Grass snake..

[Ken L]

I used to see grass snakes crossing the river regularly, but they've taken a hammering from the mink, and I've not seen one on the Severn for a couple of years.

To my surprise, I found one in the local park the other day, in the middle of Kidderminster. He was on the path and I only just spotted him as I was going through on the bike. I stopped short and then put the bike between him and two dogs being walked along the path, so hie had time to get into the undergrowth.

It was genuinely nice to see the wee beastie.

[chesters1]

Theres a smattering down along the river here ,most people dont see them as they are far to heavy footed and probably looking at their phone today lol

To prove it i watched a walker cross a field and almost bump into the bull whilst looking at their phone ,if they cannot see a small car sized beast they aint going to see a snake thats already been warned .

Talking to a neighbour just moved in from town they were surprised foxes and badgers visited their garden ,i had to point out a well worn path down the field straight to our garden (and the badger latrine jusst outside!) Their response was a new chicken wire fence that was holed in the first (and every) night ,i can amagine the look on the stuck up wifes face if i pointed out the slow worms that live in our compost heaps lol

Its surprising though how nature changes ,at the last house at the top of the hill we were tripping over sand lizards ,natterjack toads and adders ,500 yards nearer the center of the village there seems fo be none its not people removing the undergrowth etc its just as heathy so it just must be more people on phones blundering about!

Edited June 8, 2022 by chesters1

[Ken L]

31 minutes ago, chesters1 said:

Theres a smattering down along the river here ,most people dont see them as they are far to heavy footed and probably looking at their phone today lol

To prove it i watched a walker cross a field and almost bump into the bull whilst looking at their phone ,if they cannot see a small car sized beast they aint going to see a snake thats already been warned .

Talking to a neighbour just moved in from town they were surprised foxes and badgers visited their garden ,i had to point out a well worn path down the field straight to our garden (and the badger latrine jusst outside!) Their response was a new chicken wire fence that was holed in the first (and every) night ,i can amagine the look on the stuck up wifes face if i pointed out the slow worms that live in our compost heaps lol

Its surprising though how nature changes ,at the last house at the top of the hill we were tripping over sand lizards ,natterjack toads and adders ,500 yards nearer the center of the village there seems fo be none its not people removing the undergrowth etc its just as heathy so it just must be more people on phones blundering about!

Lizards and adders are rare has hens teeth around here, although there are a couple of places close by where the habitat would be right for adders.

We have plenty of urban badgers and foxes, and even muntjack come into the park where I saw the snake, which isn't that surprising as it's linked to the canal and the Stour Valley, which act as a wildlife corridor.

[chesters1]

Grabbed a pic from the mrs tablet (she took it hence the dire resolution) somewhere on the DVR  we have many variables  4 badgers and a hedgehog ,2 badgers a fox and a cat ,2 foxes 2 badgers and a cat its a fricken wildlife park here (peanuts help)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pr6pjh7grxpj0y3/20210817_083445.jpg?dl=0

PS there were two deer the other one was eating the roses near the window!

We ARE the corridor

PS the bowl on the table is not just a bowl ,we trained a fox to eat from it ,i mentioned it some time ago ,its not that fox but the one called limpy had visited earlier hence the lid on the grass ,it was held on by magnets to stop the cats getting it ,hes disapeared now probably dead or shooed off by parents

We have a couple of ptz indoor cameras that can be run from a battery pack so i left one outside ,it only lasts 4 hours and ofcourse isnt waterproof but we got a close up of mr badger ,in greyscale ofcourse hence the image resolution.

You can see its shadow sitting under the table in the uv from the other cameras

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nxgzc457xokojwd/vlcsnap-2021-06-03-23h52m10s505.png?dl=0

Edited June 8, 2022 by chesters1

[Ken L]

That's a fat badger. You must spend a fortune on peanuts.

[chesters1]

Most were bought cheap in seperate bags (bird feeder size)  a couple of years ago so we have lots ,its not nightly perhaps once every couple of weeks but they remember .

When we moved here the first night there was a big commotion by the front gate it was the badger trying to get out ,he must have come in and gone next door (i presume many next doors) and was on its way out when it found the gate shut and went bonkers ,ever since the gates been left open at night for the fricking wildlife to use our garden as a playground ,the bacger is only a problem on wet nights in the autumn grubbing up worms so we keep it amused looking for snacks! We dont use the food recycling box the wildlife eats it except carrots (and that muck cory found the source of ) ! There are rabbits but they have never been seen IN the garden except a baby in the back garden once

PS rabbits DO like carrots we trapped every rabbit in an 18 acre garden using them in a trap ,they were let go in our old houses garden my boss insisted they were let loose alive ,he paid my wages ,they lived!

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by chesters1

[Ken L]

1 hour ago, chesters1 said:

Most were bought cheap in seperate bags (bird feeder size)  a couple of years ago so we have lots ,its not nightly perhaps once every couple of weeks but they remember .

When we moved here the first night there was a big commotion by the front gate it was the badger trying to get out ,he must have come in and gone next door (i presume many next doors) and was on its way out when it found the gate shut and went bonkers ,ever since the gates been left open at night for the fricking wildlife to use our garden as a playground ,the bacger is only a problem on wet nights in the autumn grubbing up worms so we keep it amused looking for snacks! We dont use the food recycling box the wildlife eats it except carrots (and that muck cory found the source of ) ! There are rabbits but they have never been seen IN the garden except a baby in the back garden once

PS rabbits DO like carrots we trapped every rabbit in an 18 acre garden using them in a trap ,they were let go in our old houses garden my boss insisted they were let loose alive ,he paid my wages ,they lived!

Hmmm the lack of lizards (or your snakes) could be "Dark forces" as theres a vague correlation clod could pounce on ,"Dark forces" occurred ....no sightings of lizards !proof enough for some!

I'm not putting it down to "Dark forces", even though Wall Lizards are continental types that have settled in the UK.

I reckon it's down to racism or climate change, but I ain't figured out which yet.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Ken L

[chesters1]

I removed the brexit bit ,we dont need clod to use it to spoil this thread

Feel free to remove it in your quote of my post if you wish

Edited June 8, 2022 by chesters1

[Ken L]

All done.

[Bobj]

Excellent reading, you blokes. Just love to see wildlife.

In the 16 years I lived in Yorkshire, I never saw any of those creatures except for one grass snake and a few rabbits and hares...And the ubiquitous hedgehog.