Tuesday 19 November 2013

This will not be to everyone's liking


But it will be of interest to some!

It was a nice bright day today so I decided to go and feed and film the buzzards. Buzzards like eating meat as do magpies. The problem is, magpies are so numerous they can quickly eat meat left for buzzards before any buzzards arrive, so to counter this I left dried dog food for the magpies so they would eat that instead.

As dusk arrived and I set about packing away my camera I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a squirrel out of the corner of my eye. It was heading towards some dog food the magpies could not finish off - a rare occurrence indeed! I then realised that it was not a squirrel and in actual fact it was a rat. I initially felt uneasy and immediately thought back to an incident back in September when I saw a dead rat lying in the road in a nice part of Denton.

I had never (knowingly) been this close to a live wild rat before so I decided to watch and see what happened next, and what happened next was it was soon joined by another rat. I then thought this could be interesting to observe so I set my phone to video mode and activated its bright xenon light and walked towards the dog food and not surprisingly the rats immediately fled the scene. So I waited and few minutes to see if they would be so bold as to come back while I was still there, and within minutes and they were back, and nibbling at the dried dog food. I was literally inches away when filming them and they seemed totally oblivious to the fact that I and my very bright light were close at hand.

A fear of rats seems to be hard-wired into our psyche. This probably dates back to the Bubonic Plague which was caused by fleas carried by rats. My initial encounter today definitely had me startled but after watching them at close quarters in their natural environment I now think about them in an entirely different light. And before anyone accuses me of encouraging vermin to residential areas, this was not filmed in a residential area and there are no houses in the immediate vicinity. The rats who starred in this video live in a live badger sett as does a fox. It is a strange set up and the badgers are obviously very tolerant creatures to share their sett with such interesting guests.

16 comments:

SerpentSlayer said...

Walk around Droylsden at two in the morning, the buggers are everywhere, large black wild rats on every street.

Trev said...

http://pest-vermincontrol.co.uk/droylsden-pest-control

This guy's got the same eyes said...

The same family of rodents.

Anonymous said...

Can these not be described as cunning rats that will attack when cornered which I read on your last subject.
Just to expose the TOTAL LIES put on this Blog Site
these EXACT following words in a correspondence from Councillors Brenda Warrington,Councillor Smith and Councillor D.Lane with the backing of Andrew Gwynne to an organisation.
I Quote the EXACT words sent by these 3 Denton Councillors and the Gwynne MP
" THE A57 IS A MAIN ROAD INTO MANCHESTER CITY CENTRE AND IS EXTREMELY HEAVILY CONGESTED.YOU MAY BE AWARE THAT THE M60/M67/A57 INTERCHANGE IS ONE OF THE MOST CONGESTED AND POLLUTED IN THE NORTH WEST.
It seems Tameside is full of these evasive creatures

Anonymous said...

Andrew Gwynne: Should we not be frankly appalled that although the Prime
Minister pledged at the last election not to close Sure Start centres,
since the election an average of three Sure Start centres a week have
closed? There are now 35,000 fewer child care places at a time when
there are 125,000 more under-fours.

Opposition Day - [12th allotted day] - Child Care (19 Nov 2013)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2013-11-19a.1120.0&s=speaker%3A11531#g1129.0
Andrew Gwynne: Reports suggest that the Government will not meet their
own target of supplying child care places to the 40% most-deprived
two-year-olds in the country, so will the Minister be open and
transparent with the House? Will she meet that target-yes or no?

A definite member of the House of Commons BARMY ARMY,so who are producing all the kids Mr Gwynne could it be the Labourite Voters,The Illegal Immigrants,the accepted Immigrants and the next load due to land in 2014
ie etc.
Your lot started the rot pal and in partnership created the extra kids,so stop whining about what you created and deposited on the UK`s limited resources.
Amazing how this individual "never accepts"blame for anything he is involved with,could it be the next coming of the Messiah amongst us, or just a devious Israeli supporting opportunist who sits nodding at every word spoken by his disgraced Commons mate Andy Burnham
JH

John Ratsinburger said...

TC, as you clearly love ALL living creatures I'll happily find you some cockroaches to set up a nice infestation.
Rats are disease infested vermin that breed at a prodigious rate. Females can produce up to five litters a year as the gestation period is only 21 days, litters generally range from seven to fourteen. The pups reach sexual maturity 35 days later (you see where this is going). Rats are a highly adaptable and successful species, latest estimates suggest that there are 11 million of them in the UK and that you are never more tham 160 ft from one. 20 million rats and mice are killed as pests each year, which demonstrates what would happen if this mega fertile and fruitful species was left to its own devices.
Conversely domestic rats make very good pets. They are disease free, active, curious and interesting in this context, far better than hamsters, guinea pigs etc.

Anonymous said...

BNP membership two years ago had plummeted to 4000 from a peak of 14000 in 2009. I would be interested to know its current level.

Charles Dickens said...

There seems to be a general reluctance with some around here to accept the fact that the motor vehicle is simply a fact of modern life.

Roads are also a fact of life and that I'm afraid also happens to include busy congested roads.

Whatever ill effects the advent of the motor vehicle may have brought, it is easily outweighed by the benefits especially those relating to human health.

It would be a bit daft of someone to complain about congestion and pollution having chosen to live right beside spaghetti junction.

Similarly, those living in a town located right beside a major route into and out of a large city might appreciate the fact that we can't be expected to return back to quaint Dickensian horse and cart modus any time soon.

Anonymous said...

LABOUR CALLS FOR FOCUS ON CLEAN AIR

Stockport Labour Group has called for councillors to support tackling air pollution and to maintain air quality monitoring.

The Labour Group has tabled a motion for the next Stockport Council Meeting on 28th November 2013 which highlights the health impacts of air pollution and calls for the Government to drop plans to weaken air quality monitoring.

Under Government plans [1], the legal duty for Local Authorities to monitor air quality will be scrapped. This would weaken the ability of councils to collect evidence which has been used to monitor damaging pollution and to achieve improvements in transport.

We here in Offerton don`t seem to have the problems you have but we have some people who care.

Anonymous said...

Most interesting report so TMBC
state "what pollution" we cannot find it the countryside field where we stuck ours.Yeh but your a bunch of consistent liars
as we all know and your Councillors think we live too long.
The UK accepts that under its current air-quality plans, London will not meet its legal limit to reduce NO2 pollution until 2025. Most other urban regions and cities, including Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow, will not comply until 2020. Greater Manchester’s own modeling work paints a similar picture of exceedences beyond 2020 in some areas.
Joe Hennon, spokesman for EU environment commissioner, says that no action has been taken against any country yet, but we are working our way through different countries. After reviewing all the member states plans the EU will make a decision on what infringement action to take.
The Supreme Court confirmed that the Government is in breach of the EU Air Quality Directive leaving the UK open to enforcement action at the national or European level. In passing judgement, the Supreme Court says that it raises ‘difficult issues of European law’ requiring further guidance from the European courts and opens it the possibility of formal action.
Non Smoker Tameside

Anonymous said...

LABOUR CALLS FOR FOCUS ON CLEAN AIR

Stockport Labour Group has called for councillors to support tackling air pollution and to maintain air quality monitoring.

The Labour Group has tabled a motion for the next Stockport Council Meeting on 28th November 2013 which highlights the health impacts of air pollution and calls for the Government to drop plans to weaken air quality monitoring.

Under Government plans [1], the legal duty for Local Authorities to monitor air quality will be scrapped. This would weaken the ability of councils to collect evidence which has been used to monitor damaging pollution and to achieve improvements in transport.

Cllr Philip Harding, who is moving the motion at Full Council, commented: “Air pollution is a risk to public health. Stockport and the wider Greater Manchester area is not meeting legal limits for pollutants and we need to be taking serious action to improve the situation.

Don`t get caught out Stockport put your monitor in Lyme Park. luvvly jubbly but watch out for Deer Shit

Anonymous said...

Furthermore, LAQM is very administrative and report and diagnosis driven. It also does not usually take into account compliance with EU limit values. However, we face a significant challenge in meeting health based EU limits for air quality and also a significant infraction risk arising from that. It is therefore perhaps more important that local authorities focus their actions on what is needed to achieve these obligations and to reduce the public health impacts of poor air quality rather than to continue their current focus on local assessment and reporting.

MISTAKE
The last word in this Government News Release
should read LYING

Anonymous said...


Another somewhat more refined comment from a TMBC puppet.Charles Dickens

However Charles Dickens was addicted to the smoking of Opium which regularly clouded his mind regarding reality.
............................
Charles Dickens said..
Whatever ill effects the advent of the motor vehicle may have brought, it is easily outweighed by the benefits especially those relating to human health.
It would be a bit daft of someone to complain about congestion and pollution having chosen to live right beside spaghetti junction.
Similarly, those living in a town located right beside a major route into and out of a large city might appreciate the fact that we can't be expected to return back to quaint Dickensian horse and cart modus any time soon.
.......................

Having lived in this region for more than 42 years I am amazed now learning from Mr.Dickens that I reside close to in excess of 400,000 daily vehicles which Charles Dickens says I should have known when I moved here 42 plus years ago.
The ramblings from Mr Charles Dickens suggests to me his pipe effects ensure his brain is far apart from his head.
Yet another supporter of Cancers.Heart,Lung Dementia diseases etc etc etc akin to what Tameside Councillors hope will increase deaths and diseases.
The benefits you refer to must also include the latest Epidemiological reports which state life long high blood pressure can now also be attributed to air pollution.
Time for your pipe Mr.Charles Dickens.
In confidence what is your telephone extension at TMBC Charles.

J.Hall


MK X Jag said...

The car IS an excellent, flexible, quick and convenient form of transport. The problem isn't the car, it's the fact that there are too many of them, caused directly by the fact that there are too many people in the UK and particularly in England.
The solution is a mathematically calculated population reduction and stabilisation formula. This will directly impact all the increasing number of serious problems, from congestion, pollution, overcrowding, economic harm, social discord, strain on our infrastructure, benefits system and the NHS etc currently afflicting our nation.
On a separate but closely linked issue, as the immigrant led population continues to explode all these problems will worsen. An essential part of the solution is to STOP all but absolutely necessary immigration, especially from those groups, cultures and countries who have large families and those that refuse to integrate.
There are strong rumours that even David 'I won't touch immigration with a five hundred foot pole' Cameron has been increasingly assailed by his backbenchers and party bigwigs still IN TOUCH with reality and political survival, to take action to prevent the imminent(41 days and counting) massive inrush of Romanians and Bulgarians, and that a vote on the issue putting back their entry rights by five years may be taken in parliament within a few weeks. The cause of this establishment fear can be attributed directly to increasing popularity and in particular their massive share of the vote in last May's parliamentary by-election and county council elections, both of which were totally unprecedented.

Anonymous said...

Hall the human race and its overwhelming population is the problem causes pollution. I don't much share you enthusiasm to save it. Let us get on with it sooner the better for the planet.

MK X Jag said...

That should be: 'can be attributed directly to UKIP'S increasing popularity...'.