Local wildlife

Last week when I was topping up the bird feeders a fox appeared. We both got a bit of a fright but when he realised I was a kind human he hung around and I tossed some peanuts to him that he gobbled up.

On Sunday we found the corpse of half a rat in the backyard. Was this a victim of the fox? Its remains were getting pecked by a corvid when we found it. Ben removed it in case someone had put poison out and his suspicions were warranted when today a neighbour dropped by asking me to stop feeding the birds because she’s got rats in her backyard and had pest control around last week to deal with it. I asked her whether they’d put poison down but she didn’t say.

Please don’t use poisons. They kill more than just rodents. Owls eat poisoned mice and end up poisoned too. I hope the corvid is ok and also the neighbourhood fox who I’m now worried about. Foxes are the best way to keep rodents in check but not if we kill them all.

I often put trail cameras out overnight and not once have I ever seen a rat although I occasionally see a mouse. Imagine complaining about someone feeding birds? What’s wrong with people. We’re not the only creatures on the planet.