Intruder Alert!

[Arizahn]

Our yard has been invaded by some very cheeky field mice!

We are talking run right over your feet level of boldness, lol! Several of the other liveries have been scared witless on occasion.
I am immune to mice terror. Too many cat related "gifts" over the years, if you get my drift Spiders now, those freak me out!

I think I may have made things a bit worse. I unwittingly pointed out what I thought of as "an adorable little bat" that was flying about above the school. Turns out fellow livery doesn't like bats any more than mice...I suppose I'd better not mention the foxes, eh?

Anybody else have wildlife camping out with their horses?

 

[rhino]

I fairly regularly had to evict a giant toad from the pony's stable during the summer We've got a friendly robin and a cheeky red squirrel at the yard too

 

[kirstykate]

Same as you plenty of mice, they dont bother me unless they start chewing my rugs They drive my terriers up the wall though which is worse than the mice Far too much squeeking!! As long as I dont get any of their long tailed cousins!!

 

[Arizahn]

Mmmnn, yes can do without the ratties!

 

[flying solo]

Been at my yard since Aug and not seen anything alive! I did stand on a dead squirrel by accident though which was gross

 

[Montyforever]

Yup lots of bunnies/birds/rats. Mysti tends to stomp on them or drown them though ..

 

[Arizahn]

Eeek! Zombie wildlife!

 

[Magnetic Sparrow]

I've had a hedgehog trying to hibernate in my banks and once found a huge slow worm in the middle of my lad's bed.

 

[kirstykate]

Wouldnt want the bunnies not with the nasty holes they leave, not keen on the foxes either, they went off with all my hens

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

I did stand on a dead squirrel by accident though which was gross

Once (many, many years ago) my mum got fed up of my brother and sister and I arguing in the house so she tacked up the pony and took us for a little hack. She tried to take a short cut on the old airfield and ended up in an old walled copse which had lots of phesants and partridge in there and mounds of tussocky grasses. All of a sudden the pony started acting up with my 4yo brother on board and mum was trying to get us close to her and make sure we were all very quiet. My sister stood on a dead squirrel which crunched under he foot and SQUEALED!! A black panther got up from behind a tussock of grass stretched and bounded off over a low wall!!

We came out of the copse opposite a friends house and told them what we'd just seen and their dad said he sees it almost everyday walking passed his garden office!

 

[Marydoll]

I have a nest of robins in my stable block, i also get foxes and deer in the fields
around me.
Occassionally I get the odd weasel or stoat.
If im riding in the fields at dusk i need to watch out for the families of deer i come accross.

 

[Arizahn]

We have sparrows in the hay barn, and a wagtail that follows the YO around. My OH has seen some robins flitting about too.
It's nice being so close to nature.

 

[rhino]

Here's my toady friend

And a baby froglet I moved to safety in the summer

 

[Arizahn]

Aww, Rhino they are cute!

 

[JFTDWS]

I found half a semi-decomposed hare while chucking up my muck heap a couple of months back. I also murdered a toad which was rather moribund -looking at the time and had sought refuge in the stable with Fergs while he was on box rest. He's lucky not to have been eaten

We have the usual - rodents, rabbits, smal bird species (depending on time of year), badgers, deer and such. I love meeting the deer out hacking - they're really very tame

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Nice toad Rhino, I have his cousin in my garage, we renamed garage toad hall

Also have..... bats in the attic (oh the comments people can come up with ) stoats/weasels in garden, various different types of mice & shrew, moles, foxes, montjacs (sp?), occasional rats , nest up nest of house martins (or swallows, never know the difference ), a colony of badgers who keep stealing more and more of my feild, various birds including robins, woodpeckers lots of different tits (OUT of the gutter folks) and newts (they all get called Newton or Issac), also get plagues of baby froglets in the summer when in rains, spend ages picking the wee fellas out of my horse beds

And, my fave and was so excited to see, a lovely snakey that was keeping warm/sunning self on my muck heap in summer!! Was either a grass or smooth snake, he slipped away quickly while I was fumbling for camera and chuntering 'ooo a snakey, hold still cutey while I take a picture, oh, where have you gone???'

I do so love all the little invaders

 

[JellyBeanSkittle]

We have a resident deer in our fields which nests in the long grass and bounces about when I'm trying to turn the neds out in the morning! The mare is transfixed with it, lol.

 

[Shantara]

My friend had a fox in with her horse :O In the stable! She didn't see it, but the droppings were obvious enough.

At my yard, we have swallows every year Someone was checking on the horses, when one of the mares was pacing and looking distressed. Apparently one of the chicks had fallen out, landed on her and died! Was very sad those little birds are lovely!

 

[kerilli]

Nice toad Rhino, I have his cousin in my garage, we renamed garage toad hall

Also have..... bats in the attic (oh the comments people can come up with ) stoats/weasels in garden, various different types of mice & shrew, moles, foxes, montjacs (sp?), occasional rats , nest up nest of house martins (or swallows, never know the difference ), a colony of badgers who keep stealing more and more of my feild, various birds including robins, woodpeckers lots of different tits (OUT of the gutter folks) and newts (they all get called Newton or Issac), also get plagues of baby froglets in the summer when in rains, spend ages picking the wee fellas out of my horse beds

And, my fave and was so excited to see, a lovely snakey that was keeping warm/sunning self on my muck heap in summer!! Was either a grass or smooth snake, he slipped away quickly while I was fumbling for camera and chuntering 'ooo a snakey, hold still cutey while I take a picture, oh, where have you gone???'

I do so love all the little invaders

Awww, me too. That sounds heavenly!

I have: a huge colony of sparrows in the stable barn. They're pretty tame now, I can get within a few feet of them. They get so intent on their squabbles that they forget about the danger, Boop dawg nearly caught 1 today, i had to intervene to remind the squabblers three times to get OFF the stable floor before a terrierist got them!
lots of swallows in there in summer, lined up like little choirboys in the nest just before they fly, gorgeous.
lots of mice, too cute for words, esp the baby ones. very very tame. the dogs get some but there are plenty more. rugs all safely locked away where meeces can't get them, but they're devils for nesting in my numnahs, wrecked a stubben one last week.
rats i could do without, the dogs take care of those!
there's a pair of jays just down the road, muntjac too, the odd red deer. a family of weasels that i saw in my field once, amazing.
bats in the fields on summer nights, love seeing those.
quite a few barn owls about, times must be hard because they're out hunting at 4pm in daylight.
sparrowhawks, and a buzzard that keeps coming past, could do without him, i worry for my dogs and chooks!

 

[dafthoss]

I dont mind the meeces I just dont like the way they make all your things smell, where we used to be there would be the odd suicidal mouse that threw its self in a water bucket . I love watching the bats when they fly round but havnt seen any at uni yet there seems to be far more at home.

I love meeting the deer out hacking - they're really very tame

I dont know who was more shocked when we found this out me, the pony or the deer we dont ever see them at home. He was a lovely looking fellow though .

 

[JFTDWS]

I dont know who was more shocked when we found this out me, the pony or the deer we dont ever see them at home. He was a lovely looking fellow though .

He? Singular? Fortunate! I met the whole herd he other day - must've been 30 of them in the woods They were sunning themselves on the track but we disturbed them

 

[Arizahn]

And yet the experts insist our wildlife is vanishing...it's just relocating!

 

[spookypony]

On and about the yard, there's very little, since there are two very competent cats! There used to be many bunnies, pigeons, and smaller rodents of various descriptions.

A bit down the road, however, in the woods, I often see a rather large bird of prey of some sort, and frequently meet deer when out hacking. Met a fox once: it didn't look well. Found a dead fox in the (fortunately drained) water jump at the RS. I have seen a (much healthier-looking) fox in the vicinity of pony jail on the yard, though.

 

[dafthoss]

He? Singular? Fortunate! I met the whole herd he other day - must've been 30 of them in the woods They were sunning themselves on the track but we disturbed them

Yes I think the pony may have passed out with shock if we had met the whole herd . He's not used to seeing wild life when out and about the closest we get is a pidgeon then tractor or a gravel lorry.

 

[Chestnutmare]

oh when riding in school in evenings all I hear is the owls, bats, foxes its lovely to hear!
bats flying low.... had a beautiful barn owl fly out infront of me the other day.... was just stunning!!!
we get alot of birds of pray in the fields too....again stunning

 

[JFTDWS]

I used to ride a lot in the dark on a previous yard. I regularly had collisions and near misses with bats

DH - Fergie's used to them and I think he would have a meltdown if he met the herd alone Poor speshul doesn't even know what these things are!

 

[nosenseofdirection]

At previous yard (no cat) we would often find drowned mice in water buckets and live ones in feed room! At current yard, (cat) have found component parts of mice here and there, but never a whole one. Did see cat going past with baby rabbit in jaws the other day though, would have let him eat it but he let it go behind my storage thing so I fetched it out and let it go.

We've met deer out hacking too. The Intrepid Horse stopped and snorted at them. This spooked the deer. They leaped in the air and legged it. intrepid Horse thought leaping and legging it looked like fun and asked if she could join in. I had my doubts about her ability to catch up with deer, especially with a great lump like me on board. So I said no, and, bless her, she was very good about it...

 

[dafthoss]

DH - Fergie's used to them and I think he would have a meltdown if he met the herd alone Poor speshul doesn't even know what these things are!

No fair your just making me more jealous of the amazing fergs

We should do another pony play date when I'm back.

 

[JFTDWS]

Yes we should... Perhaps speshul could teach him how to jump properly!

 

[dafthoss]

Yeah Special had to teach him self all I did was tell him what one and let him do the rest but he has got on the rc team dont know how .