The joys of the local wildlife
One of the joys of a rural french lifestyle is being surrounded by nature in all its forms.
Deer and badgers live in the lane outside our gate, a hare has worked out our dogs’ bedtime and makes late evening use of the garden, red squirrels bomb us with walnuts as we drive in and last spring we had foxcubs playing on the doorstep.
Sales Consultant, Angie Turner, recently found herself with rather more water side wildlife than was sensible and called in the local hunt to trap and move some ragondin (coypu) to a better location. These animals, which used to be common on the Norfolk Broads, were introduced as fur animals but have escaped and gone feral in most parts of France. You can often see them swimming in lakes and rivers and they can be mistaken for the much rarer otter.
The humane traps were delivered and set (they are often baited with citrus fruit) and Angie sat back to wait. A short while later there was a crazy howling from the field and Angie dashed out delighted to get a quick result, only to find Jasper, one of her Jack Russells, who had been exploring and had triggered the trap. Another attempt will be made today without Jasper’s ‘help‘!
If you want to live surrounded by wildlife check out some properties in Angie's patch.
