Who am I?

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An individual, of no great importance, who is unable to see the natural world as a place for competition. I catch fish, watch birds, derive immense pleasure from simply looking at butterflies, moths, bumble-bees, etc - without the need for rules! I am Dylan and this is my blog - if my opinions offend? Don't bother logging on again - simple!

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Thursday, 20 July 2023

Can't have one without the other

I've not made any accurate measurements, but would think that I actually own (according to the property deeds) slightly less than a 1/10 th of an acre which includes the land occupied by the bungalow itself. Whilst that is more than enough grass to cut, when pushing a mower around, it does cause a few issues when attempting to make the most of the local wildlife opportunities. Running a 125w MV moth trap whilst also maintaining a Hedgehog feeding station, in such a limited area, is never going to be without a conflict of interest? No avoiding the simple fact that Hedgehogs will eat moths when the opportunity arises.  I do have a wire mesh fence, with a 7ft diameter, surrounding my trap, yet moths which land on the grass outside this barrier are beyond my help unless I happen to be watching the garden when they pitch down.

Moth killers, or not, I can't see a time when I won't encourage these
wonderful creatures to visit my garden.

Since the start of June I know that  Elephant (7),  Privet (3) and Eyed (1) Hawk-moths have fallen foul of these spiny garden visitors, plus a number of Yellow Underwing sp. and other odd noctuid-type moths. I suppose I could construct an even larger diameter fence, but where do you draw the line? Hedgehogs around the local gardens are a real success story and a constant source of enjoyment for all of us involved in the "Hedgehog Street" monitoring program. That I am also, very much, enjoying the garden moth trapping means that this conflict of interests will remain as I'm not prepared to give up on either aspect of garden wildlife watching. 


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