.. Chief suspect still four legged and furry
REGULARS to this blog know all about the trials and tribulations I've experienced since quitting the high life in Soho for the good life in the Scottish Borders more than three years ago.
The chief architect of my misery has always been the fox - and at every turn they (there's been a few) have wiped out my entire turkey flock apart from one very nervous Bourbon Red called Ant; possibly one goose, definitely more than 20 hens, an aviary of white doves, a couple of peafowl, a few domestic pheasant and a couple of guineau fowl.
Over the winter months, apart from a couple of sightings of a small fox, my little menangerie has escaped unscathed and now that we are full swing in to Spring we're still ever vigilant for Mr Fox.
However we now have a new mystery - not quite a murder one - unless you subscribe to life beginning in the egg. Vera, one of my Toulouse geese has laid around a dozen over the last couple of weeks in a small lean to built by hubby in 2014 when she began nesting last Spring.
By last night she'd amassed half a dozen and I thought any day now she'll start to sit full time on her collection but this morning, as you can see from my short video, I found fragments of smashed egg shell. I'd secured the lean-to last night after I'd locked up the rest of the birds and the peafowl had gone to roost, so I knew the egg thief must be an outside as opposed to an inside job.
remove that and slip in another golf ball tonight.
The plan is when Vera starts sitting full time I will somehow replace the balls with the real eggs I collected previously.
I'm not sure if this is going to work so keep following and I will give updates. As usual, any feedback and/or advice would be most welcome.
As you can see from the last video Vera is hacked off and Jack is more angry than usual - even wanting to bite the hand that feeds him which is really disconcerting since I'm not usually targetted by the gander.
REGULARS to this blog know all about the trials and tribulations I've experienced since quitting the high life in Soho for the good life in the Scottish Borders more than three years ago.
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WEASEL snapped trying to pop a goose
egg
|
Over the winter months, apart from a couple of sightings of a small fox, my little menangerie has escaped unscathed and now that we are full swing in to Spring we're still ever vigilant for Mr Fox.
However we now have a new mystery - not quite a murder one - unless you subscribe to life beginning in the egg. Vera, one of my Toulouse geese has laid around a dozen over the last couple of weeks in a small lean to built by hubby in 2014 when she began nesting last Spring.
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| LINE UP OF SUSPECTS: Stoat, weasel and ferret, whodunnit? |
Each night she heads back to her usual home to sleep and every morning she goes to her lean-to to lay an egg. I noticed the other day some of the eggs were smashed which caused no amount of outrage from Jack, the gander.
He has now taken to attacking anything with a pulse and even the postman refuses to leave the safety of his delivery van these days, so ferocious is Jack.
I removed two eggs the other day after Vera managed to amass four - just in case the peacocks or guineau fowl were sneaking in and nicking the eggs.By last night she'd amassed half a dozen and I thought any day now she'll start to sit full time on her collection but this morning, as you can see from my short video, I found fragments of smashed egg shell. I'd secured the lean-to last night after I'd locked up the rest of the birds and the peafowl had gone to roost, so I knew the egg thief must be an outside as opposed to an inside job.
Since the lean-to was locked I knew it was fox and badger proof so I started to ask around among countrywise folk. I couldn't understand what had got in to eat the eggs. We've now narrowed it down to a number of suspects: Rats, stoats, weasels or ferrets.
Somehow I don't think it's rats. Since I introduced three partly feral cats the rat and mice population has drastically been reduced ... and that could be the problem. These creatures are natural prey to stoats, weasels and ferrets so if there are any hanging around the farm their regular rodent diet has been severely disrupted.
So how to solve the problem before Vera stops laying any more eggs. Balls! Golf balls to be precise. I've placed them on Vera's nest and as I type she's just sat on the nest to lay another egg. I will
remove that and slip in another golf ball tonight.
The plan is when Vera starts sitting full time I will somehow replace the balls with the real eggs I collected previously.
I'm not sure if this is going to work so keep following and I will give updates. As usual, any feedback and/or advice would be most welcome.
As you can see from the last video Vera is hacked off and Jack is more angry than usual - even wanting to bite the hand that feeds him which is really disconcerting since I'm not usually targetted by the gander.
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