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Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 19 7:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes they're built to release from the porcupine easily, and have particularly nasty barbs to make it hard to pull them out of the attacking animal. Evolution is smart, dogs are not.
Very few wild animals attack porcupines, so they really only need to fear fishers (animal not human) and cars (human)

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 19 11:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

ouch, i had one that insisted on trying to bite hedgehogs, not as dangeroos as porcupine quills but levering them out of the roof of his mouth with pliers was no fun for either of us.

hope she has understood in one go and the holes heal up ok.

ps the thing in my ear in my profile photo is a porcupine quill

Jam Lady



Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Posts: 2501
Location: New Jersey, USA
PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 19 9:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

March 2019 in Canadian Yukon:

"A post-mortem examination performed on the 18-year-old male bear found that it was emaciated and "would not have been capable of hibernation given its complete lack of body fat".

Conservation officers said they did not know what caused the bear to be in such distress.

It had turned to to uncommon food sources in its desperation, including a porcupine. That meal had injured the grizzly, which was found to have multiple quills penetrating its digestive system.

While officials said the death of Theoret and her infant daughter appeared to have been an unavoidable tragedy, they cautioned it showed that the danger of bear encounters remain year round."

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 19 5:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I would have thought bears were dangerous all year round given that they are rather large and capable of killing people. That one seems to have had a rather bad time though.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 19 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

having defleshed and prepped a polar bear head i am fairly keen to never meet any sort of bear up close and personal

bitey

in jollier wildlife news i noticed that the local sparrows have a low melanistic colour scheme.
perhaps one in fifteen has a dark rather than pale beak and about one in ten has a darkish feather pattern

thinking back to other populations i have vague memories of this crew are quite blond in comparison

the seed and mealworm mix is very popular with sparrows, as are the peanuts but although there are other seed/insect eaters about they do not go for the feeders
that makes me consider that the sparrows might be a bit protective of a prime resource

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sat Oct 12, 19 6:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

They could well be. They are quite small, but as there are a lot of them, they make up in numbers for size.

Son saw two buzzards in the woods, one with food in its claws, being chased by another one. We think it may be a mother making a young one work for its food, but not sure.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Mon Oct 21, 19 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

the sparrows seem ok with me within reaching distance of the feeders or closer if they come to me .
it is a bit hard to count them but i reckon there were about 15 next to me just now

there is at least one adult sammison gleaning

the fat woodies seem to be 2 rather than 3 and have to ask the sparrows for permission to glean

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 19 6:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Glad you have a sammison around even if not in residence. Do I take it you mean wood pigeons by fat woodies? We get too many of those in the woods, especially in the winter, but plenty of other birds too, so suppose I can't begrudge them them the beech and oak mast.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 19 11:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

yep , this lot are urban garden rather than wood and very plump

fat walter was king for a few years and more recently fat walter 2 and his two wives ruled. well until the peregrine got wife 2 in the yard now it is w2 and one wife.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Wed Oct 23, 19 6:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Not my favourite birds, especially when they eat my cabbages.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Wed Oct 23, 19 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
Not my favourite birds, especially when they eat my cabbages.


But maybe nice with a bit of cabbage?

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 19 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have had pigeon from the garden or thereabouts, courtesy of the peregrine falcon. I think it dives on the pigeon, kills it and knocks it out the sky, but sometimes can't get to it, especially if it falls on the roof and bounces off between the house and the hedge.

Perhaps here might be a better place for the bit about the dormice. We found 15!!! The first box that had a nest in it was put into the inspection bag and suddenly there seemed to be dormice everywhere. It was a mother and 4 well grown offspring. One of the juveniles didn't look too good, so sadly may not make it through the winter, but the others were lively and well grown. Another box had a mother and 3 juveniles. The mother was still lactating, but the babies were nearly as big as her so she may not really have been feeding them, just still producing a tiny amount of milk.

The tally was the two families, 5 independant juveniles and one adult male. An adult male and female had been seen earlier in the year. Two summer nests have been seen further north in the wood, so I think we have a good population of dormice. The assumption is that in this area we have dormice in all suitable habitats as they are quite common here.

Sadly we found one dead one. It seemed to have gone to sleep and the whole nest got wet, so it probably died without waking up.

The surveyors gave me the chance to hold a dormouse, under strict supervision of course as they wanted me to feel how 'sticky' its feet were. She dropped it into my hand and it just sat there for a little while. When we put if back in the box, I could feel one of its feet sticking to me. Beautiful little things, and I was very privileged to see them and hold one.

One thing that it shows is that we must have been managing the woodlands to the approval of the dormice. When you know you have species like that, it is always a concern that something you do may upset them and they might leave with their little packs over their shoulders.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 19 8:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That is great news MR. How lucky you are to have been able to handle one.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45374
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 19 10:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

great dormouse news.

the reason i asked about relocation was i wondered if there were enough green corridors to let them spread naturally or if they needed to hitch a lift to empty but suitable habitats like panda beetles.

buzzy



Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 3708
Location: In a small wood on the edge of the Huntingdonshire Wolds
PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 19 8:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

This might be of interest (if it works!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce0_JfzRVxI

Henry

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