Lucky you, I love wildlife that interracts with me, very rare. Only the 3 legged toad comes to mind on that score although the large pigeons that visit the pond to drink while I am sitting there reading, come close.
But what makes you think she would rather be outside and is therefore trapped in the house? Or was it that you don’t want her there, or are afraid for her of the danger from your cats?
My only real sadness with Jules, my Beauceron, is his hunting genes. He will kill anything that moves apart from dogs or humans, both of which he loves. I have fond memories of One-Eye, the stray cat who used to wander into our house, and right through it when front and back doors were open in summer.
She was cautious but brave, touching the noses of both my English Setter, Tosca, (who tolerated her presence but not the kiss and so she snapped a warning) and Boss my Rottweiler who watched her and slowly moved in her direction when she stopped to look at him. He stopped within about a metre from her and she, from her sitting position, got up and slowly walked towards him. With the lightest of light touches on the nose, both then turned and walked away. I miss her visits, but she has got the message, Jules would not be welcoming.
I have no objection to sharing my house with a shrew, but I was worried (1), that if one of my cats came indoors (currently they don’t want to) she’d be snaffled, and (2), shrews have a high metabolic rate and consquently are nearly always needing food (like humming birds) and might very soon run out of food, though there lies a mystery - what has she been eating?
If I had no cats then I’d look into the possibilty of putting down a food bowl - meal worms? But if I had no cats I would not have had the shrew, however…!
When I was still cycling years ago I cycled into town to pick up my car from Renault (had bicycle car rack) and saw something running down along the road. I parked the bike and picked up a large golden hamster off the white line in the middle of the road! All the cars behind me stopped until I had done my good deed. After a visit to the vet (hamster bit the vet - who yelled out quite loudly!) I adopted hamster and bought everything a hamster needed - cage with separate nest area, tunnels for visiting different parts of the hamster home network etc. Sweet little thing - stood on his back legs to very gently reach for a piece of corn from my fingers. Unfortunately about a year later he slipped out of one of the tunnels and Fanny the cat ate him! Haven’t forgiven myself ever since! My fault!
Let me bring you songs from the wood, to make you feel much better than you would know…
Not songs, unless you count the bird song in the background, but deer.
Usually, I only ever get a fleeting glance of them, as they usually zoom off as soon as they hear/smell us coming. Thanks to the trusty trailcam, no need to scare them off anymore!
Lovely, most of my encounters with deer are in the middle distance, once they see the dog, they are off.
But one year, with my Setter, Tosca, we were walking up the edge of the field where the forest starts and I saw her, 50 metres ahead, stop still and staring into the underbrush. When I got there she was still unmoved and her gaze was returned by a young deer, left there for safety and taught by inheritance not to move. She was still there after I left and came back with the camera but the picture wasn’t good, she was far too well camouflaged. In fact I wouldn’t have noticed her at all, only a metre from me, if I hadn’t been accompanied by Tosca and her keen eye and nose.
I dread to think what would have happened if it had been Jules with me, but I do keep an eye on him, even at a distance and always have him on the long line. On the other hand my Greyhound, Lira, was of course a sighthound and built, and conditioned, for the chase. All might have been well with her as the young deer would not have moved and thus, Lira wouldn’t have given chase.
I’m sharing my house with yet another shrew! Related to moles and hedgehogs apparently. Don’t now believe one of my cats brought another totally unhurt shrew into the house. Am puzzled, and do two shrews equal an invasion? Feels like one.
This second shrew is possibly more active than the first. I put some blobs of cat food down and caught sight of the largest blob being dragged backwards, away under the settee. Looked like hard work - and another blob disappeared while I wasn’t watching.
From what I read, if shrews aren’t able to eat for 2 or 3 hours they can die. So, I must assume my house has a sufficient supply of shrew food, now supplemented with cat food.
My shrew is French, but not much different to this one I assume…
I love them, had one in the house for a few days till I caught it in the trusty jam jar and let it free though a window. It left the jar and swerved round to fly straight back inside again, not only that it brought a cabbage white with it too.
A day later I sensibly took it outside to release and it settled on a nearby leaf, its intruder mate must have followed by itself at some point.
I’d forgotten I’d taken humming bird hawk moth photos – in 2003! With my first digital DSLR. Best of the bunch here – unfortunately facing the wrong way. They wouldn’t keep still!
