Grubs are great! So I guess I am on my own here in saying I think maggots are awesome. I even go as far to share my house with them. Why would anyone do such a thing. I'll tell you why.
I breed mealworms to feed to the wild birds that visit my garden. Since I have been feeding mealworms out every day I have noticed a huge increase in bird numbers in my garden. This is great for the birds and great for me. I get to see the birds and I know where they are going to land so I can get great photos of them.
You can normally buy mealworms from pet shops. They are used to feed some types of reptiles and amphibians that people increasingly keep as pets. The mealworms sold in the shops are expensive and often literally on their last legs. Most shops don't have the time or space to keep their own breeding stock so they buy the mealworms from suppliers. This means the mealworms are old when you get them and will soon be no use for feeding to birds.
I have a simple breeding system that allows me to produce 200-400 mealworms per day without costing much money or taking up a huge amount of space. They do take up quite a bit of time though.
To breed them you have to get 2 or 3 tubs of mealworms and keep them until they go into a pupa. About a week later they hatch out into beetles. You want to leave beetles in a container with bran and cabbage for about 3 weeks then remove the beetles into another tank and keep putting tiny bits of cabbage in every day so that when the beetle eggs hatch the tiny grubs have food. They will slowly grow for about 8 weeks then should be large enough to feed to the birds. Once you have a system up and running you just have to maintain it.
The mealworms I feed out are full of goodness and lots of birds love them. They count on them during the hard winter and feed them to their chicks in the spring. It isn't always the obvious birds that come to feed on them either. I regularly get House Sparrows, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Robins, Starlings and Magpies coming for the worms. I have also seen Horatio the squirrel come for them.
Here are some of my favourite photos of garden birds enjoying my mealworms. They really do provide so much entertainment.
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photos. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
Thursday, 5 August 2010
My pet rats
As already mentioned I have developed a great love and respect for wild rats. I have been hugely influenced by my experiences with my own pet rats.
I have been keeping rats for a long time and each one has been different. Each had their own unique character. I generally keep a pair of rats but there have been times when I have had to keep them singly due to them being adult males that never integrate. I have had a mixture of pet shop rats, fancy rats from breeders and my beloved rescue rats.
I have had some of the most challenging and heartbreaking times with my rescued rats but it was all worth it. I have been bitten a few times by rats that were not used to humans and in one case had been tormented by people. I had blind rats that had lost their sight to cataracts and a rat that was deaf. Some have had surgery to remove tumours with mixed results.
One of my favourite rats was a big male called Snowball. I got him from a pet shop as an adult whose previous owners no longer wanted him. He was a Himalayan rat (mostly white but with a brown nose and bottom). He wasn't too used to being handled and wasn't particularly tame. I only had him for about 6 months before he became old and weak and ultimately passed away. During those short few months I had him he learned to trust me and allowed me to handle him. It was a really sad day when he finally passed away but in a way a huge relief that he didn't have to suffer. I made a poster of him as a memorial and made it available for people to purchase so he can still make people smile even after his death and that is a wonderful thing. Here is his poster
I have been keeping rats for a long time and each one has been different. Each had their own unique character. I generally keep a pair of rats but there have been times when I have had to keep them singly due to them being adult males that never integrate. I have had a mixture of pet shop rats, fancy rats from breeders and my beloved rescue rats.
I have had some of the most challenging and heartbreaking times with my rescued rats but it was all worth it. I have been bitten a few times by rats that were not used to humans and in one case had been tormented by people. I had blind rats that had lost their sight to cataracts and a rat that was deaf. Some have had surgery to remove tumours with mixed results.
One of my favourite rats was a big male called Snowball. I got him from a pet shop as an adult whose previous owners no longer wanted him. He was a Himalayan rat (mostly white but with a brown nose and bottom). He wasn't too used to being handled and wasn't particularly tame. I only had him for about 6 months before he became old and weak and ultimately passed away. During those short few months I had him he learned to trust me and allowed me to handle him. It was a really sad day when he finally passed away but in a way a huge relief that he didn't have to suffer. I made a poster of him as a memorial and made it available for people to purchase so he can still make people smile even after his death and that is a wonderful thing. Here is his poster
Another rat I chose to honour in this way is Peewee. I was given her to look after when her owner developed an allergy to her. She was a dumbo rat, a fancy rat bred to have larger than usual ears. She had been brilliantly cared for by her previous owner and was immediately tame enough to handle. She didn't like to be in her cage at all and would beg me to let her out every time I went near the cage.
She had surgery to remove a tumour on two occasions, both of which were sucessful. She even begged the vet nurse caring for her after one of her ops to give her some banana. She had a way of charming people. Sadly despite my best efforts she did not extend her kindness to members of her own species. I tried to integrate her with a group of my friendliest females but she attacked them. It seems she had no "ratty social skills" at all. I had her for two happy years. She ultimately succombed to a mixture of age and jaw cancer. I have so many happy memories of my little girl and so may wonderful photos that I decided to make into gifts and share with the world. Here is my much missed Peewee
I have two little girls called Pippa and Poppy at the moment that keep me entertained and carry on the tradition of rats in my life. With luck they will be around for a couple of years yet. They might still join their now famous predecessors one day but not in their lifetimes.
So that is the reason I have such a love of wild rats and I wish we could find a way to live with them rather than just putting out more and more poison. If you own a rat you know how intelligent they are so please give their wild cousins a break.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Lets give rats a chance
What is it about the poor rat that makes so many people hate it so much? Around the rats are routinely killed in large numbers. In my country we have two species of rat living wild; the rare and very shy Black rat (Rattus rattus) and the more widespread and better known Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).
So the common perception is that rats are covered in fleas. They live in our rubbish. They spread numerous diseases and last but not least if you corner a rat it will go for your throat. The way people talk about these animals you would think they grow to be the size of cats and run around attacking people!
Firstly a cornered rat is a terrified creature. It does not go for the throat, it aims to jump over your shoulder and run away. Secondly it is now believed that it was actually the smaller and barely spoken about Black rat that carried plague to several countries. In that event it was technically the fleas that carried the plague and spread it. The rats only carried the fleas. There are some elements of truth, however, wild rats do indeed carry diseases and have parasites, as do all other wild animals. Some do live in our sewers and rubbish dumps and some do come into our homes looking for food.
Let me introduce you to the rats I know. They don't live in a rubbish dump, instead they have set up home in some grassland where people don't disturb them.I spent a year getting to know these rats and taking photos of them. They live a totally wild life and were extremely nervous of me. It took me a long time to gain their trust and even then they would keep far enough away from me so they could outrun me if they needed to.
I don't know how many rats there were in this group but there was certainly at least one breeding female, 3 or 4 big males, a group of juveniles and then the youngsters that appeared throughout the summer. The enormous female looked constantly pregnant (and probably was). She was the main food gatherer. I took them cornflakes and bird seed and sometimes some vegetables too.
I noticed how often they would stop to groom their fur. You can see from my photos just how clean they kept themselves. They spent a lot of time eating. They would squabble over food and steal food from eachother but the youngsters were allowed to jump all over the adults and steal their food without repercussions. The youngsters were not allowed to come out of their hole until the adults were happy it was safe. They had a complex network of tunnels with several entrances. These guys were ut every day come rain or shine even the freezing winter didn't stop them. These were intelligent and compassionate animals that card for their young ones, kept themselves clean and learned to accept a human in their world, albeit on their terms. I couldn't be more thrilled with the time they allowed me to spend with them and the photographs I was able to take.
You can find these products and more available for sale in my Zazzle store Natural Beauty
Now you've seen the real Brown rat will you give them a second chance?
So the common perception is that rats are covered in fleas. They live in our rubbish. They spread numerous diseases and last but not least if you corner a rat it will go for your throat. The way people talk about these animals you would think they grow to be the size of cats and run around attacking people!
Firstly a cornered rat is a terrified creature. It does not go for the throat, it aims to jump over your shoulder and run away. Secondly it is now believed that it was actually the smaller and barely spoken about Black rat that carried plague to several countries. In that event it was technically the fleas that carried the plague and spread it. The rats only carried the fleas. There are some elements of truth, however, wild rats do indeed carry diseases and have parasites, as do all other wild animals. Some do live in our sewers and rubbish dumps and some do come into our homes looking for food.
Let me introduce you to the rats I know. They don't live in a rubbish dump, instead they have set up home in some grassland where people don't disturb them.I spent a year getting to know these rats and taking photos of them. They live a totally wild life and were extremely nervous of me. It took me a long time to gain their trust and even then they would keep far enough away from me so they could outrun me if they needed to.
I don't know how many rats there were in this group but there was certainly at least one breeding female, 3 or 4 big males, a group of juveniles and then the youngsters that appeared throughout the summer. The enormous female looked constantly pregnant (and probably was). She was the main food gatherer. I took them cornflakes and bird seed and sometimes some vegetables too.
I noticed how often they would stop to groom their fur. You can see from my photos just how clean they kept themselves. They spent a lot of time eating. They would squabble over food and steal food from eachother but the youngsters were allowed to jump all over the adults and steal their food without repercussions. The youngsters were not allowed to come out of their hole until the adults were happy it was safe. They had a complex network of tunnels with several entrances. These guys were ut every day come rain or shine even the freezing winter didn't stop them. These were intelligent and compassionate animals that card for their young ones, kept themselves clean and learned to accept a human in their world, albeit on their terms. I couldn't be more thrilled with the time they allowed me to spend with them and the photographs I was able to take.
You can find these products and more available for sale in my Zazzle store Natural Beauty
Now you've seen the real Brown rat will you give them a second chance?
Sunday, 1 August 2010
The tale of Horatio the Squirrel Part 2
After a few days with regular and prolonged sightings of "Horatio" at the bird table I noticed I was no longer able to get close enough with my camera to get a good photo. I was just hoping that this was the same squirrel and that it was recovering from its horrific injuries.
A couple of weeks went by and I was starting to think I would never know for sure whether my furry garden guest was indeed Horatio or just another local squirrel. Then, one day, I had the good fortune to spy a squirrel really close to the house. I dashed to get my camera. This time the squirrel was well within range of my zoom lens.
I managed to get a photo that confirmed to me that this squirrel was Horatio. Here is the photo I took, displayed on a customizable greeting card from my zazzle store
Natural Beauty
A couple of weeks went by and I was starting to think I would never know for sure whether my furry garden guest was indeed Horatio or just another local squirrel. Then, one day, I had the good fortune to spy a squirrel really close to the house. I dashed to get my camera. This time the squirrel was well within range of my zoom lens.
I managed to get a photo that confirmed to me that this squirrel was Horatio. Here is the photo I took, displayed on a customizable greeting card from my zazzle store
Natural Beauty
If you look closely you can see that the squirrel has a cloudy eye, the same eye that was badly injured. I think it is likely that poor Horatio may have lost the sight in that eye. The good news is that this brave little squirrel was feeding well and looked otherwise healthy.
That incident was a year ago now and I am happy to report that there are now two squirrels regularly visiting my garden. I hope to get another lucky break and get a photo to confirm that one of them is Horatio but so far he or she (can't tell which but it probably only matters to another squirrel), is proving very elusive and keeping a distance away from the house.
Friday, 30 July 2010
The tale of Horatio the squirrel part 1
As promised here is a story about the struggle to survive endured by a cute little squirrel that has been visitng my garden for over a year now. I knew there was a squirrel about when I encountered some buried Hazelnuts in a flower bed I was preparing for planting up last spring. I decided to start putting nuts out myself to help the squirrel out a bit. I feed the birds in the garden so I figured why not feed the squirrel too.
Of course this little squirrel was so shy I never actually got to see it. Imagine my shock then when one day I noticed this adorable little ball of grey fluff on the bird table. I was so excited to finally see the squirrel I had been feeding for weeks that I dashed to get my camera.
I took a few snaps then attempted to get closer. I was delighted that I was able to get halfway down the garden to get some shots of the little furball. I was somewhat less delighted when I uploaded the photos to my PC. Here are a couple of the photos I took that day.
and over the next couple of days I took these images of the hapless creature.
I hate to see animals suffer and these injuries really looked bad. There was no chance of catching the squirrel and getting it to a vet so I just made sure there was food and water there for it and kept my fingers crossed.
Find out what happened to the squirrel in part 2 of the tale of Horatio the squirrel coming soon.
Of course this little squirrel was so shy I never actually got to see it. Imagine my shock then when one day I noticed this adorable little ball of grey fluff on the bird table. I was so excited to finally see the squirrel I had been feeding for weeks that I dashed to get my camera.
I took a few snaps then attempted to get closer. I was delighted that I was able to get halfway down the garden to get some shots of the little furball. I was somewhat less delighted when I uploaded the photos to my PC. Here are a couple of the photos I took that day.
and over the next couple of days I took these images of the hapless creature.
I hate to see animals suffer and these injuries really looked bad. There was no chance of catching the squirrel and getting it to a vet so I just made sure there was food and water there for it and kept my fingers crossed.
Find out what happened to the squirrel in part 2 of the tale of Horatio the squirrel coming soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)