Saturday 31 May 2008

Garden visitors



I can't really think of anyone or anything I'd love to see more of in my garden than hedgehogs. When I was a kid, there were two families living in the far back of the garden and they used to come and help themselves with all the cat food, milk and dog food leftovers we have 'accidentally' been hiding away from cats and dogs ;-). Even though they are nocturnal animals, they would come during the day, and you could hear them munching away in the little 'take away' we made for them in the bushes. A few years ago, after house restoration and army of workers storming through the garden and with all the waste thrown about, they have found a safer home somewhere in the neighborhood. Many roads and many new buildings have been built since then, and their habitat has become significantly smaller. And their life significantly more dangerous, especially with the roads and all. Apart from our property and the neighbors, there's not much around us other than concrete and more concrete. It's sad really, without thinking about how much it affects wildlife, I still felt sad to see all that wonderful greenery and old cottage gardens turn into concrete monsters. Thinking about all the little creatures that lost their homes, it's even more dispiriting. I don't even know why I wonder how all the moles and company mess up my lawn...there's not many more lawns to choose from.


Last couple of years they have returned, bit by bit, especially with cat food being left outside for Kristy & Krusty's friends. The other night they were really noisy (it could be that they prefer Whiskas to Kitekat so they made all the noise in protest), actually I think it was a ma or pa and a young one and they were showing him where to find food for free. And then the next day I spotted this young dude or dudette while watering the veg garden. They usually roll up into a ball, but this one seemed quite naive. I went back in for a better camera, but obviously when I came back, the lil bugger was gone, nowhere to be seen. All in all, made my day.

So did the butterfly...


One of the rare guests in the garden was this Pine marten last summer; a lightning smashed down a massive old tree in the neighborhood, where this brave animal used to live so it just showed up in our garden, jumping from trees to trees, like Tarzan himself, eating pears along the way. I wasn't sure what it was at first, until I took a good shot of it.

Pine Marten(Martes martes) : habitat: mostly forests, but has lost a part of the living space due to decreasement of forestry areas. Present all over Croatia, but is most frequent in forests of the mountain areas. Neck and chest are of yellow/white coloured hair, while the top of the snout is black. Active day and night in forestry areas, a good climber and jumper and stays in the holes. Feeds on small mammals, rodents, birds (young ones and eggs), insects, but various vegetable fruits too. Often killed for it's beautiful fur; its population is decreasing rapidly and is now locally protected.



7 komentari:

gintoino said...

WOW, to have a pine marten in your garden! The are beautiful animals. I used to have a hedgehog around here but not anymore (unfortunately, since I love them). Birds are much more frequent visitors now that the vegetable gardening is growing. They are good because they take care of some garden pests like cabbage caterpillars. Isn't it rewarding to have nature coming into your garden?

Anonymous said...

Ne znam da li smo ikada imali jeza u vrtu, ne ostavljamo hranu jer bi se sigurno sve druge zivotinje prve pogozbile. Naime imamo problema s jazavcem koji prolazi kroz nas vrt prema susjedovom gdje uvijek ima puno hrane, a pri tom nam izbusi masu rupa u nasem vrtu.
Lisice vidimo usrijed bijela dana , a vidjeli smo jednu prije tjedan, dva kako je odnijela dvije susjedove koke.
Mi se sada jako veselimo nasim resident guskama i guscicima koji se vec hrane jako blizu nas ali im se ne priblizavamo previse jer su mama i tata uvijek vokalni u svom negodovanju.
Ovi tvoji jezevi izgledaju bas zdravo.

Ewa said...

wow, hedghog in the garden is a true blessing :) I saw one in my garden as well - last summer. It just came and go :( didn't want to stay :)
I never saw pine martens before - it looks cute.
Greetings,
E.

Anonymous said...

It is true madness! How on earth could any human being kill an animal for its fur! I would not be "caught dead" as they say, cloaked in a dead animal! And I agree, all around me is development. Doesn't anyone ever think of the animals they're spiriting out of homes?
Brenda

Bramblemoon Farm said...

My daughter and I had such fun reading and looking at your blog. We've been reading Peter Rabbit and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is one of her favorites. We don't have hedgehogs here and we LOVED looking at yours. She also loved the pine marten. We'll have to read about them. Thanks so much for the photos and post!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Violet !
Wow .. I haven't been here in a while and you have done some amazing things : )
I was watching your UTube videos of the garden but i had to turn the music off (I loved it but Sophie and Emma freaked out .. I know .. too funny .. kids, what can you do with them ?)
The hedgehog always remind me of B. Potter (I have a collection of her stories in small books .. guess I am a kid that won't grow up over that ? )..
The roses are stunning .. I hope to see some of mine in the next month .. the weather has been weird for May .. every one's weather has been weird it seems.
Hope you are well and enjoying your gorgeous garden !
Joy

Viooltje said...

@ Gintoino: do I need to say another word? You've said it all. Truly a priceless reward.

@ Zvrk: vase guskice su zakon, nije ni cudo da imate sve te silne posjete, znaju i oni gdje im je najljepse. Na kraju krajeva, i živite na prekrasnoj lokaciji, okruženi prirodom pa nije ni čudo da i priroda dolazi u posjet vama :-)

@ Ewa: yes, they are certainly a blessing, I can't even describe the joy of finding out that they have returned to my garden

@ Brenda: it is as disheartening to me as it is to you, but unfortunately those inhuman people obviously have a different opinion. How tragic!

@ Brenda Hyde: thank you so much for your visit and I'm glad you've enjoyed it

@ Joy: I see, your little sharp-clawed menaces don't like my musical choice. LOL. Fine! I'll forgive them this time. And you're so right, everyone's weather has been so weird. I've been busy with exams for a while, and just when I got rid of the nuisance and prepared to take on the garden joys, the rain came down heavily, and I'm nothing but a whining, waterlogged gardener now, stuck inside, spilling my frustrations over the blogosphere.
Kristy & Krusty wave back at Kit & Kaboodle, hoping they are doing just as fine.

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