Country File

[Heedless Horseman]

That WAS the pic fsn! Funny about memory... thought 'Striped Blazers! Just 'shows' about 'witness Statements'!    'Cheating'...Strewth!
Love the clip, Pierre! Imagine a WW2 German... 'infiltrating' Fens... hearing..."Handy Hock, you Jerry ******!"  
But... the Joys of 'Country Life'!  

[Heedless Horseman]

Please Don't Feed The Horses / Ponies / Donkeys...

As people are getting out and about more... with School Hols... it can be a 'pleasure'... esp.  for the kids... to 'Feed' the Horse / Pony / Donkey... or other animal, in its's field... and, of course...  They want It!
BUT, it does NOT always have a 'happy ending'.  
From FB, several times... sometimes reposted by veterinary staff... there have been 'Pleas' from owners, NOT to feed animals... sometimes after the Death or serious issues... caused by 'Well Intentioned' , 'Treats' given by walkers / Families...  

Some stuff is just 'plain wrong'! I had a 'holiday' horse who REALLY, REALLY 'wanted' my MEAT pasty... NO! They cannot digest meat!    
Other stuff might seem ok... but have heard of Apples Carrots, etc. getting 'stuck' in airways.
Or someone 'donating' their kitchen scraps... including 'peelings' to hungry animals...
Animal digestion... esp. with Equines... can be 'strange'... I don't know the details... but serious consequences CAN happen. Not every time, BUT...

Even when a Treat is 'safe'... 'just for one little bit'... the next 20 family groups might think the same... and some loved creature may be 'on a special diet' for a reason.

So.... unless there is an owner present to ask... BEST NOT TO.  Yes, it is Sad... but the 'possible' consequences MIGHT be Sadder.  

Now, feeding the Ducks, etc. MAY be different. A while back, the advice from Wildlife groups was NOT to feed the local park pond/lake Ducks... Bread. Bread has a rather low 'nutritional' value compared to what they SHOULD be foraging for. Then, they found that the birds were so used to being fed, that they were starving... so do... but their natural diet would be better... if it is there in their environment. Use judgement.
Seagulls... you might not get the choice! lol.  

[Techno II]

We're never keen of folk feeding any of our gees in the fields....You never know exactly what they're offering the beasties.

I had a fight with a swan, on one occasion......(More accurately a 'tug of war') over a bag of 'swan nosh' you could buy at the garden centre, where there was bird sanctuary, near us in Notts.
Wretched thing didn't like the fact I was feeding all its chums......It wanted the whole bag to itself.
I won in the end !...But it was touch and go !!

Also fed a sporting superstar (Red Rum) Polos when he visited Southwell Race course.
I did ask his 'lad' first, though....."Yeah...that keeps him quiet."

Cheers - Phil.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Been attacked by a swan on TV we were doing some archiology in the river Dee and I must have got between it and the nest.

[Leman]

Archaeology is not something you can just swan about with.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Nobby - COAT !!!

[Techno II]

...and give it a damn good chewing first !!

Cheers - Phil.

[steve_holmes_11]

Football last night.
One of Italy's substitutes was Bill Oddie.

(At least that's how i heard it).

[Heedless Horseman]

Back in the early Spring, 'The Little Old Guy' HALF cleared 40yrs detritus, (about 15"!), from our small concrete pond.. one of the things he 'started'... and NO... he is not a wargamer! 
To be fair, He has personal life 'issues'... and will probably 'turn up' again... A lot of his 'kit' is cluttterng up the garage that he helped tidy out! 
Anyway, there was a Frog... so.... will have to someday, try to finish the job! 
We did have Newts at one time.

[Orcs]

We are having our patio replaced, as the previous one was so uneven it was a death trap. As we have a wide side access we have a digger and a dumper truck in the back garden doing the groundwork

It has been fun watching our friendly robin and blackbird, as soon as the machines stop they are diving in out of them collecting the worms and insects that have been exposed.  I am sure they think we are only doing all this digging for their benefit .

[FierceKitty]

We're never keen of folk feeding any of our gees in the fields....You never know exactly what they're offering the beasties.

I had a fight with a swan, on one occasion......(More accurately a 'tug of war') over a bag of 'swan nosh' you could buy at the garden centre, where there was bird sanctuary, near us in Notts.
Wretched thing didn't like the fact I was feeding all its chums......It wanted the whole bag to itself.
I won in the end !...But it was touch and go !!

Also fed a sporting superstar (Red Rum) Polos when he visited Southwell Race course.
I did ask his 'lad' first, though....."Yeah...that keeps him quiet."

Cheers - Phil.

At the famous Deer Park in Nara the deer expect to be fed from the official packs of biscuits sold at the gate. While not quite elks, they're big, strong, and numerous enough to be a bit alarming, especially if you don't know how to say "That's all I've got" in Japanese.

[Raider4]

We are having our patio replaced . . .

When people talk about patios being laid or relaid, I always wonder what's being buried for some reason. 

[Raider4]

Football last night.
One of Italy's substitutes was Bill Oddie.

(At least that's how i heard it).

They also have a striker named Immobile. Good job he isn't.

[Poggle]

I had to put three fledgling robins back in the nest this morning while the parents panicked. Quite the wake-up call. There's a cat that passes through our garden at times so it's not safe for the wee birds before they can fly.

[jimduncanuk]

When people talk about patios being laid or relaid, I always wonder what's being buried for some reason. 

My parents ashes for one thing.