Environment « Thurles Information

Snails Eat Mail In Tipperary

The era of Queen Victoria was a time of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military progress within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Before our independence, postboxes bore the insignia of British reigning monarchs. “VR”, “ER” and “GR” latter insignia referring to Queen Victoria, King Edward VII and King George V.

Some of these beautiful boxes can still be seen in parts of Ireland today. Postboxes erected since 1922 bear Irish logos, e.g. a harp entwined with the letters SÉ, short for Saorstát Éireann and later PT (Posts and Telegraphs) and, since 1984, An Post.

Since 1861, The residents of Kilmoyler have been posting letters in one of these designer Victorian cast-iron postboxes, embedded in the ivy clad wall opposite the Lady Gregory public house since 1861. Alas, now in this present age of speedy communication and sophistication, this simple luxury is no more, thanks to snails.

Recently the local postman noticed this mailbox had been infiltrated by snails who were munching on the envelopes contained their-in. On reporting this matter, An Post decided to suspend its daily collection and seal the box causing not a little complaining from local letter writers.

So Why Have Snails In Tipperary Begun Invading Our Perfectly Good Postal System?

In their natural habitat, land snails eat mushrooms, fruit, leaves and any other kind of vegetation they can find. Mostly, snails eat living plants, but can also eat decaying ones. Other forms of food include plant bark, flowers and algae. In order to get a nutritional supply of calcium for their shells, snail food includes limestone and they also eat ready available chalk from rocks.
Snails however also can easily acquire a taste for damp paper and cardboard, because same are mostly made from a fibre called cellulose that comes from trees harvested from plantations and forests. Wood chips are mechanically and/or chemically treated to release these fibres. This produces a pulp which is then mixed with large amounts of water to make a mush that is passed over a continuous, rapidly moving mesh. The water is drawn through the mesh, leaving the fibres behind. These damp fibres are then passed over a series of rollers to flatten and dry it, then rolled onto huge spools, and sent to factories for cutting and shaping. So remember that paper is made from plant materials and snails simply see it as another food source.

Snails also do not like hot and dry conditions as presently being experienced in Co.Tipperary. They like their atmosphere moist or humid and not too bright, so where better to spend their slow moving leisurely time than in a cast iron letter box, whose dark interior walls are covered in condensation.

So What Is The Solution To This Snail Mail Problem?

Continue reading Snails Eat Mail In Tipperary

Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos Could Visit Tipperary

Commissioner Dacian Cioloş

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers (ICMSA) said it would schedule a meeting of the European Milk Board (EMB) in Dublin to coincide with Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş‘ forthcoming visit.

Although the Commissioner’s travel arrangements have not been confirmed, it is expected he will arrive on the evening of September 30th and depart on October 1st, 2010, following scheduled meetings. However, a spokesperson for the EU Commission in Dublin said the arrangements were “very tentative” at the moment and were subject to change.

The farm body said it had proposed to the EMB that it hold its next conference in Dublin in October but would be prepared to move that date forward so that the Commissioner could be in attendance.

An ICMSA spokesman said the conference will will be attended by dairy farmers from all over the European Union.

It is understood that Commissioner Ciolos has expressed a wish to visit a farm while in Ireland depending on time constraints.

The ICMSA have proposed the farm of Mr Pat McCormack, Lisheen, Co Tipperary, to host the Commissioner’s anticipated farm visit. Mr McCormack’s is considered one of the best young farmers in the Munster region and his expertise has been recognised by his recent election to the ICMSA Dairy Committee to host the Commissioner’s much anticipated farm visit.

Staying on farming matters:-

Teagasc Forced To Consider Turning Away Agri Students

Hundreds of agricultural students are expected to be refused entry to Teagasc courses this Autumn, due to a massive surge in applications.

Continue reading Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos Could Visit Tipperary

River Suir – Water Lilies And Mute Swans

Our local water ways, namely the river Suir, which flows through the town of Thurles and the Cabragh Wetlands on the outskirts of the town, are particularly attractive at this time of year.

The native White Water Lily (Nymphaea alba) and the invasive Yellow flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) are in full bloom in Cabragh Wetlands, while on the river Suir our year round resident Mute Swans (Dan and Doris) have finally introduced their surviving three cygnets, hatched in mid May, to the local residents.

The male (called a Cob), and the female (called a Pen) birds, usually attempt to mate for life, although it is not true to say that if one of the birds were to die, that the other would necessarily pine away. It is very possible for an adult bird to find an alternative mate.

Their nest is a huge mound of mixed material, normally assorted vegetation, consisting of sticks dried grasses and rushes, are constructed at the water’s edge. The nest is built by the female, while the male supplies the materials.

The female lays up to seven eggs between late April and early May. Both sexes incubate the eggs, which hatch within 35-41 days. The young birds (called cygnets) sometimes ride playfully on their parents’ backs as seen in this video clip.

June On The River Suir, Thurles, Co Tipperary, Ireland. from George Willoughby on Vimeo.

The youngsters remain with the adult birds for four or five months before being driven from the breeding ground in mid Autumn.

Swans normally find enough food in the wild without supplementary feeding. It is only in freezing weather that extra food can be helpful. Many people like feeding bread to swans and while this is unlikely to do them any real harm in the long term, it is no substitute for the proper diet that the birds themselves will seek out. Grain, such as wheat, and vegetable matter, especially lettuce and potatoes, can be fed to swans.

Food should be thrown into the water to avoid encouraging the young birds onto the bank, thus putting their lives in danger.

A visit to Cabragh Wetlands is such a peaceful experience and for those who enjoy a closeness with nature, it is well worth a visit, particularly in the evening time.

Music used in the video clip is by Johannes Brahms, entitled “The Cradle Song”.

Greenhouse Gas – Cost Or Opportunity

The question of whether the need to abate greenhouse gas emissions should be seen as a cost or an opportunity for Irish agriculture will be debated at this year’s Nuffield Ireland Conference which takes place at the Horse and Jockey Hotel, Thurles, on 17 June next.

With the theme ‘Carbon – a cost or opportunity for farming‘, it has attracted some of the country’s leading climate change experts.

Speakers will include Paud Evans, the chief principal officer at the Department of Agriculture, Owen Ryan from the climate change section of the Department of the Environment, Teagasc scientists Gary Lanigan, Johnstown Castle, Matthew Deighton and Laurence Shaloo, Moorepark; Thomas Ryan, IFA, and Justin McCarthy, Irish Farmers Journal.

The conference will be briefed on current and future Government policy on climate change, while the use of grass in various farming systems as a means of combating greenhouse gas emissions also will be discussed.

Attendace at this conference costs €30 (€35 after 11 June) and further details can be obtained from the IFA (Irish Farmers Association) Telephone: 00 353 (1) 4500266 Fax: 00 353 (1) 4551043.

QWS Represent Tipp At National Emergency Management Summit

Cantwell Quality Water Services Ltd

One of Tipperary’s premier companies, Cantwell Quality Water Services Ltd, who supply potable drinking water to both the Public and Private Sector will be attending the highly publicised Inaugural National Emergency Management Summit in the Croke Park Conference Centre on Tuesday May 25th and Wednesday May 26th next.

This two day hybrid conference will incorporate all in depth strategies for future planning, response and recovery in any emergency situation. It will also include a special focus day on flood response and prevention. The flooding tragedy which afflicted this county in recent times has left some serious questions to be answered. What strategy should be now undertaken? What lessons can be drawn from our recent experiences? What measures need to be put in place and in what order, so as to best deal with future problems, should or when they arise?

The National Emergency Management Summit seeks to assess future risks and articulate practical approaches to strategies for planning, response and recovery. This event will provide an insight into the challenges facing County and Local Councils, and indeed other parties in maintaining emergency services. It will look at managing the impact on communities, while also keeping a focus on wider risks.

This two-day conference will provide a unique opportunity for all attendees to increase their knowledge on how we can best prepare for such emergencies, use scarce resources more wisely, implement responses more effectively and create new partnerships.
The conference will also hear from government bodies and relevant parties on their present emergency planning agendas and receive an update on the status of flood risk management.

Quality Water Services Ltd in County Tipperary, are Ireland’s leading providers of bulk water for Festivals, Concerts, Sporting Events and Private Corporations. Using a wide range of drinking water equipment such as Articulated Water Tankers, Water Storage, Water Bowsers and Pumping Equipment, QWS Ltd. have the capacity to provide alternative water supplies wherever and whenever required.