Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
15th June 2019
Yogi’s Sweet Chariot
Six weeks ago, Yogi, my terrierist, snapped her cruciate ligament. It’s not life threatening, but it was definitely life changing. She used to come everywhere with me – to work, running, hiking and, well, basically anywhere I went my little white shadow went too. Following the diagnosis, the vet told me that there could be no walks, no work, no steps or stairs, no jumping on furniture and definitely no running for six months (for Yogi, not me).
After a month I noticed that although Yogi’s leg was already starting to get better, she was not the same old ‘mad dog’; she had lost her spark a bit and was, dare I say it, looking a bit depressed. She was definitely missing being out and about and spending time on the mountains.
I dug out a child’s ruck-sack, which I had converted for my old dog when she had problems with her lungs and couldn’t walk far. That was OK, but we still couldn’t run and it seemed to make her leg worse sometimes. That wouldn’t do.
As I was driving home one evening I saw a woman pushing a small child in a pretty cool pushchair – it looked quite sporty, so I came home and Googled ‘sporty pushchairs for dogs’, not really expecting anything to come up. But lo and behold, Pets Own Us, based in Covent Garden in London, offer a whole range of Doggy Strollers, and there was a Sporty version which was described as ideal for the beach, trails and for running. Hooray!
To cut the rest of the story short, Yogi and I had a fabulous time last weekend running over the mountains. Well, me running, and her enjoying the views and the fresh air from her ‘pup mobile’. She absolutely loves it and thankfully has been back to her normal happy self for the past week, as the great photos from www.mixmedia.net show.
Apparently there is quite a market for the Strollers, with owners of aged and poorly (or just spoiled) dogs wanting to keep their best friends happy and involved. I had no idea – and wasn’t even sure that Yogi would adapt to being pushed around the hills in a glorified go-cart but yes, she is and we are both much happier (and me, fitter) as a result.
For more details, other Stroller options and lots of other ‘paw-fect’ pet accessories, pop into www.petsownus.co.uk
Protect Your Nuts
After making numerous contraptions to try to keep the squirrels (or ‘Cyrils’ as my brother calls them) off my bird feeders, I have finally given in and bought a Squirrel Proof Feeder which allows the smaller garden birds to access the food, but not the Cyrils and larger birds. After hanging it up and watching the birds fly to it and be thwarted by the outer cage, I was sceptical that it would work.
I have no idea why ‘bird brain’ is a derogatory term, but I shouldn’t have underestimated the clever little blue tits as they quickly worked out that they could enter the outer framework and get their food in relative peace. The sparrows were a little less smart but got it eventually and the robins quickly followed them after watching it all from a safe distance for a while. It was fascinating, and so rewarding to see Mum and Dad Blue Tit teaching their young how to feed in the safety of the outer cage. I never cease to be in awe of how hard they work.
The RSPB recommend only feed selected foods at this time of year and stress that good hygiene is vital, or feeding may do more harm than good.
Black sunflower seeds, pinhead oatmeal, soaked sultanas, raisins and currants, mild grated cheese, mealworms, waxworms, mixes for insectivorous birds, good seed mixtures without loose peanuts, summer seed mixture are all good foods to provide. Soft apples and pears cut in half, bananas and grapes are also good.
They recommend avoiding using peanuts, fat and bread at this time, since these can be harmful if adult birds feed them to their young. If you do put out peanuts, please use suitable mesh feeders that only allow small pieces of peanuts to be taken, reducing the choking risk to chicks.
Food shortage can occur at almost any time of the year, and if this happens during the breeding season, extra food on your bird table can make a big difference to the survival of young.
Birds time their breeding period to exploit the availability of natural foods: earthworms in the case of blackbirds and song thrushes, and caterpillars in the case of tits and chaffinches. It is now known that if the weather turns cold or wet, as it has been, severe shortage of insect food can occur, and if the weather is exceptionally dry, earthworms will be unavailable to ground feeding birds because of the hard soil. In order to help with this, buggy nibbles and mealworms can be provided during these times to prevent starvation.
Check out the Gardman feeders at www.gardman.co.uk/wild-bird-care/feeders/squirrel-proof.html.
Adoo, just felt I should say, (as I find your weekly post so helpful/inspiring), I am saddened at the rapid failure of my remaining eye and lower ability to read etc.
This isn’t a whine for sympathy, it is purely a comment to show how MANY are going to feel left out as I srt of do now. I feel someone like yourself may understand the effect of losing access to one of lifes most important abilities and can perhaps draw attention to the loneliness resulting, from loss of access to ? Waffle over, I just needeed to explain losing something you treasure,to someone whos interests mean I may be heard :-S xx