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Super! Nature Notes
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  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    Just watched my cat chomp down a lizard while it was still breathing. It was beyond saving. Little beast!
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    And he immediately came back with another and brought it into the house. I was able to save this one.

    This is the eyeless cat, mind ye.
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
    Well done with the hedgies, Kat.

    @iuventus - is there a seasonal aspect to your cat's predatory behaviour, do you think? Mine catches little except at this time, spring. I think it's probably because the birds and mice he catches are less cautious now, either displaying ostentatiously, reckless and exhausted in seeking food for their babies. He'll take fledgling birds in a month or two, too. Between July and April, nada.

    Meanwhile, Here's a nice clip, showing a close relationship between very different species - in this case, a baby mongoose inviting a hornbill to play.


    Apparently, hornbills and dwarf mongooses have a close mutualistic relationship. They always hunt together, with the mongooses rustling up grasshoppers, beetles and lizards from the grass, while the hornbill watches for predators like hawks and gives an alarm call if one appears. It is such a close partnership that they will not hunt alone.

    The mongooses sleep in old termite mounds and if it arrives early, the hornbill will sit outside and call until the mongooses get up. If the mongooses are up first, they will call until a hornbill arrives. Only then will they set off to hunt. So it's a beautiful case of genuine inter-species communication.  
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    That’s nice. We discovered that a pair of blue tits are nesting in the wall of our house. We had a new bathroom fitted last year and have only just realised that there is a gap round the waste pipe outlet; the little birds have een squeezing in there and pulling insulation out of the wall! We will let them have it this year but have to do a DIY job in Autumn!
  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    Yes, spring and summer are a hunter's delight.
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    We have a cheeky weasel residing in our garden too, prob keeping the mole population down!
  • Vote Up0Vote Down whisperedwhispered
    Posts: 736
    KatRobin said:

    We have a cheeky weasel residing in our garden too, prob keeping the mole population down!



    Fantastic, what an honour!
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Urban_TribesmanUrban_Tribesman
    Posts: 5,675
    We have a grey squirrel who is using the top of our side fence as a super highway.
    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ.
    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit.
    Shall lure it back to cancal half a line,
    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    Mostly lizards and black widows here.
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    A list of all the residents at our gaff this year!
    2 dogs, 2 tortoises, 2 humanoids, nesting blackbirds, blue tits and robins, possibly nesting chaffinches; weasel frogs, mice, rats and probably moles, bats, visiting ducks, doves, pigeons, magpies ( not good), sparrow hawk ( not good if we get ducklings), the occasional sparrow ( blimey, they have declined), starling And green woodpecker, ....and we think we’ve just discovered evidence of some woodworm, fab. It’s a cast of thousands lol!
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    Don’t think Alison would like it.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down KatRobinKatRobin
    Posts: 2,769
    I forgot to add the visiting hares, rabbits, pheasants and partridges
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Urban_TribesmanUrban_Tribesman
    Posts: 5,675
    We have a resident pheasent, green woodpeckers, every Tit you can name, Chaffinches galore, a dog, two homosapiens, the odd rat, magpies (don't mind them myself and they are beautiful to look at), Crows, lots of fish in the pond (Koi, Goldfish, Rudd, Shubumkins), the squirrel, voles ( lots of voles) and, of course, many sadly deceased animals that are being preserved for prosterity.
    It's a big horsey area so we regularly see 7 horses on a dog walk. We've been feeding a young foal through the winter ( as yet, an up-named thoroughbred who we effectionatley call Niblet) with carrots.
    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ.
    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit.
    Shall lure it back to cancal half a line,
    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down iuventusiuventus
    Posts: 5,377
    image
    If I were dead, could I do this?
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Urban_TribesmanUrban_Tribesman
    Posts: 5,675
    It's a bit rich for my taste. Being a game bird, the meat is quite dark.
    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ.
    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit.
    Shall lure it back to cancal half a line,
    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
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