My first wife wanted an Airedale so I got her one even though she had never had a dog before, within a few months she was bored with it so he had to go, luckily I found him a good home with a work colleague, spin on a couple of years and the marriage ended, should have ditched the wife and kept the dog who was very loyal to me but disliked her.
Another true Timmy story, I’m here all week.
I thought of you and your snakes, Jane, when I read this news article.
Thankfully, I don’t we get pythons in France - but you never know… 
I’m hoping to find my annual glow worm later on tonight.
Anyone have any experience of coypu?
Oh my - only seen them from a short distance.
In your garden ??
are you Charente or Charente Maritime?? In C-M they have been designated as Pest and there is an effort to eradicate them as they are not an indigenous species.
Seen them at close quarters in the Loire but not here in CM…yet
What do you mean by experience Tim? There are loads of them where we live, wherever there’s lakes or streams there are ragondin/coypu. They’re a pest & we have a guy that happily takes care of them for the whole commune.
We manage a rental property which has a stream/ditch running along it’s boundary and I’d noticed a largish area of flattened vegetation and churned up water at the weekend, yesterday I saw a coypu so informed the owner as they are arriving with their dog today and believe they can be aggressive if disturbed. On walks around the vines and woods near home we first saw a family of coypu two years ago and now see them fairly regularly.
Should we let the Mairie know about both sightings or just let them be?
Tim
As per the link - coypu Ragondin - is Class 1: invasive and destructive
They are NOT indigenous to France. Their eradication (nationwide) is being sought in an attempt to restore/preserve the waterways and habitat of France’s indigenous species - whose OWN future hangs in the balance.
(They also carry Leptospirosis which affects humans and animals.)
It would be an idea to contact the Mairie. Ragondin reproduce swiftly, so one or two could become numerous, just like that… (shades of Tommy Cooper 
)
The first time we saw one at our little lake we went to the Mairie & they told the guy that deals with them. He put us on his list and checks every year, mainly Spring & Autumn, if he sees signs of them he baits large traps with old fruit, usually apples, & once caught, dispatches them. Your Mairie should have a contact number for whoever deals with them locally, they’re very keen to get rid of as many as possible, as Stella said they carry nasty disease, can be very aggressive if cornered & can harm livestock, domestic pets etc. So you’ll be doing everyone a favour if you report them.
Thanks to you both, that was my initial thought, I’ll get onto it.
Or alternatively you might consider this Tim 
I think we would have all run if we had seen two nine foot pythons mating, but then again they were thinking of other things!
How can anyone be bored with an Airedale! Our current one is our fifth and our guests just love her. They have the biggest of grins when they are happy and happiness is food, walks, snow, chasing another Airedale, and (for that one) carrying hedgehogs round. (That was meant to be a reply to Tim, I pressed the wrong button.)
We loved our dopey Airedale, we re-homed her and never regretted having her for a moment, it’s been a few years now since she died and we still miss her.
He was a lovely dog, one of his most endearing traits was scaring the **** out of the in-laws.
The Mairie have employed someone to lay down traps for the Coypu but have warned it could take some time to catch them.
Tonight’s score:
Hedgehogs - zero
Little Owl - one (noisy beggar) - sitting on the apex
Stag Beetles - three (noisy beggars) circling the outside lamp and thumping, clumsily onto the crepi.
Glow-worms - two - yippee - (they’re late arriving this year)
almost 11pm and still 30c - we need a storm, we certainly need some rain.
Yesterday evening (and this morning) a dear little partridge and her baby, so sweet.
A juvenile hedgehog virtually ran over my foot as I sat on my terrace, it was very busy and about 5cm away. Squirrels checking out all the fruit trees, no doubt sizing up hazelnuts and walnuts.
Badgers, fox cubs, deer: I suspect all gorging on the ornamental plums, there are loads this year and they are very juicy and probably delicious for creatures.
I remember a few years ago posting about juvenile little owls screeching in the evening.
Very difficult to get to sleep with that going on on the barn roof.