Signal Crayfish Killer

[Hudds Lad]

2 hours ago, haggis said:

Several times on this holiday when walking back from the pub or when walking the dog in the dark lights come on when we pass a moored boat. I assume this is some sort of camera system and I am sorely tempted to  do a wee dance or make rude gestures 😄. Common sense has so far prevailed ! 

Solar powered security lights at a guess, something like below.

 

[haggis]

Getting back to the original post we moored in Wrenbury last night and we have just found several red splodges on the roof. A close inspection revealed several  red berries ( hawthorn?) In each splodge. The splodges are dried now but they were obviously sort of liquid when they hit the roof.

There were a lot of squawking ducks in the canal last night but do they eat hawthorn berries ? 

Any idea what our visitors were ? 

 

[Hudds Lad]

47 minutes ago, haggis said:

There were a lot of squawking ducks in the canal last night but do they eat hawthorn berries ? 

Any idea what our visitors were ? 

A lot of birds eat them, my money would be on Sparrows or Chaffinches as most likely candidates

[haggis]

58 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

A lot of birds eat them, my money would be on Sparrows or Chaffinches as most likely candidates

That's a possibility but the splodges were quite big ( over an inch in diameter ) and I think sparrows and chaffinches do quite small poos. I think it was either an animal or a bigger bird

But what

[Hudds Lad]

Just now, haggis said:

That's a possibility but the splodges were quite big ( over an inch in diameter ) and I think sparrows and chaffinches do quite small poos. I think it was either an animal or a bigger bird

But what

Blackbird, Starling, Wood Pigeon etc. most hedge birds will eat them as far as i know, doubt ducks would alight in the bush to have them but probably the windfall ones in the cut would be fair game.

[ditchcrawler]

5 hours ago, haggis said:

Several times on this holiday when walking back from the pub or when walking the dog in the dark lights come on when we pass a moored boat. I assume this is some sort of camera system and I am sorely tempted to  do a wee dance or make rude gestures 😄. Common sense has so far prevailed ! 

I was sorely tempted to tell the boat moored outside the pub at Braunston that the boat opposite was watching them from at home via the boat security camera. They had posted comments on Fb

[magnetman]

I bought a 4G camera for the boat and set it with motion detection and email alerts..

 

Quite good actually although as the boat was by a public tootpath at the time it overloaded my hotmail account and stopped it working. 

 

A bonus side effect which I was unaware of is that the camera itself, which is outdoor rated, also provides a wifi hotspot and a very good one too being mounted high up. 

 

 

 

[David Mack]

14 hours ago, magnetman said:

Quite good actually although as the boat was by a public tootpath at the time

So did you get pictures of the public tooting?

[cuthound]

Today we found these small footprints, which seem to start and end by the gap between the boat and the bank.

 

Could they be otter prints?

 

For scale the paving slabs are 600mm x 600mm.

Edited October 10, 2023 by cuthound
Spillung

[Jerra]

3 hours ago, cuthound said:

Today we found these small footprints, which seem to start and end by the gap between the boat and the bank.

 

Could they be otter prints?

 

For scale the paving slabs are 600mm x 600mm.

I can't tell much from the photo on my computer but, assuming the killer is used to being in water that IMO means Otter or Mink.

 

Guessing at the scale I am thinking Mink.  Mature Otter prints are roughly 6x6cm and Mink 3x3cm.  Obviously, this varies with the individual's age, maturity, etc.

[ditchcrawler]

16 minutes ago, Jerra said:

I can't tell much from the photo on my computer but, assuming the killer is used to being in water that IMO means Otter or Mink.

 

Guessing at the scale I am thinking Mink.  Mature Otter prints are roughly 6x6cm and Mink 3x3cm.  Obviously, this varies with the individual's age, maturity, etc.

[peterboat]

32 minutes ago, Jerra said:

I can't tell much from the photo on my computer but, assuming the killer is used to being in water that IMO means Otter or Mink.

 

Guessing at the scale I am thinking Mink.  Mature Otter prints are roughly 6x6cm and Mink 3x3cm.  Obviously, this varies with the individual's age, maturity, etc.

Ww have mink on the moorings,  they are killees! We have no rats left however which is a plus at least

[magnetman]

There was a recently dead Mink in the River in the summer above the lock.

 

 

Lock keeper pulled it out with the body recovery pole. Looking closely at is something best done when it is dead.

 

They are serious animals I really would not want to meet one of these in a dark alley with limited escape options. 

 

Right vicious looking little blighter it was. 

[cuthound]

1 minute ago, magnetman said:

There was a recently dead Mink in the River in the summer above the lock.

 

 

Lock keeper pulled it out with the body recovery pole. Looking closely at is something best done when it is dead.

 

They are serious animals I really would not want to meet one of these in a dark alley with limited escape options. 

 

Right vicious looking little blighter it was. 

 

Perhaps thy will become the "hard man's" choice of pet if American Bully XL's are banned.

[magnetman]

A pet mink would be quite good. 

 

I always wondered about having a squirrel but suspect they are awkward to train properly. 

 

Squirrels are another animal best avoided in close combat situations without tools. 

 

 

The goose one is funny. 

 

Perhaps not many geese in the states?

[Stroudwater1]

11 hours ago, magnetman said:

A pet mink would be quite good. 

 

I always wondered about having a squirrel but suspect they are awkward to train properly. 

 

Squirrels are another animal best avoided in close combat situations without tools. 

 

 

The goose one is funny. 

 

Perhaps not many geese in the states?

Main tool required for close combat with a grey squirrel is a gun. Their teeth are super sharp and super fast😕 

 

The goose differential could hark back to a smaller proportion of US residents knowing that Rome was guarded by geese. However the guarding was more related to the loud noise geese made when disturbed by an intruder. Geese and swans  give a good nip, swans more so, I would steer clear of both. 

[MtB]

9 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Geese and swans  give a good nip, swans more so, I would steer clear of both. 

 

I've been 'bitten' by both and would say it is more of a surprise than painful or injuring in any way. 

 

With geese if you grab one just behind its head and turn the head around so it is looking the opposite way, they can't see you so well and calm down. Then lead them to the water edge an shove them in, to stop them attacking you. They forget what they were doing. 

[magnetman]

15 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Main tool required for close combat with a grey squirrel is a gun. Their teeth are super sharp and super fast😕 

 

The goose differential could hark back to a smaller proportion of US residents knowing that Rome was guarded by geese. However the guarding was more related to the loud noise geese made when disturbed by an intruder. Geese and swans  give a good nip, swans more so, I would steer clear of both. 

I was violently attacked by an inner London swan once when not getting away from it in my dinghy. I had had a few beers and did wonder what would happen if I did not evacuate it's security zone. For an experiment. The swan is a known rogue but I wanted to see what it would do. 

 

As soon as I took my eye off it the bird whacked me Very Hard on my elbow which was sticking out a bit as I was steering the outboard motor. 

 

It was bad. Presumably the leading edge of the wing as a sort of 'punch' or maybe using the beak. Either way it made me understand that they could potentially break an arm by impact damage so I think this is where the 'swan breaks mans arm' story comes from. 

 

It was like someone whacking your elbow with a piece of 2x4 timber. 

 

It was sore for about a week. 

 

 

 

 

For swans you have to go for the neck and deprive the brain of oxygen asap then it will be docile. 

For swans you have to go for the neck and deprive the brain of oxygen asap then it will be docile. 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

12 hours ago, magnetman said:

A pet mink would be quite good. 

 

I always wondered about having a squirrel but suspect they are awkward to train properly. 

 

Squirrels are another animal best avoided in close combat situations without tools. 

 

 

The goose one is funny. 

 

Perhaps not many geese in the states?

So are Americans harder than Brits? Are Brits a bunch of wusses? Are Americans overconfident and will they end up running away crying from a goose fight?

[magnetman]

I suspect for the American the term 'unarmed' means you can have your gun with you. 

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I suspect for the American the term 'unarmed' means you can have your gun with you. 

 

[MtB]