D, a new channel available to existing Sky subscribers through their current HD set-top box. Read more here

Wildlife Wind-Ups on BBC Wildlife Finder

'It's not only humans that like a good joke, animals play all kinds of tricks on one another in their attempts to gain an advantage. Based around the April Fool tradition, this collection of videos features the weirder side of nature where it's not always easy to tell what's real and what's not. Watch animals play practical jokes on each other and on us, and look back at some real gems from the archives where we've tried to fool you in a wildlife world that's often stranger than fiction.'

Visit the BBC Wildlife Wind-Ups collection

(BBC Wildlife Finder clips are only viewable inside the UK but other information and images can be seen)

Remember this one? Flying Penguins!

Wonders of the Solar System: Aliens

This week, Professor Brian Cox descends to the bottom of the Pacific in a submarine to witness the extraordinary life forms that survive in the cold, black waters. All life on Earth needs water so the search for aliens in the Solar System has followed the search for water.

Soaring above the dramatic Scablands of the United States, Brian discovers how the same landscape has been found on Mars. And it was all carved out in a geological heart-beat by a monumental flood.

Armed with a gas mask, Brian enters a cave in Mexico where bacteria breath toxic gas and leak concentrated acid. Yet relatives of these creatures could be surviving in newly-discovered caves on Mars.

But Brian’s 6th Wonder isn’t a planet at all. Jupiter’s moon Europa is a dazzling ball of ice etched with strange cracks. The patterns in the ice reveal that, far below, there is an ocean with more potentially life-giving water than all the oceans on Earth.

Of all the Wonders of the Solar System forged by the laws of nature, there is one that stands out. In the final episode of this series, Brian reveals the greatest Wonder of them all.

Written & Produced by Michael Lachmann
Assistant Producer: Laura Mulholland
Series Producer: Danielle Peck
Exec Producer: Andrew Cohen

for further details, please visit programme link below
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rtg5k

Here's a hilarious spoof of the opening titles to the series... (contains swearing)