pumpkinstrokemarrow

First, the case of the fox biting the water lilly. The lilly, now a few years old, throws out leaves in two sizes, large and small. The large possibly from the original bud and the small from a new bud. The large leaves have grown larger year by year and are now about 6 inches in diameter and quite often they stick up out of the rather small pond. This has now attracted the attention of some fox which has bitten a couple of them off and generally pulled the lilly around in its pond. At least, we assume it is a fox. Can't imagine a cat, a rat or a bird doing such a thing. Yet another reason to invest in a catapult.

Second, the case of the crow biting the heron. Some months ago, there was a large hole in the road up Longmead Road. It seems that some large junction box was leaking oil and required the attention of Balfour Beatty no less; far too big a junction box for Murphy's men. While the leak was being attended to, some of the leaking oil found its way into the stream which runs up the road, so full of the spirit of eco., Beatty's men installed booms and absorbent mats in the stream to soak the stuff up. Booms and mats have been abandoned in situ and yesterday I happened to be gazing at all the aquatic and other detritus which has accumulated around them when I happened to spot a heron standing in the middle of it. Heron then legs it and takes up position behind a tree twenty yards off. After about ten seconds it emerges, flapping further up the stream, being buzzed the meanwhile by a crow. Odd that such a big bird should be intimidated by such a small one, relatively speaking that is. I caught up with the heron again several hundred yards further on, at the junction with Hook Road, where it had been lurking in some bushes.