Simple Pleasures

[Maggot Colony]

Working from home today and the missus is in the office so I have the stereo on full blast. I rarely get to listen to music nowadays unless it's through headphones so this is a rare treat.

The poor cats aren't happy with Napalm Death. Fuck them! 
 

[The Heretic]

Working from home today and the missus is in the office so I have the stereo on full blast. I rarely get to listen to music nowadays unless it's through headphones so this is a rare treat.

The poor cats aren't happy with Napalm Death. Fuck them! 
 

Same as well, only place I can have things on full blast without headphones on is when I'm out in the shed!

[The Great Cull]

The first coffee from the brand new espresso machine. Didn't realised how fucked the old one was.

[Eoin McLove]

Went to a really good burger place on Friday. Proper sized burger, no scaffolding, no need for knife and fork, just a real honest to god burger. With fried prawns!  it was whopper, but I wasn't at Burger King.

[The Heretic]

Sounds good, nothing worse than a burger that's messy and hard work to eat...

I've been trying to introduce my missus to the joys of a Super Noodle sandwich with white bread, she's horrified at the thought...

[leoos]

Went to a really good burger place on Friday. Proper sized burger, no scaffolding, no need for knife and fork, just a real honest to god burger. With fried prawns!  it was whopper, but I wasn't at Burger King.

I remember when I lived in Oz, regularly eating a burger called The Full Carriage for lunch. Absolute monster of a thing.
Scaffolding, knife, fork and a jaw bone with extra wide opening needed.

[jobrok1]

They did burgers and kebabs really fucking well in Oz.
Never been matched anywhere here over the last 20+ years.

[son of the Morrigan]

heard an awful racket of squealing in the bushes this morning when I was checking sheep. Went over to investigate and was within six feet of two pine marten pups playing, lovely looking little ladeens. Made my morning.

[The Heretic]

heard an awful racket of squealing in the bushes this morning when I was checking sheep. Went over to investigate and was within six feet of two pine marten pups playing, lovely looking little ladeens. Made my morning.

Make sure you do the lotto this week as you're on a roll!! 

[91/30]

heard an awful racket of squealing in the bushes this morning when I was checking sheep. Went over to investigate and was within six feet of two pine marten pups playing, lovely looking little ladeens. Made my morning.

Grew up in the countryside, never heard of anyone ever mention seeing them.  Must be rare enough. 

[Anvil]

Pine Martins are making a bit of a comeback in the north, think in the last 5 years the number of sites they were found has doubled. 

[Trev]

Heard they're eating the grey squirrels too but not red, so the places pine martens are coming back the red squirrels are too

[Anvil]

Heard they're eating the grey squirrels too but not red, so the places pine martens are coming back the red squirrels are too

That was in my head as well.  There was a study done (possibly by a boffin at Queen's), but couldn't remember if the Pine Martins were killing the grey squirrels or if they were just out competing them for food. 

[son of the Morrigan]

They're common enough around here, I've often seen them from a distance and you'd often find egg shells after them in the fields but I've never been as close to one as this morning.
I think the grey squirrel issue is more a territorial thing than the Martens hunting them.
The only problem I've ever had with them is one year they played puck biting the tails off lambs, the tails were rung and most were taken below the ring so it didn't matter but the ones that were bitten above the ring were nasty enough. I didn't know what was doing it until an auld lad down the road told me it was martens, I only have his word on that.

[Snare]

Great find.

I saw a few reports of studies on their impact on squirrel populations and it was very interesting. The red squirrels have it in their DNA to be weary of pine martins via their scent and a nautral weariness, whereas grey squirrels have no inbuilt DNA warning system due to their lack of interaction being a non native species.

A few times I've interacted with the stoats / martens it's hard to know if it's one or the other in the brief time they cross your path. Once was driving past Mitchelwtown in Cork 15 years ago where it scampered across the road a bit ahead of me, and then last year in Caherdaniel in Kerry where it ran across a cycle way.
No doubting an otter that ran across my path in the Mangerton Mountains in Kerry last November though!