Rodents

rat hillsTWO WEEKS ago one or two small mounds of earth appeared near the bird table. I tried to persuade myself that they might be molehills but I realised that it was more likely that they were the work of brown rats attracted to the quantities of sunflower hearts spilt by the birds that use the feeders.

We’ve stopped feeding which is a shame as it’s been such a pleasure to see the regular goldfinches, greenfinches, blue tits, great tits, house sparrows and siskins, up to 20 of the latter at a time.

rat burrow, compost binAm I making a mountain of a problem out of molehill? A hole has also appeared beneath the compost bin and that must be the work of a rodent. Our neighbours report that the rats have actually nibbled holes to get into their compost bins. They’ve put a couple of baiting boxes down.

I’m going to move our compost bin to a more open position. Hope they’ll get the message and move on.

Lost Pond

frogMore bad wildlife gardening news; our neighbours have filled in the pond  in the corner by the hedge as their garden has to accomodate a growing number of young children. When our previous neighbours originally put in this pond almost 30 years ago I was convinced that this was too shady a site for a healthy pond. I was wrong because the pond was always more popular with the frogs than ours was, despite all my efforts to create the perfect habitat.

I’m really hoping that all the local frogs weren’t hibernating in the pond when it was removed. It’s the first day of spring today and I’m hoping that any returning frogs will hop along to my pond when they find their favourite spot has been destroyed.

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2 comments

  1. I understand your dilemma, we have a similar problem with our bird table. This year we my wife bought me a bird table for my birthday. In addition to the parrots and pidgeons we are feeding possums and mice. The possums look cute but make a mess, the mice look cute but my wife does not want them in the house. So far they are behaving themselves but we are heading for winter when our house may become more attractive.
    I also have been less than successful with my pond. I constructed it 25 years ago and soon after had to put fish into it to keep the mosquito lavae under control. Unfortunatly they keep everything else under control to the point that we have never seen a tadpole in the pond though we know there are frogs in the garden.

    1. If only we could persuade our wild guests to behave themselves. I’ve got an idea in my mind what the perfect wildlife garden would look like but I never quite get there!

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