Stormy Weather

[BBMmk2]

Nopt a bad day today, despite the odd little showre!! Or right shower

[EdgeleyRob]

Just back from my dog walk,me an 'arry got a real good soaking.

[amateur51]

Nopt a bad day today, despite the odd little showre!! Or right shower

What news of Shearer, BBM? We know he's home but how is he doing and what did the vet say was wrong with him?

[cloughie]

A fox chewed my last hosepipe. Shan't get another. It hasn't rained here today.

It has here - water-butt refilled! Fairly damp and miserable all day really - but probably good for garden!

[amateur51]

Grey and overcast here with a bit of a breeze. It rained during the night and the flagstones are covered with snails & slugs munching their way through the seeds that the birds discard. Why don't the blackbirds realise that there is a mighty scoff-opportunity here for them?

[BBMmk2]

What news of Shearer, BBM? We know he's home but how is he doing and what did the vet say was wrong with him?

Hi there ams. Thank you for asking. He had a blocked bladder, bless him! He is at home now yes, afterr spending the weekend at the Animal Hospital. He is still quite sore, poor thing, and appewtite not come back as of myert. He has been put on a special food for his condition, which makes more fluid(as he is not a great drinker). He is spending a lot of his time out of sight in our home, eg under our bed! He has been put on meds to give him a helping hand as well.

[greenilex]

Rained ovenight as predicted and, like Ams' flagstones, my garden chair was covered in baby slugs when I turned it the right way up again just now.

Perhaps baby slugs could go to a flowerpot academy and learn to be 'armless?

[amateur51]

Hi there ams. Thank you for asking. He had a blocked bladder, bless him! He is at home now yes, afterr spending the weekend at the Animal Hospital. He is still quite sore, poor thing, and appewtite not come back as of myert. He has been put on a special food for his condition, which makes more fluid(as he is not a great drinker). He is spending a lot of his time out of sight in our home, eg under our bed! He has been put on meds to give him a helping hand as well.

I had to look after a friend's cat while she went on holiday one year and of course the little perisher went missing immediately. I was frantic!

However several days later after much calling on my part I heard a weak responding call and eventually found him under my friend's bed. He was completely passive and as I picked him up I realised that he was rather ... soggy. I toddled him round to the vet in his box and he was kept in overnight for observation. Another case of blocked bladder, hence the sogginess. He was also put on special food and had to be checked regularly re returned blockage. It continued for the rest of his life but I think he lasted another eight years or so.

Good luck Shearer!

[BBMmk2]

I had to look after a friend's cat while she went on holiday one year and of course the little perisher went missing immediately. I was frantic!

However several days later after much calling on my part I heard a weak responding call and eventually found him under my friend's bed. He was completely passive and as I picked him up I realised that he was rather ... soggy. I toddled him round to the vet in his box and he was kept in overnight for observation. Another case of blocked bladder, hence the sogginess. He was also put on special food and had to be checked regularly re returned blockage. It continued for the rest of his life but I think he lasted another eight years or so.

Good luck Shearer!

Thank you ams, on behalf of Shearer! He is still feeling rather sorry for himself, but that's hardly surprising, really! Poor thing!

[Serial_Apologist]

Thank you ams, on behalf of Shearer! He is still feeling rather sorry for himself, but that's hardly surprising, really! Poor thing!

I wonder if such bladder problems are in part due to neutering? Fortunately I have not undergone "the snip", so, hopefully...

Anyway, not much more than a dribble here (weatherwise!) in spite of evidence of rainfall in the surrounding areas, shown as dark blue patches marching across between 2 and 3 am. The new fuschias and lobelia I've potted clearly prefer rainwater to my daily applications of tapwater: "There's no calcium in rainwater, see", a friend explained to me last night. Our blackbirds - or more likely, the magpies and crows which are more numerous around here than blackbirds - seem to have better eyesight when it comes to dispensing with our snails, though one wishes they wouldn't have to leave signs of a battlefield. Returning to the subject of blackbirds, they appear to be much less plump these days than they did a few years ago. Lack of food, I wonder, or more competition from the crow family?

[BBMmk2]

What about magpies, SA? There seems a profusion of them round here? I am not sure as to the reason.

[Richard Tarleton]

Several points here S_A

Our blackbirds - or more likely, the magpies and crows which are more numerous around here than blackbirds

Unlikely - blackbird densities around 250 pairs per km sq in suburbia, 26 per km sq in farmland, compared to 10 pairs per km sq in woodland or suburbia for magpies. So unless something very strange is happening in your area....people are likely to think there are more magpies because they're more visible, and noisy.

Returning to the subject of blackbirds, they appear to be much less plump these days than they did a few years ago. Lack of food, I wonder, or more competition from the crow family?

Again, unlikely. This is likely to be a subjective impression on your part...Are you talking summer or winter? In winter of course our resident blackbirds are joined by larger cousins from E and N Europe, so are more visible than in the breeding season, but the average weight of blackbirds will not have changed, plus of course they are not competing for the same food supplies as magpies and crows....They can look a bit peaky in cold winters.

There's a lot of loose talk generally on the subject of magpies...

[Serial_Apologist]

Most interesting information, Richard, thanks!

[Nick Armstrong]

There's a lot of loose talk generally on the subject of magpies...

Would love a further 'for instance' or two, Richard....

[Richard Tarleton]

Would love a further 'for instance' or two, Richard....

Calls from the likes of this lot for magpies culls.

Habitat loss is the problem, not predators (who are usually the sign of a healthy suply of prey). See here for a bit of balance