Wolf-watching or Bertie-spotting?

Something different for this week's Nature Friday post. 

Did you know that wolves are extinct in Scotland? The precise date is disputed, but the last wolf sighting was probably in the 18th Century. 

Gail tells me she has long yearned to see a wolf in the wild, and has even considered paying to go abroad on a 'wolf-watching' vacation (although I would doubt she actually has the patience to stand around for days on end with a bunch of wolf obsessives all competing over their high tech spotting scopes...)

Well, as we all know, overseas trips are off the table just at now.  But what could be a better substitute for wolf-watching than an afternoon of Bertie-spotting on the Hill of Fare*? Excellent practice for Gail, and after all who doesn't see me and say to themselves "ah yes, if I didn't know that wolves no longer inhabit Scotland, I might think I'd just encountered one...."

Perhaps you would like to join in and test your observational skills with some virtual Bertie-spotting.

We'll start with an easy one.

And frankly, if you can't see me in the photo above, you'd better get your eyes tested (and have someone else drive you to the opticians...)

Let's make it a wee bit harder.

Still too easy? Try this...

And then this...

Finally, a really challenging sequence. (You are allowed to biggify the images.)

How did you get on? Can you see my tail in that last photo? Or maybe not?

*Regular readers will recall that, by deploying Gail's 'elastic ruler' (the one that stretches five miles to seven) we can reach the Hill of Fare within Scotland's current Covid guidelines.

Finally, thank you once again to our lovely friends Jakey, Arty, Rosy and Sunny for hosting the Nature Friday blog hop. Do hop on and visit the other blogs linked below: 

BBB is 'Tamed' by Alice Roberts?

Gail and I read a most fascinating and canine-relevant scientific book during our Christmas stay in Nottingham, so of course I, Bouncing Bertie Boffin (BBB for short) am bursting to tell you all about it!

'Tamed: Ten Species that Changed Our World' is by Alice Roberts, and it is all about how, when and where different plants and animals were domesticated.

I knew straight away I opened the book that Professor Roberts had her priorities in order when I saw that Chapter One concerned my very own species.

Before I tell you more about the dogs chapter, I want to remind you that nowadays archaeologists can combine and enrich their findings with results from ever more sophisticated techniques of DNA analysis and radiocarbon dating, and what was once a matter for speculation now rests on more solid foundations.

Did you ever hear about Razbo, whose skull was found in 2011 in Razboinichya Cave, in the Altai Mountains of Siberia? It seems that, at c.33,000 years old he might just be the most ancient dog yet discovered.

Now there has been a fair bit of controversy concerning Razbo. The problem is that, when only a skull is available, key indicators of 'dogginess', such as the tendency to tilt one's head endearingly in order to extract another expensively tasty shop-bought treat from one's human, cannot be verified. What we do know is that Razbo had a snout that was short and broad - a feature typical of us domesticated types. However, the structure of Razbo's jaw is rather more wolf-like than anything one might encounter at Crufts. Anyway, it is now the settled view of the experts (at least until someone comes along and does another study - such is science) that Razbo was indeed a dog, who pre-dated the last Ice Age and lived companionably alongside a community of hunter gatherers, well before anyone thought of settling down to farming and all that Neolithic carry-on.

What else does Professor Roberts have to say? Well it seems that in the process of dog domestication, selection has acted in favour of the ASIP gene (Agouti Signalling Protein, since you asked). This gene acts to diminish aggression and it also encodes a protein involved in mediating pigment production. So a gene which modifies behaviour can come with the unexpected side effect of altering appearance. Which helps explain why you get affable, multi-coloured pups like me, all in one simply adorable package!

Oh and one more thing. Do you ever eat cereals, rice or potatoes? I confess I do sometimes. I now know that I can digest these foods because, unlike wolves, I possess multiple copies of the gene for producing amylase, the enzyme for digesting starch. What's even more interesting, I think, is  that modern dog breeds vary in their exact number of copies of the amylase gene, and the breeds who have the most amylase genes tend to be descendants of dogs from parts of the world where a lot of cereal was eaten.

(On the subject of diet, I am thinking it a pity that dog domestication did not originate in a cocoa growing part of the world, where selection pressure would act in favour of genes for chocolate tolerance. Just a festive flight of fancy....)

Anyway, Gail says I have rambled on for long enough.

Prof. Alice Roberts and friend

Gosh I just want to say finally that all the other chapters in 'Tamed' are very interesting too, even though they are not about dogs. Yes, really!

A new plan for this winter

Fellow pups, have you ever felt the Call of the Wild?

"It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what".

Jack London summed it up so well, didn't he?

Gosh how I would love to escape from the grey confines of domestic life in Aberdeen and into the Alaskan wilderness to run with the wolves.

Gail, who can be boring about practicalities, keeps reminding me of my fondness for curling up on the sofa in front of the fire and my dislike of icy water, and says she doubts I'd survive an Arctic winter.

Reluctantly, I will concede she has a point.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was to read this article in our Sunday paper.

Yes that's right, wolves are on the march, increasing in numbers over much of Europe. And not only in the cold bits. 

I am thinking it would be nice to spend January and February in Spain. Really, this is not such a great time of year in NE Scotland. So Gail could go exploring the cultural riches of Madrid and I could hook up with one of the several wolf packs now roaming in the nearby Guadarrama mountains.

Of course, if the hunting proved disappointing, or my pack mates turned out to be bad sharers, I could catch the train back into the city for dinner and a night in a comfy hotel with Gail.

An excellent plan, don't you agree?

If not wolves...a thought experiment

I think I mentioned that I chased some red deer up a Torridon hillside last Saturday.

My version of events (and I am sticking to it) is that, after a few minutes' excitement, I heroically overcame my lupine genetic inheritance and, obedient chappie that I am, rejoined Gail on the footpath and allowed the deer to escape my clutches. I am confident you will recognise any alternative version, for example to the effect that I got tired and panicked 'cos I thought I'd lost Gail, as a ridiculous fabrication.

Now let us consider for a moment the broader issues here.

Point number one: it is almost universally agreed that Scotland's red deer population is out of control, resulting in over-grazing of both crops and trees, to the detriment of the country's economy and ecology.

Point number two: one reason for the explosion in numbers is that wolves have been extinct in Scotland for around two hundred years, thus deer have no natural predators.

Point number three: schemes to reintroduce wolves to Scotland have been shelved, due to concerns from farmers and lack of space.

So I have been conducting a wee thought experiment.

What if us dogs were allowed to run free in the hills and take on the wolves' historic role?

Surely this would work just brilliantly.

After all, there are a lot of us pups in Scotland, so we could take turns in order that we also could fulfil our domestic pet duties. With regular exercise chasing longer limbed prey, the current canine obesity crisis would be solved at a stroke, and problems caused by dogs suffering from boredom and under-stimulation would likewise be a thing of the past. With a regular supply of free venison, plus antlers to chew of course, our owners would have to stop whinging about the cost of kibble and treats.

Yes I really am convinced that I am onto something here. I would be more than happy to organise a pilot project in the Torridon area. How about I invite Fenton up to Scotland to inaugurate the scheme? A little ceremony involving the cutting of a lead might serve as useful PR. Perhaps a prize could be arranged  for the first chihuahua to bring down a Monarch of the Glen?

The more I think about the idea, the more I like it.

What could possibly go wrong?

PS from Gail: A big thank you to all those who suggested remedies for Bertie's sore paw. I am pleased to say that time and rest worked their healing magic and forty-eight hours after the epic hike he was back to his customary bouncing self. But I have ordered a tub of 'Bag Balm' to keep in reserve for the next time I under-estimate the distance and roughness of a walk in the hills!