Who, me??

:))

I tried to put a speech bubble in, but still having PC probs, was a lot easier not to, in the end!

Beginnings of a future film director?

lol don't think so - althought these squirrels would probably be easier to work with than the average Hollywood "star"!!!

Oh naughty squirrel! Fab shots Fran!

Someones been feeding that squirrel Fran. It is morbidly obese. His cheeks are full of someones nutty treats! Maybe I am being too fattist and he is just puffed up against the cold?

I think it has been overfeeding, given that it monopolised the feeders, and kept guard when it wasn't stuffing its face! but it'd better make the most of the chance, it won't get any more.

They get so crafty these so called wild creatures Fran. It is all about survival and food. The blackbirds were bouncing about all over the garden this morning. Tossing leaves around, hopping over pots searching for dried meal worms, generously given by myself, after finding them a lot cheaper in a 500gm bag. They are getting rather plumptious too. They have to search for them though.

that's the best way! I was in two minds about putting food out for birds - don't begrudge feeding them, but it's the WAY of feeding them.

If they get too used to just hopping down and pecking at a feeder, their young 'uns will grow up doing the same, and eventually they might forget how to feed themselves - lol and if people stop putting out feeders, you'd be left with the bird equivalent of kids hanging round on street corners unable to get a job!

What I'd most like to do is to set up an environemnt where they can feed themselves naturally - a self-serivce buffet rather than a waiter-service restuarant. They'll still get their food, but they'll have to work for it, and keep their natural behaviours.

This is one reason I want a bigger garden!

The only trouble Fran is that there is a lot of leaf slinging and soil displacement happens with so called enriched feeding. Some birds, like the wren, are independent of our ministrations. Most of the others like it as easy as possible. A lot of seeds cannot be strewn around any old how, as allsorts will pop up.

I know that a "natural" meadow takes an awful lot of hard work and management before it becomes self-sustatining - if it ever does. I've got some packs of butterfly- and bee-attracting plants, that might do for a starter! of course, there's only one way to find out. *s*