Nocturnal Visitors

The local badgers must have picked up on my concern for their west country cousins (see previous post) as since then we have had some very welcome nocturnal visitors.  We always used to have badgers coming to our garden until we got new neighbours who had several Rottweilers.  The three that are visiting now enter directly from the field.  They look fairly small so I think they are this years cubs and one is cream coloured which is a genetic trait of badgers around the Saltbox area. There is one problem, I am getting sooooo tired sitting up at night watching them but they come right up near the window, are totally captivating and I feel so lucky that I can't draw myself away:)))))))))

I apologise that I couldn't get my link to work for the e-petition against the badger cull on my last post but I urge you not to give up if you want to sign but go to the governments e-petition web site or use one of the other links on the many other sites of people that obviously understand computers a bit better than me!!!  Simon King and Chris Packham on Twitter also have some good links to other people's more scientific views as well as links to the petition. I can sort of see that, as a protected species with no predators, the numbers of badgers are perhaps too high and at some point there may need to be a cull to maintain a healthy population but I still can't see that just shooting a whole load is going to give a long term, sustainable solution to Bovine TB unless there is a vaccination program in place.

Enough of my ranting.  After watching an episode of Miranda (who some people liken me to !!??!!:)) I have realised that over this summer, which has been a bit intense with one thing or another, I have become rather 'serious' and this needs to change so, as I haven't included any silly jokes for a while, I thought it's about time I did.  I don't want to joke about badgers as their situation is just a bit too serious at the moment but other visitors to my garden, whose antics often make me laugh, are the squirrels. Soooo....

Q:  What did the squirrel say to his girlfriend?
A:  I'm nuts about you

Q:  What did the girl squirrel reply?
A:  You're nut so bad yourself.

Q:  What did the squirrel give his girlfriend on Valentines Day?
A:  Forget-me-nuts.

So how did I get in this 'serious' frame of mind?  Well firstly there was our spell filling in for the absent Grazing Officer...I enjoyed it but took it very seriously as I didn't want to make any mistakes.  Then there is my mother.  Her Alzheimer's is progressing and she flits form wanting to go into residential care, to wanting to stay in her own home, but I think it has reached the point where, whether she likes it or not, she will be safer  being looked after full time.  This is such a hard decision.  It was her who gave me the love of the countryside and the respect of all things living...as a young child she would make the countryside come alive with stories of fairies and elves interacting with nature...if we passed a tree with a hole in it she would make up tales like a poor, cold fairy helping a hungry woodpecker to find food and the grateful woodpecker in turn making a hole in the tree for the poor cold fairy to live in:)) and any pool of rain water caught in the V of tree branches were always places where the fairies and elves went to bathe:)) I loved going for country walks with her so much and she has never lost that desire to be surrounded by nature but now she can't walk far and when she does she gets lost...very worrying when goes off to walk in the the fields!!!!  I feel so bad that by going in to a home her freedom will be restricted but at least she will be safe, have company and will probably be taken out more than we can manage so maybe she will be happy which she isn't really at the moment.  I wish I didn't have to make this decision:((

When my mother was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's we were helping with lambing and the then Grazing Officer and other volunteers were so supportive listening to my worries.  However the Grazing Officer has now moved on and since the Countryside Day, where some people got upset with each other (it is no easy task putting on such a big show), I haven't seen many of the other volunteers...hence I'm off-loading onto all you blog readers:)))

Right I feel better for that, so back to my resolution not to be to serious...well actually I can't think of anything funny at the moment but I promise I will start looking at life with a smile on my face and as we are planning to catch those naughty goats again next week,  I should soon have a tale or two to tell.

Lastly, for those who know our sheep shearer.  She told us that she should be shown shearing Alpacas in one of the episodes of the TV program, Kevin Mcloud's Man Made Home, channel 4, Sundays at 8pm.  From what she said it is quite different from shearing sheep so if you are interested keep a look out for her.