This morning was our monthly Coffee Morning - a chance to catch up with friends and have a chat. The weather is bright, sunny and extremely windy - we were nearly blown away just getting from the car and into the Village Hall.
Coffee, biscuits and chat and then home for lunch (lamb kebabs on a bed of rice, olives and peas followed by local strawberries and cream).
Over lunch the farmer told me a tale from the Auction Mart yesterday. His cousin's daughter, who lives over in the Lakes, kept hearing tiny scratchy feet in the attic (I would call it a false roof) above her bedroom. She found this a bit scary and hoped it would go away but it didn't; in fact it became a lot of scratchy feet rather than what just sounded like one set of feet! Time to call in Pest Control she thought - pretty certain that rats had taken up residence.
The Pest Controller put up his ladder and ventured into the false roof - and guess what he found? Not rats or mice at all, but a stoat with a nest of little ones. She hissed at the sight of him and he withdrew tactfully, leaving them to it.
Apparently stoats are not on their list of 'pests to be dealt with', so she has to leave it there until the stoat has reared her young and they have departed. Then she can try and find out how they got in and seal it up so that there isn't a second brood.
Saturday 6 June 2015
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11 comments:
Could have been worse, could have been bats that are protected.
What in the world is a stoat. Mammal? I heard something under the house last week and it was big. Never did find out what it was. That "coffee" sounded delicious.
In this area Pine Martens occasionally invade loft space. They can do a lot of damage, and are not welcome. In the false ceiling above my studio I have mice, lizards, and sometimes grass snakes.
We've never had foxes take our chickens........touch wood, but we did have a family of stoats nesting in an old double skinned pig ark which was in the chicken run as a shelter. The stoats killed a couple of chickens before we realised they were there
Hi Pat!
Thank you for the visits you have been making over at Josephina Ballerina. It makes Josephine all purry and wiggly when she reads them Really. Moving forward....
I admit I had to look STOAT up in the dictionary and Then the story made sense. You see, I was picturing it all in my head as I was reading it. But I could not for the life of me figure out how PIGS got up in the attic! A Mamma pig and her SHOATS to boot! Maybe they really can fly.
:) m & jb
We had mice in our loft some years ago but I have never heard of a stoat taking up residence. We had a squirrel in ours a couple of years back but luckily managed to block the entrance hole it had made in our fascia board, while it was out! I was very relieved to be rid of it as they can do so much damage.
Anything but wasps!
at least stoats are relatively small, we had a large brush tail possum once, they are as big as a small cat and make a lot of noise and a mess.
I'm wondering why this stoat couple selected your place for starting their next generation. Wondering also when young stoats are ready to head out into the big world.
Perhaps I will consult Mr Google.
I am more enthusiastic about your and yours making sure that this new generation of newly hatched birds are being properly fed. You all are very kind to all these new parents.
xo
Oh, dear. They once took over Toad Hall. Better call Ratty and Moley and Badger.
Golly it seems that various animals can take up residence. Our nestof sparrows have all flown and the farmer is out with a bit of concrete so that they can't use that hole to get in for a second brood.
Thanks for the visit.
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