Bird-Rat-Dormouse Hunt & Wasp Nest

Yesterday evening, during the football match, when Croatia took over England and a great noise and fireworks started, something fell in my chimney.


Ta-da-dam!


It sounded like a bird was waving it’s wings. I said I would solve that in the morning. I was really tired and it was dark.


...


Early in the morning while I was doing coffee, I heard scratching sound in the lower part of the chimney. I thought, it is good that is still alive, it is good that it is near the opening (the chimney has two openings, the upper is connected to the furnace, and the bottom is not.), I'm going to open it now, to get the bird out of it’s prison. So I climbed up the chair, removed the metal lid and moved away from it. Nothing came out. I came closer again to see what's going on, and there was a gray-haired creature sitting down, facing back to me. OMG! A rat! I quickly closed the opening and called my neighbor to ask her what to do.
Ljiljoooo! There is a rat in my chimney!


...


Ljilja, my neighbor, is a woman who is always here for help. Everyone calls her when they do not know what to do in any situation. She is strong, resourceful and she is not afraid of anything.


If it's a rat, then there's more of them!, she said, I'm coming in 5 minutes, we have to kill him!


And she came with her dog, cross-breeder of a Pekingese and who knows what, which was left in front of her door as a baby dog, and has great experience in hunting on rats, while helping her. His name is Lino.


We listened carefully from where the scratching is heard. The sound was coming from the bottom of the chimney now. The animal seemed to try to climb all the time, but it was falling lower and lower.


She decided to open the door at the bottom of the chimney to get it out. We were waiting prepared to kill it. Are you coming, come on!, she said gently, slowly opening the door. And here he was, a little hairy creature, quickly, as a bullet ran out of there! We were surprised. It was not a rat. But dormouse.


...


I was so glad it was not a rat!


We did not kill him. We let him to hide under the shelves and cabinets of the workroom and decided to leave the door opened, to let Lino get him out or let him go out alone when is ready. And while Lino was hunting him and while the dormouse was running and jumping around, we realized that it was not one, but two of them! There was another one here, from before, in the workroom!


😮


Very soon one of them ran out of the house to the safety of nature and then Ljilja and Lino left.


...


Are you wondering, what about that cat, the one born as a hunter? My little creature is afraid of dogs and she was hiding till Lino left the yard. Then she got her chance. But unlike the Lino that only helps in hunting, she has a bit different mindset in her little head. You are a predator or you are a prey!


The door of the workroom was opened, she sneaked inside and after a while I went to check the situation. She was sitting on the floor beside the tall board I sometimes use for painting, and she looked at me and said mijau, with a specific tone of voice she uses when she asks me to help her catch something. I looked around her and did not see anything. But I know that voice, she's unmistakable, something had to be there. And it was. On the top of the wooden board, in a dark, there was a small baby dormouse.


OMG! No, I cannot kill him. I was so glad it was not a rat, but a dormouse, that I decided not to kill today. I said to her, Smuc, yours is next one. With this one you will not get my help. And I left. And she sat in front of the board and waited for and lurked on a little one.


I helped her a hundred times to catch something. Especially when she was small kitten. I even trained her to hunt. But not today. Today I decided to return these two creatures to nature.


...


After a while I heard the blow, I knew that the little one jumped out. He was really brave, he decided to escape in front of her face. Or maybe it was just lack of experience? I quickly ran, saw them both, and just before she grabbed him, I sad No! NO!, and she pulled back few steps. Amazing!


If someone told me two years ago that little wild kitten would become such a obedient creature, I would not believe it, even though I know how persistent I can be.


I took the cat, brought her to the house, gave her a prize candy and went back to see where the little brave whipped tail was. I found him hiding in the grass. Gently I pushed him, and he produced a sound like a rubber toy. So very very sweet! He ran, crossed the fence, and disappeared into the woods. Of course, when I let my cat out of the house, she went after him, but I guess she didn’t catch him, because she didn’t bring him back (dead or alive, as she use to).

...

And as it was not enough animal surprises for today, I noticed the wasp nest on one of the fir tree that are forming the green wall on the north side of the yard. It was wonderful discovery, it made me very happy. I know why they are here. This year there are incredibly many fruits in my orchard, apples and pear trees are full of fruit. When they fall to the grass and start to rot, that's a real treat for wasps.








Of course I will not take it off. Wasps will not harm me. I step, at least once a week, or sit on a wasp or bee, but that doesn’t bother me.





For the past two years, there has been a lot of hornets here. Somewhere nearby they had a nest and every day they crossed the yard, and entered the house at least once a day. I found a way to kick them out, without killing them. It's easy. When I approach close to one, I clap my hands, making loud noise, and he moves away, I repeat it, until he leaves the house. Wasps are far less dangerous than hornets are. And when they leave the nest, I'll take it off and keep it.


😊


I hope this is enough for today.
Who knows which animal will be next on my doors?


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Thank you for your attention!

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@andrijana