If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.
Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
21–30 of 105 posts
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#22As I found the article did a poor job of demonstrating what a swift brick is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_brick
I opened the article without a clue about what they were. Within my first 5-10 s on it I knew what they were.
Literally right below the title:
> bricks that provide nesting for swifts and other endangered birds
And a picture.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#23As I found the article did a poor job of demonstrating what a swift brick is, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift_brick
It has two very clear pictures at the top...?
There's a picture of a box with a bunch of playing cards on top of it, then a picture of a building that has one. I found it insufficient and thought others might too.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#24In the US bird populations are down 30% since the 70s (with many species seeing much more significant declines) and you see similar trends in many other countries. You'll probably see a lot more of these sorts of conservation efforts as people start to realize how dire things are ecologically.
Source for decline number: https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aaw1313
I also know the numbers are similarly dire across the animal kingdom. At least birds aren't doing as poorly as amphibians where 40% of species are threatened (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10567568/)
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#25Do they not have mice and rats there? This looks like a place those creatures would nest long before a bird got to it.
I live close to the most populous city in Scotland (Glasgow), and even only 6mile (10km) out of the city there is extensive greenery. Rats and mice are very uncommon here. They are rarely seen in the city, and I live close to very large fields and open countryside. 1. These bricks are normally installed close to the roof, under the guttering. 2. If anything, the main rodent of concern would be squirrels...but they wi…
> They are rarely seen in the city
Rats and mice are ridiculously common in central Glasgow, its plagued the city for years to the point many argue its a public health crisis. While sure the suburbs might be better, I've never once seen someone describe Glasgow and rats being uncommon in the same sentence. I literally can't visit Glasgow without seeing an enormous rat in the street 5 minutes after arriving.
There are loads of nice things I will say about Glasgow - I lived there for decades. Being low on the rat count is not one of them. The local politicians constantly talk about the rat plague too.
> https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/rats-plague-...
> https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-66732675
> https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-rat-...
> https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/probe-finds...
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
It has two very clear pictures at the top...?
There's a picture of a box with a bunch of playing cards on top of it, then a picture of a building that has one. I found it insufficient and thought others might too.
There's a picture of the brick, you mean.
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#27I am frustrated by this article.
1. Why focus on Swifts as opposed to any other species in decline? They state that they are "iconic", so maybe that's the answer? Are they more "iconic" than any other specifies in Scotland?
2. Why are these bricks the best solution? Why not take that money that would be spent on bricks and instead preserve land, or just build them dedicated houses elsewhere?
3. Why does this need to be done via government mandate versus voluntarily asking people to build Swift housing in existing buildings or land?
I'm worried that this is a government policy with great intentions that will result in economic costs with unmeasured benefits and bureaucratic bloat. Hopefully I am proven wrong!
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a picture of a box with a bunch of playing cards on top of it, then a picture of a building that has one. I found it insufficient and thought others might too.
There's a picture of the brick, you mean.
That was not clear to me. Dunno why people are making such a big deal out of "if you want more info, go here."
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live close to the most populous city in Scotland (Glasgow), and even only 6mile (10km) out of the city there is extensive greenery. Rats and mice are very uncommon here. They are rarely seen in the city, and I live close to very large fields and open countryside. 1. These bricks are normally installed close to the roof, under the guttering. 2. If anything, the main rodent of concern would be squirrels...but they wi…
> They are rarely seen in the city Rats and mice are ridiculously common in central Glasgow, its plagued the city for years to the point many argue its a public health crisis. While sure the suburbs might be better, I've never once seen someone describe Glasgow and rats being uncommon in the same sentence. I literally can't visit Glasgow without seeing an enormous rat in the street 5 minutes after arriving. There are…
[deleted]
Re: Swift bricks to be installed on all new buildings in Scotland
#30If there were tax incentives for this instead of it being mandatory I'd support it wholeheartedly, but the idea of people being forced to directly attract and accommodate animals to/on their property under threat of punishment is unnerving to me. It's a completely different thing to being made to leave an existing den or nest alone.
I think it would be fun for wildlife to have their own barrister to bring lawsuits against people like you for destroying what was otherwise their native grounds before us meat viruses spread wanton destruction everywhere. The fact is you can't leave 'existing' alone, there is none. In countries like the UK the place has been completely and totally terraformed by people.