Yes, we have had them nesting in the centre of Cambridge for about a decade, occasionally they kill a pigeon in front of the tourists. The porters of Pembroke College sometimes have to rescue fledglings fallen on the road.
We've got some rather unwelcome wildlife - rats moving in as the weather deteriorates. Little Miss Feet freaked out at the one abseiling off the oil inlet to the boiler this evening.
We occasionally had rats when we used to keep chickens but at least they were outside even if close to the house. No chance of any rodents now though, as Mochi the cat is an efficient hunter. The only rodents we have had in the house are the mice she has brought in to play with 🙄
Grey squirrels have completely stripped my olive tree of all its fruit. I'm in the south east UK so crops like the one I had this year come with the right kind of weather and by no means every year. Feeling a bit peeved!
Our grey squirrels are nesting for the winter. They have removed some bark from my palm tree. It was loose, hanging pieces. They are also taking the plastic dog poop bags from the dispenser at the dog park. I hope they know what they are doing.
The local great tits and blue tits are having a grand time on the suet ball window feeders - most of the day now, every day. Sometimes 3 or 4 on there at once. I'm sure it's welcome in the cold snap the UK is having.
When I drove to do an errand this morning, there was a mama raccoon and three very healthy babies...probably adolescents in the trash panda world. I know they are menaces, but they sure are cute!
Last week, DU took a picture of an owl sitting on a street sign, and everyone else in our house is seeing deer frequently.
Thanks for that @LatchKeyKid, it's really interesting. When I was working and we used to take our morning tea outside, we would get the older juvenile magpies coming to beg for bits of cracker, or whatever was going. I wasn't comfortable as I suspect that is not the best food for them, but they would turn up until they got comfortable with getting their own food (or found another sucker, elsewhere).
Still it pays to be nice to maggies as they remember kindness & are less likely to swoop in the nesting season…they can be aggro buggers!
Vermin-catching terrier breeds are far more effective than cats. Get a jack russell on the case.
Not on my street, they’re not. So-called “rat terriers” have come a long way from their roots and are as much use as tits on a bull as vermin catchers.
My ex-feral felinec Stan the Man would piss on them ( as would his predecessors the divine Sarah and Albertus Magnus).
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You can't depend on a cat. One of ours - William - would cower under furniture while I evicted a mouse that he had spooked.
Vermin-catching terrier breeds are far more effective than cats. Get a jack russell on the case.
Last week, DU took a picture of an owl sitting on a street sign, and everyone else in our house is seeing deer frequently.
Just ask any Discworld dwarf.
Still it pays to be nice to maggies as they remember kindness & are less likely to swoop in the nesting season…they can be aggro buggers!
Not on my street, they’re not. So-called “rat terriers” have come a long way from their roots and are as much use as tits on a bull as vermin catchers.
My ex-feral felinec Stan the Man would piss on them ( as would his predecessors the divine Sarah and Albertus Magnus).