Bits ‘n bobs

Posted on by Ark

Max is our last surviving hen. She doesn’t lay eggs any more and now roams the garden as and how she pleases. Here Benji keeps a watchful eye.

Another large home-grown tomato. I over seeded (if that’s really possible) and we continue to have a bumper crop.

Our autumn is on its way so that means time to plant onions! I planted garlic cloves last week and these onions, and a whole lot of others, will be planted out in a few weeks once they  have grown a bit.

Kirby’s Dropwing.

All dragonflies have been a bit scarce this season, or I’m not as vigilant as in the past? Anyway this was a pleasant surprise as it flitted among the cosmos.

Tiny Crab Spider with its lunch!

The Giant Strelizia finally has to go.  The darn thing was as big as the tree next to it and the root ball is huge!

And finally for this round….

This is a week old rat. Or about a week old. It was discovered on the driveway, small gash on its side, under the scrutiny one of the cats. At that stage it could not have been more than a few hours old, or a day at most.

How it got there or where it came from is anyone’s guess, but the cats do have a habit of discovering new ‘toys’ on a fairly regular basis.

Needless to say it was rescued, brought inside and the discussion on what to do ensued.

We soon phoned the vet but were informed there would be no one available to care for it so its fate would undoubtedly be euthanasia, if not flushing it down the loo, and none of us at the Ark’s spot were prepared to condemn the poor thing to that.

So …. it is being cared for here. Fed and cleaned every three or four hours with the intention of releasing back to the wild when it’s capable of surviving on it’s tod.

If it makes it we will release it somewhere around the golf course, away from the immediate vicinity of houses etc. Most people will poison such creatures without thinking and us having 11 cats the last thing I want is to find one of them dead from chewing on a poisoned rat.

At the moment it’s eyes are firmly closed, but I am told it will be able to see the world shortly.

We’re nuts, I know. But it was the rat’s fortune to wind up on our driveway and our fate to find it. Life is life.

Happy Friday.

🙂

Ark.

 

 

20 thoughts on “Bits ‘n bobs”

    1. It is a wild strelizia /banana – Strelitzia nicolai. It had grown to the height of the acacia tree next to it. We think it must have arrived by seed via a bird’s bottom
      My wife wanted it out so, what the boss wants …. 😉

      We originally had 5 chickens. Sadly the other four have passed over the past year and a bit. Max is our sole survivor and is still feisty and full of beans.
      I’m sure having the run of the garden increased the lifespan of all the chickens. Max must have good genes!

      Oddly enough, neither our cats or dogs has ever shown any aggression toward the chickens. Strange bunch our pets!

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  3. Not only are you an Arachnologist, but also an Coleopterologist, Hemipterologist, Melittologist, Ornithologist. And to top it all off, you occasionally take on the duties of a veterinarian!

    Curious — what are you feeding the rat?

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      1. Until you run out of kittens?
        The Spouse is weaning me off of cows onto almond milk now and it’s actually rather pleasant. Why so, I have no idea, but it doesn’t hurt to use these two magic words taught me by an elderly sea-dog in the navy (even had the traditional claw on my shoulder, beat that!) when I was just a sprog …

        “Son … there’s two magic words guaranteed to give you domestic harmony—”
        “Wot’s dat, Chief?”
        “Use ’em often, and always: …. “Yes, Dear!” …. and you ain’t never gonna go wrong!”

        Bugger. Had to go have brekkie and stuff, lost me train of thought …

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        1. Is your missus lactose intolerant or is she vegetarian like moi?
          And I agree, non dairy milk is pleasant once you get used to the different taste.

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          1. I think she’s an athei— semi-vegetarian, like me. But she’s been off cows for a long time and other than the odd cheese and occasional ice-cream … and of course eggies … it’s all very veggie.

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  5. Has it been awarded a name?

    (I tried to save a little bat a while ago… but it died. I did, however, successfully rescue a baby opossum just a few weeks ago. It had fallen into one of our atriums during a terrible storm)

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    1. Emily said to me on Saturday.
      “You notice I haven’t named it?”
      A wise decision.

      Did you release the possum or are you still caring for it?

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    1. Well, the Strelizia is a wild version rather than the Bird of Paradise one.
      The original was even larger than the photo as the gardener had already chopped/dug almost half by the time I took this pic.
      It still hasn’t been removed yet. He does other work and this job is tough going so I insist he works at it on stages.

      Rat is coming along nicely, poor thing. She/ it is in good hands.
      My kid is a regular James Durrell/Florence Nightingale I tell, you!

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    1. They are social creatures and there is some discussion going on as to whether our rat would survive if released back to the wild as a solitary rat.
      Research is on going …

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  9. It’s a life, and the little guy deserves a shot at it. I admire your soft hearted approach, and yeah, I’d do the same thing.

    Yesterday I unearthed a battery of what I think are meadow voles (teeny babies, I could hold six of them in one hand) under a tarp that they were using as a shelter. So I scooped them up and rehomed them in a cardboard box in a safer place and just hope mama finds them soon. Same deal, too small to survive alone, and I would not want my cat to find all those tiny snacks.

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