Pampas grass: what does the law say in France?

 For several years, measures have been taken to limit the worrying spread of pampas grass. In France, the decree of February 14, 2018 - amended in March 2020 and then in April 2024 - classifies Cortaderia selloana among the plant species whose possession, planting and transport are prohibited throughout the territory. This means that you can no longer keep it at home at the time of writing and that it is imperative that you destroy your stocks.

The risks incurred in the event of non-compliance with these regulations are set out in Articles L415-3 and R415-1 of the Environmental Code. Their content is very clear: it is forbidden to "voluntarily introduce into the natural environment, transport, peddle, use, offer for sale, sell or buy a specimen of an animal or plant species", under penalty of risking a penalty of up to 3 years imprisonment and a fine of €150,000.

How this will be enforced remains to be seen.

Chris

Have you ever thought about what creatures in France do for winter?

Lots of questions about this subject crop up and this is no more than a rough outline.

Winter climatic conditions in the Northern Hemisphere vary enormously, and even when we take a relatively small land mass such as France, there are huge variations in the different regions. The reasons for this will be obvious to most people, and to put it very simply, they are the geographical differences between North, South, East, West, inland or coastal, mountains, and plains. Of course, it's actually more complicated, but we can all get the general idea.

For hundreds of thousands of years creatures have adapted and specialised to survive these climatic conditions in different ways and hopefully will continue to do so although many may find they struggle as climate chaos gathers pace and our demands on the environment increase.

Migration: Perhaps the most obvious method of dealing with winter is to physically move somewhere else, often long distances, mostly Africa, where it is warmer and where food is readily available in a suitable form. This is an absolute necessity for birds such as Swallows, Swifts, Bee Eaters and others that require a constant large source of flying insects to survive. It's equally as necessary for specialists such as Short Tailed Eagles that consume snakes and lizards. Then there are the other birds that travel from the North and North East of Europe to France where conditions tend to be sufficiently milder and the ground in the West, South and South West is usually snow free allowing them to easily access nutrition.

Above: Swallows are perhaps for most people the classic example of migration.

Hibernation: This is a tricky one and not entirely straightforward. It is basically a period of dormancy or significantly reduced activity that is applied by different species of mammals and insects in a variety of ways. However, relatively few mammals actually go to sleep for the entire winter period if at all. In France the ones that do are Lérot, (Edible dormouse). Loir (Garden dormouse) and Muscardin (Hazel dormouse). which are the three types of dormouse to be found in France. The Marmot, (an introduced species), also has a long hibernation deep in their tunnels in the Pyrenees. In addition, all the French bat species hibernate and that usually, but not always, requires migration to their hibernation sites which can be anything up to 100km or more from where they spend the summer. Hedgehogs normally hibernate for much shorter lengths of time often waking up for periods of activity when the weather is mild and in some cases remain active for the entire winter period if it isn't too cold.

Full hibernation is only suitable for creatures that have adapted to going long periods, (up to 6 months), without eating. For mammals, this means a period of fattening up beforehand and a metabolism that can almost cease for the entire duration. During hibernation essential life functions for mammals slow down to a minimum with a much-reduced heart beat and breathing.

Above: Loir (Edible dormouse) enter a deep hibernation and can take more than 30 minutes to wakeup if disturbed.

Diapause: Insects can spend winter as adults, larvae or some intermediate stage of their development. Diapause is a state of suspended development or growth that occurs in response to unfavourable conditions such as extreme temperatures or limited resources. This will necessitate locating themselves somewhere where they won't freeze such as in buildings, caves, inside dead or living wood, in woodland ground debris and so on. It's different from hibernation but some insects do actually hibernate.

Fox moth caterpillars hibernate in ground debris.

Brumation is similar to Hibernation except that it applies to reptiles and amphibians which are cold-blooded creatures that depend entirely on outside temperatures to provide them with the heat they require. In Brumation both reptiles and amphibians are in a state of deep sleep although they may still need to move to get some water and food to stay alive during this time but it's minimal. When in this state and due to their ability to absorb oxygen in small amounts through their thin skin some of our frogs can happily spend several months underwater in winter or buried in mud.

Chris

Wolves in France and Europe - protected?

The conflict between humans and wolves knows no end. 

It was always going to be difficult as their numbers recovered and increased to maintain the "strictly protected fauna species" category that they have enjoyed at the European level.  Pressure, mainly from farmers, has resulted in their status being reduced to "special protected fauna species" at the end of 2024 and put into action at the beginning of March 2025. This is a major change and a huge backward step that will make it easier for people to kill them when we need them to help address the proliferation of species that they prey on. 

More LINK HERE

Chris