Well, they’ve been on my bucket list ever since I learned of their existence in my area but last night was the first time I’ve ever seen them in the flesh. Raccoon Dogs (or Psík medvedíkovitý, as they’re known in Slovakia), possibly the most primitive form of canid on the planet, are an ‘invasive species’ […]

Summer is finally here and with it comes a selection of animals that we don’t see at other times of the year. Sadly, even after a horrifically long and cold winter, we’ve only had a few hot days thus far. Hopefully, the weather will pick up at some point. Probably the most noticeable summer visitor […]

This weekend I finally retired my old trail camera, an RD1000. I think it cost me about 70 GBP 4 years ago. It’s not the cheapest of trailcams but it’s certainly not a higher end one (such as a Bushnell, Browning or Moultrie). As I need a game camera merely to record the different species […]

This is a perfect example of what you don’t want to meet in the forest – a Wild Boar sow and her piglet (specifically, a ‘squeaker’). This was taken on an RD1000 trailcam outside my village in the Carpathian hills of north-eastern Slovakia. It always amazes me how the single-most cute creature on the planet, […]

Is Spring really here? The landscape says yes:   but the weather says no. It’s May and we’re still getting subzero temperatures at night and the occasional snow storm. Regardless, I put out my old trail cam in a much deeper part of the forest (about a 90 minute trip there and back) with the […]

Yesterday, we visited my sister-in-law to combine my name day and her birthday. In reality it was because the kids wanted to see their cousin’s new dog – a 5-month-old Czechoslovak Wolfdog named Jacky. For those who don’t know, a Wolfdog is a cross between a German Shepherd and a Carpathian Wolf. They’re a bit […]

We get plastic Irish pubs out here but they don’t even know it’s St Patrick’s Day and I don’t fancy sitting in a half-empty overpriced establishment watching Rhianna on a widescreen…. I miss the days when there were queues to get into a pub on St Paddy’s Day and it involved lots of drinking, poon, […]

The latest issue of Bushcraft Magazine is out and this time contains a bumper pack of my contributions First off is the cover, which is my photo of a bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) – I feel honoured the editor Steve chose that one. Then there’s my article about the realities of living out here during a […]

I’ve just completed two paintings that I’ve been wanting to try my hand at for a very long time – hide art. The paintings are done in acrylic on wild boar hide strung onto ash wood frames. The process of fetching the wood from the forest, carrying it home, debarking it, drying it, painting the […]

Ok, so I was wrong about it being the end of Winter. The temperature does climb a little above zero during the day (3 degrees centigrade feels tropical) but then it plummets to minus 10 at night, which means that everything that’s melt becomes ice. Walking is a nightmare as the ground, pavement and roads […]