The Mare's Nest

The Mare’s Nest is possibly the first ever sampler to pay a nod to the effects of climate change. It includes thunderbolts, lightning and unpredictable downpours which necessitated the inclusion of umbrellas to keep the worst of the rain off Margaret the mare, the star of the show, and poor Dedaz, the dodo, who was getting soaked too. And then there’s the two Picus Gluteus, a species of bird which has never been sighted so far north before. They’re usually to be found on the Nile delta annoying the camels but with rising temperatures they’ve migrated beyond Watford, and here they are now attacking anything that moves. These birds are more commonly known as “bum peckers” and they’re close relatives of the little woodpeckers which have found something to cling to in so many Long Dog samplers over the past 30 years. On this occasion the naughty bum peckers have taken agin a young aardvark and poor Beryl the hen whilst her back was turned. As for the two-horned black rhinos and the capercaillie, aka “the horse of the woods”, they’re both on the endangered species list. The rhinos because of illegal poaching and habitat loss, and that magnificent feisty rogue bird, fuelled by testosterone, because of changing weather patterns and predation. Dedaz the dodo with his brolly has long been extinct, the aardvark is in decline due to agricultural development and pesticides, and when was the last time you saw a dragon? We really should do better otherwise, someday soon, these wondrous creatures, both great and small, will only be found literally stuffed and mounted in museums, remembered in a song, or immortalised in a sampler. Comes to you as a pdf wrapped in eco friendly vine leaves and sealed with a butterfly kiss.