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Here they are viscous little things
Nah, I've definitely seen them run.
Sharks, just incredible apex predators that we know very little about. They are certainly not the mindless killers that the press would have you believe
Bats are awesome flying mice, in Australia I had the most incredible bat interaction which I regard as a highlight of my life.
in Australia I had the most incredible bat interaction which I regard as a highlight of my life.
So it DIDN'T start in a in Wuhan lab!!!!!
😱
😂😂😂😂😂👍
Crows.
You have to admire their intelligence and aerobatic skills.
They can't land on our bird feeder in such a way as to get at the tube hanger that has the snacks in it.
So one of them stands on the ground and another one lands heavily on the top, making it scatter some of the food out. Very co-operative way of feeding.
They seem to get very aggressive towards the end of summer/beginning of autumn too
Pissed on fermented fruit. Very much like the asbo teenagers.
How can anyone not love bats? Apart from being the probable source of a worldwide pandemic, they are charming little fellas.
They seem to get very aggressive towards the end of summer/beginning of autumn too
They're just the product of some very harsh parenting. How would you feel if your mum had just chucked you out of your home to die?
Spent about ten minutes trapped in a small room last week trying to get a mahoosive hornet back out the window. Seriously impressive beastie which was at least twice as big as the biggest bumble bee I've ever seen. It about the size of a small bat.... (honestly).
Signal Crayfish. Horribly invasive species, that eats pretty much anything smaller than itself.
But, damn they're tasty 😋
Maggots…!!!
What’s not to like about their wriggly squigglyness?
Disco Rice
Grey squirrels and brown rats. We have a few that visit the tree stump near my shed office for food - we leave lots of bird feed out and old bread. Makes my day.
We've a massive bag of peanuts in my garage that hasn't been 'touched', nor do we have issues in the house garden (we have 4 indoor cats that have an outside run).
I'm a huge fan of pigeons and gulls - so perfectly adapted to their (current) environments. The low aspect ratio of a pigeon's wing is perfect for city life: quick turns, stop on a sixpence, etc. The perfectly aerodynamic body of a gull, with its high aspect ratio wings just "designed" for effortless flight... stunning.
It's like the avian equivalents of the F104 and U2 - the same plane, but not.
Perch
Panthers
What you did there? 👏🏻🎩
Similiar to magpies, starlings- I know they’re basically just flying rats but they’re regular visitors in our garden and I love ’em, always a bit of chaos and madness. They’re lovely birds when they’re in good health too, I think we’re just a bit used to seeing beat up city scavengers.
I think I’m feeding the entire starling population of three postcodes! Lovely little birds, noisy, argumentative, and always hungry, it seems. I’ve got a clear plastic seed feeder that nothing bothered with and it eventually went manky and mouldy, so after cleaning it out I thought I’d try putting mealworms in and see if any visitors would pay any attention.
Well, I fill it up late in the evening when I do the hedgehogs restaurant, and any other feeders that have got a bit low, and it’s empty by 6.30 in the morning. I’m spending £20+ a week on food for ‘the pets’, as Joey used to say, and I can only afford to fill it once a day. They do also have a bunch of feeders with suet pellets and suet balls in, and they can go through a whole pack of 12 suet balls a week.
Then there’s the kitty kibbles with soft centres for the hedgehogs…
Worse than bloody kids!
The wood pigeons do annoy me a bit, they’ll empty the sunflower seed feeders, depriving the goldfinches of their food, it’s a wonder the fat buggers can even fly! So I amuse myself by moving the feeders around, challenging the pigeons to try to get to them. Endless hours of fun watching them trying to figure out a way of stuffing their greedy faces!
The invasive neighbourhood cats, on the other hand… 🤯
Wasps get a bad rap but I adore the cheeky little rascals
Humans. The vast majority are selfish twunts but some seem relatively ok.
@Raceface90 - this map covers the part of Bath from the Batheaston roundabout in as far as Sidney Gardens, so should give you a clearer idea of where you saw the furry assassin!
Spent about ten minutes trapped in a small room last week trying to get a mahoosive hornet back out the window.
There was an item on the news probably 15 / 20 years ago about a couple who saw a queen hornet come in through their bedroom window. Rather than try and get it back out again or whack it with a slipper they thought it would be more interesting to let it settle there - then they watched it build a nest in the pelmet of their curtains and after a while had a whole hornet colony there. They just left the window ajar and carried on sleeping in the room happily letting the hornets chew up their curtains and wallpaper to build the nest.
Saw a family of mink running along the bank of the Thames in Goring and we definitely thought they looked cute (appreciate that is really not the whole picture!).
Conversely though when I hear cuckoos I think of the baby birds kicked out the nest to their deaths and am not inclined to believe in a benevolent deity! Pretty vile when you think of it.
i just had a look on the strava map.
i think it was at batheaston gardens over river avon (bridge) that i saw the mink.
it was about 3 - 3 1/2 miles from bath city centre on the cycleway sign i remember.
I think I’m feeding the entire starling population of three postcodes! Lovely little birds, noisy, argumentative, and always hungry, it seems.
My garden appears to be a sparrow, starling and jackdaw hangout. I have to shut the window for calls.
It's a fraught conversation with a very curious child. I know all about the conservation angle but underneath it there are some really interesting ethical judgements around the relative value of animals and the application of different ethical standards to different species.
"We don't like them because they're from America"
"We don't like them because they're coming over here, taking our nuts from hard working British squirrels"
"Filthy foreign blighters riddled with disease"
"Go ask your mum"
@tomd - well if you go out of your way to anthropomorphize it into some sort of racist issue perhaps - but actually far more sensible to explain it in terms of evolution, ecosystems, and disease resistance. If you want to anthropomorphize you can probably make analogies about europeans bringing disease to native Americans and almost wiping them out, or even how its a bit like travel restrictions with Covid, and until you have immunity in vulnerable populations you don't want the asymptomatic disease carriers mingling with them.
I think I’m feeding the entire starling population of three postcodes!
The ones in my garden are currently a bit irate since they need to wait for the next delivery of fatballs and suet.
Starlings are amazingly beautiful when seen close up or through a decent lens. The colours are fantastic. Well aside from the young at this time of year which despite being the size of the parents still hassle them for food.
Well aside from the young at this time of year which despite being the size of the parents still hassle them for food.
This behaviour does amuse me. Dude, it's right by your feet! It'll be a lot quicker and easier to just bend you neck down.
I watched one of the local ferry men,when I lived in Scotland, beat a mink to death with an iron bar on the pier in front of some terrified American tourists. That was an interesting tea break.
Thanks for the parenting tips @Poly, I'll probably save them for when they won't fall asleep.
Wasps, flies, squirrels pigeons etc, yep they are all good. We had a neighbour who was paranoid about wasps . She spent more time and energy on her obsession maintaining constant vigilance. I explained to her the tragedy of how they are ejected from their nest etc, made no difference. Just for a laugh we put out some jam on a spoon and told her that if she could feed the birds we could feed the wasps. The wasps loved it and we ended up feeling responsible for them so even though our batty neighbour has moved we still put out wasps food at that time of year