Today's Wildlife Encounter

[Alf]

.....also a magnificent Jay in my front garden which is a rare vistor.

[wharfeego]

Wildlife Crime at its Worst

[cyclops]

got buzzed rather too close for my liking today by a lapwing....guess I must have been too close to its nest.
saw a pair of goldfinches on Tuesday, and half a rabbit (rear end if yr interested) in an area frequented by kestrels.

[that_fjell_guy]

Had a great day out yesterday on the Lancaster Canal. Great for the bird life! Loads of obvious stuff heron, coot, moorhen, but also a great place for the small warblers as the reeds are pretty close and open so great opportunity to see Reed and possibly Sedge Warblers. Also saw two pairs of Tern one at the Preston end and one pair a bit further on, which surprised me.

[dantodman]

Deer, Badger, Hedgehog, many pheasants, grouse and moorcocks on my bike ride last week, shame they were all dead.

Dan

ps the deers probably still there if anyone likes venison

[Stolly]

Wharfee, one for you? Why do farmers kill moles again? Is it that the mole hills make fields uneven (yeah, can't be doing with uneven fields in the Dales ) or that the moles, in eating lots of worms, effect the soil in some way? Or do moles perhaps carry diseases that can infect sheep and cattle? Or do sheep's feet can stuck in the holes?

Or is it a tradition long lost in time as to the exact reason?

And having killed them why the feck do they have to be pegged out on fences?

On the wildlife spotting front Me and Harry have seen a heron on the same 200 meter stretch of the Ribble here almost every time we wander along it. Still hoping to see a Kingfisher at some point

[noel]

Wharfee, one for you? Why do farmers kill moles again? Is it that the mole hills make fields uneven (yeah, can't be doing with uneven fields in the Dales ) or that the moles, in eating lots of worms, effect the soil in some way? Or do moles perhaps carry diseases that can infect sheep and cattle? Or do sheep's feet can stuck in the holes?

Or is it a tradition long lost in time as to the exact reason?

And having killed them why the feck do they have to be pegged out on fences?

I asked this the other day on another thread, but here is probably a better place for the question. I always thought mole-catchers pegged them out to show how many they'd killed, as it helps them get paid. Wharfeego we need answers.

[Derby Tup]

Blackbird calling at 3-15 am

[Hes]

An article about mole catching whilst we wait for Wharfee to tell us the real reason why moles are killed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/cont..._feature.shtml

Where I live the molecatchers hang hundreds of moles on fences that don't have any livestock in or ones where the grass definitely isn't used for silage. I'm not happy that someone hung a dozen dead moles at the bottom of my garden. They've been moved a bit now so that my neighbours children don't have to look at them but their rotting skeletons make me sad every time I see them.

[noel]

An article about mole catching whilst we wait for Wharfee to tell us the real reason why moles are killed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/cont..._feature.shtml

Where I live the molecatchers hang hundreds of moles on fences that don't have any livestock in or ones where the grass definitely isn't used for silage. I'm not happy that someone hung a dozen dead moles at the bottom of my garden. They've been moved a bit now so that my neighbours children don't have to look at them but their rotting skeletons make me sad every time I see them.

Interesting:

The soil they push to the surface gets into grassland silage fed to cows and sheep in winter months, potentially contaminating meat and milk with listeriosis bacteria.

My kids are fascinated by them.