Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[dancing cloud]

I'm sure someone out there will know what caused the strange tracks found in my field yesterday.

 

Two sets, enter the field by going over a five foot plus wall at separate places- take-off site one side, landing site in the field, with grass trampled down, both close to the wall, so not something steeple-chased over it. One track goes along the top of the field to where there used to be a gap in the fence, now closed by stock fence with barbed wire on top.The grass at the base of the stock fence is not disturbed. and whatever it was has gone over it (leaving no fur, damage or any other trace other than scratches on the outside of the fence post) and the track continues on the other side, going over another barbed wire fence on the way to the next field.

 

The second track goes down the field to where there used to be a hole in the wall - now blocked off - and goes over the wall, leaving a big landing site on the other side and a clear track going up the hill in the next field. The drop to the landing site is about seven feet.

 

The grass has been totally flattened in the direction of travel, like a roller has been over it, and the tracks are about 18 inches wide, but there are no footprints. Where the second track goes over the wall out of my field, whatever it was would land in a huge patch of nettles and brambles, which are are flattened too.

 

I'm pretty sure it's not human, since they would climb over the gate rather than the wall, wouldn't want to drop seven feet into the huge nettle patch and wouldn't be carrying a roller to flatten the grass so much! Not mechanical, as I can't think of machines that can go over walls, stock fence and barbed wire. It looks like a migration, as whatever it was/they were, headed straight for places where gaps used to be and have been closed off since this time last year.

 

The tracks in the next field go up the hill in the direction of the pub, so our current favourite theory (other than aliens) is two big cats (every country area has big cats) rolling barrels up the hill to the pub for a refill . Still not sure how they managed the walls and fences though.

 

Any ideas? There must be logical explanation, but we can't think of one

Edited June 8, 2014 by Guest

[Beantree]

Sounds like an 9 foot high Yetti has been through there Dancing Cloud, on the way to the pub as you noticed, so best ask the landlord.

 

Alternatively it may be deer. Not just one, several. The footprints are small and easily missed.

[Plum]

Large land snail

 

Er leaping obstacles

[Patricia W]

Quad Bike/Scrambler Bike??

[The Dogmother]

Do you have photos of any tracks? I can ID a few and a friend is a tracker, so may be able to help. The height of the obstacles makes me think of deer, but they don't tend to crush undergrowth like that.

[dancing cloud]

No camera, so I cannot take photos. There are no obvious footprints/hoofprints and the earth isn't chewed up at all, just everything flattened, and we have no cattle or sheep nearby at the moment.

 

The tracks are too wide for bikes. which were our initial suspicion, but then we thought they'd climb over the lower gate rather than struggle putting put anything over the higher wall, and they probably wouldn't do well with the seven-foot drop. No slime, so probably not a giant land snail on a pogo stick (though that would be a sight worth seeing ).

 

Could be part of a huge crop circle that we can only see our bit of. Could be the fairies having a practise for their midsummer ball. Could be a herd of mammoths on the migration trail ...

 

There's definitely two separate tracks across the field, that head through the field and out, so I'm with Beantree - a couple of yetis taking the scenic route to the pub .

 

Oh for a night-vision motion-operated camera when you need one!

[Plum]

Any appear last night?

[Alis girls]

I was going to say Yeti too - no snow so not an Abominable snowperson. Oooh er sounds very spooky

[dancing cloud]

No more trails since and the nettles etc were pretty much upright again yesterday, so I think we must have found the tracks not very long after whatever had gone through.

 

We have found hoofprints from a single deer before, probably muntjac as they were very small, and they are supposed to be solitary animals. Maybe it invited some friends over and it all got a bit out of hand.

 

We also know there are badgers coming through, but I'm not sure how they'd get over a stock fence and barbed wire without leaving any trace and they've not flattened anything before, we've just found where they've been digging.

 

Yetis it is !

[Beantree]

If the undergrowth is vey wet it will fall over with the slightest nudge. We have a small cat here leaving undergrowth flattened like a fox had been through it.

[dancing cloud]

The tracks are back! Laid down at some time between Friday night and this morning.

 

No apparent entry or exit points this time - they could still be in the field, hiding in the bramble thickets . Many more trails going in different directions and much narrower than last time (like the herd split up, rather than all going in the same direction at once) and several areas where it looks like something had a lie down in the grass. No hoof or foot prints visible, and no poo piles, and the dogs have shown no interest, but they didn't last time either.

 

Could be a part of another huge crop circle, could be the aliens are back, or it could be drunken yetis staggering around the field, and having a lie-down here and there

 

Prime suspects seem to be smaller deer, either muntjac or roe.

 

Unfortunately, buying a night-vision motion-sensor camera would be too much of an indulgence at the moment. I suppose I could ask for one on freecycle - see if anyone's invested hundreds of pounds in equipment they'd like to hand over for free

[WitchHazel]

Swann do an "outback camera" which uses batteries and an SD card. It has motion detection, and night vision, However, the night range is only about 10metres, so it might not be any use for you.

 

They are very rugged and weatherproof. We use them on the allotment (and we used them in the house when we were trying to get a video recording of our cat having an epileptic fit).

 

Very easy to use. Current price is £79 or less. (Edited to add, I've seen them for more too, I guess it depends where you buy them from and whether they are in stock)

[Beantree]

I wonder if it is someone, rather than something, making these tracks?

[Angie]

I'm of a suspicious nature in general and I'm on the side of human kind. Poachers even, or very keen fishermen taking short cut. No sign of snares or anything ? Do you have gamekeepers nearby who are out at night ? No heard any loud Bangs at all ????

[Chickabee]

I was thinking badgers, they can climb quite high. Not sure about the barbed wire though. Hope you find out. Would love to know who/what it is

[dancing cloud]

My starting point was human, having had intruders before, but I don't think these are. There are plenty of human tracks from me and my dad and they don't flatten the grass like this or leave areas that look like a beastie lay down for a while.

 

We are not in a game-shooting area, no fishponds anywhere near, nothing to poach - the field behind is empty and there are horses beyond that. Can't see humans going for a 7-foot drop into a huge bramble and nettle patch - at least ten-foot wide and running the full length of the boundary type huge.

 

We know there are foxes and badgers that come though, and have found deer prints in the mud previously, so these are the chief suspects, though I still like the idea of drunken yetis

[The Dogmother]

My money's on deer; if you were closer, my tracker friend would come and stake it out at night for you, or rig up IR cameras.

[dancing cloud]

More tracks in the field over the last two days and more spots that look like a beastie had a lie down. The tracks have now moved to the area nearest the houses, as well nearer the bottom of the field.

 

Looks like something's having real party in there. With all the other footprints and wildlife we've seen in the less-than-a-year we've owned it, it's clearly a very lively little acre - should start charging them rent !

[Cat tails]

I would do a stake out! Deer normally move from the woods to the fields at dusk. You could set up a spot near an entry point observe for a while. Just get out there when it's still light. If you are quiet enough, they won't mind you too much.

[The Dogmother]

That sounds like deer - they will circle around to make a nest to lie in like dogs do. I wonder what sort of deer you have - I used to work on an estate that had 400 head of deer, lots of breeds. They are amazing animals.

[dancing cloud]

Aldi are getting wildlife cameras in as a specialbuy from next Thursday and I can feel prudence heading out the door .

 

I don't doubt there are better cameras on the market, but at £70 we could afford one, just to see what's out there - I'm not needing professional quality photos. Might also be handy if the human invaders return, though it would have to be set up where someone couldn't just walk off with it.

[Beantree]

The foxes call to each other here. I wonder if the 7' fence is a 'red herring' and it is actually two foxes meeting either side of it?

[The Dogmother]

Foxes don't generally leave much of a track though....

 

Make sure you leave your camera out of sight/reach; we had a few nicked from the Estate after we'd posted them to catch intruders and the divvy sorts had taken off with the blasted cameras!