A random thread for small things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[andytheflyer]

So I decided on the tactical options.  Poison bait blocks.  They arrived yesterday, I laid 3 out at strategic points in the garage.  This morning all three had gone.  So I put more out, repeat ad nauseum or until they stop disappearing.

I've tried bait blocks before but our local rodents seem to ignore them - may I ask which ones you bought?

I like to feed the wild birds in front of the window I sit by most of the day, but it always brings a rat or 2 (we live on the edge of open country so loads of the things around) to collect the droppings from the bird feeders and my wife has this year banned me from feeding the birds.  I feel guilty about that and would like to resume, but need an effective rodent control solution.

[Kim]

Day of the Daffodils was my favourite.

I'm waiting for the Romero film adaptation.

[tiermat]

So I decided on the tactical options.  Poison bait blocks.  They arrived yesterday, I laid 3 out at strategic points in the garage.  This morning all three had gone.  So I put more out, repeat ad nauseum or until they stop disappearing.

I've tried bait blocks before but our local rodents seem to ignore them - may I ask which ones you bought?

I like to feed the wild birds in front of the window I sit by most of the day, but it always brings a rat or 2 (we live on the edge of open country so loads of the things around) to collect the droppings from the bird feeders and my wife has this year banned me from feeding the birds.  I feel guilty about that and would like to resume, but need an effective rodent control solution.

The Big Cheese one, if you search Amazon for this, you'll get to them "The Big Cheese Ultra Power Block Rodent Killer Station Bait Refills, Red, 15 x 20 g".  Upon opening the tub they smell VERY sweet and very nutty, which I guess is what attracts the furry little shits.

Fingers crossed they are working.

[citoyen]

I've tried various brands over the years, both blocks and loose grains, and all seem to get eaten up. Most recently, I've used Rentokil Rodine and Diall (B&Q own brand).

I presume they are effective - both contain the same nasties as the stuff professional exterminators use, though the over-the-counter version is considerably less potent.

[Jurek]

I've half a tub of Neoseroxa left from the last time mice visited.
But I think these days you need a license to buy it.

[T42]

Just received my trendy electronic FFCT membership card for 2021.  The problem now will be to remember where I've put the bloody thing on my phone.

[andytheflyer]

So I decided on the tactical options.  Poison bait blocks.  They arrived yesterday, I laid 3 out at strategic points in the garage.  This morning all three had gone.  So I put more out, repeat ad nauseum or until they stop disappearing.

I've tried bait blocks before but our local rodents seem to ignore them - may I ask which ones you bought?

I like to feed the wild birds in front of the window I sit by most of the day, but it always brings a rat or 2 (we live on the edge of open country so loads of the things around) to collect the droppings from the bird feeders and my wife has this year banned me from feeding the birds.  I feel guilty about that and would like to resume, but need an effective rodent control solution.

The Big Cheese one, if you search Amazon for this, you'll get to them "The Big Cheese Ultra Power Block Rodent Killer Station Bait Refills, Red, 15 x 20 g".  Upon opening the tub they smell VERY sweet and very nutty, which I guess is what attracts the furry little shits.

Fingers crossed they are working.

Many thx - I'll have a look.

[citoyen]

Day of the Daffodils was my favourite.

Anyone who also frequents Cyclechat will find this especially amusing.

[Chris S]

Note to self: Never take a huge gulp of tea just as you're reading the day's Forest Friends. We've all made the joke "Now I need a new keyboard", right? Well I literally just blew an entire mouthful of tea across the living room and all over my laptop.

And now I can't go to bed because I'm still chuckling, even having just finished cleaning up Teamageddon.

If you must know, it was this one:

(click to show/hide)

https://twitter.com/forest_fr1ends/status/1346913435418767361?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

As you can see, some folks have helpfully illustrated the incident with their replies 

[mrcharly-YHT]

regarding mice; I find the humane mousetraps work well, baited with peanut butter.

[ian]

I read that as human mousetraps baited with peanut butter. I so would fall for that.

Ah, Friday afternoon, I have umpteen browser windows open across ten desktops, each with dozens of tabs. I call this The Time of The Unknowing where my weekly business thought processes complete the steady unravelling process that started Monday morning. What was I doing? Somewhere, on one of those tabs, I was completing something of indubitable importance. What it was, I do not know. Where I find it, I do not know. Thusly the demise of the week. The blissful embrace of ignorance.

[Moleman76]

We once had a bird feeder hanging about 20 feet from the house.  Some of the birds didn't like the seeds we filled it with, and scattered them around.

I looked out one night to see an owl perched on the feeder holder, waiting for his dinner to scurry in for the spillage.

[Mr Larrington]

A measure of how much I loathe and despise the pigeons who gather above the Grand Bedchamber of Larrington Towers at first light, there to practice their cooing, shitting and clog dancing routines, is that I have been wondering whether a stuffed buzzard, wol or similar birb of prey attached to the chimney will deter them.

Nailing a stuffed wol to the forehead of the titanic prat who feeds them might be a better long-term solution.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think you need a "hawk kite" (a kite kite?) for that. A model that flies in the wind, rather than just a stuffed one. Getting a real, live sparrowhawk would obvs be best of all.

[Kim]

Orbotic wol with FRIKKIN LAZERS in its eyes.  Also effective for the reëducation of sqrls.

[T42]

I have been wondering whether a stuffed buzzard, wol or similar birb of prey attached to the chimney will deter them.

A few years back a neighbour stuck an imitation owl at the end of one of his veggie beds. The real birds perched on it. The only use it ever was was when the back meadow flooded and he could gauge how high the water was by how much of the owl was immersed.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Something flying like so:

https://www.wish.com/product/5dcd9487d6cbc0192a1cf11f

[andytheflyer]

We once had a bird feeder hanging about 20 feet from the house.  Some of the birds didn't like the seeds we filled it with, and scattered them around.

I looked out one night to see an owl perched on the feeder holder, waiting for his dinner to scurry in for the spillage.

Ah!  Now that's a possibility.  I've put a big feeder in a silver Birch out in the front garden, where there's lots of space, and open drives either side. We have numerous wols in the trees around us and over by the Rectory - they were chattering around the other morning at first light. Previously, the feeders had been in our enclosed, small, back garden - with loads of cover for a scurrying rodent.  Out in the front, they have to cross a lot of open ground and hard surface - so that might even up the score a bit.

I live in hope before resorting to the chemicals cannon.

[hellymedic]

Google Maps seem to have house numbers on their largest scale settings. I don't think I saw this before.

Shows how our next-door neighbours' house footprint has expanded.

[Wowbagger]

I have been wondering whether a stuffed buzzard, wol or similar birb of prey attached to the chimney will deter them.

A few years back a neighbour stuck an imitation owl at the end of one of his veggie beds. The real birds perched on it. The only use it ever was was when the back meadow flooded and he could gauge how high the water was by how much of the owl was immersed.

At the turn of the century I attended a summer school at Cheltenham Ladies' College. We emerged from an evening meal just around sunset and there, percehd on a roof, was the biggest owl I have ever seen. It was monstrous - clearly an eagle owl' You could see it in silhouette against the sunset's glow. The Hungarian lecturers (teh course was on the teaching methods of their great compatriot, Zoltan Kodaly) were gobsmacked that we had such huge birds in this country.

It turned out to be plastic, although none of us had spotted that that evening. It was when it was still there a couple of days later that we were convinced. It was there to try to frighten off the numerous gulls which made a damned nuisance of themselves, but they actually spent a lot of their time dive-bombing it very noisily.

[Wowbagger]

Today would have been my maternal grandmother's 136th birthday.

[citoyen]

This is happening in my local woods, where I go walking, running and cycling:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/wildlife-rangers-in-uk-jobs-offer-no-bison-experience-required

If I were in any way qualified for the role, I'd be seriously tempted to apply. Only slight concern I have is what are bison like around bicycles? (There are a lot of unofficial MTB trails through the woods, probably in areas where the bison would be roaming. They introduced wild boar to another local woods not so long ago and the whole area where they roam is now fenced off with no public access.)

[Cudzoziemiec]

It says the bison will be in a 200ha fenced off area. I expect they're worried about dogs and poachers, in addition to mountain bikers.

[andrewc]

Do you really want to be scraping bison poop off your tyres.... 

[citoyen]

It says the bison will be in a 200ha fenced off area. I expect they're worried about dogs and poachers, in addition to mountain bikers.

Dog walking is already heavily restricted in the woods, limited to certain paths (partly because it's an RSPB conservation area). Not that anyone pays much attention to the rules, and nor are they enforced as far as I can tell, but maybe a herd of bloody great bison roaming free will persuade people to be more co-operative.

It will be interesting to see which bits they fence off. That's quite a large chunk of the woods (internet tells me it's 509ha in total).

[ETA: just noticed they say the bison will be used to regenerate 'a former pine plantation' so I think I know which bit of the woods they mean and it's not where the best trails are.]

Do you really want to be scraping bison poop off your tyres.... 

Maybe not, but I might have to go up there with a wheelbarrow - got to be good for the roses.