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Sacha[_3_] · 21-08-2008, 10:24 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening

On 21/8/08 22:14, in article
, "Sally Thompson"
wrote:

On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:55:48 +0100, Sacha wrote
(in article ):

Looking out of the kitchen window today the children saw a tiny mouse
climbing, sitting for at least ten minutes in and then disappearing from,
some ivy and jasmine climbing that wall. When they called me to see it, I
thought they were going to show me an 'ordinary' mouse but this was tiny
with a very dark brown back and - given I had only a quick glimpse of it
moving - what I thought were quite large ears. The location it was in is
right up against the kitchen chimney wall where the Aga gives out some
warmth and where sparrows roost in various plants, too. There is plenty of
cover there and birdseed too, from time to time. If anyone can suggest
what this little thing is or point me at some pics, I'd love to show them to
the children. TIA.

Dormouse?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Dormouse_on_hand.jpg

I hoped it would be, Sally but R and I think the tail was wrong - admittedly
we saw little of the tail because when it moved it was like greased
lightning! What was so charming about this whole thing was that the girls
(aged 7) spotted the little creature first, 3 inches away from them on the
other side of the window. They were just so excited by the proximity and
the fact they had seen it first, along with a spider and a squashed snail -
talk about nature red in tooth and claw...... In that very corner we had a
blackbird nesting about 5 years or so ago. The growth of ivy and jasmine
was thicker then and she must have felt very safe and quite warm. We put up
notices warning anyone visiting the house not to open the window by her nest
and she never seemed to be upset or worried by humans peering at her and her
young through the closed window. In such circumstances I'll go for a
submarine type kitchen and nesting blackbirds over my personal preference
for lots of lights and sun!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon