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spamel

Banned
Feb 15, 2005
6,833
21
48
Silkstone, Blighty!
I have spent a few weekends up at Delamere at the organised meets. very enjoyable. I spent a night in hammocks with my two eldest daughters a while back, which was very tiring as they took it in turns to keep waking me up all night! At one point, i was gonna take my hammock down and move to a different part of the woods! :D

The next day, we got up and herded some sheep back into the field they had escaped from. That was funny!
 

leon-b

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 31, 2006
3,390
22
Who knows
Cool, sounds like fun mate :)
I cant wait untill Winter arrives :D
The only wildlife ive seen here if muntjak, one fox and thats about it :( i know theres fallow deer in the neighbouring villages but have never seen them here
leon
 

leon-b

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 31, 2006
3,390
22
Who knows
Cool, thats good then. I'm sure they are round here but just havent seen them. Although i did see a baby tawny owl and got some great close up pictures of it :D
Leon
 

spamel

Banned
Feb 15, 2005
6,833
21
48
Silkstone, Blighty!
Well, I so want somebody to design something that can capture images we see with our eyes so that others can see them. I see some amazing things that could never be captured with a camera. I was driving along the M180 the other morning, the sun was coming up so it was still dark but the sky was just turning from black to blue. An owl flew out onto the hard shoulder and wheeled up before it flew over the motorway and was silhouetted against the sky. It was an amazing sight, a shame I cannot share it with others.
 

leon-b

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 31, 2006
3,390
22
Who knows
Yeah thats a good idea but a hard thing to make lool, maybe one day though :) Yeh ive seen some amazing things that cannot have been captured with a camera :D
leon
 

leon-b

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 31, 2006
3,390
22
Who knows
Were having alot of rain recently are'nt we ??!!
And the days are getting colder :D When you wake up early and go outside everything feels so crisp :)
I like the cold weather, what about you guys ???
Seeing as its getting cold i think some new winterwear is on the list, need a few fleeces and some new sealskin socks.
leon
 

xylaria

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Well, it looks very similar to what Ratbag pointed out to me the other day: Badger poo! But badgers dig a latrine, a square hole to poo in, which hasn't happened here. It certainly looks a bit oily and I bet it was smelly. Probably one of the weasel family, but not badger which is part of the weasel family, believe it or not!

Let me get my poo book out and have a look! And no, not Winnie the Pooh!

A months ago I found a area under a low pine tree where small pits have been dug and something had had diarrhoea into them. It was quite black and tarry. It didn't look like hawthorn fruit leather in the way the picture does. Would it be badger? Would they still use that area now?

I must say I very surprised that you get ID books for poo.
 

spamel

Banned
Feb 15, 2005
6,833
21
48
Silkstone, Blighty!
Animal tracks and signs by the two Prebens, Preben Bang and Preben Dahlstrom. Contains many pictures of poo for your perusal!

The pits aren't very deep, they seem to be very square in their construction though, nice right angles everywhere! The poo is very black and does look like tar in fact, ther will be lots of different additions in there according to their recent diet. Look for lots of berries, pips from fruit and the odd bit of fur or bone from rabbits and the like. I'm not too sure if they use the same latrine over and over though.

I saw a member of the weasel family earlier on in fact. I was driving through the steel works in Scunthorpe and a rabbit on the road seemed to be lying down and jerking about a lot. As I got closer, I saw that a weasel or stoat of some kind was trying to drag the injured and almost dead rabbit off the road for his dinner! :eek: It ran off as I approached, and when i went back that way twenty minutes or so later, the rabbit was dead and right on the side of the road. A few hours later, when I got back from a delivery, the carcass was gone!

I'm not 100 % on weasel ID, so not sure whioch one it was. It wasn't a Marten or a polecat though, I'm pretty sure of that. This was much smaller, about the size of a small rodent but stretched a bit! Reddish gingery fur with a big white patch on its' stomach/chest. A very pretty but frighteningly aggresive little fellow!
 

spamel

Banned
Feb 15, 2005
6,833
21
48
Silkstone, Blighty!
Again, I wish I had a camera brain! When will the japanese invent it? They could make a fortune!

Whatever it was, it was lovely. Such nice colouring to its fur, and the white or cream patch was a lovely contrast. It was slightly disturbing to see the violence, but that is its nature and I didn't step in as I saw it as the natural way of things. Saying that, i wouldn't have wanted to have been that rabbit!
 
Leon - I highly recommend reading Mors Kochanski's book called Bushcraft. The other thing I recommend you do is do some nice overnight camping if you can! I like the challenge of bringing minimal equipment and finding a way to make use of materials in the wild. Even cooking something basic like Bannock can be very rewarding.
I know some folks here keep journals when they are out and about; I like to do a few drawings, and scribble some notes in a lined notebook.
Look forward to seeing more posts from you in the future.
Cheers,
Mungo
 

leon-b

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 31, 2006
3,390
22
Who knows
Ive got mors kochanskis book, its a real goodun
Ive done a bit, but not that recently
leon
 

spamel

Banned
Feb 15, 2005
6,833
21
48
Silkstone, Blighty!
I just rediscovered my crook knife the other day. It is a hoof knife but it does the same job. It needs a bit of work to get it really sharp, but it does the job. I've got a couple of hazel staves that need straightening, that may be a good job for Middlewood. Have you been to any meet ups lately Leon?
 

leon-b

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
May 31, 2006
3,390
22
Who knows
Nah havent actually :( i've only ever been to one, i prefer it when its just a few people although the bushmoots solunds brilliant. Shame there so far away from me !!
Leon
 

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