Wildlife and Gardens Thread

[Milo]

Fckin cat has brought 3 fckin mice into the house in the past three fckin days. 

 

I really really really don’t like mice.  

[Bilsthorpe Blue]

The wife came across this handsome beast yesterday morning walking the dogs in Rufford forest

[rachhere]

24 minutes ago, Bilsthorpe Blue said:

The wife came across this handsome beast yesterday morning walking the dogs in Rufford forest

What a great picture!

[Countryfox]

1 hour ago, Bilsthorpe Blue said:

The wife came across this handsome beast yesterday morning walking the dogs in Rufford forest

Great pic ..  the fallow bucks are just coming out of the rut and always best not to get too close  ….   he’s a beauty though !

[Suzie the Fox]

On 24/10/2021 at 10:43, Milo said:

Fckin cat has brought 3 fckin mice into the house in the past three fckin days. 

 

I really really really don’t like mice.  

Mine is the same and she has a habit of bringing them in alive and just letting them go for me to catch.

 

Like you i really hate mice, picked up a couple of the humane traps from Amazon and usually catch them in a few hours but then have to take them outside and let them go, which i hate doing. 

[Carl the Llama]

On 24/10/2021 at 10:43, Milo said:

Fckin cat has brought 3 fckin mice into the house in the past three fckin days. 

 

I really really really don’t like mice.  

23 minutes ago, Suzie the Fox said:

Mine is the same and she has a habit of bringing them in alive and just letting them go for me to catch.

 

Like you i really hate mice, picked up a couple of the humane traps from Amazon and usually catch them in a few hours but then have to take them outside and let them go, which i hate doing. 

Have you put bells on them?  Not 100% effective but it certainly makes kitty's work more difficult

[Buce]

3 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

Have you put bells on them?  Not 100% effective but it certainly makes kitty's work more difficult

 

Like this?

 

[Bilsthorpe Blue]

1 hour ago, Countryfox said:

Great pic ..  the fallow bucks are just coming out of the rut and always best not to get too close  ….   he’s a beauty though !

Agree, there is a huge one we have seen the last couple of years we always walk away if we see him, not been around this year so far he's nicknamed " The Emperor "

[Suzie the Fox]

1 hour ago, Carl the Llama said:

Have you put bells on them?  Not 100% effective but it certainly makes kitty's work more difficult

Yes i did a few years ago it was suggested on here so i went ahead and tried it.. did work ok at 1st and really minimised the amount of mice she caught. However one day i heard her meowing in the garden in distress and she had managed to get caught up in a tree by her collar. Luckily the collar had an elastic strip in it so no harm was done, but it worried me so much i took the collar off  

[Milo]

1 hour ago, Carl the Llama said:

Have you put bells on them?  Not 100% effective but it certainly makes kitty's work more difficult

Yep she’s got a bell (and a gps) on her collar! N

The mice are either deaf or stupid. 
 

She’s not done it for a little while - hopefully she’s picked up on my distinct lack of appreciation. 

[Milo]

Pair of green /red headed woodpeckers in the garden pecking the grass ( ) today.

 

And then a black and white woodpecker flew up and sat on the logia roof. 
 

I can’t remember the last time I saw one, so 3 in a day is pretty cool to see. 

[SecretPro]

4 minutes ago, Milo said:

Pair of green /red headed woodpeckers in the garden pecking the grass ( ) today.

 

And then a black and white woodpecker flew up and sat on the logia roof. 
 

I can’t remember the last time I saw one, so 3 in a day is pretty cool to see. 

Green woodpeckers almost only eat ants and ant larvae, hence the pecking on the lawn.

[Parafox]

Anyone know how to get pigeons/doves to stop living under the solar panels on our roof and move on? They've been there since about August and are becoming a nuisance.

 

I'm looking forward to the silly responses I'm likely to get 

[Countryfox]

2 hours ago, Parafox said:

Anyone know how to get pigeons/doves to stop living under the solar panels on our roof and move on? They've been there since about August and are becoming a nuisance.

 

I'm looking forward to the silly responses I'm likely to get 

You’ll have to get up there and shift them ..  or buy an air rifle .. 

[slymunn]

2 hours ago, Parafox said:

Anyone know how to get pigeons/doves to stop living under the solar panels on our roof and move on? They've been there since about August and are becoming a nuisance.

 

I'm looking forward to the silly responses I'm likely to get 

 

[Parafox]

2 hours ago, slymunn said:

 

This is exactly the response I expected 

Edited 6 January 2022 by Parafox

[Milo]

Has anybody rotovated their lawn? 

 

I need to know how easy/difficult it is and whether to get someone in or do it myself. 

 

 

I have a spectacularly low attention span, so may opt to outsource it if it is a particularly tedious job.   

[Parafox]

2 hours ago, Milo said:

Has anybody rotovated their lawn? 

 

I need to know how easy/difficult it is and whether to get someone in or do it myself. 

 

 

I have a spectacularly low attention span, so may opt to outsource it if it is a particularly tedious job.   

Do you mean rotovate as in churn the ground up as if had been ploughed or do you mean scarify as in using a raking machine to rake out dead grass and moss?

I have used a rotovator on undug soil (not a lawn) and it's ok if the soil is easy to break up. (Try forking it over first).

I imagine trying to rotovate an established, compacted lawn will be difficult but not necessarily tedious as I found I had to maintain control of the machine which was quite challenging and tbh, fun.

Scarifying using an electric rake is fairly easy.

Another tip, if you hire a rotovator get a petrol driven one rather than electric. It's way more powerful.

Edited 29 January 2022 by Parafox

[Milo]

37 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Do you mean rotovate as in churn the ground up as if had been ploughed or do you mean scarify as in using a raking machine to rake out dead grass and moss?

I have used a rotovator on undug soil (not a lawn) and it's ok if the soil is easy to break up. (Try forking it over first).

I imagine trying to rotovate an established, compacted lawn will be difficult but not necessarily tedious as I found I had to maintain control of the machine which was quite challenging and tbh, fun.

Scarifying using an electric rake is fairly easy.

Another tip, if you hire a rotovator get a petrol driven one rather than electric. It's way more powerful.

Yep - rotovating as in churning up lawn and an area that used to have trees and is now a bit scrubby. 
 

I might give the petrol rotovator a go, but fear I’ll lose interest an hour in to it and end up calling somebody who’s competent at it 🙈

[Raj]

Doing the RSPB birdwatching with the lad.

It's interesting to be fair!!!

 

Makes a change from the birds I normally like to get my binoculars  out for!!!

 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

 

 

[Parafox]

6 hours ago, Raj said:

Doing the RSPB birdwatching with the lad.

It's interesting to be fair!!!

 

Makes a change from the birds I normally like to get my binoculars  out for!!!

 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/

 

 

I did survey. At the end it tells what your top 6 birds are...

 

Rachel Riley wasn't included.

 

But then she doesn't visit my garden and use my birdbath.

Nor does she eat my seeds or fat balls. 

Edited 30 January 2022 by Parafox

[Countryfox]

On 29/01/2022 at 16:59, Milo said:

Has anybody rotovated their lawn? 

 

I need to know how easy/difficult it is and whether to get someone in or do it myself. 

 

 

I have a spectacularly low attention span, so may opt to outsource it if it is a particularly tedious job.   

You’ll need to kill the grass off first ..  something like Round up will do it ..  and make sure there are no tree stumps still in place as the rotovator won’t be able to churn them up ! ..  if there are some stumps there’ll need removing first. 
 

Good luck ! ..  

[Milo]

17 minutes ago, Countryfox said:

You’ll need to kill the grass off first ..  something like Round up will do it ..  and make sure there are no tree stumps still in place as the rotovator won’t be able to churn them up ! ..  if there are some stumps there’ll need removing first. 
 

Good luck ! ..  

Thanks.

 

It's quite a scrubby area with tree stumps and sapling roots. I got a digger in last year to clear the area...I'm kind of thinking it's going to be a huge ball ache to do.

 

But, as ever, I'm sure I'll pay someone a few hundred quid, watch them do it, and think "I could've done that myself"

 

      

[Ashley]

On 25/08/2021 at 16:09, Ashley said:

My back garden. Need to get the string out for the lines next time 🤣 Almost complete though 😍

 

So, i'm looking at staining my decking down the bottom of my garden plus my fences, you can kind of tell on here but my fences are different coloured wood due to being put up at different times of the year.... is there anything i can do as a 'base coat' as such to make the fence all the same colour when staining?

 

Open to ideas, i dont really fancy painting them as paint will flake as the years go on wont it?

[Lako42]

22 hours ago, Ashley said:

 

So, i'm looking at staining my decking down the bottom of my garden plus my fences, you can kind of tell on here but my fences are different coloured wood due to being put up at different times of the year.... is there anything i can do as a 'base coat' as such to make the fence all the same colour when staining?

 

Open to ideas, i dont really fancy painting them as paint will flake as the years go on wont it?

Not sure but I NEVER paint anything in the garden. It will look like shit in no time in this country unless you want to stay on top of it constantly.