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Increase in number of invasive snapping turtles in south of France
More sightings recorded in Pyrénées-Orientales; the turtle is also found in 29 other departments
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Brexit did not help Britain or France - despite what 'leavers' say
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the referendum
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Our strange encounter with a French pine marten
A reader describes troubling antics of a garden visitor
No rules on destroying caterpillars
Near my house is a tall pine tree containing 18 nests of processionary caterpillar.
As I pass it on a regular route with my terrier, I went to the mairie to ask about regulations on the destruction of nests at the larval stage.
What amazed me is – in one of the most regulated countries in the world – there are no requirements to destroy the nests either by the commune or the tree’s owners.
A few communes offer a destruction service and in some forested areas insecticide spraying takes place.
The problem is that the spray kills all the other harmless insects as well.
Bearing in mind the dangers the caterpillars present on their descent from the nests to pupate, I find it extraordinary no one is made responsible.
Philip Lidgate,Pyrénées-Atlantiques
