it would be a bold cat that decided to take on a vulture, i can imagine his mood being somewhere between furious and scaredycat which will probably manifest as sneaky given enough time
iirc vultures tend to tidy n dine as a team so if you have one might there be quite a few around?
that thought would focus a cat's mind.
ace wildlife to have in the garden
Jam Lady
Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 2506 Location: New Jersey, USA
We had a hornet visit us yesterday. I heard this low drone and couldn't see anything for a while, then saw it up by the roof. There were lots of wrens around too, so could be the fledglings that have just left the nest under the mudguard of the kiln.
while looking for bee id keys i found this which is a pretty good photo resource linky
i recon to id them properly i need to photograph them and then play match the picture
the queen, worker, male and seasonal variations need addressing and so does the i need a close up macro snap of a hind leg to id this one stuff.
to do it well next year i will prepare
if vultures are seen as a predator rather than an undertaker they are very vulnerable to response by poison.
farming and wildlife can co exist but it is a razor edge between wildlife or vermin at times.
for instance i have risked life limb and liberty protecting foxes that were doing no harm and were being "hunted " for fun and i have targeted foxes for assassination when they were.
the latter is proper hunting/trapping and ethically justified imho
i would have very mixed feelings ( read murderous ) about a vulture crew on my unfallen livestock but if they only eat the fallen they would be chums.
i am always wary of saying predator when over keen undertaker might be the case if the stock is looking a bit wobbly .
It does sound a difficult one. There is a similar, though in a slightly different context with I think it is sea eagles. They have been reintroduced in some areas and the farmers say they are taking live lambs. The person doing the introduction wants to reintroduce them into the south of England now. Farmers say they take perfectly healthy lambs (BBC Countryfile showed a video of one carrying a lamb, so perfectly capable), but the person doing the reintroduction still wants to go ahead. Not sure if it is a good idea as fishing in heavily used sea lanes might make them more likely to go for lambs, dogs and cats.
Btw. We went for a walk along the Wey and Arun canal yesterday and I saw a kingfisher. Was skimming along above the water. We looked out for it as we went along, but sadly no more sight. Usually see them as a flash of turquoise for a few seconds, then they hide in the trees.
in a few places farmers are compensated for stock taken by wildlife but even then if i had a bear in the barn eating one of my moos and giving me funny looks or exploring my fridge it might well be rug, jerky and hand cream time.
with most situations compromises can be found to accommodate farming and wildlife but usually any wildlife seen as vermin or bycatch or in the way will not be allowed to thrive.
if the wildlife can be moneytised it helps a lot but best of all is when folk see themselves and the wildlife as equally entitled to live in the world.
hint it is usually hunter gatherers that have such a view, if it is like you it is easy to like it.
Shane
Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3467 Location: Doha. Is hot.
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 19 5:29 am Post subject:
In a similar vein, the decline in ground-nesting birds is being linked to introduced game birds.
As far as I know the number of pheasants released in the immediate area of our woods has remained the same or reduced over the time we have been there, but there has been a huge increase in the number of buzzards. The rooks have moved down the hill from the pylon near our house because a peregrine falcon has taken up occasional residence there. There are a lot more thick conifers in the area of our house as houses have been built and people want a tree in their garden, and they are inhabited by pigeons or various sorts, which also seem to be a good prey for raptors. The peregrine drops one in our garden now and again, which is a good delivery service for us.
the colony of medium size, rounder than some, stripey white bums that were living in the roof over the road are missing from my bramble and their access hole.
nice people but they are moving so i expect they had a look in the attic. i don't like to ask if they relocated them or if they went for the OPs,
i might react badly to the answer.
at a guess there were a hundred or so in the colony and for 3 yrs they have visited everything that needed pollination over quite a distance
i still have almost as many species but the total number of tongues n tums has dropped by over half
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