Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?
- Thread starter Dog Star
- Start date
simond
Western Thunderer
I had no idea (and I’m certain my neighbour likewise) that relocation of a squirrel was an offence…. I could imagine it being entirely pointless in that the thing would have returned within a few days.
I'm very glad he didn’t buy a dog. I can do without knowing every time a squirrel goes by!
I'm very glad he didn’t buy a dog. I can do without knowing every time a squirrel goes by!
Osgood
Western Thunderer
Recently a householder in the centre of a Suffolk town called in an accredited pest control operative to take out a grey squirrel problem.
The first one was taken out, but another (as expected) immediately moved in.
26 take outs later, the problem was resolved.
Edit: I should add the problem was an invasion of the house's loft - with an accompanying significant risk of fire through chewed electrical cables.
They're fine in the garden, and their nut burying and bird food stealing antics can be most entertaining - but just occasionally their interaction with humans' infrastructure causes trouble.
Following the chewing up of a 25l hydraulic oil drum in an outbuilding I am now having to line the roofspaces under the rafters with fine stainless steel mesh.......
The first one was taken out, but another (as expected) immediately moved in.
26 take outs later, the problem was resolved.
Edit: I should add the problem was an invasion of the house's loft - with an accompanying significant risk of fire through chewed electrical cables.
They're fine in the garden, and their nut burying and bird food stealing antics can be most entertaining - but just occasionally their interaction with humans' infrastructure causes trouble.
Following the chewing up of a 25l hydraulic oil drum in an outbuilding I am now having to line the roofspaces under the rafters with fine stainless steel mesh.......
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Osgood
Western Thunderer
And for those who seek a peaceful remedy, I've just found this advice online:
To squirrel proof gardens, plant flowers that are either brightly-coloured or emit a strong smell.
Plants squirrels hate include fritillaries, geraniums, hyacinth, galanthus, lily-of-the-valley, mint, and daffodils
Plants squirrels hate include fritillaries, geraniums, hyacinth, galanthus, lily-of-the-valley, mint, and daffodils
Max M
Western Thunderer
Col, this is what can be achieved with cropping.
IThis was done to your picture on my tablet using very basic editing tools that came with it.
With a better programme and the original picture it could be improved upon.
The other be initiated is that you could use the programme to improve all of your pictures if you have the time and inclination.
Bazzmund
Active Member
Simple sorry if I've offended would suffice. Railway forum, not shooting times.
oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Hello Bazzmund.
I understand that people keep domesticated rats as pets - our daughter did for a while. However, in the wild they are vermin, carry disease and are not desirable companions in a domestic environment. When you've had a big one run over your feet in the garden you'll probably appreciate this bit of the discussion. (At the time we lived in a house surrounded by farm land and fully expected and accepted that we would see occasional rats. That didn't mean we should live with them). It is illegal to return a black rat or fat dormouse to the wild.
Grey squirrels are a totally destructive force and have arguably been one of the reasons for the decline of the native red squirrel and one of the reasons for the loss of native bird life too. There is a list of other reasons for the undesirability of the species in the UK. That's the reason why, if caught under any circumstances they cannot be returned to the wild and that is a matter of legislation.
I could go in to reams about the American Signal Crayfish. The native white clawed crayfish and bullheads which I used to catch and keep to study are almost extinct as a result of the introduction of this species. The Signal Crayfish is another species which it is illegal to return to the wild and is caught frequently by anglers in the UK.
There are any number of similar examples - we can even blame rabbits on the Romans - but, and in this I agree, this is not the forum for such discussions. This is presented as a balancing argument
I write this as someone who has lived in what could arguably be called the country for the whole of my married life and worked with farmers and countrymen outside my business career. This could easily become a heated discussion and is anyway probably outside the boundaries of WT - not that, subject to us all playing nicely, any matter of interest is beyond our bounds. No matter where this discussion goes now I will comment about this issue no further as I recognise there is a real risk that discussions about such matters can easily become inflamed, a situation I wish to avoid.
Brian
I understand that people keep domesticated rats as pets - our daughter did for a while. However, in the wild they are vermin, carry disease and are not desirable companions in a domestic environment. When you've had a big one run over your feet in the garden you'll probably appreciate this bit of the discussion. (At the time we lived in a house surrounded by farm land and fully expected and accepted that we would see occasional rats. That didn't mean we should live with them). It is illegal to return a black rat or fat dormouse to the wild.
Grey squirrels are a totally destructive force and have arguably been one of the reasons for the decline of the native red squirrel and one of the reasons for the loss of native bird life too. There is a list of other reasons for the undesirability of the species in the UK. That's the reason why, if caught under any circumstances they cannot be returned to the wild and that is a matter of legislation.
I could go in to reams about the American Signal Crayfish. The native white clawed crayfish and bullheads which I used to catch and keep to study are almost extinct as a result of the introduction of this species. The Signal Crayfish is another species which it is illegal to return to the wild and is caught frequently by anglers in the UK.
There are any number of similar examples - we can even blame rabbits on the Romans - but, and in this I agree, this is not the forum for such discussions. This is presented as a balancing argument
I write this as someone who has lived in what could arguably be called the country for the whole of my married life and worked with farmers and countrymen outside my business career. This could easily become a heated discussion and is anyway probably outside the boundaries of WT - not that, subject to us all playing nicely, any matter of interest is beyond our bounds. No matter where this discussion goes now I will comment about this issue no further as I recognise there is a real risk that discussions about such matters can easily become inflamed, a situation I wish to avoid.
Brian
Osgood
Western Thunderer
I guess we could even blame the forum on the Romans.....
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Gentlemen and Ladies,
As the person who started this topic to show unusual wildlife in my garden... and maybe taken the subject off topic in encouraging contributions showing wildlife elsewhere... I feel upset by both the recent posts about dealing with squirrels and earlier posts showing the demise of small birds.
Please refrain from such posts from now on, especially those that depict the grisly side of "pecking order / food chain" in operation, let us return to the original idea of showing what appears unexpectedly in our gardens.
thank you, Graham
As the person who started this topic to show unusual wildlife in my garden... and maybe taken the subject off topic in encouraging contributions showing wildlife elsewhere... I feel upset by both the recent posts about dealing with squirrels and earlier posts showing the demise of small birds.
Please refrain from such posts from now on, especially those that depict the grisly side of "pecking order / food chain" in operation, let us return to the original idea of showing what appears unexpectedly in our gardens.
thank you, Graham
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oldravendale
Western Thunderer
It's certainly a puss moth of some sort, probably (IMHO) a Sallow Kitten.
Brian
Edit. On further consideration I think it may be a Poplar Hawk Moth in which case not a puss moth at all. Both species are quite common and widespread.
Brian
Edit. On further consideration I think it may be a Poplar Hawk Moth in which case not a puss moth at all. Both species are quite common and widespread.
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Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
This morning's noisy visitor escaping from the garden.
Osgood
Western Thunderer
No picture, but yesterday we had a noisy escapee from the woodburning stove!
Mrs O heard a scuffling sound from the back of the freestanding rear vertical flue stove and after a quick consult (I was at work doing battle with some bars of cr@p imported 50x50x3 MS angle that work-hardened as soon as they saw a drill bit
), she was able to remove the bottom flue inspection plate having set up a tub trug and sheet as a receptacle.
But that simply pushed the feathered thing in up to the top of the stove so she then had to remove the blanked off top flue outlet - which then caused the bird to tumble into the stove proper.
A swift gentle hand grab and the bird (quite clean as we'd not used the stove since a major flue clean) was caught and released in to the garden - at which point its mate immediately joined it and they flew around quite happily.
It has been identified as a garden warbler.
How Mrs O found the requisite sockets in the landfill site that is my workshop is beyond me.....
Mrs O heard a scuffling sound from the back of the freestanding rear vertical flue stove and after a quick consult (I was at work doing battle with some bars of cr@p imported 50x50x3 MS angle that work-hardened as soon as they saw a drill bit
), she was able to remove the bottom flue inspection plate having set up a tub trug and sheet as a receptacle.But that simply pushed the feathered thing in up to the top of the stove so she then had to remove the blanked off top flue outlet - which then caused the bird to tumble into the stove proper.
A swift gentle hand grab and the bird (quite clean as we'd not used the stove since a major flue clean) was caught and released in to the garden - at which point its mate immediately joined it and they flew around quite happily.
It has been identified as a garden warbler.
How Mrs O found the requisite sockets in the landfill site that is my workshop is beyond me.....
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Could this be a workshop puzzle that WT cannot solve?
Osgood
Western Thunderer
I guess you know the problem Graham - if it was a friend's workshop you'd say 'Right - too much stuff, get rid of this this and this". but if it is your own very same workshop you think 'I really do need all this stuff'.
Just been interrupted by a (possibly juvenile) blue tit entering my study through an open window and doing high-altitude circuits imitating a P-51 Mustang on full throttle - after 3 minutes it retired to the window frame (did it run low on avgas?) where I managed to catch it and show it the open sky.
Some of you may recognise the framed prints......
Just been interrupted by a (possibly juvenile) blue tit entering my study through an open window and doing high-altitude circuits imitating a P-51 Mustang on full throttle - after 3 minutes it retired to the window frame (did it run low on avgas?) where I managed to catch it and show it the open sky.
Some of you may recognise the framed prints......