Hi everyone, a big Merry Christmas to everyone! We are already half way through out Christmas Day Downunder and it is a lovely sunny and warm day in my little part of the world. Hope you all have a fabulous day when it arrives for you!!! ♥
We were going to go for a drive today but this happened ................
Hubby and I had planned on going for drive today, I roasted a chicken last night which we had for dinner and then packed some to take today, along with some salad. Then later in the evening I heard hubby rush past my craft room door and out the back door......... opposite our kitchen window a pair of blackbirds have made a nest in the top of one of the tree ferns we have growing along the fence. We have been watching both parents come and feed three little chicks in the nest. Hubby has his computer set up in the dining room area and he heard the birds start to squawk and carry on around 10.00pm and when he went and looked through the window there was a big rat attacking the nest!!!!!!!! Which caused him to race out the back door and down the side of the house to chase the rotten thing away! (Sorry Chris, this wasn't a little cute rat, it was a big ugly one! lol!) When I came out our four little fox terriers were going berserk in the garden chasing the rat!!
Unfortunately the rat killed two of the little chicks but one was still alive........... the parent birds never came back after the attack so hubby placed the nest with the little chick in it on the kitchen window sill, against the fly screen and rigged up a floodlight inside the kitchen on the window sill to direct the heat from the globe onto the chick to keep it warm (it doesn't have many feathers at all). We couldn't put the nest back in it's original spot in case the rat came back to get the remaining chick. Hubby also set a rat trap on the other side of the fence (so our dogs wouldn't trigger it).
We both stayed up late checking on the chick and personally I didn't think it would survive the night, all on it's own. However, it was still alive when we got up this morning and very hungry. Reg checked the trap and it had caught the rat (and it was a big one) so he moved the nest back onto the original spot but to date neither of the chick's parents have been back. It started to squeak a bit and open it's mouth, no doubt hungry. Reg squashed up some dog food for it and fed it (the male blackbird often pinches the dog food late in the evening when the dogs have been fed) and has been doing that most of the day now so we are not sure what else we can do. We are still hoping that the parents come back though.
Anyways, when we got up this morning we were both tired so we didn't go on our planned drive, but we can do that another day, just hoping the little chicky pulls through okay.
We were going to go for a drive today but this happened ................
Hubby and I had planned on going for drive today, I roasted a chicken last night which we had for dinner and then packed some to take today, along with some salad. Then later in the evening I heard hubby rush past my craft room door and out the back door......... opposite our kitchen window a pair of blackbirds have made a nest in the top of one of the tree ferns we have growing along the fence. We have been watching both parents come and feed three little chicks in the nest. Hubby has his computer set up in the dining room area and he heard the birds start to squawk and carry on around 10.00pm and when he went and looked through the window there was a big rat attacking the nest!!!!!!!! Which caused him to race out the back door and down the side of the house to chase the rotten thing away! (Sorry Chris, this wasn't a little cute rat, it was a big ugly one! lol!) When I came out our four little fox terriers were going berserk in the garden chasing the rat!!
Unfortunately the rat killed two of the little chicks but one was still alive........... the parent birds never came back after the attack so hubby placed the nest with the little chick in it on the kitchen window sill, against the fly screen and rigged up a floodlight inside the kitchen on the window sill to direct the heat from the globe onto the chick to keep it warm (it doesn't have many feathers at all). We couldn't put the nest back in it's original spot in case the rat came back to get the remaining chick. Hubby also set a rat trap on the other side of the fence (so our dogs wouldn't trigger it).
We both stayed up late checking on the chick and personally I didn't think it would survive the night, all on it's own. However, it was still alive when we got up this morning and very hungry. Reg checked the trap and it had caught the rat (and it was a big one) so he moved the nest back onto the original spot but to date neither of the chick's parents have been back. It started to squeak a bit and open it's mouth, no doubt hungry. Reg squashed up some dog food for it and fed it (the male blackbird often pinches the dog food late in the evening when the dogs have been fed) and has been doing that most of the day now so we are not sure what else we can do. We are still hoping that the parents come back though.
Anyways, when we got up this morning we were both tired so we didn't go on our planned drive, but we can do that another day, just hoping the little chicky pulls through okay.
