By: Blonde Two
Imagine you are writing a DofE expedition risk assessment; how many possible Dartmoor hazards would you be able to record?
There are all the usual ones of course: wet rivers, man-shaped rocks, tussocky grass, foot-sucking bogs, blood-sucking ticks, carnivorous sheep, charging ponies, horny cows (you know, those Scottish ones), finger-nipping adders, lightning-striking storms, flashing floods, bank-holiday drivers …
It is a long list and we Blondes have mitigated for them all, but now there is a new kid on the risk assessment block, a blow-in, un nouveau arrive; now we have our very own bone-crunching vulture. (Here is an interesting post from Dartmoor’s Adrian Colston on the subject.)
The good news is that the lammergeier, despite having a wingspan of over 2.75 metres, a scary beak and flamboyant feather stockings is unlikely to want to suck the marrow out of the bones of a smelly, rucksack touting teenager.
Mind you, it is suggested that the lammergeier enjoys picking up tortoises and dropping them on the floor. Rucksack/shell not much difference really is there? Maybe we Blondes do need to do a bit of additional paperwork!
Although I am not bald I do have short white hair which may be mistaken from on high as a rock so I will be taking more seriously the wearing of The Hat in future. By way of a bit of pedantry, as you are a budding author, have a Google or whatever to find out how to put an acute accent on en E.
Ah the acute accent, I believe in WordPress, this requires a bit of HTML code …
Are man-shaped rocks more dangerous than other kinds?
If you don’t have paths made of stones that slide away when you stand on them, I’m coming to visit!
Man-shaped rocks are both more dangerous and friendly than other rocks.
It is to be hoped that not all drivers on the A38 are bird watching for southern European vultures (see linked blog.) Perhaps that is another risk factor for you, dear Blondes. Dartmoor was sporting an Eagle Owl a few weeks ago – – –
Now I would love to see an Eagle Owl!