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[Taz2]

I saw a jay yesterday when I was walking my dog in the field.  I just saw this flash of blue then it alighted in a nearby tree and I could see it clearly.  What a beautiful bird 

So beautiful but also very good at catching nestlings. I have a really aggressive one visiting the garden at the minute. He has taken all of the robin babies over two days. Still I guess it has a family to feed just like the rest of them.

Taz x

[Taz2]

I didn't post the actual film! We use slug pellets Hurdity, the way to stop hogs is to put the pellets under a brick where slugs/snails congregate.

The trouble with that is the slugs eat the pellets and then slide out from under the brick where they are eaten by the hedgehogs who still ingest the poison. It's a tricky one to resolve. It's also thought that the ingestion of the poison even if it doesn't kill the hedgie affects their fertility. Some info here about slug pellets and alternatives although I know they don't seem to work http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/slug-pellets.html

Taz x

[CLKD]

Granny used salt ……. slugs don't go far once they have slithered over that!

[booboo]

I did feel quite privileged to a have a hedgehog in my garden, its really sad that there are not so many anymore...I have definitely got more emotional with age - hate seeing road kill or any injured creature ..

[babyjane]

me too booboo and if I sense an article coming on the TV I turn over.  Puppy farms do it for me every time. 

[CLKD]

Oh BJ that's a whole thread on it's own  ……. 

[Hurdity]

I didn't post the actual film! We use slug pellets Hurdity, the way to stop hogs is to put the pellets under a brick where slugs/snails congregate.

The trouble with that is the slugs eat the pellets and then slide out from under the brick where they are eaten by the hedgehogs who still ingest the poison. It's a tricky one to resolve. It's also thought that the ingestion of the poison even if it doesn't kill the hedgie affects their fertility. Some info here about slug pellets and alternatives although I know they don't seem to work http://www.hedgehogstreet.org/pages/slug-pellets.html

Taz x

Thanks for the link Taz..... I do sort of despair re the slugs and snails and worry about it all the time - and my husband does most of the veg gardening anyway ....

Hurdity x

[Taz2]

I know it's difficult. My mum loved hedgies but insisted on "real" slug pellets as does my husband. It didn't used to get to me that much until I had a call to pick up one suffering from metaldehyde poisoning. It was horrible to see it suffering but I also appreciate that gardeners take great pride in their plants and veggies.

Taz x

[babyjane]

Oh BJ that's a whole thread on it's own  ……. 

Nooooooooo, don't want to (fingers in ears - la la la la la la la la)  I prefer to be an ostrich.  I know it happens but I just can't think about it.

[Hurdity]

I know it's difficult. My mum loved hedgies but insisted on "real" slug pellets as does my husband. It didn't used to get to me that much until I had a call to pick up one suffering from metaldehyde poisoning. It was horrible to see it suffering but I also appreciate that gardeners take great pride in their plants and veggies.

Taz x

That's why I feel bad....I bought some eco ones that weren't supposed to be harmful to wildlife but they were so harmless that they were no good! Trouble is we have a front garden (I do that) that is just flower beds and bird feeders - and if I put in new perennial flowers they just disappear. My pots/containers at the side (I have lots of them) get eaten to death - I had some pansies and they just disappeared too. The veg garden borders a hedge and seedlings get eaten as soon as they come up. I wonder where the hogs might feed more - probably the back garden as that is close to other plants, orchard etc? Perhaps I will try to do without somehow one bit at a time....

Stop press - as typing this my husband came into bedroom and just saw a greater spotted woodpecker feeding on the fat balls . I managed to get a photo last year!

Hurdity x

[CLKD]

Some people find gardening in pots with copper strips at the bottom and again round the middle will stop slugs ….. we have built raised beds in recent years which makes picking the intruders out of the plants easier 

[Cazikins]

I haven't seen any May Beetles or Stag Beetles this year - has anyone spotted them?
OH said he has seen one stag.

[Taz2]

It's usually mid June before the stag beetles emerge here. We've seen a couple of May bugs - or June Bugs as they are called in some places - but not many yet.

Taz x

[babyjane]

We have been feeding the nesting birds who strip the feeders in less than a day.  Now a family of starlings - 2 adults and 6 fledglings - have started visiting and they chase the other birds away and monopolise the feeders, clinging on with wings flapping like mutant ninja hummingbirds.

I know they are also birds with babies but we don't go to the expense of the seed and mealworms just for them so all our regular little visitors don't get anything.

We have 4 feeders on the pole and all the little ones share but the starlings won't share at all.

[Taz2]

I feed my starlings a breakfast and tea every day so they don't go on the feeders. I feed a mix of wholemeal breadcrumbs, digestive biscuits, sultanas (soaked in water for at least half an hour before putting out), grated cheese and porridge oats (dry) together with any table scraps/left over cat food etc. We have starling all the year round. Thirty one babies last week. I love watching them. Such brilliant birds.

Taz x