View Full Version : We Have A Night Time Visitor In Our Garden
Hi...really odd this but..
For the last week we have had a visitor in our garden at night.
He or she is leaving us '' presents '' on the grass ( so know it isnt a cat ) .
At least 2 or 3 a night, ....
It cannot be a dog as the evidence is too small . And there are no little dogs
It's no real problem, as I can check the lawn every morning and remove the offending items, but I am curious... me thinks it could either be a hedgehog or a fox... What do you think???
oh and out bins are being disturbed too, but that could easily be cats.
JJ
Lady Penelope
28-08-05, 08:15 PM
:) Hi JJ
How big are the presents? :unsure: pea shaped or bulletts :bigeyes:
Might be a Badger maybe...if it were a fox...their poo stinks !! CL has great delight rolling in any....give it a squash and see...or maybe give that job to hubby...mmmmmm remember the Rik Mayall revenge :lol:
Hope yr having a good bank holiday ;)
LPxxx
Domestic Goddess
28-08-05, 08:19 PM
I think it's a fox or a badger. Perhaps you could leave a note out, asking them to identify themselves?!!
Maybe you and SoSteve could sit up one night with a thermos of tea to discover who is pooing on your lawn.
Unless of course it's your NFH who has sunk to even low levels of nincompoopery!!
ROFL DG and LP :hihi:
I very much doubt it is the NFH, there bums are far too big to produce such small poo's!!!! :hihi: :hihi:
The stuff is black and almost like minature cat or dog stuff. In small amounts .
It is nothing like rabbit or sheep droppings which like pellets.
I can't believe I am describing POO!!!! :bigeyes: :hihi:
Sosteve wont go out and move the stuff, he is a typical fella, and comes over all queazy!!
JJ x
Lady Penelope
28-08-05, 08:49 PM
:lol: Sounds like a constipated homing pigeon then.... :o You'll get nothing sensible tonight from me tonight JJ....it's bank holiday and wine and chilling in full flow. :lol:
Perhaps your visitor might like to be videoed? Aw...that would be good fun...go get so steve on the case :lol: Let us know in the morning ;)
:lol: LPxxx
Ok Ok
Just digging out my night vision goggles :bigeyes: now.... :lol:
JJ
Annabel
28-08-05, 10:53 PM
hedgehogs do leave poop around, it could be them, but does sound like a fox to me, and they could easily be the guilty parties as far as your bins are concerned.
sosteve is like ,MrHubby Annabel then, wont clear anything mucky up for me, he especially wont go near cat sick, the coward! :lol:
Definitely sounds like foxes to me. We have the same probs. :unsure:
Bonkers Mad!!!
29-08-05, 12:39 AM
:yes: foxes :D
I agree, sounds like a fox, what with the poo and the bins :lol:
You'll have to get CCTV focused on your garden JJ :)
strontium
29-08-05, 11:47 AM
What you describe sounds very like hedgehog droppings; black, almost tarry, and a smaller version of cat poo (more like cat than dog), but a bit more "stringy".
Do you have cats, or perhaps put food out for the birds? Hedgehogs love all that stuff, especially tinned cat food!
If it *is* hedgehogs and you kinda like having them around, don't feed 'em bread or milk, though - very bad for them.
goosegirl
29-08-05, 12:06 PM
Foxes round our way leave huge amounts of brown stuff, like a dogs a big dog. And it stinks awful.
It sounds like a badger to me, they are quite strong as well. Our bins get messed with by neighbours dogs and cats at night.
GG.
Morning !!!
Well Hubby and I tried to stay up a catch a peek at our friend but alas the bottle of wine we shared earlier in the evening made us too sleepy and therefore we both fell asleep, I woke up at 4.30, slumped over the dining room table dribbling!!! :lol:
The description that Stronium gave was spot on... so I am assuming we have a prickly friend rather than a fox...We dont have any pets so this is nice really and also we have a huge leafy garden but are so close the the town centre so having a little bit of wildlife is great!!
The kids are now wanting to go out and play, so I shall go and poop a scoop!!!!again
Thanks
JJ
strontium
29-08-05, 01:30 PM
Badger droppings: click (http://www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/pictures/meles-dung-1.jpg)
and they usually s********e a bit of earth first (I can't believe I'm typing this lol)
Hedgehog droppings: here (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk/extra1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wildlife-gardening.co.uk/extra%2520info.htm&h=175&w=240&sz=18&tbnid=Yu1SOB-KmB0J:&tbnh=75&tbnw=104&hl=en&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522hedgehog%2Bdroppings%2522%26svnu m%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26sa%3DN)
and they don't bother to stop moving at all, which is why it's longer, tapering and all over the place! :blink:
Domestic Goddess
29-08-05, 01:52 PM
I can't believe there are websites devoted to animal poo! Thanks for the pics!!
JJ, if you have a webcam train it on the area and share the footage here - we could have a forum all nighter waiting to see who your visitors are!!
Hi
Stronium..... MMMMmmmm lovely pics, just going to prepare lunch, me thinks I will leave it for a little while now :lol: . The Poo is the same as the hedgehog pic so I think we can safely say we have a positive ID.
DG, I shall try and get some footage in the next day or so and we can a have a look at the little tike in action... Gosh I feel like David Attenborough!!!!
JJ
strontium
29-08-05, 06:30 PM
LOL Yeah, not very appetising pics, are they?!
My tip would be to look for your visitor earlier than you think. Hedgehogs are quite active from dusk onwards, so any time around 10pm-midnight is probably late enough :)
goosegirl
29-08-05, 06:44 PM
What pictures,
Our hedgehog comes through about 9pm, only thing is my little terrier chases him.
GG.
Lady Penelope
29-08-05, 07:02 PM
:lol: Lol at us lot!!
Poo patrol!! Whatever next :rolleyes:
Good luck JJ....GG, my little Chicken Legs is also a Terrier and chases anything with legs including mine :lol:
LPxxx
Righty ho!!!
I'm off.. I'm off.. Im off on a poo patrol....( 7 dwalves song....!!)
Will have to watch... I cant wait to meet him!!!
JJ
strontium
29-08-05, 07:49 PM
Keep the light levels really low, with a dimmed torch - or completely dark if you can, and let your eyes adjust. If it's warm enough to sit very still outside, you'll hear it first - they make an incredible amount of noise as they forage.
Good luck! :thumbs:
Domestic Goddess
30-08-05, 12:39 PM
Any updates JJ? Has the mystery been solved?!!! Last night, while snuggled up in bed I imagined you and SoSteve wearing khaki, with your binoculars at the ready!!!
By the way that is the only time I have imagined you and SoSteve while I'm in bed - just in case you were worried!!
LOL...DG :hihi: :hihi:
We were out last night but alas..... no wildlife....
Perhaps it was our resembalance to the two people from ' it aint half hot mum'... you know the ones who sang ''Whispering Grass''.... me thinks they were called, Don Estelle and Windsor Davies... :hihi:
Will keep you posted!!
JJ
Bonkers Mad!!!
30-08-05, 05:14 PM
Perhaps it was our resembalance to the two people from ' it aint half hot mum'... you know the ones who sang ''Whispering Grass''.... me thinks they were called, Don Estelle and Windsor Davies...**
:hihi: :hihi: :hihi:
Not that I am saying I am small and tubby... or have a curly moustache!!!
:hihi: :hihi:
JJ
our little hedgie tends to appear around 10pm, so that might be a good time for it ;)
i remember the first time I spotted it :lol: Our dog was sniffing at something round and I assumed he'd left his ball out.................you can guess what happened next, and I am mortified to this day. i went to give the ball a kick for the mutt, only to find it s********e my shoe and feel incredibly heavy :o :blush: It was poor little hedgie (well it was very dark).
I put out some water and went to check on it later, and it was wandering around, so was obviously ok. Its still with us.
So JJ, whatever you do, don't play fetch with the hedgehog :blush: :lol:
rb
Thanks for the tip RB!!!!
I am dying to meet this little creature, going to take a pic and post it on here, then we could have a naming competition!!!
JJ
Domestic Goddess
31-08-05, 10:34 AM
I'm really excited and am already compiling a list of possible names!!