Sadly, we've had to stop feeding the birds because the mess they make whilst feeding encouraged mice and then rats - in daylight, so they were very bold, ( and despite us tidying up as much debris as possible). I'm not prepared to encourage either into the garden, especially rats, so the birds will have to fend for themselves until it gets really cold once more when I think I'll try the fat balls again, but not the seed. We have a regular hedgehog come and we leave out water but no food, which he/she/ they seem to enjoy (along with the local cats...). The hedgehog (s) don't seem to have a problem finding their own food sources, anyway The camera picked up a lone mouse foraging in the grass the other night, but as we have fields close by, it's inevitable that we'll get them. As long as they remain outside, and don't appear en masse, that's fine, but once they venture into the garage and try to get into the house, then it's war, I'm afraid. They reproduce at an alarming rate and no way do I want them indoors, no matter how cute they look.
Well, I think there may be two mice. It was doing its usual to-ing and fro-ing from the fence and then suddenly seemed to have grown a bit then shrunk down afterwards 😂 At a rough guess I would say I have a male and female which is not the most desirable situation bit given the number of cats in the neighbourhood, I think it's probable the population won't get out of hand.
What I also have two of is hedgehogs! First time I've ever seen two in the garden but the question is, do I have a younger and older one or, a male and a female?
Ignore the time stamp, I put new batteries in yesterday and for reasons unknown it reverted to last year 🤷♀️
Mice and voles appear to eat anything put out as food for the birds or even the foxes. They won't travel far from cover though, so food near the flower border is fair game for the mice but not if it is in the middle of the lawn. Trailcams often revert to an old date if the batteries have gone flat. I've done that a time or two. We think our deer(princess tippytoes) is back. She was seen going away down towards the river and canal in early June, and we thought that was that. However I think she went looking for a prince. Last year she did a lot of barking for one , but one didn't come. This mating season she went looking for one. The next door neighbour has seen her back in the last few days, so I guess we'll find out if she was successful next spring. I've put the trailcam out three times over the last couple of days, and managed to mess it up each time. Last night I think the sd card wasn't pushed in far enough. I got absolutely nothing, not even a cat.
@AnniD - I reckoned it was the right time of year for them to be together, with the young 'un learning the ropes. The one at the front certainly looks a bit smaller, but the right sort of size for a juvenile. Lovely anyway
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The fact that they're sharing happily together makes me think @Fairygirl is right, but l'm not 100% certain. What a lovely sight
Oh, I wouldn't say happily. This was the smaller hedgehog's initial response 😂
It ended up half climbing into the bowl to stop the larger one from getting any food. Despite all efforts, it didn't get so much as a crumb! In the end, the smaller one left after some sniffing it wasn't comfortable with and the larger one followed before coming back shortly after to finally get some grub!
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We have a regular hedgehog come and we leave out water but no food, which he/she/ they seem to enjoy (along with the local cats...). The hedgehog (s) don't seem to have a problem finding their own food sources, anyway The camera picked up a lone mouse foraging in the grass the other night, but as we have fields close by, it's inevitable that we'll get them. As long as they remain outside, and don't appear en masse, that's fine, but once they venture into the garage and try to get into the house, then it's war, I'm afraid. They reproduce at an alarming rate and no way do I want them indoors, no matter how cute they look.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
What I also have two of is hedgehogs! First time I've ever seen two in the garden but the question is, do I have a younger and older one or, a male and a female?
Ignore the time stamp, I put new batteries in yesterday and for reasons unknown it reverted to last year 🤷♀️
You'll soon have more than two mice then .....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Lovely anyway
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
It ended up half climbing into the bowl to stop the larger one from getting any food. Despite all efforts, it didn't get so much as a crumb! In the end, the smaller one left after some sniffing it wasn't comfortable with and the larger one followed before coming back shortly after to finally get some grub!