Just the red squirrels and various bird types - not that we can identify them all as we don't have binoculars. My wife calls our house "the house of the perfect eaves" because once the nesting season begins it's full of various sorts. The woodpigeons were very miffed last year to return to "their" nest under the eaves at the far end of the house only to find that a family of chaffinches had already moved in.
We have swallows who come back every year and take over the courtyard and garage - and that's when we know spring is really here!
After a week away from home I went into the bathroom last night and noticed that the shower tray and walls were crawling with ants, many with wings. Not anywhere else in the bathroom though.
Mindful of a time 20 odd years ago when I saw a similar scene on the outside door step and blasted them all away with the garden hose, and of the condemnation I got online that they would soon be gone of their own volition, I resisted the temptation last night.
This morning they are all gone, but how they got out I have no idea because all the doors and windows are shut with the exception of my own bedroom but where there is a fine screen on the outside.
Ooh… lovely! I think salamanders are gorgeous. We used to have one (standard black and yellow sort) who seemed to live in the water meter box in the ground but haven’t seen him for quite a while.
Francoise, the most senior of the nurses who come to the house, was very interested to hear of my swimming pond and the wildlife within it. So, when she had a bit of time to spare, we both went up to see it. She was especialy interested in Hissing Sid and his mate (same name because I can’t tell them apart ) because she has had couleuvres too, but in her garden doing their mating dance.
She was very impressed when we got to the top of the slope and were admiring the peaceful setting when, right on cue, Sid appeared stage left and swam leisurely up to the other end. He couldn’t have timed it better because I haven’t seen any of them for a month or two.
Yesterday, Kathleen, another of the nurses was also interested enough to demand a similar outing. As we watched the pond I was enjoying the horror on her face as I regaled her with tales of swimming with snakes, when, hey presto, Sid appeared again.
We both watched, as with Francoise before, his gentle progress till all we could really see were the 2 white flashes on the back of his head and she turned and said, in English, ‘I am so honoured to have seen that, but so afraid at the same time’. Made my day.
Only Christelle, who comes for a couple of hours to clean and chat each week, has shown any interest before. She was entranced too, but, along with the other two, similarly declined my offer of a swim.
I need some suggestions re the rescue of a small animal stuck in the cheminee.
I was awoken at 5 this morning by a loud rattling noise. This occurred several times right up until Christine arrived. Between us we cleared a path to the open door, shut all other internal doors , and opened the fire doors. With a lot of craning while lying on the floor with a small head torch, first Christine and then I, saw a small animal on top of the heavy baffle plate above the, unlit, fire.
No amount of coaxing gently with a thin stick would get it to come out, so there it stays for the moment.
It is like a small mouse but has largish ears, don’t think it is a bat. But my question is, before I ask at the Mairie, what sort of person in a small commune, would specialise in rescuing such animals? Or have I got to lift that cast iron baffle out? It is very heavy and awkward to move, as I remember from my days of cleaning the chimney myself.
Sounds like a shrew to me. You are very lucky to have any wildlife at all. Here, apart from the birds, nothing moves during the day. Sometimes driving late at night I see the occasional rabbit or deer. The chasse feed the sanglier and, over the years, have shot everything else that moves. The food chain is broken;. Within ten minutes drive of my house I can be sittting in the wilderness of the Alberes. But nothing moves. No human life visible either. We are losing our reptiles too. It is years since I last found a snake in the garden and the invasive geckos have displaced all the lizards. On top of all this we are surrounded by vineyards where the massive use of chemical products over many decades have now leaked into the soil.
Not a shrew, the nose and ears don’t fit. my money is on a mouse or a dormouse, but my previous experience of those says they are larger.
Got to go to the shops now so will ask at the mairie to see if they know anyone local.
I could get it out myself but really need someone else to help as I would have both hands full lifting out that heavy baffle.
Finally our normally super efficient guard dog has realised there is another animal in the place, which is why I will need to isolate him before acting, when I got up to all the noise at 5am he was curled up fast asleep.
Unable to get useful info from the Mairie, they gave me the number of an exterminator which I was determined to not ring as I didn’t want to kill the animal.
So I set to thinking back at home how I could get him out without encouraging him to set up home in the house. All I had was a butterfly net to try and catch him as he came out. Then I discarded it as impracticle.
So I opened the door and sat on the other side of the room and had only 10 minutes to wait before he came out and started sniffing around the floor. Not a mouse, much bigger, a dormouse, bushy tail and all and about a foot long. I dared not move until he turned away from me and then was able to very slowly and quietly unlatch and push open the front door. He didn’t see me and moved out of sight under a settee. I took my chance and swiftly crossed the room to shut the only other open door, leading to the kitchen.
I waited there and soon he came out from under my computer table, still sniffing around but right in front of the open door to the outside. I rushed towards him arms wide and he scooted out onto the terrasse and I followed, closing the door behind me. At this point, Jules, who was in the garden rushed forward sensing his presence, I grabbed his collar and brought him back into the room before going out in time to see our new friend racing off to safety. He may be one of the ones who we know live in our roof space and hear up there from time to time, but not often, so I am happy with the way things have turned out.
Yes they are and I would have loved to have got a picture but I was concentrating on getting him out of the house.
With hindsight of course, I should have set up the video on a tripod before opening his door, but I wasn’t to know he would come out so soon, and so photogenically.
Been no soot in that for for years, and certainly not since it was swept professionally this time last year. Only a light coverning on the logs awaiting an emergency of grey dust.
) because she has had couleuvres too, but in her garden doing their mating dance.
They are so pretty.
