Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Creatures of Habit

by admin - 22:01 on 26 June 2010

Wildlife action continued last night after the departure of Miss Marten when the first hedgehog to be seen in the garden was spotted rootling around near the bottom of the gate, presumably investigating marten leftovers. The spiny visitor didn't notice the bounty in the buttercup patch either.

Matchgirl was delighted because she'd never seen a hoggie before, which is ironic when today's Guardian featured pine martens on its free Endangered Species poster. Red kites and red squirrels also appeared – it's easy to forget that to most people they're as exotic as a snow leopard.

We didn't get much of a look at Mrs Tiggywinkle as there was only just enough light to see her snuffle around then head for the undergrowth at an impressive speed. We'll be particularly careful when we combust the heaps of garden debris.

Miss Marten returned at 9.30 tonight but spent most of her time with her back to us. And she failed to find the buttercup food stash despite a trail of nuts leading there. Martens are creatures of habit. I should stop putting food on the gate, to encourage her to explore the garden, but don't want to run the risk she'll sulk and look for her treats elsewhere.

None of tonight's snaps were worth keeping. Maybe I'll have more luck tomorrow

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