Smile of the day - What is yours?

[punyXpress]

Those before, during & after pics are going to look good, good Sir

[Sir Trev]

Tried that but the camera fogged up as soon as I stepped outside and I was not going to hang about and let it acclimatise as I was getting f-ing cold as well!

[chris8886]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Watching a tree in my neighbours garden "rain" leaves. Quite the comical sight really. Just over the fence beside a shed in my neighbours garden is a self-seeded Ash tree - grows at a phenomenal rate as is really a weed as it's in totally the wrong place and will undermine the shed... It was a hard frost here last night and as the sun got on to this tree and warmed things up a bit the leaves started falling like rain. The shed roof is now covered in a carpet of leaves and there are hardly any left on the tree which is so different to yesterday. Such a quick change.

does this not mean though, that if there's even a breath of wind all said leaves are going to blow into your garden and leave you with the mess to clear up?!

[Sir Trev]

Half the leaves are already in my garden. Luckily it's in the corner, behind my shed, carpeting the scruffy area where the compost bins and water butts live.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Half the leaves are already in my garden. Luckily it's in the corner, behind my shed, carpeting the scruffy area where the compost bins and water butts live.

Make a pile of leaves in your garden and you may get a hedgehog moving in, I do this every year in a sunny corner and come spring the leaves go into compost bin.

[Sir Trev]

Anything like piles of logs or wild/weed areas all set aside for insects or hibernating frogs/newts/hedgehogs in my garden gets pulled apart by the badgers and foxes. Few years ago I made a masonry bee box with other insect dormitory materials in it and even that was yanked off the fence post and ripped apart. They also use my pond as a drinking fountain, knocking all the plants off the shelf into the deep water area which, at this time of year, makes your arm really cold when you have to reach in and fish them back out.

Until Brock and his family moves on I am a bit stuck on the insect/invertebrate/mammal habitats unfortunately. As the neighbours put cat food out for them I can't imagine they'll move on soon...

[SV650rules]

I know people who put food out for grey squirrels WTF ! Badgers and foxes are destructive as well - they can dig your lawns and flowerbeds up in a trice, also been known to dig human graves up. Most of the grey squirrels in our area have suffered acute lead poisoning of the .22 variety, no badgers but I put out PIR high frequency sound devices to deter foxes and local moggies.... the only thing to deter a badger is a twelve bore.

[Sir Trev]

Did I mention that we also have dozens of tree rats (squirrels) in the garden too? Little sods eat anything I leave out for the birds on the table so that's out but at least they cannot get to the suet pellets or peanuts as the feeders have cages around them they cannot reach through. At this time of year they're all busy burying acorns and other seeds in my flower borders, making a huge mess as they do so. They don't like a well aimed hose fitting though (I am rubbish though and usually miss them) so I have a line of old Hoselock connectors lined up on the window sill. Pretty sure my neighbours would dob me in to the RSPCA if they thought I had an air rifle instead.

[Bibio]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Did I mention that we also have dozens of tree rats (squirrels) in the garden too? Little sods eat anything I leave out for the birds on the table so that's out but at least they cannot get to the suet pellets or peanuts as the feeders have cages around them they cannot reach through. At this time of year they're all busy burying acorns and other seeds in my flower borders, making a huge mess as they do so. They don't like a well aimed hose fitting though (I am rubbish though and usually miss them) so I have a line of old Hoselock connectors lined up on the window sill. Pretty sure my neighbours would dob me in to the RSPCA if they thought I had an air rifle instead.

its legal to kill grey squirrels by any means you see fit. they are classed as vermin. when i was a young lad we used to go squirrel squashing in princess street gardens and hand the dead ones into the office and get 50p each for them.. the look on the tourists faces was priceless.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

Did I mention that we also have dozens of tree rats (squirrels) in the garden too? Little sods eat anything I leave out for the birds on the table so that's out but at least they cannot get to the suet pellets or peanuts as the feeders have cages around them they cannot reach through. At this time of year they're all busy burying acorns and other seeds in my flower borders, making a huge mess as they do so. They don't like a well aimed hose fitting though (I am rubbish though and usually miss them) so I have a line of old Hoselock connectors lined up on the window sill. Pretty sure my neighbours would dob me in to the RSPCA if they thought I had an air rifle instead.

You deffo need a .22 air rifle ( with moderator ) and some practice, I have sent 12 to the great drey in the sky so far this year and have spotted another couple frolicking around - It has cost me a great deal of money to 'squirrel proof' my bird feeders on poles ( would rather hang the feeders in trees but with squirrels around it can't be done). The cheapest anti-treerat device is a 'slinky spring' around the pole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSGer1mi1Aw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjhBKDzKcE

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keycraft-97...e+metal+spring