Allotments 4 All
Produce => Wildlife forum => Topic started by: Spurdie on August 25, 2004, 20:32:59
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We haven't seen a hedgehog for ages - not even squashed on the road! Where have they all gone? Has anyone else noticed a decline in the number of hedgehogs in their area?
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Have heard them foraging in my hedges.....seen the evidence of thier toilet habits! ( :-X) but never seem to see them in person........(reackon they all went across the road to see their "flat" mates!)
I do think they are in decline tho, maybe all the pesticides and slug pellets people use are killing them off :'( ? I remember them as a normal nightly sight.
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Hadn't seen one for years, until on holiday in France and there was one living in the garden of the house we rented. Something frequents our garden, but am yet to see what. I know we have foxes and muntjac and probably badgers, but hedgies.....dont know. :-\
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Last year, we had bats flying around the house and hedgehog visitors.. haven't seen either this year
Maybe with all the rain and miserable weather they think Autumn has come early!
Debs
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We have lots of bats flying around they start around dusk - I make my lover stand outside when he is smoking and generally have to drag him back in half an hour later because he loves standing and watching them. ;D
Sam
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I used to have hedghogs but havn`t seen any for about 5 years. I don`t use any slug pellets etc & my neighbours don`t really bother with their gardens so don`t know why they don`t come round :(
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;D Hi Spurdie, we had them here a few years ago but haven't noticed any this year, wonder if it was last years dry weather that made them starve or not breed. I thought it was just here, obviously not.
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Yes Val, I suppose last year must have been very harsh for them. To think that they were offering people £5 for each hedgehog they managed to shoot in the Western Isles. If I remember rightly, they were eating the nesting seabirds' eggs. But if it came to a choice of a decline in the number of seabirds or a decline in the number of hedgehogs, I'd choose hedgehogs every time! I miss Animal Hospital and other rescue programmes for giving hedgehogs airtime. Now we don't see them in the garden OR on the telly! :( Bring back the hedgehogs! 8)
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I love it when its about British Wildlife. Can't see why they are worrying about seabirds, they are trying to get rid of a lot of them in Brighton I think it was. One of my neighbours had them nesting on her roof last year, she wasn't safe in her own garden, they kept attacking her. I'd have the hedgehogs any day, at least they have a use as well as being cute. We have an abundance of worms in the borders this year, probably the wet, everywhere I dug seemed like hundreds. :)
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;D Hi Val,
Yes, this year hedgehogs could have raised large families and still have plenty of food left over - plenty of slugs and snails AND worms. Our compost is teeming with worms. It seems to have been a really good year for the butterflies too. However, the number of swifts screeching in the loft has descreased. We usually have 4 pairs breeding under the eaves of the house, but this year only 2 pairs came for their holidays. This year's ones left a few weeks ago, and most of the swallows are away too. The leaves are even changing colour already up here - I've noticed a few red leaves on the wild cherries (geans).
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;DA beautiful Sept. day today, you can just feel the Indian summer in the air.We've tidied up the shed and I can now get in it, cut down next doors Montana that was threatening our garage...it soon grows back but the weight is so heavy.Itching to get rid of the summer baskets they are beginning to look a bit sad. I've got some pansies for the winter, shouldn't have bought them yet, I want to get them in. ;D
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;D Hi, Val
It's been a beautiful day here too. I'm sitting here looking out onto a lovely pink sky. Shepherd's delight! More butterflies out and about today: a peacock, some red admiirals and some tortoiseshells. I can see why they like buddleas - the hot day must have brought out their honey smell. Have you try taking some cuttings of your clematis yet?
I was doing a bit of tidying up and managed to find 16 young leycesteria formosas (himalayan honeysuckles)! I've transferred them all into little pots till they grow a wee bit bigger and then I'm going to use them as an edible hedge for the birds!
I had great fun disposing of my Jerusalem artichokes. I used to grow them as a temporary hedge, but this year they have grown tall and lanky instead of tall and sturdy, and so they are no use as a windbreak. I pulled them all up and they had virtually no "tatties" on the end, so I imagined I was Fatima Whitbread and threw each one over the garden fence in a javelin thrower style. I was so pleased with my technique I am thinking of entering for the Beijing olympics! :P
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Hi spurdie
We had two hedgehogs visiting us seperately last year. They are both back and one of them has a baby hedgepig - marvellous! ;D
last year, they didn't seem to hibernate - they came to the garden to scoff all through December/Jan.
Our garden backs onto the allotments, so they come through from there. We give them special hedgehog food and they come every night to eat.
there is hope....Joolieeee
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Hi Spurdie, wow glad I'm not your neighbour, don't think I'd fancy ducking the artichoke..no I guess you don't have neighbours just the odd wild cat or two.Perhaps thats where your hogs have gone, weighed down by the zooming 'chokes. ;D
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;D Joolieeee
Lucky you! Wee hedgehogs are SO cute, you could just cuddle them (if it wasn't for their fleas :P)
;D Val
Don't worry, I picked them all up, put the leaves on the compost heap and the rest in the wheelie bin. I wish we had a special green collection in operation up here. Do you have one beside you? It's a real nuisance having to wait a week between "throwing out sessions". I compost everything that is compostable, but it's no use putting woody stems or big rootballs on the heap.
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;Hi Spurdie, yes we do have a green collection, we are lucky we have the tip about 20 mins away as well, as you say there's some stuff you can't compost, most of the neighbours seem to have a green bin, but theres only so many bins you can have around, what with the paper collection, then normal rubbish, Where does everyone keep them, hubby just takes it to meet jobs worth down the tip.....you know the sort, can't put that in there, is that normal dirt, or earth with weeds,has it got worms in?..Okay so I exaggerate slighty but they do get on my wick at times. ;D ;D
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Hi Val ;D
I haven't been able to get near my compost heap since Monday. When I made apple chutney on Sunday the kitchen was overrrun with wasps (you'd have thought that the smell of boiling vinegar would have gassed them all, it made my eyes water when I took a sniff of the pan), so I put the apple parings and cores in a bag and put them in the shed, thinking it was them that was drawing in the wasps. On Monday morning I put the contents of the bag on the compost heap, hoping all the wasps had gone, but not so. The horrible creatures had obviously just hidden around the corner and that evening the garden was swarming with wasps. The ones that come into the house are very bad tempered and never come alone. Our neighbour thinks they are coming to the end of their life cycle, and therefore that's why they are so cantankerous. A number of people have been attacked by them locally and much as I love nature and (most) animals, I wish they would just die in a more dignified manner! :P
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Spurdie, we were making fruit based stuff this weekend, elderberry wine, was a wasp magnet, we lost count at 20! :o they met a very undignified end with a fly swat, and a lot of arm waving by my OH! Fed em to my fish! They are driving me insane this year, can't enjoy a nice meal outside without them :'( And why is it they have to be literally in your face the whole time????)
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;DHi Spurdie and Doris, its been a bad year for wasps, I haven't noticed a big increase in the garden but others have. My old mum used to say at this time of year get away from the wasps they are dopey..I think she was trying to say they're on their way out, but to tell a child they will soon be brown bread is it bit err not nice ;D ;DA cook as well as gardeners..my pet hate cooking, its up there with ironing, I used to do it when the kids were all small but thankfully not anymore. OH likes to mess around with the pots and pans, so leave it to him.
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Hello Doris ;D
I didn't know that fish ate wasps!!!! I presume they are big, butch fish and not delicate little neon tetras! My mum used to make alot of homemade wine - raspberry, elderberry, elderflower champagne, broom, etc. When Dad retired he took over the home brewing and made disgusting rhubarb wine, which he stored in an old wardrobe in the grain loft. The heat up there must have affected it as it had a hell of a kick! :P
Hi Val ;D
I love cooking but HATE washing up afterwards. Home baked cakes and biscuits never last any time in our house, and the toffee has to be rationed or else it would disappear in minutes! And yes, ironing is the most tedious household chore ever. Whoever first thought of ironing clothes should have been shot! 8)
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Iron, you lot Iron??? I just stretch em and bung them in drawers!!! OH irons his own shirts, cos of my bad shoulder (well that's what I tell him!) ;D
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I'm with you Doris - after my daughter was born I gave up ironing as I was far too busy child-rearing. The fact that she is now 19 and at uni has not changed this one iota. In fact I'm pretty sure I only had my second, now 4, to make sure I could still justify this decision! Tip: if you buy clothes that only just fit, they'll have to stretch a bit. Stretched clothes show no wrinkles! If that makes you walk in a somewhat restricted manner, just buy nothing without lycra
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;D Ceri!
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;D ;D Yes love it Ceri, but what about the high pitched voices of the males? I can't get in jeans now anyway let alone stretchy ones,its joggers for me, they don't get ironed though just cotton stuff. I run out of years to have any more excuses, 4 is more than enough and I think I'd rather do ironing. Did you see that poor couple with twins on the box the other night, my heart went out to them, all that crying, remind me why do we have children?
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What programme were you watching, Val?
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;DHi Spurdie, it was Who Rules the Roost, on 2 , think it was Tues. or Wed. at 8 o'clock.Any parent will tell you its the kids, they wait till your lowest point, then bam in for the kill....Going back to your original question, it seems on the nature boards on the beeb they are asking the same, we're not the only ones to have noticed the lack of them. ;)
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;D Hi Val
I noticed that someone had the great "idea" of having a party on the Beeb's gardening messageboard c/w pretend food and drink and snail canapes ... sound familiar?!? I just about managed to eat all Carol's selkirk bannocks and haggis but I really struggled with the slug canapes! Did they actually "have" the party ( I only look in every few months)?
Re interesting tv programmes ... did you see "That'll Teach Em" last night? Brilliant tv! Can you believe that in the 4 weeks my daughter has been at high school she has not had a single lesson in geography, history or sewing!?!?!?
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Spurdie, my daughter is doing woodwork! She wont be able to sew on a button, but might be able to rustle up a nice hen house one day! ;D
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Hi Doris ;D
I wish I'd paid more attention in woodwork when I was at school! I made a teapot stand many years ago (ahem!) and it's still in one piece. However, wouldn't it be a good idea if all kids were taught how to put together flat pack furniture? Those packs are SO frustrating and I'm sure parents everywhere would be grateful for their kids knowing how to assemble a bookcase in less than hour!
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;DHi Spurdie, they had the party when my computer was down..do you think they're trying to tell me something?. It didn't go down to well with the mods, I think the hangovers were a bit heavy lol.My youngest is now doing A levels and still waiting for sewing lessons and cookery, youngest son is 18, but he never got to use the tools in woodwork or metalwork, they had some but the teacher thought it was to dangerous to let them use them ???Goodness knows what my daughter did, she didn't do any of the above. She's doing A levels in art, design, media and maths, so perhaps she spent all her time doodling. :D Didn't watch that, I saw it was on but I hated school with a passion and still have a complete, no don't even think about it, feeling...youngest wants to be a teacher..groan, how could she. ;D
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;D Val
Is she mad!?! A TEACHER ?!? She must be VERY brave! The kids definitely rule the classrooms up here and they are not punished for anything! I remember one teacher getting assaulted by a primary 4 boy (aged 8) and only being kept in at lunchtime as a punishment. That child later on bounced my daughter's head off a wall, then went for her with scissors. I think alot of this bad behaviour goes unpunished just so the head can say "there's no bullying problem at this school" simply because nothing is ever recorded and it is all swept under the carpet.
I don't think sewing is being taught at high school at all! How they will sew on a button, take up their jeans, or repair any of their clothes when they are older, I don't know! Re using sharp tools, daughter had to sign a contract on kitchen safety before she was let loose in the school kitchen!!!
I just can't believe that drama is more important than geography though! Just think of all the lost young adults when they leave school! ;) At least they'll be able to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat when they are stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the hope that a good-looking stranger will help them!!! :)
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;DFunny thing is she isn't, she's tiny as well, just a bit taller than me...not hard I'm only 5', but she's a size 8. Its all in the eyes though, she could and does floor you with one look.Schools are getting more violent, well society is.What can you do, my grandchildren were being bullied by a young boy, but our Sarah had a word...he didn't do it again, so perhaps she's got the right makings of a teacher.lol.I think it went along the lines of... touch my neices again and you're dead, err maybe not ;D
They won't do any of that, their skills is getting others to do it for them...sew on a button? err why?I'll buy new.Its a throw away society. Blow the mens looks, its the fat wallet that does it, Is it me getting cynical or is life like that. What an awful thing for your daughter enough to put her off school forever. I just hate bullying with a passion.
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;DHave you seen Trail Rat around lately? Maybe he's busy with his new lottie. :)
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;D Hi Val
Hope your daughter succeeds and becomes a good teacher - she sounds as though she could sort out the country single handed! But would she not be more interested in becoming an MP? Tony Blair could do with a good spanking! ;)
Yes, when we are old and sitting in our rocking chairs, watching re-runs of Ali G, reminiscing about how you could get a 3-bed house for £60,000 when they cost £5 million now, all our children and grandchildren will be round with a pile of sewing to do! "Mum, will you take up my teflon coated bell-bottoms (they are in fashion AGAIN), oh, and sew some sequins on my overalls. And while you're at it, the new curtains I bought for £5,000 are too long - can you take them up for me?" And we'll be able to say "yes, dear, that'll be £20 per garment" and we'll spend it all on bubblegum and popcorn. 8)
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:'( No, Val I haven't seen nor heard of Trailrat for a while now ... maybe the poor lamb went on holiday and got lost and doesn't know WHERE he is now ... BOO HOO! And he was SO young and had his whole life in front of him! BOO HOO!
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;DPainted the fence out the front today..not sure if I like it, but as I've already changed the colour twice, I'm not doing it again. I have so much trouble with colours until its done...too late then. It doesn't go with the green, grass, leaves, etc,Its a sort of turquiose colour...it was meant to be a light green..oh what the hell.I'll have to dig the plants up and grow purple leaved ones ;D trail Rat has probably dug himself in at the lottie trying to make a bit of the hard stuff in his shed from his spud peelings.thats why he doesn't know where he is..he'll come round when he sobers up ;D
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;D Turquoise, eh? Our neighbour has a turquoise fence and it looks fine! Dare to be different! You could paint your ducks in psychedelic colours and have them lined up in front of it! :P
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;DThe ducks are already bright yellow, well 2 of them, The mother has her own pink shawl and a straw hat, like Gemima but different. Which reminds me I think its about time I bought them in....the shawl..and give it a wash and tidy up before the winter sets in ready for next year. I'll just have to tell the neighbours to wear sun glasses, maybe it will mellow in time.lol.
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;D Did you make them yourself from concrete, Val? I hope you gave one of them a pair of wellies!
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;DNo I didn't but there's a concrete place over on the Isle of Sheppey that sell them very cheap. £1 or 50p, sometimes a bit more depending how large they are, we have a run over once in a while and I got them then.Couldn't get the wellies on... Talking of wellies have you seen that advert on tele with the wellies...can't remember what it is now but the wellies are all colours, now thats what I call gardening in style.
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;D No, you must get more sophisicated adverts in your part of the country. There's no point in trying to sell fancy wellies to canny scots! There's been a bitter cold wind here today, but amazingly the sunflowers are still upright. It's just the bi-coloured ones we have left now (the ones Monty was "very disappointed" with ???).
Soon be time to take in the houseplants ... streptocarpus has flowered its socks off all summer and could do with a rest. Come to think of it ALL the houseplants could do with repotting. I did them all in spring, but they have outgrown their pots AGAIN. Is your house overrun with triffids too?
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;DI don't have one house plant, everone thinks its strange as I love plants but I just can't keep them. They always give up on me or get infested, I even manage to kill half the cuttings I take. The only one I had for years was the christmas catcus, in fact I might get another one for the downstairs toilet, the parlour palm I had given has died. I think its lack of light in the winter...thats my story and I'm sticking to it. ;D I bought some asters and another sedum yesterday. Iwas going to put them in today but got rained off. Sun is shining lovely now but it'll be dark soon.
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;D Val, I often forget to water ours, but somehow they manage to hang on for dear life until I finally realise they're wilting. I have given up with parlour palms - the last one I had turned white with fright and never recovered. I managed to kill off a coconut palm after only 3 months by putting it outside in the tropical border. I expect it was too cold and wet this year. Last year's hot and dry summer would probably have suited it better! This year's cannas have been a wash out. No flowers at all. The ornamental sweetcorn has bonny grassy heads, but no multi-coloured cobs yet.
Was it an ice plant you bought or some kind of houseleek? My iceplant is dark red and keeps seeding itself wherever it feels like. I was digging up little oregano and lemon balm plantlets yesterday to give away. Oregano is still flowering and lasts for ages when cut for the house. The mint is running riot and will have to be hauled out and put on the compost heap. Hopefully it'll smother a few wasps! You'd have thought they'd all be dead with hypothermia today, it's been bitterly cold.
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;DIt was an ice plant, The foliage looks a purpley colour, different from the one I've got.I don't know about the flowers yet, it hasn't fully opened.Its been real cold today, looks like I'll be getting my jumpers out . I usually wait until my arms turn blue, put them on then the weather warms up so I suffocate...
Went past..[thats a first]..the garden centre, it was nearly empty, just 2 cars, a sure sign its hibernating weather.
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;D Hi Val
You'd think the garden centres would be full of bargains at this time of year, but the ones up our way have turned themselves into gift shops! I suppose only about a quarter of their stock would be actual plants, the rest fancy vases, ornaments and PLASTIC GARDEN CREATURES !!! Some of them are really sinister looking and others just plain daft. What I can't understand is people having a gravelled over front garden, with assorted plastic creatures carefully placed ... in amongst MORE stones! Grey gravel, grey stones, grey animals. :(
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There's a house up the road whose front garden...they have a driveway, so didn't need it for that....is concreted over and just covered in plant pots, hundreds of them. The mind boggles, I always find pots harder work, all the time and watering etc.They aren't the pretty coloured pots just normal plastic ones. Its gross. By crikey its nippy today as well. We had a bit of sunshine but its raining now.OH is putting in another door bell. The one we had it got set off by someones car. Everytime they locked their car it made our door bell ring....Don't ask.!
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Ha ha! :-X When I fitted Mam's new doorbell, she kept going to the door and finding no-one there. It turned out that 2 other neighbours had the same wireless doorbell from Argos, and they were all set to the same frequency. I had to change it twice after that before it would only ring with her own doorbell.
Your potty neighbour must be kept busy! I'm not a pot person myself, although I have one at either side of my door - one full of herbs (not got far to go with the scissors) and the other with a clematis and climbing hydrangea in it.
I've had terrible wind (of the outside variety) today, but at least it seems to have blown all the wasps away for the time being.
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;DThats the trouble with most things these days, everyone has the same. We aren't mentioning door bells for a while. Everything that could go wrong did, he dropped it and broke it, he broke the drill bit, err don't happen to have a spare knocker do you?... He finally did it this morning.the air was blue for a while. Did you see Ground Force the other night? They had a bush with white bracts but never mentioned the name of it. The only one I can find is a Cornus, they grow to small trees, I wondered if this was a different sort. It looked quite pretty. It was in the last 5 mins or so, I just caught the tail end of it . I don't watch the whole program, its more about building than gardens and when they do have something interesting they don't say its name.