Another of Nature's little tragedies, sad to say - had the same thing happen with two or three boxes of blue tits, Sheikh. No apparent reason, just all dead, suddenly. I don't know if their parents had been predated by cats or other influences, but it's very sad to see when they're so near to being airborne. We just don't know how lucky we are to see them flying around our gardens.
Chicks left motherless.
- Thread starter Sheikh
- Start date
Sheikh
At the Start
Saved a Hedgehog last night, curled up in a ball on the road.
On The Bridle
At the Start
Did you release it back into the wild Sheikh.....or will you be pulling spindles out of your cat's nose for the next few days
I had a pet cat a couple of years ago who was the most voracious hunter I've ever come accross. I lived in a very old house within a large wooded area with loads of old stables and sheds atc. He slept indoors most days but was let out at night - without fail every morning he had an array of dead beasts on the front door step. All was going fine until one morning I came out to two red squirells - he had to be belled from then but despite his handicap still managed a rat or two a night!!!
I had a pet cat a couple of years ago who was the most voracious hunter I've ever come accross. I lived in a very old house within a large wooded area with loads of old stables and sheds atc. He slept indoors most days but was let out at night - without fail every morning he had an array of dead beasts on the front door step. All was going fine until one morning I came out to two red squirells - he had to be belled from then but despite his handicap still managed a rat or two a night!!!
Sheikh
At the Start
I noticed the dope curled up un the middle of the road when out walking so I 'gently' rolled him off the road and into some cover with my foot. In Aus I remember being told that when wombats hear a car coming they turn their kevlaresque backside to the oncoming vehicle.They're a sizeable beastie and the the end result is quite a mess.
I think we'll keep the thing re: the red squirrels hush, there's not to many of those lads left.
I think we'll keep the thing re: the red squirrels hush, there's not to many of those lads left.
We had a dog that barked constantly at the shed for three days. There was a fake log strip thing around the bottom which I finally tore away and found a dead hedgehog. As I was getting him out he became wedged in the structure of the shed and it took garden spades, a weed remover, a hammer, a hoe and a variety of other garden implements to eventually tear him out. Showed him to the dog, who trotted happily away from the damaged shed and the mess that was left (she probably needed to gargle after all the barking) satisfied there was no longer a threat. I threw the deceased hedgehog in the bin and set off for a weekend away.
When I came back a couple of days later, I went to throw something out and heard this almighty walloping noise from the wheelie bin, where the ghost of the dead hedgehog was catapulting himself up the side of the bin in an attempt to bang the lid off. By the time I opened the bin he was resting in peace again, so I left him in the front garden and watched through the window as he scuttled, after quite a long wait, over to a local golf course.
When I came back a couple of days later, I went to throw something out and heard this almighty walloping noise from the wheelie bin, where the ghost of the dead hedgehog was catapulting himself up the side of the bin in an attempt to bang the lid off. By the time I opened the bin he was resting in peace again, so I left him in the front garden and watched through the window as he scuttled, after quite a long wait, over to a local golf course.
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Colin Phillips
At the Start
Remarkable!
....as Motty would have said.
....as Motty would have said.
Sheikh
At the Start
Hardy divils !
Had he been hibernating, Mel? Their heart and circulation slows down so they may well appear to be dead during that phase. "Thanks for waking me up, you donut!"
Well, saving the hedgepig has helped balance the loss of the boidies, Sheikh!
Well, saving the hedgepig has helped balance the loss of the boidies, Sheikh!
Sad to see on the news this morning that the RSPCA and other animal charities have an increase of motherless or injured ducklings. Most of the ducks are mallards, who are quite dippy. They just walk out into the road with babies in a row behind and take no notice of traffic.
The most disgusting aspect of this increase in killed/injured ducks/ducklings is a new trend for some nasty little b*st*rds to deliberately swerve across the road to hit the mother duck.
An even more disturbing trend is for many ducklings being brought in because someone's badly-behaved brats have been throwing stones or their toys at ducklings on park ponds.
I once caught my young nephew about to drop a sizeable rock onto the lamb of a soay sheep at "Adam's Farm" a couple of years ago. The rock was bigger than the lamb and would have killed it, or at the least seriously injured it.
Needless to say, said brat's behind stung for a while.
The most disgusting aspect of this increase in killed/injured ducks/ducklings is a new trend for some nasty little b*st*rds to deliberately swerve across the road to hit the mother duck.
An even more disturbing trend is for many ducklings being brought in because someone's badly-behaved brats have been throwing stones or their toys at ducklings on park ponds.
I once caught my young nephew about to drop a sizeable rock onto the lamb of a soay sheep at "Adam's Farm" a couple of years ago. The rock was bigger than the lamb and would have killed it, or at the least seriously injured it.
Needless to say, said brat's behind stung for a while.
Sadly, quite likely, Kri. Apparently vets are the first to know when domestic violence is occurring because the first one to suffer is the family pet. Such people then "graduate" to the "ultimate" - a human.
My brother went to school with a lad who lived just outside our village, who invited him to visit one weekend. Iain was horrifed to find that this boy's idea of "fun" was to torture frogs and young birds. Iain thumped, him, packed his bags and walked all the way home. When the boy's parents complained about what Iain had done, Dad told them that he had no intention of punishing Iain and that a little more care and a lot less spoiling might make their son a nicer person to know.
My brother went to school with a lad who lived just outside our village, who invited him to visit one weekend. Iain was horrifed to find that this boy's idea of "fun" was to torture frogs and young birds. Iain thumped, him, packed his bags and walked all the way home. When the boy's parents complained about what Iain had done, Dad told them that he had no intention of punishing Iain and that a little more care and a lot less spoiling might make their son a nicer person to know.
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Goldfinches on our feeder first time last week. Is there a more beautiful british bird?
Woodpecker few weeks ago too.
Bloody Parakeets every day. they are noisy but clever. Know exactly whats going on and eat everything going (pissing off the greenfinches no end)
Also a herd of wildebeest went behind the shed last saturday
Woodpecker few weeks ago too.
Bloody Parakeets every day. they are noisy but clever. Know exactly whats going on and eat everything going (pissing off the greenfinches no end)
Also a herd of wildebeest went behind the shed last saturday
On The Bridle
At the Start
Don't mention ******* parafrikkinkeets!! Moved into latest abode (in a continuing series, up to 40+ by now) and the bloke downstairs has a bastidkeet which kept chip-chip-chip up all day long, into the evening, and up to 11ferkin30 at night. I closed the window, even though it was warm, and still heard the swine. Just as well Miss Marple was incomprehensible as it scrambled my brain. And I was told no pets allowed, so I dunno how this got in, but if it isn't shut up, I will be buying an illegal piece of weaponry and taking it out from the lounge window.
I've got a blackbird family in my garden who have been here since we moved in 4 years ago. Mr Blackbird in particular was always very bold and I got into the way of throwing him some seed whenever he appeared. Every morning now when I go out the back door he appears for his breakfast and then reappears several times throughout the day. Consequently it's costing me a fortune in suet pellets (which is his current favourite) although baby Triptych gets very excited when she sees him. He appeared a few weeks ago with two babies in tow although two days later there was only one and he has now disappeared although I'm presuming he's been sent off to make his own way in the world. I'm quite hopeful they will have time to have another brood this summer.
I used to have the best bird restaurant in town, until I got The Dooligan. My shopping basket every Friday would have 2 cheap brown loaves, a packet of dried fruit, 2 packs of loose suet, a large bag of wild bird seed, a bag of peanuts and occasionally a large block of cheap cheese. The seed balls are great for those birds that can hang upside down to eat, such as the tits, some finches and even the odd starling.
Having Dougal, who is only about 5 or 6 and still very lively despite our efforts to poison him with chemo, has meant that I have had to stop feeding so many birds as so many are ground feeders (the bird table wasn't big enough!). I do miss them. There was even a young cuckoo one winter!
At the bottom of my neighbours garden is a very old hawthorn tree which houses a huge family of sparrows, another large family of blue tits, a large family of long-tailed tits and, until recently, a large family of magpies. These have recently moved out as the tree is not big enough for all of them now.
A flock of starlings were regular visitors and after realising that feeding time was a regular occurrence, used to post a sentinel to let them know when the food was ready. He used to make a certain whistle when I had walked away so I started to use the same whistle to let them all know that the food was ready. After a few days, he started to whistle back!
Your blackbirds would enjoy any apples that have gone past their best, Triptych. It's amazing how fast one bird can demolish an apple and Baby Triptych will love watching him roll it around the garden.
Having Dougal, who is only about 5 or 6 and still very lively despite our efforts to poison him with chemo, has meant that I have had to stop feeding so many birds as so many are ground feeders (the bird table wasn't big enough!). I do miss them. There was even a young cuckoo one winter!
At the bottom of my neighbours garden is a very old hawthorn tree which houses a huge family of sparrows, another large family of blue tits, a large family of long-tailed tits and, until recently, a large family of magpies. These have recently moved out as the tree is not big enough for all of them now.
A flock of starlings were regular visitors and after realising that feeding time was a regular occurrence, used to post a sentinel to let them know when the food was ready. He used to make a certain whistle when I had walked away so I started to use the same whistle to let them all know that the food was ready. After a few days, he started to whistle back!
Your blackbirds would enjoy any apples that have gone past their best, Triptych. It's amazing how fast one bird can demolish an apple and Baby Triptych will love watching him roll it around the garden.