rabbit Archives - Farm Holiday Cottages - Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page, starting from number eleven. Getting low on photographs again.

Kynance cove in Cornwall. Lindsay.

Butterfly feeding on fruit taken at Longleat. Bec.

The osprey nest at the Loch of the Lowes, taken last year from the hide. I hope you can see the osprey on the tallest tree in the middle of the picture. Carol Wolves.

Looking down from the glass floor in the viewing platform at about 330 feet above sea-level, good job there were no holes in my socks! CH.

Old Oak tree , Sherwood Forest. Judy.

We have moved Lady back into her old stable so that we can see her through the night, now that she is getting near to Foaling. Her udder is quite large. I should think that she will not be to late from the date she is due.

I put the webcam on the Rabbits this evening so the you can see just how many there are in such small areas. On a walk around the Farm today, I was a little shocked to see just how many that are about. I cant remember seeing the amount that I did before. All the Farms around Denbury seemed to be have the same problem. The mild Winter hasn’t helped. The amount of Rabbit that there are about do eat a lot of grass, it is surprising just how much one Rabbit will eat. Very often when there is large amount of Rabbits in one year we often see Myxomatosis.

Myxomatosis is not as nice disease, it causes the Rabbits to have crusty sores around the Rabbits eyes, noses and lesions on their skin. Very often the Rabbit cant see. Not many survive the virus. I is spread by flies, mites etc and contact with other Rabbits.

The virus was deliberately introduced in Australia to control that amount of Rabbits that they had. It came to the UK from Europe where it was introduce there. As you know we don’t have shooting at Denbury,. but we will need to control the Rabbits.

More news on The Scottish Wildlife Trust On speaking to…

More news on The Scottish Wildlife Trust. On speaking to the Lock of the Lowe’s Centre Manager today, he has told me that they have regulars visits from Pine Martin. One of the camera that we will supply will be put in a place, where hopefully they will be seen on the web cams.

The Scottish Wildlife Trusts Computer expert will be going to the centre on Wednesday and Thursday of next week, If every thing goes to plan we may be showing the Osprey on this site, in real time later in the week. There could be minor problems that may delay the broadcasting. Keep your fingers crossed. Initially we will be using their existing cameras. The camera that we are supplying to the Trust will be sent to them on Monday. They have a volunteer that is a trained CCTV installer, that they will have to arrange with him for the installation. Our agreement has happened so quickly that there may be a little delay in the installation, but it will be well worth the wait.

Most days I need to fill the Bird feeders and Peanut feeders. This morning as I made my way to fill them I heard a Rabbit squealing, obviously in distress. I could see the bramble moving about ten feet in front of me. I could just about see the head of a young Rabbit in the bramble, it may well have been caught up by the way it was trying to move. By this time I was a little closer, I could hardly believe my eyes, for holding onto the rabbits back leg was a Rat. I think some of you already know what I think of them. I shouted in the direction of the two of them, hoping that the Rat would let go, causing both me and the Rabbit to have no more problems with the Rat. I think it was so busy thinking about the breakfast it had his teeth into, that it did not hear me. I couldn’t really let it happen, but I don’t even like looking at them, so with my eye partially closed I made a lunging motion towards them. I felt my foot catch a large stone and I tumbled over, finishing spread eagle on the ground, with my face only inches from from that horrible thing. My screams made it run, leaving the Rabbit able to hobble to safety, or so I thought, for as I returned from filling the feeders the Rabbit started to squeal again, the Rat was hanging onto it again. I picked up what I thought was a slender stick to throw at it, that turned out to be the remains of a last year nettle, that drooped down as I lifted it to throw. In the end my shouting at the Rat made it let go again. I did see the Rabbit go down a burrow. I do hope it was a Rabbits.

Unfortunately where it happened is where I feed the Badgers on cam 1. Most nights you can see the Rats, stealing a bit of feed on the web cam. I don’t really like to poison the Rats in that area, as the Badgers may catch them full of poison, or an Owl may take one. The Badger would only get a belly ache, but the poison would kill an Owl. I have got to think of something.

No Pat (Herts)we have not heard the Cuckoo yet. Not sure, but I think it is just about now that we normally hear them. The weather may be making us think that it is later in the year, than it really is.

Yes Elsie the Magpie doesnt miss a meal. As the forum is being used from all over, what superstition from different areas do you all have about the Magpie, and what do you do or say when you see them?