rats

[bigyetiman]

This lot have attitude, but not for long....

 

[bigyetiman]

Another outbreak of of the grey tree rats. We found 11 roaming around the cattle area the other day. I swear someone is bringing them around in a van.
6 down 5 to go

 

[Icemaiden]

You won't be needing a turkey then

 

[chrismahon]

Mentioning "bringing them around in a van" reminds me of a trip we made to Cheshire to buy Leghorn Bantams. The breeder/farmer told us a friend had phoned him the previous week to say that he'd seen a van parked on the lane with the back doors open and an empty cage in the back. He finished the call and walked into his farm yard where all the chickens were running about, to see two foxes standing in the middle of it watching them! Needless to say, the foxes were 'removed' quickly.

 

[bigyetiman]

That must have been a scary moment,

OH has been saying she is sure the fat balls are being chewed. This am she opened the storage box where they live, we buy a box of 50. Out jumps a huge rat. So that answers that question.

Morning spent emptying the storage box sweeping up all the chewed bits of plastic in the bottom and bits of fat. Fat balls now in plastic tub indoors and the hedgehog food safely stored elsewhere.

Noticed that rats only come in one size these days, huge

 

[Touchstone]

Fat balls are now safe but you need to make rats very unsafe. Ratty won’t be on his/her own and they quickly multiply.

 

[bigyetiman]

Oh yes we know, we trap and shoot them, ditto the squirrels that get into the cattle feed just shot no 73. Only a small woodland at the back of us, they multiply like no-ones busines as well, or someone is shipping them in at night

 

[Touchstone]

My son goes to a large dairy farm down the lane shooting Jackdaws , the are swarming around the cattle stalls poluting the feed , despite this control they always keep coming .

 

[Icemaiden]

We get jackdaws in our garden; they're quite cute to watch. The only time they cause any trouble is when they build a nest in the chimney & fall down the flue into the log burner. We've still got soot in our lounge curtains from the last time- the dilemma is whether to let them out while they're flapping or whether to wait until they stop making a noise...

 

[bigyetiman]

We get Jackdaws, we have a wood behind us where about 600 reside and a Rookery of 400, it gets a bit noisy in spring. They are lovely sociable birds