Last chance to see the Northern Lights? Finish your knife scabbard The secrets of Stone Age art Make a strong, safe, natural glue Winter in Slovakia
COURSES FOR SPRING 2015 Primitive Technology - Atlatl Making Saturday March 7th Learn the skills, techniques and technology necessary to make and use the Ice Age spear-thrower with our Palaeolithic hunter, Steve Kirk . Make both the dart and launcher and take them home with you at the end of the day. This course takes place at Wildwood, near Herne Bay in Kent, in association with Wildwood Trust. E-mail courses@wildwoodtrust.org to book.
Spring Foraging and Wild Food Tasting Saturday March 25th No experience necessary; learn how to identify edible Spring greens alongside a river and in a variety of habitats under the guidance of our expert forager Steve Kirk. A useful refresher if you’ve foraged before, with the opportunity to sample genuine wild food. This course takes place in association with Wildwood Trust, near Herne Bay in Kent . E-mail courses@wildwoodtrust.org to book.
Intermediate Spring Foraging and Wild Food Tasting Sunday April 19th For those who like a challenge; try our blindfold plant ID test, learn how to identify edible plants in their early growth stages; visit a variety of habitats around Egerton in Kent under the guidance of our expert forager Steve Kirk; lunch in the countryside and sample your forage.
Keep up to date and book online at www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk/courses
6th Annual May Meet
1st - 4th May 2015
Book in for a weekend of courses and a chance for bushcrafters and adventurous families to share skills, and swap stories. Camp overnight from Friday for a full programme of activities over the weekend and Bank Holiday Monday; events, tutorials and demonstrations for all the family and levels of skill. Gather round the fire in the evening for storytelling and, weather permitting, star-gazing afterwards. Bring your own food or make use of our on-site catering. Pitch a tent or a tarp and hammock in the woods. Camping included in the ticket price plus access to every available course. See our website for details, prices
Venue: Egerton, nr. Ashford, Kent.
and how to book.
Keep up to date or book online at www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/TheBushcraftMagazine and Twitter at www.twitter.com/bushcraft_mag you can tweet us with @ bushcraft_mag
Our day courses cost £45 to non-subscribers, £35 to subscribers; includes free overnight camping at our farm, and lunch of vegetable soup and bread roll on the day. Wildwood course prices may differ.
Volume 10 Number 4 Winter 2014/15 The Bushcraft Magazine is published by:
The Bushcraft MagazineTM .
Egerton House Cottage, Egerton, Ashford, KENT TN27 9BD Founder: Huw Woodman Editor: Steve Kirk Advertising: Matthew Selfe Webmaster: Paul Bradley Soup Dragon: Cathy Hill E-mail: info@bushcraft-magazine.co.uk Advertising: mafro@bushcraft-magazine.co.uk
CONTENTS 4 ONCE UPON AN ANCIENT TIME Sarah Lord on how Ice Age art is not a pigment of the imagination. 8 HAND CRAFT A KNIFE AT HOME - PART 4 Roger Harrington puts in a last stitch effort. 12 SNOW STORIES FROM SCANDINAVIA Kevin Warrington meets charming prints. 18 HOW TO MAKE FISH AIR BLADDER GLUE Jason Wayne Beever If at first you don’t succeed, stick at it. 21 AN EYE-CATCHING ADVERTISEMENT Steve Kirk is On Nature’s Trail. 24 DUSKY BEAUTIES Carol Hunt pays tribute to a trumpet. 28 SKULL SKOOL Steve Kirk is the head teacher. 30 WINTER IN SLOVAKIA Edward O’ Toole sends us postcards of the Carpathian Winter. 35 THE LAST WORD Lloyd Hooper has some old fashioned remedies. REGULARS 2 COURSES 16 STAR LORE 22 WEATHER LORE
EDITORIAL It is tempting for me to compose the winter issue of this magazine around snow-related subjects, but in truth winter is more complex than that. The season is rarely the same in consecutive years. The same elements may be there with a different emphasis each time and the experience of someone in southern England is not necessarily the same as for folk in the Scottish Highlands, Scandinavia, Slovakia or the United States. So instead, we try to reflect this with a variety of voices and themes. Winter is traditionally the time of making and mending. We have plenty for you to do in the workshop. Jason Wayne Beever shows you how to make a natural super-glue and Roger Harrington finally tucks away the knife he showed you how to hand-craft into the leather scabbard he constructed before your eyes. You may even find yourself inspired to attempt some art using natural pigments, after reading Sarah Lord’s fascinating article about the skills of our cave-dwelling ancestors in that direction. Dress appropriately and the outdoors beckons. Edward O’Toole’s in the Carpathians and Kevin Warrington, in Lapland, both crossing paths with wolves. Carol’s cooking down the woods, as usual, while I take advantage of the bare landscape to find some animal skulls to puzzle over. In or out? I bet you are torn between the two, now. I know where I am going. See you. Steve Kirk. editor@bushcraft-magazine.co.uk
Cover photo courtesy of Pip and Ted Medhurst
Once Upon an Ancient Time... Sarah Lord takes us far back Beyond 2000BC, to the birth of art The story of art begins much farther back than enormous pictures in art galleries. From studying archaeology, I have huge respect for our prehistoric ancestors, both for the aesthetic images and exquisite works of threedimensional art that they created and for the wealth of information regarding our ancestorsâ€&#x; lives that it communicates to us. In 2013, the British Museum brought this phenomenon to the public view with their Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind exhibition which displayed the oldest known sculptures and works of mobiliary (portable) art.
In 2008 at this same site, a further discovery unearthed artefacts which have been identified as two sets of art kits. These kits have been dated to 100,000 years old and consisted of abalone shells with ochre remains, together with quartzite tools, grinding cobbles, bone spatulas, charcoal and oil, feasibly from seal bones. It has been suggested by Professor Christopher Henshilwood from the University of
Our first glimpse into the earliest mobiliary art was found at Blombos Cave near Cape Town, South Africa in 2002. This was a block of ochre with three parallel lines and a series of cross hatches carved into it. It has been dated to 75,000 years ago, the time of the Neanderthals. Blombos Cave processing kit. Picture Christopher S. Henshilwood
Bergen that these artefacts were all buried together because they were being used as an artistâ€&#x;s tool kit and that the ochre was used for decoration, painting and skin protection.
The
Engraved ochre from Blombos. Cave. Picture Christopher S. Henshilwood
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When prehistoric cave art is mentioned many people
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Creswell Crags: The Ochre Horse
Photo credit: Dave
immediately think of the famous sites in France and Spain with their remarkably decorated ochre pigment drawings, such as at Lascaux, Altamira, El Castillo etc., but what about Great Britain? Do we have any cave art similar to that of Europe? The answer is yes; however, it is called rock art (also known as stone carving) as it is engraved into the rock face rather than being an ochre pigment drawing on the surface. In addition to this two pieces of Upper Palaeolithic mobiliary art have been found.
Cave, during the 1920s an engraving of a man was discovered on a woolly rhinoceros rib and has been dated to the same period. Stone Carvings have also been discovered within the landscape in Britain, the majority being found in the northern counties of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Cumbria and several in Cornwall and Devon. There are many others located along the Irish Sea coast, in Wales and Anglesey, the Isle of Man, the Galloway coast and Argyllshire in Scotland. In Ireland there is a huge amount of rock art in County Meath, County Donegal and the Iveragh An interesting note with the carvings in this cave is that Peninsula. They are all much more recent than the Ice apart from the stag and the bison, most of the other fig- Age examples mentioned so far. These carvings appear ures show only parts of the animals, such as the head, on different surfaces in the landscape for example in chest and legs, which is similar to cave art in Europe. Northern England and Scotland they are found on natuThe artists also used natural forms in the rock face as a ral outcrops whilst in Ireland and Anglesey they are background to carve the same animal – also comparable situated in passage tombs or on individual vertical to European cave art. standing stones. The stone carvings found in the passage tombs are elaborately aesthetic, consisting of mainly Another example of rock art was found in 2010 by Dr spirals and complex designs. However, the more simple George Nash at Cathole Cave, Gower Peninsula in patterns and cups and rings are found on the natural South Wales. The engraving is of a reindeer and has outcrop rocks and boulders. It has been suggested that been dated to 12493BC using Uranium-series dating. the engravings were created by “pecking” which is a These are the earliest examples of parietal art (art on process of slowing chipping away the surface of the cave walls) to be found in the British Isles. It is entirely stone with a stone chisel to a depth of one inch. The possible that more rock art exists in British caves but most dominant design highlighted in rock art is the cup further investigation needs to happen. mark, which is a round, shallow indentation pecked into
Photo credit: Patrick Mackie
As well as ancient rock carvings, mobiliary art has also been found in Britain at Creswell Crags. In 1876 the “Ochre Horse” now known as the Robin Hood Cave Horse was discovered by Reverend J.M. Mello in Robin Hood Cave. This is an engraved piece of rib 3 inches long of a horse‟s head and has been dated to approximately 12,500 years ago. No other Upper Palaeolithic portable art of animals has been found in Britain to date although at Pinhole Cave, during the 1920s an engraving of a man was discovered on a woolly rhinoceros rib and has been dated to the same period.
Baluachraig Cup and Ring Marks
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No other Upper Palaeolithic portable art of animals has been found in Britain to date although at Pinhole
ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE
In 2003, Britain‟s cave art expert Paul Bahn discovered Britain‟s first example of cave art albeit as a stone engraving in Church Hole Cave at Creswell Crags. The image was first identified as an ibex but later has been acknowledged as a red deer stag, which is more contemporary to the fauna existing in Britain at this time and in line with cave art in Europe. It is possible to date this engraving to approximately 12,800 years ago by Uranium dating. (This is where scientists measure minute traces of radioactive uranium in limestone crusts similar to stalagmites and stalactites that have formed over the engravings). The total amount of engravings discovered in this cave to date is around 90 and the figures are of deer, birds, bison, bear and wild horse.
Bushcraft Magazine
the rock, followed by the rings design. As a result most British Rock Art is generally defined as cup and rings style rock art. This style has been dated to the Neolithic period around 6000 – 4000 years ago. To date, the number of rock art carved panels that have been discovered across Britain is approximately 7000: 3500 in England, 2500 in Scotland, 75 in Wales, 65 in Northern Ireland and 750 in Republic of Ireland. European Cave Art Ice Age Art comes from the Upper Palaeolithic period, around 40,000 years ago. Both mobiliary and parietal art have been found in Europe. There are approximately 350 caves with Upper Palaeolithic art in Spain and France, however, cave art is known from around the world. The oldest art in Europe has been dated to 40,800 years ago in a cave called El Castillo which is located in Northern Spain‟s Cantabria region. The art, which is a simple red dot, beats the previous contender in France‟s Chauvet Cave (37,000 years old) by 4,000 years.
European cave art not only incorporates animals, people and therianthropes (a mixture of both human and animal features e.g. the famous “sorcerer” figure of Les Trois Frères, France) but also geometric signs and symbols. In 2010, a study of these geometric signs by Genevieve von Petzinger has shown that over a period of 25,000 years in four continents and 146 French sites, 26 symbols have appeared repeatedly. She has put forward the probability that these geometric signs were a method of symbolic communication by early humans. European cave art is a vast information resource which provides a window into the past of our prehistoric ancestors. It can suggest answers to questions such as; what was the function of cave art – social, ritual, shamanic hunting aid? Why was it located sometimes in isolated and hard to get to places? Who made the art? What is the meaning of the different types of animals and non-figurative designs? Why were drawings superimposed on each other? It is obvious from the size of some of the hand panels that children made these pictures, therefore creating the art could have been a communal social activity. On the other hand,
The
Photo credit: HTO
Animated lions from the Chauvet Cave
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images found in hard to get to and isolated places could be linked to ritual or shamanic activities. The animal illustrations showing predators could be animals seen
tribespeople used red ochre to prevent mosquito bites, whilst in Africa the Hottentots used it to retain heat and as a barrier against cold and wet weather. The American tribes used a combination of red ochre and fat as protection against A palette of ochre and other natural materials sunburn and dry skin.
Photo credit: Sarah Lord
Ochre as body paint
Photo ©Will Lord
Was ochre used as body paint for decoration purposes? It is difficult to prove this from the archaeological record but from ethnographic
studies it is clear that body painting is used as part of rituals such as puberty and coming of age ceremonies and for specific purposes such as hunting where some hunters apply white ochre to suppress body odours. Although no cave art images of ochre have been found in Britain to date, ochre has been present throughout British prehistory. In Goat‟s Hole cave in South Wales a skeleton from 23,500 years ago, covered in red ochre (named the Red Lady of Paviland) was discovered in 1823 by Reverend William Buckland. Evidence of ochre being mined dates back to 4,500 years ago from Clearwell Caves and is still mined there today. Our prehistoric ancestors found ochre and considered it a very sacred material, nothing short of being the blood of Carved images aside, most of the drawings in caves were the earth. As modern people we should seriously made by using ochre. This substance is made up of clay consider exploring it as a colour and texture and apply it and iron oxides and occurs in four colours; red, yellow, in our lives today. brown and purple. The blacks used in the drawings were either charcoal or manganese dioxide. Ochre had many functions in prehistory. Not only was it used in cave painting but also in burials, medication, health and presI first got the archaeology buzz in 1974 when the Terracotta Warriors ervation. It is known from ethnographic research that ochre is used to preserve organic tissue by arresting the were discovered in China. But it was not until my 30’s that I started doing something about it. I decided to study to become an archaeolodecaying process and this could have been one of the gist and got a BSc with a first in Archaeology, Environment and Landmain reasons why evidence of red ochre has been found scape Studies. I have participated on a number of excavations covering the Mesolithic, Bronze Age through to the medieval period and one at burial sites; to counteract smells and preserve the reof my favourites was digging at Durrington Walls under the leadership mains. From the archaeological record red ochre has of Mike Parker Pearson. I was pregnant when I finished my degree so been found on flint scrapers, which suggests ochre was am now a full time mum but also assist my husband, Will Lord, in being used on animal skins for either decoration or pres- running our prehistoric experiences company. ervation. Ochre has properties that are highly effective in sealing and cleansing wounds and is used in many parts of the world today, by the Barougas in South Africa, for example. Additionally, ochre has excellent insect repellent and hygienic qualities. In South America,
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from travels and shared at a communal social gathering. Following on the story telling theme, Marc Azema proposed that the reason for multiple drawings of the same animals e.g. heads, legs and tails could be early animation art effects to bring the drawings to life especially if it was by flickering candle light showing galloping, head tossing and tail shaking – again another communal social activity.
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Hand craft a knife at home
Part Four
Roger Harrington
Finishing the Leather Scabbard ASSEMBLY You should now have a fairly rigid leather shape that matches your knife. The first job is to sew down the belt loop as this is all but impossible to do with the scabbard closed up. So stick the end of the belt loop into place using your glue of choice (evo-stick contact adhesive will do). When it is dry and unlikely to move you can mark out the stitching holes. For this small section you can use a ruler, or just your estimation to get some evenly spaced holes. Now you need to pick up the diamond awl, named for the shape of its crosssection, not the material of manufacture, and make the holes through both layers of leather. When you make the holes with the awl don't go in a straight line point to point as you may feel you need to, put the points of the diamond shape at 1 o'clock each time so the flats of the holes are parallel. You now have your pattern ready to try around the knife. Give it a go and see if it looks like it will fit and suits your knife. If not, now is the time to start again, card is cheaper than leather!
Carefully mark the holes on the belt loop
Note the angle of the holes Thread needles and sew back through the thread
STITCHING
The
The stitching of the scabbard should be done using the saddle stitch method. This is different from the sewing you may have done before on softer cloth or clothing. The essence of it is that you have a length of waxed thread with a needle on each end pulling the leather tight together from each side. After threading a needle on each end back sew through the thread by one stitch to help keep the needles on and then pull the whole lot over a block of beeswax from either end to coat the
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Pull over a beeswax block to coat the thread
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thread. You mark out and pre make the holes with an awl as described. You start sewing by pulling the thread through the leather to the halfway point of the thread length and then sew in and out from both sides with both needles from opposite sides through the same hole creating a figure of eight of thread through the leather pulling both ends of the thread tight at each couple of stitches. Crown knot
Mark out on welt and inside one face
FITTING THE WELT Lay the knife (always oiled) in the desired place in the scabbard and then lay the welt in where it wants to sit in relation to it. Pull the top end of the welt away from the knife by around 5mm and holding in place draw around the scabbard on the welt. Remove the knife and with the welt properly aligned, mark where it should be on one inside face of the scabbard. Having done this you can glue it in place on that one side only and trim the top to match the scabbard. Following the same procedure as before you can mark out the stitching holes in the grooves on each side. Make sure you start and finish at the same point on both sides with the same amount of holes. With practice you'll develop your own system of doing this but it is important that you start and finish at the same point on each side. Once marked out you can make the sets of holes with the awl from either side, make sure the awl is in the same diagonal attitude on both the back and front.
Glue in position
When happy with the holes you can stitch together using the method previously described, you'll need just over a metre of thread to do an average scabbard in one run. I usually apply some glue to either side before sewing to make a weather tight seal. A point to note is that stitching together from the bottom of the scabbard upwards makes life a lot easier. If your fingers aren't hurting too much carry on with the next step, but there is no shame in taking a rest now as leather sewing can require very tough and strong hands. It is however, downhill from here. Trim off the excess leather in the welt. Try and achieve the cleanest cut with a good sharp knife as this will help when polishing the edge of the scabbard.
TRADITIONAL SKILLS
Lay welt in place
When you get to the last hole for both needles together leave one thread loose and pass the other under the loop made a couple of times and then pull tight. This is your crown knot to stop it coming undone. Then sew back a few stitches with both ends finishing on the side less seen. Trim them off close or if using nylon thread burn the ends with a lighter.
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Mark out and awl through
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Stitch together pulling tight every few holes
To buff up the edge, first clean it up carefully with coarse sandpaper if you have lumps and bumps. Then taking some rolled up corrugated cardboard in your hand moisten the edge and rub the roll of card along it until it squeaks, you'll soon get the idea and end up with a nice naturally shiny edge to the scabbard. Trim off the edge
The last phase in assembly is to bevel the edges you've just polished with the edge bevelling tool. You may also see other parts of the scabbard that need bevelling or polishing, if so go ahead, it is your project, go ahead and make it more personal. You can dye it if you so please but be aware the thread may go a different colour with some leather dyes. When happy that it is totally dry and the knife fits well and stays in there when upside down, give the whole thing a coat of some leather treatment, there are loads out there from neatsfoot oil to silicone based polishes, even boot polish. All will work and keep the leather healthy. Don't over oil it and make it too soft as the scabbard will bend and the knife will come through the side.
Buff up the edge
The
Finish and oil
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Kevin Warrington A vole has emerged from under the snow and ran to the right of the picture, and then a Hawk Owl landed on the vole and flew away with it.
Photos courtesy of the author
Hawk Owl – Surnia ulula
Black Grouse – Tetrao tetrix
The
A Black Grouse has flown in from the bottom right corner of this picture. Its tail touched the snow first and then almost immediately after, its right wing. It’s then landed into the snow, turned around and run back in its track, and then run off towards the top right -hand corner of the picture.
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Willow Grouse – Lagopus lagopus In the larger picture you can see where Willow Grouse have burrowed along under the snow. The photo top right shows both wing and foot prints of Willow Grouse. Willow Grouse prints always appear larger than expected because they have feathers on their feet as insulation as you can see in the lower right image.
Capercaillie – Tetrao urogallus
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Capercaillie – This is the sign left behind by a displaying male Capercaillie. As he walks and displays, he always drags the tips of his wings along the ground.
TRACKING SKILLS
Here is a burrow where a Capercaillie has spent the night under the snow. Inside the burrow you can see a dropping and as the bird has left the burrow (in a hurry as a hare ran over the snow above) you can see the wing prints in the snow as it flew away.
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fox
wolf
European Wolf – Canis lupus On the right side of my ski pole are the tracks of a Wolf Canis lupus. The front paw measured 11.5cm long, and for size comparison in the top right corner there are the tracks of a Fox Vulpes vulpes.
Pine Marten – Martes martes
These are the tracks of Pine Marten in deep snow. Just like Stoat prints the back paws are side-by-side, as are the front paws as it bounds along.
The
These are Brown Bear tracks near my cabin. This is a young bear (probably 2 years old). I took the picture in early May when the bear would have recently emerged from hibernation. To age a bear you measure the width of the front paw. This particular individual was 11cm, but I have also found prints from a male bear that were 16cm wide.
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Scandinavian Brown Bear – Ursus arctos arctos www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk
Red Squirrel – Sciurus vulgaris
Arctic Hare – Lepus timidus On the left side of the large image (right) are the tracks of an Arctic Hare, also known as the Blue or Mountain Hare. Although the front paws are behind; one in front of the other, and the hind paws are in front, it is travelling towards the top of the picture. On the right are the tracks of a Red Squirrel (again with hind paws at the front and front paws behind) moving in the opposite direction. Individual toe prints are visible in these Arctic Hare tracks on hard snow (right).
squirrel
hare
With the exception of the wolf, brown bear, hawk owl and willow grouse it is possible to encounter any of these tracks in parts of northern Britain. Ed.
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Our address is: The Bushcraft Magazine Egerton House Cottage Egerton, Ashford, Kent. TN27 9BD
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BUSHCRAFTER‟S
Once witnessed, never forgotten; the Aurora Borealis is one of the most aweinspiring spectacles of planet Earth. Better known as the Northern Lights, ghostly, flickering illuminations bring false-dawn tints to Arctic nights or sweep across the polar sky in dazzling coloured ribbons. Although often thought of as a THE NORTHERN weather phenomenon, the LIGHTS lights are in reality a symptom of ‘space weather’ and despite being seen in darkness, are intimately tied to the fluctuations of an object 93 million miles away – the Sun!
ALMANAC
NEW MOON
FULL MOON
FEB 18
23:47
MAR 05
18:06
MAR 20
09:36
APR 04
12:06
APR 18
18:57
MAY 04
03:42
MAY 18
04:13
JUN 02
16:19
JUN 16
14:05
JUL 02
02:20
METEOR SHOWERS
Name
Dates
Peak
Hourly rate
Lyrids
Apr 18-25
Apr 22
18
May 5 - 6*
30
Eta Aquarids April 19 - May 28
* Full Moon interferes THE PLANETS Jupiter is at opposition in Leo. It
Venus is
brilliant in the West after dark. Close conjunction with Mars on Feb. 20.
will be up all night and very bright.
Mars is fading in brightness in the West at dusk and slowly setting.
Saturn is up in the
Mercury is a pre-
SE about 2hours after midnight.
dawn apparition, close to sunrise.
Northern Lights from Iceland
SUNSET
SUNRISE
LON
CAR
EDIN
BEL
07:39
07:51 08:08 08:14
FEB 1
16:49 17:02
16:45
17:02
MAR 1 06:46
06:59 07:05 07:14
MAR 1 17:40 17:52
17:46
17:59
APR 1
05:37
05:49 05:45 05:57
APR 1
18:33 18:45
18:50
19:00
MAY 1 04:33
04:46 04:30 04:46
MAY 1 19:23 19:35
19:51
19:57
FEB 1
Typically, in their frozen homelands, the lights start as a diffuse yellow-green glow or as patches. They then sweep across the sky in a green arc, or in multiple bands, with crisp lower edges but which fade at the top. They can be so bright as to tint the snow or sea green or may appear grey to the naked eye. Most photographs exaggerate the depth of colour, indeed the camera can capture auroras that the eye cannot detect. Vertical striations often develop that ripple and shimmer. The layers appear to flutter like the skirt frills of a cosmic can-can that may dance for hours or be gone within a few minutes. Intense displays can feature an array of colours; ruby red, pinks and purples and occasional pale
EDIN BEL
A Total Solar Eclipse will be 80% visible from the UK at 09:30 UT on Mar 20
LON
CAR
A Total Lunar Eclipse on Sep 28 will be visible from the UK beginning at around 01:12 UT (02:12 BST)
Note that one more solar and one more lunar eclipse will occur in 2015 but neither will be visible from the UK.
Note that all times are Universal Coordinated Time UTC /GMT. Spring Equinox occurs at 22:45 March 20, 2015
The
Photos courtesy of Pip and Ted Medhurst
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most particularly towards the peak of the cycle, belch much more intense flares of radiation and ionised gases out into space from a broad band across its midriff in a squall known as a coronal mass ejection or CME. Whether these affect Earth in any way depends on where they were pointing when they went off. Not surprisingly there are many opportunities to miss us, not least because these spots wax and wane and also because they slowly transit the Sun’s disc with its rotation, so they can and do, often erupt whilst on the far side of the Sun, or at other times when we are not in the line of fire. However, if we are struck, the effects can be dramatic and more far reaching than coloured lights in the sky.
Northern Lights from Kent, England
The colourful translucent curtains of light are suspended from the rim of space with their fringes brushing against the upper atmosphere somewhere between 80 and 500km up, but more usually from 110 to 200km. This is the same realm in which meteors burn up and at the lower limits, where noctilucent clouds form (see Night Shining Clouds TBM Vol. 10 No.2 Summer 2014). It is known as the ionosphere, the region where particles become ionised. The intensity of the aurora therefore depends on how much charged material the Sun has pushed our way and how fast it is travelling. An auroral or geomagnetic storm is a little different. During periods of high solar activity – something that occurs in a cycle of every eleven years – the sun can fizz and pop for prolonged periods as the sunspots that pepper its surface,
The greatest chance of stunning auroral displays occurring is at the time of peak sunspot activity. That time is now slowly receding; Solar Max(imum) was in 2013/2014 and the peak has passed. In the trough of activity, known as Solar Minimum, due in about five years time, there will be few sunspots or even none for months upon end. That means very little auroral activity also. However, there is still time to get lucky. Despite being seemingly inaccessible many people are drawn to them every year. Displays are most frequently seen in Arctic Scandinavia, Iceland, southern Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Northern Russia. But you don’t have to travel to the ends of the Earth to see them, during spells of high activity from time to time they can be seen at lower latitudes. To experience the Northern Lights from the UK you have two options; live in or travel to the north of Scotland from whence they may be seen with some regularity, or wait for a significant geomagnetic storm that will send them swirling south to England. In exceptional outbursts, once a decade events, the Aurora Borealis may light up the night sky south of 50°N. It happened to me on February 27th, 2014. Inuit youths dance to the aurora. Southern dwellers who are privileged to witness this incredible apparition usually whoop or weep.
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If not from spirits, where do the lights come from? Nowadays we know that the Sun emits far more than heat and light. A solar ‘wind’ of hot charged particles is blowing constantly from it in all directions, including towards us. Fortunately, our planet’s strong magnetic field protects our atmosphere from being stripped away by it. The same magnetic field funnels some of the charged particles towards the magnetic poles on the North and South of the planet, accelerating them as they are drawn in. As they bombard the highly dispersed gases of our upper atmosphere it causes their molecules and atoms to emit light. That light is the aurora, an oval ring that flickers constantly over the very highest and lowest of Latitudes.
Photo by S. Kirk
To the Labrador Eskimo, who live farther North, the spirits of those who have died either a violent or voluntary death reside in the heavens. The light of the aurora comes from torches that have been lit to guide the feet of new arrivals on the path there. These heavenly spirits are called selamiut, "skydwellers," and can be seen there feasting and playing football with a walrus skull. The noise which sometimes accompanies the aurora – a whistling, crackling sound – is believed to be the voices of those who live in the sky trying to communicate with the people down on Earth. The tradition is that they should always be answered in a whisper.
STAR LORE
blues may appear in bands. Sometimes a dense deep red and occasionally an impenetrable and mysterious black is produced. All of this in utter silence. Mostly. Some people hear sounds associated with the aurora. Light and sound travel at very different speeds, of course, but blindfolded subjects have announced the appearance of the lights by hearing the sounds. Perhaps it is a response in the body of the observer? It has been known of for a long time, such that it is part of the traditional knowledge of Canadian indigenous peoples. The Northern Lights are called wa't·e "illumination" by the Algonquin people of the Timiskaming First Nation of Quebec. They are said to be caused by waves splashing against the rocky shores of the northern seas, producing a reflected glow. Traditionally, the accompanying noise is attributed to the seething of sea-washed gravel and stones on those distant northern beaches.
Bushcraft Magazine
How to Make Primitive Fish Air Bladder Glue Jason Wayne Beever As a primitive bowyer, I use only natural materials for my bows. No plastic. No fiberglass. No synthetic or processed glues. When I first began making self bows, I had little-to-no use for glue. However, once I expanded my repertoire into composite bows and sinew-backed bows, I learned through experience that commercial or processed glues have unpredictable impurities and were not a reliable adhesive. If you, the reader, are searching for a reliable natural glue, then keep reading, as I‟m going to explain how I make my fish air bladder glue.
feeders. Sturgeon, catfish, and croaker are three more commonly known bottom feeding fish. I tried to find dried air bladders online. “Fish maw” is an ingredient used in various Asian recipes, but when searching online, it is most commonly fried or has added preservatives.
Not having had any success, I called around to a lot of fisheries and finally found one that agreed to cut out the bladders for me the next time they processed their catfish. Once I received the air bladders, I rinsed them really well, and removed any grease, fat, or excess tissue. I have Fish air bladder glue is not only strong, but it has a stored fresh air bladders in two lengthy set-time and is flexible. When I am sizing ways: drying or freezing. If I wood, or when I‟m working on projects with don‟t store the bladders, then I The final product medium-level of difficulty, I use my pure tendon must make the glue glue or a tendon/fish mixture. However, when I am immediately. working on a highly difficult project, I use pure fish glue. If you find some air bladders but don‟t have about 3 days to dedicate to making glue, I recommend When I first decided to make a batch of fish air either drying or freezing the bladders. bladder glue, I looked around for a large quantity of air bladders. There are very few fish To dry, I created hooks and hung them on a line in that make an excellent glue, and they are all bottom my workshop. After a few days they were dry
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Raw fish air bladders
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Photos courtesy of the author
Pounding dried tendon to make tendon glue
owyer’s Journey
enough for me to store in a glass jar. In-order for me to use these dried bladders for glue, they must be soaked in water for 24 hours to rehydrate them, and then follow the regular instructions. As for the frozen bladders, no preparation is needed, as they can be put immediately into the pot to be made.
Strain all the pieces out, multiple times. Keep straining until there aren‟t any small particles in
Reducing fish air bladders in water
Place the strained solution back over its heat source. The heat should be reduced to 150°F (65.5ºC) and the solution must continue to reduce until the glue is extremely tacky. I test the stickiness of the solution by pinching some between my pointer finger and thumb. If it is hard to pull my fingers apart, then I know it is ready. A filmy layer will form on the surface of the glue if it is not continually stirred. If a filmy layer does form, keep stirring until it melds back into the mixture. Do not allow that layer to form a chunk in your solution. As I make large quantities, it usually takes me another 15-16 hours to complete this process. If you are only making a small amount, this time could be less. Once the solution is reduced down to a sticky substance, the glue gets pulled off the heat source and allowed to cool until it becomes a condensed gelatinous mass. At this point the glue can be pulled out of the pot, cut into small coin-sized pieces, and placed in a cool dry space until it has dried and hardened. While drying, it is best to have the pieces on a non-stick material, such as plastic wrap. If the glue is hard and dry, then it‟s ready to be stored in a glass jar. To reconstitute the glue, take some pieces out of the glass jar, put the dried pieces in a bowl, add a small amount of water to saturate the pieces, and allow them to soak for a couple hours. Put the solution into a double boiler to heat it up. It‟s important to keep stirring until it‟s dissolved.
Filtering the glue for particles
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DO IT YOURSELF
To begin making glue, the bladders need to be minced by hand or finely chopped in a blender with a bit of water. Place the bladder bits into a pot over your heating source. Depending on how many bladders you have, put in enough water that the solution will be of a liquid texture, not a paste. Cook at 170° Fahrenheit (76.6ºC) for 13-15 hours. Be sure to constantly check on the glue and keep stirring. Be sure to never go higher than 170°F (76ºC), because high temperatures degrade the glue, destroy the proteins, and makes it brittle.
the glue. I use a wire strainer and cheesecloth, and probably repeat the process up to a dozen times. Once done straining, the color should be a milky white or a light brown. Depending on the kind of air bladder it will render a different color.
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A
Bushcraft Magazine
Cooled concentrated fish air bladder glue in gelatin form
Finally cut into small pieces to aid the drying process
Depending on the use of the glue, add water to manipulate the viscosity.
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Egypt; though, it may have been used earlier in other regions of the world. Only after making many batches of this glue, myself, and Even though this process is detailed and timesuccessfully using it for my most complicated consuming, it provides a durable and reliable glue bio-composite bows, I can understand why fish air that can be used for a variety of projects and bladder glue has stood the test of time. materials. Fish air bladder glue has a long history of use from both artists and craftsman. This glue is known to have been used 3500 years ago in
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An eye-catching advertisement Steve Kirk
It is quite apparent that every plant or creature in nature must be self-seeking in order to survive. If they don‟t take care of themselves, nobody else will. Even the bush that produces the berries that feed the birds in winter. But how can this be?
go. Despite their exertions the birds are being selective. A little quality control does not go amiss. The flesh on a haw is ungenerous at best and shrivelled, miserly berries are better discarded. They would just take up space in the bird‟s crop or stomach for too little reward. (The crop is a kind of elastic The end to which all living things are unwittingly working is side extension of the throat; a temporary storage space bethat of the survival of close kin. In other words, as no life fore the food moves down to be digested.) Bank voles and form is immortal, the reproduction of its own kind is the next wood mice, nocturnal hedge-bottom foragers, make the most best thing. So, the scarlet rash currently emblazoned over the of the blackbird‟s unwitting generosity and harvest the rejects hawthorn hedge, for example, is a bit of a and the windfalls. They are agile little confidence trick. An eye-catching advertiseclimbers, too, quite capable of picking ment aimed at the birds of the air, proclaimtheir own fruit should the need arise. ing a free meal, is actually the plant‟s strategy Their instinct is to nip through the stem for seed dispersal. Very effective it is, too. and remove the berry to a place of safety such as the hollow at the base of As with the most successful commercial a tree, where the talons of the owl canrackets, visitors flock in from far and wide. not snatch them away. Often, though, Thrushes of all kinds, including fieldfares and the wood mouse prefers the combined redwings all the way from Scandinavia and watchtower and banqueting table of an Russia, make the most of the supply but the old bird‟s nest - a blackbird‟s, as likely majority of „consumers‟ are blackbirds. as not. With diligent searching, the feeding stations can be found by day and the scraps from the feast examined. Split ash keys, hollow hazelnuts and empty snail shells can be found among the remains. The hawthorn pips hold the key to identifying the diner. Both mammals enjoy the berry flesh, but broaching the shell and tucking in to the kernel doubly fulfils the mouse.
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The most I have seen a blackbird eat in a single sitting is thirteen haws. This was followed by a lot of beak wiping and When first ripe, the berries are readily obtainable. Birds a good preen, indicating that the bird was probably full for perch and plunder any cluster close by. By this time of year the time being. A baker‟s dozen of berries weighs around getting them starts to require more effort. The majority of nine grams - roughly a tenth of the average blackbird‟s those within easy reach will have been consumed. As the weight. This kind of gorging is likely to occur later in the birds seek enough accessible fruit there tends to be moveshort-lived winter day, for it makes sense that the bird should ment along the hedgerow and outwards from the centre. Easy be replete just before it has to see through a long, chilly pickings in the safe heart of the bush have gone. You can see night. Flying works best when a bird is light for its size. blackbirds stretching this way and that. Almost overbalanc- Impending nightfall curtails aerial activity leaving just time ing on occasion, they are forced to steady themselves with a enough to find a roost and settle down safely. flick of the wing or a swing of the tail. Nor will the springy Within the gift-wrap package of, admittedly nutritious, fleshy extremities bear their weight and these are often laden with fruit is a disproportionately large, indigestible pip. Even the haws. hawthorn tree gives away no more than it has to but rather, The insubstantial blue tit, however, fond of no more than the strikes a compromise. Inside this „stone‟ is the seed kernel, occasional haw, can suspend itself from a cluster, strip the well protected for its intended journey - in through one end of flesh from a berry, and leave the stone still hanging from the a bird and eventually out the other. Digestive juices, acting tree. upon the seed, actually assist germination. This may take place far from the original site, having travelled by air As the year wears on blackbirds may have to fly up from the freight. ground and snatch a berry in the air from the outer branches. Aggression increases as the supply declines. Where formerly So ingeniously are things interwoven that each unit contrives a blackbird was content to feed side by side with another, he to serve the whole. It is not an accident. It is an equation. becomes increasingly inclined to see his neighbour off. Neither by free will, nor under duress, for every benefit to its self, each living thing lays down a tribute to the rest, to Nevertheless, if you get the chance to observe, you may see Creation. blackbirds drop up to three berries for every six swallowed. Some are rolled around in the beak before deliberately letting
On Nature‟s Trail
The familiar hen is a drab brown with darker speckling on the red-brown throat, extending onto the breast in younger individuals. The unmistakable cock bird, ebony with a bold gold ring around the eye and a golden-yellow beak will be in the company of many firstyear males. They, too, are black but with dark brown wings, black beaks and no coloured eye-ring. To some extent they must watch the adults and learn how get the most from the new food supply, for it is not as straightforward as it might seem.
Bushcraft Magazine
Avalanche! An extract from the Arctic
Expedition Handbook by Chris Furse
thousands of tonnes of snow rush down at over 30mph. As it stops at the bottom, the snow compacts like concrete. To Loose Snow Avalanches. These start from a single point and guess what it’s like, dig a shallow trench in snow and get spread out fanwise. They can be of wet or dry snow. Small your friends to bury you about 1’ (30cm) under – briefed to slides are quite common, but don’t get blasé, they indicate help you in 2 minutes. Then try to get out by yourself. marginal conditions.
Types of Avalanche
Slab Avalanches. These start with a break across the tension zone, and sweep a large area. They are often wind-slab but Spring avalanches (e.g. Corrie an Lochain in the Cairngorms) may take the whole winter’s snowfall off the surface of the ground. Variations of both of these include:- Dry or Wet Snow and All (‘Full-depth’) or Part of the Snowpack falling. Airborne Powder Snow Avalanches are unique. Flowing down an alpine valley, the powder wave sails out on the air cushion, then accelerates to around 200mph. The air blast can flatten 500 acres of grown forest! The snow does not have to be steep for avalanches to start. Snow theoretically can, and does, avalanche at angles from c50° down to c20°, and wet snow can slide at as little as 10°. Most avalanches start on the slopes between 30° and 50°, and most big ones between 30° and 40°. (Snow is unstable on slopes of 50° or more and it never accumulates enough on such steep slopes to create an avalanche.)
If caught with skis on, or rucksack or ski sticks, you get badly wrenched, as well as bruised and battered. Snow crystals get into your lungs - (especially powder) and may suffocate you. Unless you are on top or make airspace as it compacts, your body may be too squashed to breathe when the snow stops. Hypothermia is a serious risk if not rescued quickly. Only 1 in 5 buried victims live longer than 2 hours.
Snow Profiles Whenever in doubt about avalanche risk, dig a pit (somewhere safe nearby, with the same slope aspect.) Snow-saw one wall back carefully and then examine that wall. Try to work out the history of the snow on that slope. You will notice some layers and horizons by eye. Measure depths from surface down to discontinuity, and record on a simple sketch. Test the density/hardness of each layer: Can you push your fist in? Or four fingers flat? Or a pencil? Or a knife? Examine the various layers and discontinuities and note crystal types: Powder? New windpack? Small rounded granules? Angular crystals or cup-crystals? Firn (large ice granules? Glacier ice? (You can stop digging there!) Develop local knowledge. If you find an avalanche scar, cut a profile beside it (the track is safe for a while as anything unstable would have been triggered when it fell). By keeping records of all your profiles you will learn typical and critical patterns.
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The danger time is the first day or two after a snowfall of over 30cm, particularly if it fell quickly (say, 3cm /hour). Powder/loose snow avalanches are most likely but if the snow came in high wind, lee slopes will be drifted and risky for slab avalanches. Low temperatures prolong the period of risk. Once the snow has settled to around 80% of its initial depth, the risk is less, but the danger comes and goes, and is much harder to recognise. Slab avalanches may be triggered after constructive metamorphosis has weakened lower How to minimise avalanche risk. layers or created horizons of cup crystals. Air temperature rises (or falls) may trigger either loose snow or slab If you must travel during danger times, keep to the centre of avalanches. Thaws (especially rain) increase risk. Some glaciers and follow ridges, not gullies. Avoid lee slopes, keep slopes avalanche annually in early summer. away from perched convex slopes and don’t dawdle below potential avalanches – they can travel much further than Possible injuries. An avalanche has awesome power, as you expect. Dig snow profiles as you go to check the state.
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If you must cross a risky slope, take precautions. The following are all recommended: Undo ski bindings; take hands out of ski-stick loops; undo your rucksack; get ice axe free to jettison. Wear warm clothes; cover your nose and mouth somehow; trail an avalanche cord (50 metres of 2mm coloured string). Cross the danger area straight up and down, not traversing to make a dotted line. (Follow in the first person’s track??) If there are rocks, hummocks, crevasses etc. on the slope, use them as bus stops and potential protective shelter. Cross one at a time (the rope probably needs to be untied) with colleagues watching intently.
If an avalanche does start above you, can you
If you witness a colleague being caught by an avalanche remember where they were when first taken. Keep your eyes glued to them. Remember where you last saw them. After the avalanche subsides do not move until you have fixed their last and previous sighted positions in your memory by some mark they are probably further down that same line. Then: Go to last position sighted. (Down the scar should be safe but beware tributary gullies.) Mark that position (your pack?). Search further down the line from there. Quick search to bottom of debris first. If you see loose kit, e.g. glove, mark it. If you see anything attached – hand, avalanche cord, skistick stuck fast – dig rapidly but carefully. If there are several of you, two dig and one probe around using a skistick with the point removed.
traverse out to shelter at once? If not jettison skis etc. immediately . Try to delay your departure as long as possible – the nearer you are to the back, the better. Try to keep on the surface on your back, head uphill, doing If you find a victim alive: 1]Treat for hypothermia, pitching a tent. a backstroke and protecting your face. 2] Radio for help, if needed. Save all your energy for a supreme effort as the avalanche slows, when you will feel the pressure building up. As it slows, try desperately (a) to keep on or near the surface and (b )try to keep breathing space around your face. If buried, the best way to end is in a foetal position, able to move your hands. (Dribble to find which way is up!?)
Sampling from a snow pit to evaluate avalanche risk
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Photo by Clayoquot
WEATHER LORE
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Trompettes de la Mort, aka Horn of Plenty or Black Chanterelles are just delicious. I can really see why they excite chefs and gourmands. Not only do they look completely stunning with their dusky, deep brown to black, velvety skins, but the flavour and aroma of their luscious firm texture, wonderful when fresh, is really intensified when they're dried – which they do very readily. If you are ever lucky enough to find some, then you are in for a real treat, believe me. This recipe came about because, back in November, to my complete and utter delight I accidentally stumbled across a patch of them while looking for something else (as you do) and once spotted, I couldn't harvest them quickly enough. Because they were so unexpected and precious, I decided to dry mine, using my electric dehydrator set on low. Now, as I've already mentioned, they do dry very easily, so you really don't need a machine to dry them.
The simplest method by far is to run a needle through the stems of whole cleaned fungi and string them carefully onto cotton, then hang them up over a low heat source such as a wood burner or Aga, a radiator or even in the airing cupboard - if you have one! Mine dried overnight in the machine, and were perfectly crisp and ready to put into a well sealed jar until I could decide exactly how I wanted to savour their very special qualities. They may take a little longer if you use the airdrying method, so keep an eye on them and just make sure that they really are completely dry before you pack them into jars for storage. Don't worry if you have yet to find these dusky delights in the wild, if you're desperate to try some then it is possible to find them online from suppliers such as Sous Chef at http://www.souschef.co.uk/trompette.html although they can seem pricey! 100g can set you back something in the region of ÂŁ10 but remember once rehydrated the weight can increase by as much as five times as the dried form and they're so good that I personally think they're worth it. As special treat to myself, and also in appreciation of the woodland that gifted me these delicious treats, I went back to the spot where I'd found them a month or so later and cooked up this light and quick, but just a little bit gourmet, brunch-style meal.
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It's something that can be very easily cooked over a small fire with just a few ingredients and basic bits of kit.
Bushcraft Magazine
Trompettes de la Mort on toast with poached quail eggs and prosciutto Serves 2 Butter (75g) 4 slices of ciabatta, toasted 50ml white wine vinegar mixed with 50ml water 4 quail eggs 1 shallot or 1 small mild onion, very finely shredded 3 tbsp single cream 4 slices of prosciutto, cut into shreds 100g fresh trompette de la mort, washed, trimmed and sliced. Use 20g if you are have dried fungi, then rehydrate them in a very little water before using (which will bring their weight back up to nearer 100g)
ingredients
1 tablespoon of very finely chopped young alexanders leaves Fresh ground pepper to season (optional)
Photos by the author
To cook this dish you will also need a small skillet (cast iron is best) and also 1 or 2 small stainless steel serving cups to poach the quail eggs in (the kind often used to serve small portions of sauce are ideal).
method
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Melt a very small amount of the butter into the skillet and lightly cook the sourdough slices on both side until they begin to colour and develop a toasty crispness. Take them from the pan and keep them covered and warm while you cook the rest of the dish.
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Put a small amount of the vinegar and water mix into each of the stainless steel cups and top them up with the water. Make a flat bed of embers on the edge of the fire and set the cups firmly into this leave them to get hot (take great care not to let ash or debris drop into the water while you are cooking).
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cooking
Add the remaining butter to the skillet and let it melt (take care that it does not colour too much or burn, and pull the pan from the fire if it becomes too hot). Stir in the finely chopped shallot and then add the shredded trompette de la mort. Cook them gently until they are completely warmed through and the shallot is just softened. Take the shredded prosciutto and add this to the dish stirring to make sure that it too is thoroughly blended into the mix then stir in the two tablespoons of cream and continue to warm the mixture. Take care at this point not let the ingredients catch or burn. You want the dish to be warmed thoroughly but the juices do not need to be boiling.
results
Finally sprinkle over the finely chopped young Alexanders leaves. Taste the sauce and if you feel it is required, season to your preference with a little grind or two of black pepper - otherwise, leave well alone! To serve, allow two of the toast slices per person and top each once with a generous spoonful of the trompette/prosciutto mixture. Don't forget to add a couple of spoons of the cream sauce over the top, too. Make a small depression in each pile of fungi and place one carefully drained poached quail egg in each, gently piercing each one with the tip of a knife so that the yolk runs down onto the fungi/ ham and toast.
If you are the kind of person who packs such things when you're camping, this is especially good with a small glass of chilled, light, crisp white wine and if you've been particularly well prepared, a nice dry elderflower made to one of Matt's recipes would be perfect. Either way, enjoy.
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As soon as the water is beginning to take up heat, break a quail egg into each one and leave them to poach. Do keep a watchful eye on them though, you want the eggs to be soft cooked so that the yolk is still runny when serving the dish. Turn the cups if necessary so that they cook evenly and draw them away from the fire just before the whites are fully cooked (mind your fingers!). They will continue to gently poach in the hot water while you get on with the rest of the cooking.
Bushcraft Magazine
Skull Skool
Steve Kirk
Teeth: Carnivore teeth are obviously pointy, often triangular and, towards the back of the jaw, with a profile like a range of mountain peaks. In place of molars, the back teeth are known as carnassials. Instead of simply a flat or bumpy surface for grinding food they have raised, jagged, shearing edges so that the upper great deal of information about the animal, so a small reference ones slide over those in the lower jaw in a scissor-like action that collection is worth having. They are puzzles that need solving. is designed for biting through bone and flesh. Canines are the Presented with one out of context, even experienced people may pointed, often slightly curved killing teeth at the front sides of the have difficulty naming which animal it belongs to. However, snout, but they alone are not a sign that the animal is a carnivore. there are a number of steps to follow that will help you identify Deer can have them (large tusks in some case) and horses may the species or at least narrow it down and at the same time unlock have them, for example. some secrets of the creature and its lifestyle. In general, herbivore teeth are going to be less sharp (rodent Size: Many people struggle with their perception of scale because skulls excepted) and skulls will contain a set of molars for this ability needs practice to develop. Whatever the size of the grinding up plant material. The exact surface design will vary, skull, add on at least four times its length to get a rough idea of depending on the creature but it probably will be either bumpy or the animal‟s body size, so this does not include the tail. In ridged and there will be several teeth that are very similar to each carnivores the ratio is more often around five times the length of other. the skull. Animals with an omnivorous diet are going to show mixed The position of the eyes: This can be useful for a quick decision characteristics in their teeth. For instance they may have strong about whether the animal is a predator or prey (and therefore biting canines but back teeth better suited to chewing berries herbivore) species. If the eyes are obviously set high on the head fruits and bulbs. and on the side of the skull it enables a large field of vision and is an indication that this animal has to constantly watch out for The characteristic front teeth of rats and mice and other „gnawers‟ danger. Forward facing eyes are a sign that the animal uses are an upper and lower set of paired incisors that act and are binocular vision enabling it to judge distance, to fix the position shaped like chisels. The front is orange or yellow and consists of of something precisely and so is often therefore, a trait of a an extra hard layer of enamel. The gnawing action cause the tips hunter. However, this does not hold universally true and should to rub against each other constantly, keeping the edges sharp. only be used in conjunction with other „clues‟. In practice, it is not always clear where the eye goes in a skull, until after a good Muscle attachments: ridges, scallops, crests, knobs and points deal of experience. on the skull are the sorts of places that muscles anchor. It stands People are often surprised by to reason that the larger the prominence or deeper the scoop, the the proportionately small size larger or stronger the muscles that attach there. Any skull with a of a badger‟s head. It looks raised crest of bone up the middle and prominent hollows in the bigger when wrapped with lower jaw is likely to have a powerful bite! muscle and fur.
By spending a lot of time outdoors in the countryside, sooner or later, we are going to chance across the bones of an animal. If we are lucky the skull will be amongst them. Skulls are fascinating to look at and contain a
b
Let‟s have a look at some examples. c
a Badger – Meles meles
14 cm
An adult badger skull has several striking distinguishing features. Regardless of whether it belonged to a male or a female, it has a large crest of bone from front to back along the middle of the braincase. Powerful muscles wrap around this so that in life you would not feel a ridge on top of a badger‟s head but a slight valley. It makes the bite very powerful and the head very strong. This one (a) has a damaged crest (the nicks towards the front) where it had clearly received a large blow or blows to the head when alive, but the bone was smooth, indicating that the animal had healed. If you pick a skull up by the skull ridge, the jaw will drop open, but not fall off like it would with any other animal. This is because the back of the lower jaw fits into a hinge on the underneath of the skull. Also, the front of the lower jaw seals together with age, where as in most other mammals the two halves remain easily separable. With young badgers, however, the jaw still falls off at the back, and the front is not fused (c). Young badger skulls have a rough texture and completely lack a crest, which does not start growing until the animal‟s second year of life. Their teeth are sharper than adults‟ but are equally stubby, reflecting the omnivorous diet.
The
Badgers are a fully protected species so that it is important to be able to clearly show provenance (where you got it from) in order to not fall foul of the law. As a precaution, as well recording in a note book, I always keep digital photographs of any road casualties or skulls I find and allocate a reference number that I also write on the skull (b).
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Fox – Vulpes vulpes You are much more likely to find a fox‟s skull than that of a domestic dog because people tend to bury their companion animal in the garden or even a pet cemetery. The skull shape is consistent and graceful while domestic dog breeds exhibit a range of size variation and distortion. Even though foxes eat large quantities of insects, earthworms and fruits among other things, the fox has classically carnivorous features. The forward-facing eye sockets are clearly distinguishable by a piece of brow ridge projecting from the forehead (d). The mouth is full of triangular pre-molar teeth, slicing carnassials and scimitar-like curved canines. But the features are delicate, even dainty, reflecting the animal‟s modest size and diet of small prey (e). Fox teeth are easily lost, especially the long canines, so it is always a pleasure to find a skull with a full set. One way to ensure this is to remove fresh roadkill (if the skull is not fractured and you are not putting yourself at risk) and move it to somewhere it can rot down, perhaps with its head in a plastic sack to catch any departing dentures. Apart from the long wait and slightly smelly clean-up of the bones that has to eventually follow, the main problem is interference by scavengers – mainly foxes! Domestic Sheep – Ovis aries
d e
16cm
Sheep skulls are not uncommon in the landscape. In upland Britain sheep are left to fend for themselves for long periods and many meet with accidents. In lowland parts individuals may stray or meet a sticky end caught up in brambles.
Fallow Deer – Dama dama Female deer skulls can be easily mistaken for sheep or vice versa. There are a few features to look out for to help distinguish the two. All seven kinds of deer in Britain have a distinct „window‟ in front of the eye-socket where the nose bones join the upper jaw. Deer faces are stretched to help them reach up to leaves, whereas the skull of a sheep tends to be downturned and shorter as an adaptation to grazing. Both animals have a pit in front of the eyes to house a scent gland. In deer they are usually very prominent and may have extra holes, whereas in deer they are harder to see. Adult deer teeth usually pick up characteristic staining from a diet of tanninrich tree-leaves, while sheep teeth are white. Of course there will always be exceptions just to fool you...
26m
Ferret/Polecat – Mustela putorius The skull of ferret, with its long braincase and short front end is rather like that of a miniature badger. The ferret has a low, straight skull crest and strictly carnivorous teeth. Both belong to the mustelid, or weasel family. The familiar ferret is the domesticated form of the polecat, a scarce animal recovering from persecution.
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6 cm
The differences between wild and domestic forms are very subtle and difficult to be categorical about, especially as the animals hybridise. Identification may be on the balance of probability, so in Wales, its wild stronghold, a high chance of it being polecat. In Kent, a mink is similar, but it is much more likely to be a ferret, especially if, as in this case, you got it from a ferret breeder...
NATURE KNOWLEDGE
24m
Sheep come in a range of shapes and sizes. There are around 60 different breeds in the UK, not including hybrids, and some varieties, such as Jacob, come with four horns. The skulls display all the hallmarks of a herbivorous prey animal. They have large eye sockets on the side of the head, vegetation nipping incisor teeth on the front lower jaw only. Sheep do not have incisors on the top jaw, they have a hard, flat pad, instead. There is a toothless gap (known as a diastema) between the front teeth and the ridged pre-molars and molars, which are usually white. In this case they are encrusted with a black accretion, which may have come from eating too many leaves.
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Photos by the author
r Winte
in
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Sunset
Four Boar L ays Wolf tracks
Mylar
by bird and beast alike. The red squirrel stocks his larder while the bear fills his gut. The lynx and the wolf wait to prey on the sick and weak. Hurricanes rip down trees and dislodge roof shingles. Rivers burst their banks and flood houses and cellars and roads. People stay indoors unless venturing out is a necessity.
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The
And then arrives first frost. The early morning grass is carpeted in white, each crystal sparkling as the thin sun rises. From the end of Autumn, when the last of Cobwebs, suspended between thistles, the red and golden leaves fall from the glisten. On cars, summer tyres are trees, and the last vegetable and fruit replaced for Winter ones - a legal are harvested, the environment begins to requirement in most of Europe, and one shed its welcome. Rain and biting wind which should be logically adopted in the turn the ground to mud, and the last of UK as it would prevent many crashes and the migratory species head to warmer traffic delays. While driving through climes - the golden oriole and hoopoe blizzards, snow drifts and on black ice is have long since left and the stork, taxing, with the right equipment and martin, swift and swallow follow suit. some experience it becomes part of daily Collective hunts terrify the forests as the life. Without the right equipment it beboar and deer begin fattening themcomes an exercise in deadly futility. selves for Winter. The remaining fungi There is great anticipation for the first and fallen nuts, and tree-borne sloes, rosehips and haw berries, are fought over snowfall, which is usually expected on St
Post Cards from the Other Side of the Bush
When you live in a dense urban environment, when the ground is asphalt and concrete and the horizon is brick and glass and but a mere few feet away, the seasons barely change. Yes, there are slight temperature fluctuations, more or less precipitation, and some days are more or less appealing to face than others, but the general ambient doesn't alter. Surround yourself with nature rather than a cityscape, and the seasons become godlike, dictating your cans and can'ts. And Winter is the extreme.
Bushcraft Magazine
Martin's Day, November 11th: Martin
prichĂĄdza na bielom koni, Martin arrives on a white horse. By the end of November, the temperature can drop well below zero, although this teasing mini-Winter doesn't often last long. The first snow melts away and the sky becomes a monochrome grey. A heavy, depressing pall weighs on everyone's minds. The days drag by and shorten. The clocks are turned back and the bleak night dominates. Weeks pass and the focus turns to the Christmas season.
with butter mixed with more garlic and red pepper). The main dishes are potato salad and fish, usually carp that has been kept alive in the bath for several days prior to dispatching for the meal as this cleans it out. Presents are given out after dinner and are usually simple necessities such as winter clothes or books rather than credit-taxing materialistic plastic tripe destined for the bin.
Once the temperature plummets, the grey skies clear and the blinding blue reflects off the ubiquitous white. Dressing for even short The first inkling of what to expect over the forays outdoors requires multiple layers as the holiday period is on the 25th November, St. cold bites into any exposed flesh and becomes Catherine's Day. The old folk rhyme states: painful quickly. The temperature throughout Katarina na l'ade, Vianoce na blate, that if the year here can vary between 40 degrees there's ice on that day then there'll be mud at Celsius in the summer to minus 30 or more in Christmas. Bizarrely, this appears to hold true. the depths of winter. A good indication of the This year we had a snow shower on St. Cathtemperature is that nostril hair freezes at erine's and that melted within a day or two. around minus 10. The snow didn't return until St Stephen's, Boxing Day. While all winter sports are popular and available locally - downhill and cross country Thankfully, the Slavs break up their long winter with several celebrations. December Me in the Snow 6th is the most important for children as it is when St Mikulas (Santa Claus) visits with sweets and chocolate. He's always accompanied by a Pan-like demon, similar to the German Krampus; possibly a throwback to early medieval dualism such as the Bogomils practiced, or perhaps from a much earlier Slavonic pagan tradition.
The
Christmas is held on December 24th by the Roman Catholics, although in my region, among the Russian Orthodox and Byzantine Ruthenians, it is not celebrated until January 6th, the Feast of the Three Kings. Locally, it is a solemn affair preceded by a fast. 12 separate dishes are prepared, each with its own ancient but simple symbolism. Prior to eating, a portion is dropped into a slop bucket to serve and bless the livestock, and a seat is always left empty for an unexpected guest. The dishes range from a clove of raw garlic to honey to Mass Wafer or home cooked bread to an apple divided depending on the number of guests. Two soups are served - Kapustnice (traditionally cabbage, cep, smoked ham, sausage and gnocchi, but at Christmas all meat is forbidden), MaÄ?anka (the remaining liquid from sauerkraut, with garlic, onions and bay leaves boiled in it, add dry cep, sweet cream and a little flour for thickening; finish
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skiing, snowboarding, sledging and skating - the abundance of snow offers other possibilities to the bushcrafter. An excellent way to get kids interested in the outdoors is to take them tracking. A fresh snowfall followed by a clear icy night presents a seemingly endless tableau from which to read the lives of animals and birds as they struggle to survive the elements. Working out what has passed along a trail, how many, and perhaps even why and when, keeps children interested for hours.
how we would make the place livable throughout the night. Slovak TV news had warned that the temperature would be about minus 25 Celsius, and not having central heating meant focusing on warming stone walled rooms. Many towns even cancelled their public festivities because of the extreme temperature.
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We shopped in the historic UNESCO town of Bardejov and brought what food and drink we needed with us. I'd switched off the water at the mains a few weeks earlier as pipes and taps usually freeze and burst, so I had to first turn it back on and then hope nothing exploded, which meant moving a large concrete slab with a crowbar and descending into a pit. We decided not to use the first floor and instead all sleep in the lower 2 bedrooms. These have the old ceramic tile and brick pec stove between them and while it takes half a day to warm up, once heated it is superb at what it does and both retains and emits warmth for days afterwards. As the logs I'd had delivered were good at sustaining a fire but not heating one, Sometimes I ventured out in the snow and ice Wolf and Cub tracks tell a and spent an hour breaking up old drastic tale, of planks with a splitting axe. Several fear and hours of chainsawing and splitting flight, sometimes they just confuse - an example logs, then planks, later, and we had enough is the photo of the 4 boar lays in the field. Why wood to last us through the night. We lit the would they bed down exposed rather than inliving room hearth and settled in in our coats. side their own home environment, deep in the forest? What would drive them to do that? Once evening began, it quickly became clear Sometimes tracks shock; returning from a walk that it wouldn't be comfortable. Our breath was in the bush and discovering something with visible and each passing minute felt colder large paws has since crossed your own boot and colder. The hearth was not doing its job. tracks and urinated on them‌ This was my fault as, years back, when I first started reconstructing the place, I'd removed Trees bare of foliage and the ground a white the old immense pec stove and put an archway carpet mean the forest not only looks combetween the living room and the rest of the pletely different to more vibrant seasons but house, making it open plan like the houses I'd that also its denizens are much easier to spot. occupied in Portugal and Morocco. Slavs have Shape, silhouette and movement contrast with lots of small rooms with heavy wooden doors for monotonous, immobile dark trunks - and foxes a reason. If we were to survive the night, and look very red. hypothermia was a very real possibility, I had to find a way to keep in the heat. My EDC, Winter turns simple tasks into chores and chal- courtesy of prepping, and the first aid kit on my lenges, and often much preparation is required GHB, provided the solution. Both contained an to successfully overcome seemingly innocuous emergency Mylar blanket. I nailed them up activities. This year, we stayed at the house for over the archway and, within minutes, the Silvester, New Year's Eve. As we hadn't been for a room warmed noticeably. Within an hour, the few weeks we knew we had to plan in advance living room was toasty but it was a feat of
Bushcraft Magazine
POST CARD toilet. e the kitchen or courage to brav and plaster missing There are bits of ll from le holes in the wa several noticeab pay to e was a small pric the nails but it t imlife is often abou sh Bu . rt fo m co r fo nd. at you have at ha provising with wh
The
ter ths drag on. Win And now the mon becomril, with people can last until Ap D as ore affected by SA ing more and m r seems ring which neve they long for a sp s grey the blue sky turn to arrive. When s on s feel low for week and the heaven bones, ld eats into your co e th d an d, en oods es her various m Nature truly mak hest rviving the hars apparent. But, su d an ty ying the beau season, and enjo
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sionally pleasure it occa first offers, make the en more Spring flowers ev appreciable. rienced lenge to be expe Winter is a chal and overcome.
ole o T ’ O d r a w d E nture.com
carpathianadve
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Good Old Ways from the “Good Old Days” Lloyd Hooper “If you are going out to play, don‟t go messing about with fires !” These were my Mother‟s words to me when I was about ten years old. So off I went with my group of friends, to “play”. Up to a clearing by a young forestry block, gorse bushes along one side and a lovely little stream running alongside the other, quite idyllic really. It would be a dream wild camp spot, but progress has turned it into a car-park for some little man-made ponds with a play park and usually closed cafe and call it a nature reserve. Grrr.. Don‟t get me started!
us, was sat in the armchair and said “Let me have a look at that? Mmm nasty! You want to get hold of his arm and hold it in-front of the fire.” With my resisting screams my Mother asked “What good would that do?” My Nan replied “It will stop the little b****r playing with fires again!” Then she got up and said “Follow me into the kitchen”, where she got a clean piece of cloth and grated a potato onto it, then folded the cloth and wrapped it around the burn. “There ...that‟s called a poultice. That will help take the sting out of it. We used to use poultices a lot in the old days. They were used if wounds had infections or for
Photo by the Bushcraft Magazine
Anyway, we were all in the Scouts, we knew what we were doing. We had a small ring of stones around the fire and we always tried to challenge ourselves to only use one match (and to be honest, we never thought that we would smell of smoke, to give our game away). After a few hours of happy play in the sunshine (rose-tinted specs on there) our little camp-fire was doing nicely. When one of the boys found a container that had been dumped in the gorse bushes, curiosity got the better of us and someone decided to take the top off to look inside. It must have been pretty volatile stuff because the fumes ignited from the fire and sent a jet of flame across my hand and up my arm melting my track suit top to my arm. I can see it now: dark maroon with a pale blue stripe down the arms. It is imprinted on my mind along with the now fading scars on my arm.
I got through the back door, managing to hide my arm and my tears. My Mother decided to run a nice hot bath because “Look at the colour of you!”
“ Did it make it better Nan?” I enquired, and with a chuckle, she replied, “Well ...he woke up in the night and found a rat eating the bread out of it!”
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Burns and hot baths are not a good combination and try- Nice one Nan. And you call them the „Good Old ing to be brave could only last so long before the tears Days‟ ..!? flowed and sniffling I showed my mother my burnt hand and arm. My Grandmother, or Nana, as she was known to
The Last Word
getting splinters out, nasty boils, lots of things. I remember when I was a young girl my uncle lived across Having my Scouts first-aid badge, I knew what to do: the river in a little cottage. Well ... his son had a really straight down to the stream and immerse the injured area nasty wound on his neck and it was going septic. You in the cooling waters. With a quivering lip and “No, it‟s never used to bother doctors then unless it was really the smoke that‟s making my eyes water”, I told my mates serious, so he went over to see Granny and she made him I was okay, but time to go home. a bread poultice and wrapped it on his neck.”
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