OK, I haven’t done much for a while, I admit. Mrs BWM has been working at the weekends (including a practice event for the Olympics – she’s a volunteer announcer and they were having a dry run) so I’ve been on parenting duty and confined to home except for the odd short walk. I remember the good old days when Scarlett was little and she’d happily be carried for hours. Not any more.
But this is still my diary, so I have a few things to note. Firstly, I came across another dead badger on the main road. I saw it this morning on my way to the shops, in almost exactly the same place as the road casualty of July 23rd. On that occasion the dead badger vanished, causing me some confusion. I looked closely at this one, to make sure that I wasn’t imagining it. Good thing too, as by the time I came back an hour or so later, the badger had disappeared. There must be a sett around here somewhere; and I can only imagine that, being a main road, the bodies get picked up pretty quickly. I wonder how many road casualties occur that I don’t notice, even in our village?
While we’re on this morbid subject, we’ve had some trouble from a fox attacking chickens lately. There are at least a couple of foxes locally – I see their tracks regularly – but not nearly so many as we had in London. This is pheasant country, and there are rearing pens around the village. The keepers are not fond of foxes. Probably not fond of any other carnivores either, but certainly not foxes. Incidentally, a couple of years ago a fox got into the penguin enclosure at the nearby safari park and wreaked terrible havoc among the young penguins. Foxes were even less popular around here after that, I can tell you.
Anyway, our neighbour lost one chicken last week, killed in daylight. A couple of days later, our own Mabel went the same way, a patch of feathers telling the story. Poor Henrietta had a narrow squeak but escaped with cuts and bruises, only to fall victim on Friday. So it’s RIP Mabel and Henrietta. They’d had a good life – four and a half years – with no trouble. They have a fox-proof house in which they sleep, but this is the first time we’ve had a fox in the daytime, hence their run is not fully protected (which takes either a 6-foot tall dug-in fence, or an electric one).
On the whole, I like foxes. They are attractive, interesting to watch and great survivors. They do what they do, not out of spite or malice, but to eat and live. But I love them a little less after this.
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
I’m told that foxes that attack during daylight hours are ones that have been caught in towns and let loose in the country in the misguided hope that they will have a happier life. They are much more fearless than the country fox and have no territory of their own. They usually end up getting shot by farmers or game-keepers.
2011…not the best year….almost killed in may!
6 months of isolation, on the most varied fauna in England (Northern tip of the peaks/Peninnes)
my neighbours hens were taken in two separate attacks, the second at night feathers no carcasses hulabaloo,fox,
her fault not closing the door! both times!
the earlier event I am sure was mink, the quiet attack, & eaten at the site taking 3, no longer my problem as I am not responsible for them, but first thing monday I had to bury the 9 month old vixen I was calling Lily, she paid to have her executed (warfarin) which sadly (more than the hens to me) will not bring back the hens, or deter other foxes (the country sort who are much rarer than brocks, & are blamed for anything be it cat rat or whatever).
sadder still in the scheme of it I discovered a new type of snare being used to catch birds of prey, hand made from 3 guitar strings, mice bait hidden in fern a D shaped oval with 2 loose noosing loops, there are merlin, kestrels peregrine etc clearly a target, but was pleased at the national trusts respect of my knowledge, & information sharing, a number have been found across our moors, marsden moor estate tho is largest single bit of open country, anyway in England, snare was de-baited by a wily fox whose trail had walked around the snare several times before taking & chewing up the caged mices.
In the absence of hens there has been a riot of song birds tho notable (to me) redwing, ouzel, fieldfare & general thrushes seen in huge numbers, the dunnocks u once were seeing for the first time that seem so dull & unremarkable have revealed a curious arrangement in the wall, that I only can now appreciate as 4 female & 2 males (6) share a cosy densely lined hole, bet its fun of a night,
happy to report a very successful 2011 for the dippers, as it seems there are now 8 or 10 along a short bit of the river colne , with a family of 3 or 4 nesting under the mill & a similar number beyond the next weir, so I can always find em, is nice that, seen twite in their hundreds (june-august) always more hares than rabbits, nightingale, curlew-sandpiper, (NO CURLEW) buzzard, KESTRELS (become fave, fewer sparrowhawks) peregrine, little owl, kite, buzzard, hobby, hooded crow, ravenS, plover, larks, oystercatchers, bullfinches etc, tho my last badger was august, & dead
5 setts dug!
also, mallards having record lows
3 weasels, 1 stoat, 5 mink! natterjak & 3 common toads, adder, voles, moles, wagtails,pied (chases male sparrowhawk again) greywags (not sharing with dippers yet), barn, tawny, sanderling, lapwings 7 types of bat inc daubenton
1 silver/grey fox
goldfinch(4-500) greenfinch, redpoll, linnett nuthatch, gulls…jay top crow just now
best wishes for present & future, continued throughout non holiday times
spiney in marsden ,W.Yorks/Lancs border
Hi Spiney – Happy New Year!
Sorry it’s taken me a while to reply. I’ve been all over the place since before Christmas, what with work, holidays etc.
Mind you, it sounds like you had an interesting year – what happened in May?? Shame about the chickens, and like you say, it’s a shame for the fox too. Good news on the birds though. I’ve never seen a dipper, but I imagine they’re fun to watch. And apart from the snares and the setts being dug you’re obviously in a nice part of the world. Let’s hope more people appreciate it.
Have a good 2012!
All the best
BWM