What do you share your empire with

[jebouck]

Kim,
My mother was English (WW 2 bride) and now and then we have English visitors (cousins, Aunts. Uncles) drop by an see us.
My mother passed away 3 years ago and I greatly miss her "bloody hells", and other great Cockney exclamations.
This Christmas a cousin visited, and it was just like old times around the dinner table again.[:)][:)]
John

[Anonymous]

Nice one guys, looks like we share our garden empires with 2, 4, 6 & 8 legged critters and a lot of flying ones. I can well imagine there are some real nasties lurking in the warmer parts of the planet who fancy a nice dark cool tunnel! I seem to recall a similar topic some time ago where one guy goes into the empire with a pistol strapped to his leg??!!
Joe, Ian is quite right about 'bloody hell', it means exactly that. Don't take our insults/sayings literally, another favourite of mine is 'bugger me' and I don't mean that at all.............!!!
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[SandyR]

I share my backyard with my Golden Retriever, squirrels, chipmunks, the occasional raccoon, skinks, robins, sparrows, chickadees, bluejays, a red-bellied woodpecker, a downy woodpecker who fancies the siding on my house, and the occasional crow, dove, or pigeon. In the front yard, the deer come through and eat my flowers. I've given up totally on tulips and lilies. But they leave snapdragons, marigolds, salvia, and poppies alone.
Two years ago, I saw a mature bald eagle soar overhead; it was the high point of the year!
SandyR

[Tom The Brat]

No critters in the asylum. Not even any bugs!

Ok, there's one advantage to my habitat[:D]

[Anonymous]

Kim's, "bloody hell" is a pommy saying, sometimes shared by us Aussies but not much. I think it menas "bloody hell" and is a saying in itself and does not make any real reference to blood or hades as such. I guess that covers it Kim.

As far as sharing; my big problem is crows, yes English crows the smartest of all birds. They don't do much except makre incredibly ugly noises at the wrong time. However they are big and black and do look menacing and i think one of them fancies my Mallet..

We have always had problems with millions of microscopic ants invading the house and of course some of the most virulent spiders I have ever seen in the tunnels nearly stops the trains if i don't run them for a while

I'm off to have some lamingtons after all its Australia Day.


Rgds Ian

[bman36]

Hey there,
Two very noisy squirrels. A rabbit that has since disappeared. (We have a dog now) Not much in the way of birds here mostly Sparrows. A few Blue Jays have visited but then they scare all the other birds away. Pretty birds but nasty tempers. My wife saw a fat Raccoon waddle down our sidewalk one evening! We are very much in the city so I don't know where it came from. That's about it here. Later eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Hello Kim,
Since Stitch the Wonder Cat has come of age and honed her hunting skills the birds in the garden have diminished a bit.Whether that is because she has eaten them all or they are too clever I don't know.We know when the rooks have come to visit as she's pawing at the door to be let in(they come in gangs to intimidate her,and me.)
I look over fields and every night it's like there is a massive animal party going on outside (I think it's called survival) ,anyway I once borrowed some ex-soviet infrared binoculars and sat up half the night watching,to see what was out there.
Absolute bugger all !
Then it occurred to me that as most of the creatures only ran around at night they could probably see me quite well.(Hey everyone,look at the stupid human freezing to death.)
The squirrel hasn't come back for his nuts yet,but then again the cats probable eaten that as well[dinner]
Troy

[markperr]

Living in a newer subdivision, I don't see much in the way of wildlife save the occasional birds. I do have two chipmunks who like to bound around the bridges, mountains and tunnels. It's fun to watch them climb to the highest peak and "observe" their environment. So far they haven't caused any real damage.

Mark

[grandpopswalt]

I have the usual suspects in the backyard, squirrels, birds, rabbits, coons, skunks, feral cats and yes we have at least two bats that live under the window shutters on the back of the house. We even have groups of wild turkeys wander through the yard from time to time. But the most annoying critters are the deer. They feed on our shrubs winter and summer and are especially fond of yews, azaleas, and english ivy and they love hosta.

Walt

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kimbrit

Hi guys,

Just looking at Marty's shot of that huge backyard where he's building that garage10 miles from home and thought bl**dy hell, what's the wild life like? I share my back garden with our our local birds, I have a couple of feeder stations and bread is a regular starter. We have a lot of large trees at the bottom of the garden and our regular visitors are great ***, blue ***, green finches (just returning from migration), the odd wagtail, sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes, turtle doves, white doves - who eat all of my ballast, wood pidgeons, robins - who fight like hell - and the neighbourhood bully, a kestrel who's had 3 bird strikes in my garden. Of course with being at the seaside the gulls are always around.

What's in your yard?

Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

Before I respond to the issue...

Kim I find it odd that you choose to type... "bl**dy hell" in the manner in which you did. In America the word "hell" would have had more weight than "bloody?"

I must be missing something?

[Anonymous]

I SHARE my empire with the birds,rabbits,chipmonks,squirrels,and the cat from next door, i already told them to keep him home and away from the pond , i catch him he will go to the annimal shelter. i'm tired of it digging in my mulch ,to do his business. ben

[tangerine-jack]

It seems that I am not the only one with coon problems[;)]

I have seen grey and red foxes, squirrels of all kinds and assorted tracks of unknown origins. As far as birds, my pond is about as popular as Mecca, everytime I go into the back yard, a flock of birds gets stirred up and takes flight, usually in my face. I've seen Robbins, wrens, blue-jays, cardinals, sparrows, crows, hawks, vultures, a heron once, ducks, sea gulls (annoying a creature as God ever made), pidgeons, and a pair of doves that like to build nests in the control box for the pool. Probably and owl or two at night, but not confirmed sighting in my yard although I do hear them from time to time. I have seen a bat or two fly by, but no evidence of nesting on my property. Frogs used to be a problem, but the aquatic turtle took care of that.

Personaly I enjoy the animals and I get a satisfaction from them enjoying my garden. So far absolutely no damage to the RR from animals. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.[:D]



[oX)]

[jebouck]

Feral cats, skunks!(Phewww--especially when they fight with the cats), Raccoons--Damn things tear up the pond every now and then, Tree rats(Grey squirrels), shrews(cats keep them at bay), tree frogs (croaking all night long), and big giant six inch slugs leaving slime trails all over the place!!!
As for feathered friends: the usual tweety birds (Sparrows and Chick-a-dees), pests such as Starlings, A roving band of juvenile deliquent Magpies(who get into trouble every where they go), and a nesting pair of Coopers hawks in a nearby cotton wood keep law and order over the whole thing by day, as does nesting pair of Great Horned Owls in a nearby tall Spruce keep order at night.
jb

[vsmith]

Being indoors I have a different set of critters to deal with...

Spiders, Cob and Wolf spiders, havent come across a Black Widow yet, guess the Cob spider keep eating them. Got a spray to keep them down.

Ants, especially in the summer. Bait traps help.

Wasps, again especially in the summer. They like nesting in the rafters. Bought a trap that works very well.

Flies, summer they can be quite pesky, again got a trap that keeps them down.

And finally my strange hula-dancing orange Oompa-Loompa of a Chow Chow that keeps bugging me with his stick when ever I'm out there.[;)]

[Anonymous]

Hi kim
In my yard a variety of small lizards pink and grey gallahs these are a real pest they drop berryies all over the track doves, wag tails ,finches ,honey eaters.
The neighbour's cat that will one day when the dog can be botherd to chase
it could be a problem
so far no snakes thank goodness.
Oh and one escaped pet rabit that moved into the short tunnel on my line
which has only just been reinstated after removing a track joint from the middle of it
regards John

[van buren s l]

Kim
The four-legged visitors to my yard include foxes,racoons, oppossums, cotton tails, chipmunks, voles and squirrels. The squirrels spit hickory nut hulls all over the track and the coons rip open the trash. Ginger, my vice president for rodent control, keeps the smaller visitors in check.
We have quite a variety of feathered visitors too. Red tailed, cooper, and sparrow hawks, mocking birds, cat birds, carolina wrens, various types of finches, blue herons, blue jays, cardinals, crows, robins(the American robin is a member of the thrush family) are a sampling of the birds that visit throughout the seasons.
Our yard is nicely landscpaped and planted. My wife is the horticulturist and I am the cheap labor. Between the garden, the fury and feathered visitors and the train I find the yard very pleasant and spend most of the year out doors.

Bob

[Marty Cozad]

Good Q Kim
Our big dog keeps most things out of the GRR area but for the birds. Shes given up on them. Problem is her running through it. I used to have a fence with a hot wire but I lost the battle. The coons have done the most damage. The dog sleeps on the front porch in the HOT summer and can't hear the coons around back at night unless they fight.

[powlee]

Kim
I have got all those including the hawk who seems to ignore my presence and rip it`s prey apart in front of me. And of course the squirrels(grey foreigners from overseas). They drive my dog mad when they are sitting by the track digging up the bark and burying the nuts they have nicked from the bird-feeders.
If he gets out there, it`s a straight route through the railway, not around it.
The cats use the track to walk on. Mr Heron sits by the pond most mornings. Statutory netcover required. Foxes come in at night but confine their activities tito ripping open the garbage bags.
All the best
Ian P

[Anonymous]

Hi guys,

Just looking at Marty's shot of that huge backyard where he's building that garage10 miles from home and thought bl**dy hell, what's the wild life like? I share my back garden with our our local birds, I have a couple of feeder stations and bread is a regular starter. We have a lot of large trees at the bottom of the garden and our regular visitors are great ***, blue ***, green finches (just returning from migration), the odd wagtail, sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes, turtle doves, white doves - who eat all of my ballast, wood pidgeons, robins - who fight like hell - and the neighbourhood bully, a kestrel who's had 3 bird strikes in my garden. Of course with being at the seaside the gulls are always around.

What's in your yard?

Cheers,
Kim
[tup]