flattened

Maudi

hi guys ..im often out in the fields round where im from (i do a bit of foraging for homemade wine..elderflower..blackberrys later) this eve in a field of lovely tall oats(ithink)icame across a track thru the crop it ended in an area of completely flattened crop roughly oval about 5x2meters...also a cupla tracks that ran into the crop a meter or so and came to a dead end...if noticed these clearings a couple of times over the years and while i dont think we have deer here...is it maybe fox or badger playing?curious ..any ideas?

Kess73

If you could take a pic of the track/tracks, then maybe folk could throw a few ideas at you.

The flattened clearing was approx 5m by 2m with one steady track/trail leading to it? That sounds more like a human than an animal tbh.

Maudi

Kess73 wrote: »

If you could take a pic of the track/tracks, then maybe folk could throw a few ideas at you.

The flattened clearing was approx 5m by 2m with one steady track/trail leading to it? That sounds more like a human than an animal tbh.

yea..one would expect the under neath to be flattened if it was fox or badger i suppose..and it is as if someone taller walked thru it..because of where it is i feel its not kids..and im using my phone and for the life of me cant upload photos to boards (samsung galzxy s)

Kess73

Knowing roughly what part of the country you saw it would help as well, but I am still leaning it being human made. One single and very obvious trail in through the crop coupled with a wide area (5m by 2m) of totally flattened crop is not a badger or fox.


I have seen deer make similar looking trails and flattened areas in crop areas, but there should be signs of them like droppings, tracks, browsing damage in the area, fraying damage in the area and maybe some bark stripping nearby.

There is a webpage that has some pretty good illustrations with regards to identifying deer droppings, tracks etc for UK based deer, and I know the species in Ireland will be on the same site. Will have a look for the site and post a link to it here so you can have a look (or print out the dropping and track pics) so that you can check the area for any sign of deer.

Kess73

Found what I was looking for.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/PDF/fcpn6.pdf/$FILE/fcpn6.pdf


Have a read through it and it might help you spot something in the area, or it might eliminate deer as a suspect.

Maudi

Kess73 wrote: »

Found what I was looking for.

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/PDF/fcpn6.pdf/$FILE/fcpn6.pdf


Have a read through it and it might help you spot something in the area, or it might eliminate deer as a suspect.

greystones .wicklow..dont think we'dhave deer here although theres loads in the hills a short distance away..kids im doubtful of too cos its in my line of sight (the area) a lot...and i dont see em around...too big like you said for fox n badgers..i did check for hair of both and nothing....i oft wonder is there any sort of wind down draught would cause these areas...

Alun

I've seen a deer on the side of the road on the Greystones side of Windgates Hill, so they are about.

Half-cocked

Alun wrote: »

I've seen a deer on the side of the road on the Greystones side of Windgates Hill, so they are about.

There are resident Sika deer in Kilruddery Estate, so there's bound to be others around the area.

swifts need our help!

Crop circle maybe?

Maudi

swifts need our help! wrote: »

Crop circle maybe?

i was wondering how long it would take lol....its not that im dissing crop circles it just that these are too 'untidy'...personally i think its summat to do with down draughts..

Mothman

Oats are usually either standing or flat! They end up flat because the straw is too weak to hold the weight above. this is usually not an issue when dry but when wet and particularly combined with wind, this can drive a crop down. This can be localised to a small area which may be an overlap in nutrient application. Too much nutrients(fertiliser) results in more rank growth and weaker straw.

Badgers can make good tracks. They are low and relatively broad and crop will not stand back up once a badger has pushed through

Kess73

Mothman wrote: »

Oats are usually either standing or flat! They end up flat because the straw is too weak to hold the weight above. this is usually not an issue when dry but when wet and particularly combined with wind, this can drive a crop down. This can be localised to a small area which may be an overlap in nutrient application. Too much nutrients(fertiliser) results in more rank growth and weaker straw.

Badgers can make good tracks. They are low and relatively broad and crop will not stand back up once a badger has pushed through

Would be a bit of a coincidence though, if it was the crop falling by itself, to have a single pretty prominent track leading to the one spot where there is an oval flattened patch.

My gut instinct would be a person or persons heading in with maybe a few cans, and flattening the area they sat in.


I really could not see a badger or even a group of badgers flattening such a wide area and not leaving scat and leaving only one track in or out.

recedite

Kess73 wrote: »

That sounds more like a human than an animal tbh.

Or a pair of humans engaging in courtship behaviour....

Kess73

recedite wrote: »

Or a pair of humans engaging in courtship behaviour....

Hmmmmmmm

Flattened crops in Wicklow.

Your location is listed as Wicklow.

You trying to tell us something



:pac:

jellybaby21

It might be a bit early but it could be someone shooting pigeons and they had decoys in that area. That could be why you have the track into that area.