We have the taup here. They dig nice neat small holes in the lawn & don't make any mess unlike the moles but like yours David the little swines do tend to like a nice juicy, ready to pick, carrot or leek.
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That creature looks about right Chris! Think the cat may have caught one, but just the one...
We'd rather have them than root vegetables - that said they don't seem to like radishes - poss too peppery for them?
Am sure the rabbits have somewhere above the "swamp" - obviously that's where the lushest grass etc is. There's Woodland just above so chances are warrens on the edge of that?
Railway sidings brilliant for rabbits - esp. on a summer evening train from London down to Brighton and similar.
The creatures that are eating your carrots are probably the famous Rat taupier.
It's a bit complicated.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arvicola_amphibius
Chris
BTW I'm sure if you look carefully you will find that your rabbit warrens don't flood and will be well drained. Interestingly I was going to say earlier that one of the main places rabbits are to be found these days is at the edge of villages, towns, cities and railway sides.
There's rabbits up at the other end of the village here - we've seen them now and again at silflay if we're having an evening walk.
But the land up there is if anything swampy most of the year.
We have some rodents which I think are poss the equivalent of gophers - we've seen their burrow entrances and we experienced the overnight disappearance of a row of just about ripe carrots (first successful growing of them too!) - downwards. All there was next day was dents where they'd been - no sign of any above ground activity. We know it was overnight because my wife went out to harvest them first thing having gloated over their readiness the evening before.
Just goes to show tho' doesn't it - these animals don't always do what we expect them to...
:D
My 3 Ha of land is extremely well drained. 1m of soil on 5+m of sand surrounded by hedgerows but not much scrub. Not a sign of rabbit droppings so deffo. not here. The rabbits in my mates fields about 2 Km away are out "playing" all day long.
"Sinister purpose?" Now you're scaring me!!
"how does it feel to live somewhere that features in the shipping forecast?" It feels very damp at the moment :-))
Whether or not you have Rabbits or Hares is often down to the fact that they occupy completely different habits. If you should have both habitats in close proximity then you could have both.
Simplistically,
Rabbits require scrub with areas that are well drained for their warrens and Hares require open rough grass land or similar with some copses or woodland. It's most unlikely that your raptors there will have any serious impact on either species. Have a good careful look at where the Rabbits are and where the Hares are. Of course Hares tend to be daylight creatures and Rabbits tend more towards darkness.
Chris
LOL. Clearly these squirrels have a sinister purpose which has yet to be exposed - I mean why otherwise would they be conspicuous by their absence?
By the way, how does it feel to live somewhere that features in the shipping forecast?
They must hide from everybody David. I live in a community of farmers/hunters/ foragers. I've shown 'em pictures of squirrels just to make sure it's not my rubbish French causing confusion but no, nobody has seen one, or if they have they can't remember:-)
Perhaps all those squirrels hide when they see you coming Vic? :)
I have to say that apart from the squirrels actually living in the garden we've only ever seen one other. Secret squirrel?
Looks like there's a shed load of squirrels in Finisterre but I've still never seen one! Another interesting thing:- there are no rabbits around my fields but the occasional hare. I've been in this house for 7 years now & never had to protect my veggie patch against rabbits whilst people 2 km away are plagued by them. We do have a largish fox & raptor population which may account for it however.
LE PLUS BEAU PAYS DU MONDE Televised the other evening. 1hr30 duration.
Wildlife films or programs about French wildlife are incredibly rare on French TV or radio, usually if they exist they are relegated to some obscure time such as 7am on a Sunday morning.
Watch again. http://pluzz.francetv.fr/videos/le_plus_beau_pays_du_monde_,93622204.html
Chris
Red Squirrel recording. This is only members of the public that responded. Most people wouldn't have even known about the scheme.
Forgot to mention the pipistrelles, who roost in our barn, and the ginormous grasshoppers - who make a lovely noise on a summer evening. Lizards of course, of varying sizes, snakes mainly grass altho' a couple of years ago when we had a very dry period we found ourselves sitting next to a vipere - he wasn't at all interested in us - just in sitting in one of the few moist patches left in our garden (the gutter next to the barn). Various butterflies, altho' this year we haven't caught sight of any of the more spectacular ones - and an amazing array of moths - and the wild bees who like our garden because of the foxgloves, milk thistles and selected nettle patches - and a scented geranium they go mad for plus of course lavender and roses.
My wife actually got to hold a Wren this summer - Plug had caught it but not managed to maim it so she rescued it and put it on the windowledge. You could almost see it panting! It sat there for about 5 minutes then flew away - so we just hope it was ok.
Don't want to argue Chris but I'm sure that the guys I talk to would know if they were around here. If they say they haven't seen them it's highly unlikely they exist in our area. I'm not talking about local hicks here but country folk who spend a good deal of their time foraging.
It's really important that everyone realises there are no Grey Squirrels in France. "
""Currently the only place in Continental Europe where they exist is in Italy where they were introduced""
Sadly for you Vic Finisterre is the poorest part of France for overall number of different species present, it's what you get for being stuck out there on the end.
I would also warn against taking too seriously what the locals may tell you. I still find it incredible that so many people that have spent all their days in the French countryside can know so little.
Big cultural difference.
Chris
I've asked the two local hunt societies & all the local "Historian Veritables" & yes, nobody has seen one. I thought it strange as my golf club in Devon & the trees in my office car park were full of them. Hence my amazement I've never seen one here!
They are present in Finisterre Vic but as with many species they can be localised and there may well be some not too far away.
Chris
The "boss" squirrel who lives in our trees likes to wait until Plug goes out to chase him, waits until the cat is almost on him then zooms up the tree. He seems to enjoy it...
My wife used to have a pet squirrel when she was younger (a grey, caught by their then cat). If the link works here's a pic of him. If not, just take my word for it!