Saturday 9 August 2014

Critters and Doors

When we moved in the back door left a lot to be desired
Inside view 
Outside view 
It was an old rickety sliding door and the bottom had rotted away and left a big hole open to the elements, first day, hubby found a piece of wood to cover the hole, at some point we want to refurbish the utility room new roof and windows and I would like a nice wooden stable door, but in the meantime hubby has picked up a door off ebay and fitted it this morning. 
Yes it may be a front door but it serves a better purpose that the bit of rotten wood that was there, at least we are bit more weather proof on the back of the house. 
The other week when I was watering stuff I went to use the water that was in the water barrel, looked inside and thought I saw a big snail sitting over the water outlet, it was dusk and the water level was low, the critter then moved and I realised it wasn't a snail but this little fella 
I tipped the barrel on its side crawled inside and gathered him up, he was very wet, I took him indoors to dry off and when he recovered from his ordeal we took him outside so he could be on his way 
click on the pictures to get a better view, he took off did a couple of circuits and went on his way.
Yesterday when I was checking e-mails in the living room, I caught movement in the corner of my eye my initial thought was mouse !!! I could see something dark and small moving slowly along the skirting board, upon investigation it wasn't a mouse not furry at all 
He blended in well with the carpet 
A warty toad, now what was he doing in the living room. He was put back outside were he belongs. 
I did also rescue a fledged swallow yesterday, no pictures of that one, I have had young fledged swallows flying in the house all week, its usually a case of open the windows and they soon head out again, but yesterdays one got into bother he flew straight into a sticky fly trap, his wings were stuck either side, I gently managed to prise him off it losing a couple of feathers on the way, but his wings were all stuck up and messy and he wasn't able to fly, I handed him over to K and her son they washed him and put him put to dry in a safe place, when we checked a few hours he was gone so we assume he took flight again, I have now taken down the sticky fly traps don't want to be rescuing any more young birds.

14 comments:

  1. S.O.S animal rescue!
    I would love to see a bat up close and personal

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    1. I have only ever seen them flying about before, I love to see them about a real sign of summer :-)

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  2. After a recent trip to Wales I have just found your blog which is very timely! We are waiting for our youngest to finish school (one more year) before we embark on our next move to the country...either New Zealand or now Wales (having fallen in love with the country) So much to think about and do and huge decisions to make. I have just read all your posts from when you moved in to your new home and are very impressed with how much you have achieved in just one month - you really must be super woman. Very encouraging indeed!

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    1. Big descision to make, I had a quick look at your blogs very interesting:-)

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    2. Ha ha, yes interesting could be a word to describe them!

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  3. Definitely a big improvement on the door front!! As someone who has recently had a new back door to replace the rotting one - nowhere near as bad as yours - I can appreciate why you appreciate your new door so much! It is so nice to be weathertight and secure isn't it. xx

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    1. I refuse to work with snow swirling around my ankles, :-) I dont do drafts either

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    2. Snow would definitely be too much for me too. Not this last winter, but the one before, I am sure that we had snow coming in through ours - something was causing the wet in any case! xx

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  4. I think you could open your own petting zoo at this rate.

    I love the fact your on Ebay for a temporary door, we would do exactly the same. I think your both amazing and I don't know where you get your energy from. The bats and frogs will be picking you up soon ;)

    I love your posts, keep them coming x

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    1. Hubby often looks on ebay for stuff, I tend to frequent preloved :-)

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  5. Lovely pictures of the nature around your place. A word of warning - people (internet people especially) can be funny about bats - it's an offence to touch some of them in the UK and if people know that they are nesting or living in your buildings, even if you have their best interests in mind, you can be band from going in that area or from developing it further. I like bats but it's best not to talk about them, we've had plenty of building jobs where bats have added a lot of cost to certain jobs! A good example is if you put up a bat box. Once it's up your not aloud to open it for fear of disturbing a bat. That alos means that unless you pay for a bat person to come round then you can't take one down either! There are lots of bat related rules coming from the EU where numbers are low even though they are doing well in this country.
    Good idea on the door. We need a new front one and I hadn't really thought of eBay for it. Must have a look!

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    1. Thanks for the warning, in normal circumstances we would interfere with bats, but this was was stuck in the barrel partly submerged in water. The building were checked for bats and they are free from roosting bats. When we have finished our extension work we have a bat box to put up, but it wont be until all work is finished.

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  6. Well done for all your rescuing. I have rescued creatures many times, even abroad whilst on holiday.

    Jean x

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    1. we have done the odd rescue while on holiday, :-)

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