The rats got at the great tits - the tile was moved slightly this morning and all the baby birds have gone. In the last year rats have killed and half eaten a whole litter of my baby rabbits and all my ducklings. We've only got two ducks and I wanted some khaki campbells and indian runners, so we found a place in Exeter and called in on the way back from Cornwall. The ducklings had hatched that morning, they sat on Logan's lap all the way home. They were so tame, they stayed in the conservatory with a light bulb for heat for a week then we put them out on the lawn in a pen each day for weeks until they were big enough to go in a pen at night. The pen was Pip-proof (Pip is our Jack Russell / Paterdale cross) so I thought nothing would get them - but the rats did - they tunnelled under the shed part of the pen, ate two and left the rest dead - it was terribly upsetting.
Where do the rats come from? The local ratman from the council keeps coming along and putting poison down and we keep finding dead rats every so often. I keep all food in sealed containers - so where do they come from and why do they keep coming?
Well maybe next year the great tits will use the tit box made for them which would be much more sensible. The robin didn't have much more sense - we put a robin box, made specially for him, in the barn but he had to make his nest in a roll of canvas, hanging precariously from the barn roof! Happily all the baby robins survived and have now flown the nest.
Forecast is good for the weekend.
Wednesday 27 May 2009
Tuesday 26 May 2009
Black Panther
Dear Blog,
Mike (next door) has been saying he's seen a big black cat in our fields for ages now. Last week he said it had been in his shed and had left a rabbit skin behind. Mike's not the sort of person who imagines things. Then on Friday, mother-in-law was house-sitting and she said she had seen a big black animal but it went so fast she couldn't see what it was. Yesterday I was spot spraying a big patch of nettles and found a hidden flattened patch in the middle of the nettles. I've always wondered why the rabbits don't eat my vegetables when everyone else around here complains that they can't grow things because the rabbits eats them. Could it be because of a black panther ?
There's also a tree in the big field which has been used as a scratching post - to about 5 ft high. Must be a big cat to do this. Just hope it doesn't find the great tits' nest before the babies can fly.
My baby rabbits are 4 weeks old now - they are New Zealand Whites and very tame, very friendly and never bite or scratch. I used to breed them for meat (white meat, tastes like chicken, very low cholesterol and better than battery hen meat) but I've found I can sell them for more as pet rabbits now. They'll be ready for new homes in a month's time - end of June.
Off to tidy up the polytunnel and put a table in there for my plants.
Bye for now
Mike (next door) has been saying he's seen a big black cat in our fields for ages now. Last week he said it had been in his shed and had left a rabbit skin behind. Mike's not the sort of person who imagines things. Then on Friday, mother-in-law was house-sitting and she said she had seen a big black animal but it went so fast she couldn't see what it was. Yesterday I was spot spraying a big patch of nettles and found a hidden flattened patch in the middle of the nettles. I've always wondered why the rabbits don't eat my vegetables when everyone else around here complains that they can't grow things because the rabbits eats them. Could it be because of a black panther ?
There's also a tree in the big field which has been used as a scratching post - to about 5 ft high. Must be a big cat to do this. Just hope it doesn't find the great tits' nest before the babies can fly.
My baby rabbits are 4 weeks old now - they are New Zealand Whites and very tame, very friendly and never bite or scratch. I used to breed them for meat (white meat, tastes like chicken, very low cholesterol and better than battery hen meat) but I've found I can sell them for more as pet rabbits now. They'll be ready for new homes in a month's time - end of June.
Off to tidy up the polytunnel and put a table in there for my plants.
Bye for now
Monday 25 May 2009
Dear Blog, It's been a beautiful weekend, we finished putting up the polytunnel today. Didn't realise it would take two days to put up! It's 10 ft wide and 20 ft long and it's all ready for my cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and melons that are growing in the conservatory.
Today I've done lots of weeding, transplanted leeks, spinach and fennel and sown french beans, lettuce, radish and spring onions.
The hoe is truly the gardener's most useful tool - but I think my little cultivator comes a close second!
Also planted busy lizzie plants everywhere which has brightened up the garden.
Found a great tit nest in a hollow concrete block half covered by a tile - there's a beautiful ready- made bird box ten feet above it, safe from cats - why choose a nest on the ground? Blue tits are busy feeding babies in the next box on the end of the washing line pole. The lapwings are busy in the field - I love to hear there pee-wee-it calls when I'm gardening. The swallows are back, swooping over the fields.
Well time for a well-earned rest and my book. Back soon
Today I've done lots of weeding, transplanted leeks, spinach and fennel and sown french beans, lettuce, radish and spring onions.
The hoe is truly the gardener's most useful tool - but I think my little cultivator comes a close second!
Also planted busy lizzie plants everywhere which has brightened up the garden.
Found a great tit nest in a hollow concrete block half covered by a tile - there's a beautiful ready- made bird box ten feet above it, safe from cats - why choose a nest on the ground? Blue tits are busy feeding babies in the next box on the end of the washing line pole. The lapwings are busy in the field - I love to hear there pee-wee-it calls when I'm gardening. The swallows are back, swooping over the fields.
Well time for a well-earned rest and my book. Back soon
Sunday 17 May 2009
Sunday
Dear Blog,
It started raining so thought I'd work out how to write a blog. Now I've got this far the sun's come out so I'm going outside to plant my peas. See you later.
It started raining so thought I'd work out how to write a blog. Now I've got this far the sun's come out so I'm going outside to plant my peas. See you later.
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