FAR too many naturalists do not take the trouble to talk to fishermen or to read the angling literature.

As a result they confuse the river lamprey with the eel.

Lampreys belong to a group of animals called the agnatha, which translates as jawless fish. They are the most primitive of all vertebrates (animals with backbones) and the fact that they occur in Britain should be of major interest.

Lampreys are certainly eel-like, but they do not have jaws, paired fins, scales or bones.

A quick look at them in water, however, does not let you see the sucker-like disc around its mouth. Inside the sucker are sharp teeth which work rather like a rasp.

Lampreys attach themselves to larger fish which they then chews away at. The creature does not have gills like a fish, but have breathing holes instead.

The river lamprey only occurs in Western Europe and it is an important source of food. 'Lampreys in aspic' (aspic is another name for jelly) were made into pies.

It is said that Henry I (1068 - 1135) died from eating a surfeit of lampreys.

Now that our rivers are becoming less polluted the lamprey is becoming more common. I wonder if any reader or angler has any local records?

Tunnel vision

ASK any gardener if they like moles on their lawn, the answer will be no.

Try the keeper looking after bowling greens, cricket fields and golf courses and you will get a short answer. And then there are large numbers of farmers who hate the velvet-looking beasties.

As I stroll around the countryside I often see bodies of moles hung up on barbed wire fences.

Do moles have any use in the countryside? The answer is yes, but they are not welcomed by human activities. Let's forget about us and look at moles in the context of other forms of wildlife.

As they burrow into the soil they allow air and water to penetrate into the soil which benefits many creatures. When soil is hard and compact the mole has to push up soil to clear their burrows.

They also live in woodlands but their presence is not usually obvious. This is because the soil which they distribute can be pushed into gaps close to underground tree roots and there is no need to push the soil to the surface.

Moles eat a lot of earthworms and when they have had enough they often bite their prey. The saliva of the mole contains a narcotic which puts the injured worm to sleep but does not kill it.

The mole collects a lot of these worms in a sort of larder and remembers where this is when they are hungry.

In nature's scheme of things the mole does a good job but it is easy to understand why a lot of people think they are a nuisance and need to be controlled.