Mice!

@garjo live catch trap bellow the hedge or a kill trap enclosed enough that only the rat can get in, fat balls with some chocolate spread on them, I'll bet you've caught it within a few days. I would also put a fat ball feeder above the trap. I would also ask the neighbour to only feed sunflower hearts or crushed nuts, general bird seed will always get thrown out by the birds looking for the good bits which will attract rats.

Builders and other trades around here are flat out, absolutely rammed.

I've been feeding mixed seed and poultry feed, it's cheaper simple as that, I found that instead of sitting up nice giving you 6-8 seconds while they ate a nut they were like pigs at a trough, plus they might suddenly twitch or move, I started adding a handful of nuts the morning I shoot , few on the ledge and in the feeder, brings the birds in then the squirrels, big difference in the time you get to place your shot.

Nice little bonus there for you.

That's certainly something a bit different while out on the squirrels.

That's good news. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/avian-influenza-bird-flu-national-prevention-zone-declared

My neighbour had a problem with rat or rats in their loft a couple of years ago, no idea why they went up there, took pest control a while to catch them though. We had the odd one around the bird feeder but nothing in the house.

Not for me though , for someone else to test them out, like I said above heavies do what I need for the distance I shoot, I am interested to see how they perform though.

I don't really get the cost issue, yes they are dearer but people are paying four figures for airguns which means cost isn't the issue, plenty of these slugs have been ordered with a couple of threads running on them, from testing to hunting and I'm sure over the next few weeks there are going to be a lot more people giving their thoughts on them. For me 30mtrs is pretty much my max so I'm happy using heavies, I think its going to be the guys who are shooting out to 50 and beyond that these slugs appeal to.

Had the pair of Bullfinches reappear yesterday on my bird feeders.

I was seeing bumblebees a couple of weeks ago, and saw a butterfly in the garden today, no idea which one, orange and brown of which there are loads.

Clear as mud, the magpies are free to plunder other birds nests but they are protected? Lots of folk have said if you're shooting magpies then keep quiet about it or be very sure you can back up your reason for doing so.

Your probably right its sour apples, yet all they are doing is sending home Brits who happily spend their money there? A relative of mine had to sell a place they had in France and wasn't happy about it at all, having a dig at anyone who had stayed there but voted leave, I've no idea why they had to sell.

Get a gazebo up and fire up the BBQ, outside is better than nothing.

I would just have posted what Pangolin has, protecting red/amber listed birds and attacking livestock are now the only reasons for controlling magpies, I doubt anyone who knows the countryside agrees but that's what we've got, so get bird spotting, I've got song thrush, Bullfinch and tree sparrow in my garden. How Mallard are on the Amber list I have no idea.

Were you a very naughty boy? Not sure if they are being sold on the bbs as well?

This is why I only feed sunflower hearts and crushed nuts in my bird feeders, very little spillage to attract rats or ferals, but the pigeons clean up any bits several times a day.

The argument is you could net those, but a farmer can't net his fields. You can shoot magpies to protect red or amber listed birds. Ferals in your garden would be a strange one, how many, are they making a mess, risk of disease?

There is a sales thread on the Agf, you need to order them from there, two packs per member.

They've been shot out of an ultra by one of the testers, but only to 25mtrs, plenty of lads ordering them, Figgy included so there will be loads of feed back on how they perform. @figgy the pigeon watch Guinea pig 😅😅

I was thinking the cost of the borer might be dearer than a day or two's labour, but that's a lot of posts.

Out of curiosity how many posts are you talking about? Would it be cheaper and easier to have everything laid out ready then have someone come in and bore the holes?

We know they wouldn't support them, that's part of the problem, too many people want to run things but who is then responsible when the yobs are burning police cars? Wonder if they could use a few green goddesses, bung in some dye and get the pressure up, few squaddies, say 40-50 to keep her safe.

So rush through there use, because of the level of violence and damage caused, that would be giving the yobs, sorry demonstrators the finger.

Absolutely, and when they get hurt and complain simply laugh in their face, if it was a peaceful law abiding protest they wouldn't be throwing rocks and fireworks would they. That one tickled me 👍