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[CLKD]

  ………

Did anyone watch John Bishop in Rwanda with the Gorillas: and now I'm watching a programme about owls 
Gareth on later ;-)

[Hurdity]

Well I was getting fed up with all the sunflower seeds falling out of one of the feeders and carpeting the flower bed below - so thought I'd get a tray thing to stop them falling and also for the birds to perch on. Bought this stainless steel tray thing (RSPB) from pets at home and my husband fixed it to the bottom of the feeder, whereupon all the birds disappeared! All the coal tits that had been coming stopped and hardly anything visited. OK could just have been coindicdence but maybe the stainless steel surface frightened them? - after all - hanging CDs are supposed to scare birds. Anyway came back from hol and took the darn thing off and lo and behold a couple of days later they've all come back including all the sparrows ( well the 8 or so that were left of the 30 we had in summer) .  I can't understand why they sell something that doesn't work - I know they are always wary of new things but this had been there for a couple of weeks to no avail. Now all the sunflowers are germinating in this wet mild weather so can't even be eaten on the ground I don't think!

Hurdity x

[CLKD]

We will have a flourish of sunflowers from under the feeders, weather allowing  . When I measured them yesterday they stand 2" already.  If you don't want them there, leave them grow a while then hoe them up - anyone with a rabbit or caged bird close to you?

Maybe the tray was too shiny?  Could the birds not grip properly or did it look as if there were birds already present?  Whatever, I would be back off to the shop for a refund ;-).

Why would birds want to eat food off a tray, after all it might well get wet and go 'off' ………..

[Taz2]

I use the Droll Yankee feeders with the circular clear plastic tray underneath. These seem to work quite well. You can buy small or large trays depending on what you want. I have a small one under the sunflower hearts feeder because the doves tend to perch on the large trays and eat the hearts really quickly and also scare the small birds off. I have the larger ones under the black sunflower hearts/seed mix feeders.  I have to fill all of my feeders twice a day. The mess underneath them even with saucers is really annoying. They don't like anything shiny Hurdity so I'd complain to the RSPB about this product!

Taz x

[CLKD]

Our feeders are on wire and hung on butchers' hooks so can be moved around the garden, allowing mice etc. to clear up underneath.  Otherwise it gets really messy!

[jedigirl]

Our two foster hedgehogs went back to the centre ready for hibernation after getting up to weight. We then collected a girl hedgehog weight 295 g who was was very jumpy and not at all well. Happily she is now nearly 500g and doing well.

[Taz2]

That's interesting jedigirl. I've not heard of a rescue centre hibernating hedgehogs. At HART they are kept awake for the winter in their hutches? It's always good to hear of the way other rescue centres deal with the problem of overwintering hedgies.

Taz x

[jedigirl]

They put them to hibernate if they are a suitable weight but keep a close eye and  will still provide food if hogs need it. They'll then be soft released in the Spring x

[CLKD]

It's far too warm to hibernate hogs that haven't gone to bed 'naturally'.  I wonder what Tiggywinkles do ? 

[jedigirl]

They do go naturally , the rescue centre just doesn't disturb them like the hogs who are underweight.

[CLKD]

I LOVE hearing our hogs snuffling round the garden ……… we sit out as much as possible in the evenings and can see the frogs leaving the ponds to search for food as well as noting the hogs around - 3 again during this year.  I have tried to make a quiet corner with twigs, leaves, branches but whether it will be used  ……….. I've never seen a tiny yet ………..

[Taz2]

Tiggywinkles don't hibernate their hedgehogs. They take active steps to make sure that their over-wintered ones don't hibernate the same as HART Wildlife. It's interesting that rescue centres differ in the way they deal with hedgehogs. Which one are you attached to Jedigirl if you don't mind me asking? I understand if you don't want to say.

Taz x

[jedigirl]

Hey Taz,
I don't feel i have the authority to say, I just foster from them.
They check and leave food for all their hogs every day, even the hibernators. The only ones that hibernate are the ones well above weight and their permanent residents.
They lose very few hogs, though i know this time of year the under weight ones coming in don't do very well.

[Taz2]

That's ok. I was just curious as it's great to share different experiences from all of the rescue centres. I volunteer for HART Wildlife which is not just a hedgehog rescue although I'm also involved with Hedgehog Bottom. Our local branch has almost 400 which they are overwintering this year. I think that due to the publicity about the decline of the hedgehog more people are now noticing ones that are out in the day and they are being rescued rather than just left to die. Heartening!

Taz x

[Hurdity]

We will have a flourish of sunflowers from under the feeders, weather allowing  . When I measured them yesterday they stand 2" already.  If you don't want them there, leave them grow a while then hoe them up - anyone with a rabbit or caged bird close to you?

Maybe the tray was too shiny?  Could the birds not grip properly or did it look as if there were birds already present?  Whatever, I would be back off to the shop for a refund ;-).

Why would birds want to eat food off a tray, after all it might well get wet and go 'off' ………..

Thanks CLKD - I'm not bothered about the mess - after all it just falls on a flower bed, it just seems a waste and they are germinating (or rotting) too quickly for the ground feeding birds to eat them! yes the tray is too shiny!

I use the Droll Yankee feeders with the circular clear plastic tray underneath. These seem to work quite well. You can buy small or large trays depending on what you want. I have a small one under the sunflower hearts feeder because the doves tend to perch on the large trays and eat the hearts really quickly and also scare the small birds off. I have the larger ones under the black sunflower hearts/seed mix feeders.  I have to fill all of my feeders twice a day. The mess underneath them even with saucers is really annoying. They don't like anything shiny Hurdity so I'd complain to the RSPB about this product!

Taz x

Thanks Taz - yes I wondered as I put it out, because one uses CDs to scare birds! I will take it back to Pets at Home next week and will look into the Droll Yankee ones.

Lidl are selling a whole lot of bird-feeding stuff cheaply at the moment and couldn't resist buying a little hanging wooden bird table for a fiver a couple of days ago - not sure where to put it though as our bird table tha husband built does the job really well - with 4 feeders hanging off each corner!

Haven't seen hedgehogs round here for years . They used to come around our cottage and into the outside loo (now closed in to make a shower room) where we used to feed them

Hurdity x