Drink Cider for Conservation

Here's a little snippet of news which caught my eye from The Times today. Apparently, Naturalists from Butterfly Conservation, in partnership with the mighty National Trust, want us all to drink more cider...

Hmm! Let's dig a little bit deeper into this one.

The truth of the story is less about giving the green light to bacchanalian excess, and more the plight of a rather rare little Moth which happens to have a strong affinity with Mistletoe. The Mistletoe Marble Moth (Celypha woodiana) is struggling to find enough of it's favourite mealtime delicacy owing to a decline in Mistletoe, which in turn is due to our sharply declining orchard stock. I think you may be able to see the connection now.

Journalistic shorthand leads to the conclusion that more cider simply must be consumed if we stand any chance of saving these poor critters. I'll drink to that, and so of course should you.

Having read the news feature again, I still can't see where Naturalists have made any specific mention of cider, instead they seem to be urging us to support British apple growers. It's a minor technicality, the result is the same whichever way you get your 'English Apple-a-Day'. A greater appreciation, and less destruction of old orchards, Mistletoe galore, and happy, happy Moths.

The image accompanying this post has been kindly made available by oldbilluk under a Creative Commons licence. Thanks Bill.