What's this guy up to?

[BillyPilgrim]

I was sat in the hide at my local NR the other day when this bloke and dog appeared at the far side of the lake. This is an area with no public access and the NR has a 'no dogs' rule.

Apart from scaring away all the local Herons and wildfowl all he seemed to do was look around and lean on his spade.

I just wondered if anyone has an idea of what he was up to? Could be perfectly innocent I suppose but given his location, the dog, spade and the late time of the day I tend to think he was after something?

[STYRBJORN]

Rabbits. The dog's a lurcher. Badger baiters use terriers

[The Woodman]

Looks more like a GSD to me! The fella's a pair of bins round his neck and looks like a volunteer doing some spadework.

[Finndog]

I think Woodman is right its not a Lurcher but a German Sheppie, there seems to be a dog toy near the dogs back left foot so I don't think he is after anything. As Woodman says he looks like a volunteer, although he is fairly careless.

Did you mention him to the local countryside rangers?

[BillyPilgrim]

Originally Posted by Finndog

I think Woodman is right its not a Lurcher but a German Sheppie, there seems to be a dog toy near the dogs back left foot so I don't think he is after anything. As Woodman says he looks like a volunteer, although he is fairly careless.

Did you mention him to the local countryside rangers?

There was no one around to report him to and as far as I know there are no volunteers employed to work at this site.

I've been going to this place for quite a few years now and have never seen a human in that area before so he aroused my suspicion. He's quite a good walk away from the nearest car park too so I doubt if he just wondered in.

The photo was taken at Bretton Lakes which is in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and is (sadly) now managed by them. They've been doing work recently to (in their words) restore the place but in actual fact all they have done is destroy/remove wildlife habitat and right throughout the breeding season too. So whatever this person is up to I suppose he can only add to the damage that the owners have already done!

[Muggsy]

looks like the ghost of Jack Hargreaves, reckon he's found himself a truffle sniffing GSD

[Kayleigh]

Well he is not out for a leisurely stroll with his dog that's for sure..

Can you go back and look for disturbed earth this might give a clue..

[Wild-Woman]

Truffles?

[STYRBJORN]

You all may well be right about the dog being GSD. My real point was that the dog is too big for baiting, which was my immediate reaction.

[Johnny Redgate]

If he's stealing plants he's not expecting to get caught. I met a couple of very unsavoury characters stealing wetland plants from a site I managed for Wakefield MDC a few years back. They were doing it in broad daylight.