Nature on your farm.

Base price

ganmo wrote: »

The fur on him in the first pic is cub like

He looks awfully big for a cub. Must be lots of food in the area to get him that big.

Rows Grower

ganmo wrote: »

The fur on him in the first pic is cub like

My thoughts exactly.

Rows Grower

Base price wrote: »

He looks awfully big for a cub. Must be lots of food in the area to get him that big.

There are reports of cubs are being born earlier every year for the last couple of decades so he could easily be 6 months old.

As well as the fur, to my eye his actual stockiness is a sign that it is a cub as well. Once they have a good food supply and of course good genetics they often tend to pack on a lot of muscle early in life before they start to get leaner later on.

That's just my own opinion from my own personal experiences and I have not one shred of scientific evidence or data from studies to back it up.

AckwelFoley

https://youtu.be/lOKuCHhp6Jk

Caught this on our security cameras a few weeks ago.

Beautiful bird

ganmo

Have a few mushrooms here too

Lime Tree Farm

ganmo wrote: »

Have a few mushrooms here too

When they are younger, they are supposed to edible. Though I wouldn't be taking that chance.

ganmo

I've a video of a hedge alive with bees too that I'll have to post here too

_Brian

Have put some of these up before.


https://youtu.be/_vo4kJtIBgs

https://youtu.be/Na-dN1VPUi0

https://youtu.be/bGo0d1CgTJM

https://youtu.be/6o1gphz04uU

https://youtu.be/iSXgS98oP88

https://youtu.be/VLvdvXDR1Kc

whelan2

A fox club. I almost thought it was a statue it didnt move until I got right up beside it

Buford T. Justice XIX

https://twitter.com/BSBI_Ireland/status/1273961001352859648?s=19

minerleague

Was watching ecoeye on rte last week ( repeat?) about decline in bird numbers in the last 20 years and loss of habitat was given as the main cause. later on there was an ad for one of the discount supermarkets ( family x saved this much etc) and i wonder do non farmers see the link between cheaper commodities (food, clothes etc) and farmers worldwide having to chase every acre

kollegeknight

Brother found this walking to his site. Water flowing a little on the road from a drain. About 50 meters away from a stream. Black with a pale belly.

Anyone know what it is?

forgottenhills

kollegeknight wrote: »

Brother found this walking to his site. Water flowing a little on the road from a drain. About 50 meters away from a stream. Black with a pale belly.

Anyone know what it is?

Would that possibly be a slow worm? A legless lizard not native to Ireland by released in the Burren in the 1970's.

Slow worm in Ireland.

Base price

kollegeknight wrote: »

Brother found this walking to his site. Water flowing a little on the road from a drain. About 50 meters away from a stream. Black with a pale belly.

Anyone know what it is?

It's hard to see properly and at first I thought it was an eel but the shape is wrong. I think it might be a New Zealand flat worm.

kollegeknight

Base price wrote: »

It's hard to see properly and at first I thought it was an eel but the shape is wrong. I think it might be a New Zealand flat worm.

I had thought the same, about another 50 meters, I spread slurry on a silage field and thought it might have brought it up.

But my brothers boot is about 30cm and google says they grow to 17cm

kollegeknight

I popped over looking for it. It’s still alive and hasn’t moved from there. It has fins and tail looks like an eels.

They are hardly common around here. So would I be right?

Odelay

Pick it up and let us see

Lime Tree Farm

kollegeknight wrote: »

I popped over looking for it. It’s still alive and hasn’t moved from there. It has fins and tail looks like an eels.

They are hardly common around here. So would I be right?

I think you are right that it's an eel. They can travel over land from steams to ponds. I remember seeing some in a fresh water concrete cattle trough, (scary looking creatures).

Base price

It’s a eel. Pick it up and put it back into the stream if you can keep hold of it. They are very slimy and difficult to hold. It won’t bite you. Btw they are protected and unfortunately numbers are decreasing.

kollegeknight

Definitely an eel. Gathered him in a bucket to show the small lads at home. My 5yo loves nature so w do extra school work based on animals we meet.

My OH and mother were the only ones screamish.

Back in the stream now.

Say my name

kollegeknight wrote: »

Definitely an eel. Gathered him in a bucket to show the small lads at home. My 5yo loves nature so w do extra school work based on animals we meet.

My OH and mother were the only ones screamish.

Back in the stream now.

Why didn't you eat him?

Lime Tree Farm

Say my name wrote: »

Why didn't you eat him?

The taste better if you cook them first.

Directions
Clean and skin the eel, and then cut it into chunks. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, seasonings, oil, garlic, onion, and pepper. ...
Dredge the marinated eel in flour. In a saute pan over medium heat, sear the eel until golden brown, about 7 minutes.

kollegeknight

Say my name wrote: »

Why didn't you eat him?

Are they not protected now?
To be honest, I’ve only eaten them once as a young lad.

I’m surprised anything is living in the stream with all the forestry in our area.

Lady Haywire

I'm pretty sure eel is protected now!
I've eaten it before in sushi, very oily & strong but I quite liked it. Apparently there's big ones in the lake beside me, but not fished for very often as they have to do it at night.

Say my name

kollegeknight wrote: »

Are they not protected now?
To be honest, I’ve only eaten them once as a young lad.

I’m surprised anything is living in the stream with all the forestry in our area.

I'm with you.

I just had to get that question out of my system based on if my father seen that it'd be his first question.
I wouldn't have a clue what to do with an eel or haven't even eaten one.
It's a thing that the present generation wouldn't have a clue about. Either catching or preparing or eating.
It's the changes in land and water management both urban and rural that must have numbers down.

My father lived on them in drains in the Sow river in this county as a teenager.

Rows Grower

That poor shagger was born all the ways over in the Saragossa sea near the Bahamas before it made its way here to Ireland and will travel back there again to spawn.

Base price

They have a remarkable life. They are born in the Sargossa Sea and spend up to two years drifting on the currents before making their way to our/European rivers to live in freshwater streams and rivers for up to 15 years after which they head back out to the open ocean to the Sargossa Sea to spawn and die.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/nature-diary-european-eels-1.3464652

kollegeknight

Say my name wrote: »

I'm with you.

I just had to get that question out of my system based on if my father seen that it'd be his first question.
I wouldn't have a clue what to do with an eel or haven't even eaten one.
It's a thing that the present generation wouldn't have a clue about. Either catching or preparing or eating.
It's the changes in land and water management both urban and rural that must have numbers down.

My father lived on them in drains in the Sow river in this county as a teenager.

The only experience was a Sligo man was married to a neighbour and when he came home from England every year, he’d go fishing for a few weeks.

So i got to try some when be brought it to the neighbour. That was at least 25 years ago.


Just saw a bold fox crossing the front window.

A neighbour caught and dispatched, a mink and 4 cubs. They killed 11 of his pigeons.

Base price

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

The taste better if you cook them first.

Directions
Clean and skin the eel, and then cut it into chunks. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, seasonings, oil, garlic, onion, and pepper. ...
Dredge the marinated eel in flour. In a saute pan over medium heat, sear the eel until golden brown, about 7 minutes.

As a young child I tasted fried eel cause my Grandad was eating it at the time. In more recent times I ate jellied eel and tbh I wouldn't try it again.

Water John

Lime Tree Farm wrote: »

The taste better if you cook them first.

Directions
Clean and skin the eel, and then cut it into chunks. In a large bowl, mix together 1 cup flour, seasonings, oil, garlic, onion, and pepper. ...
Dredge the marinated eel in flour. In a saute pan over medium heat, sear the eel until golden brown, about 7 minutes.

If deciding to eat, kill it first. Skinning alive would be cruel!!

Remember a short story in school of silvery eels crossing the road making their way to a stream.