Letters to the Editor - August 2008

I read with interest the letter ‘Thieving wrens’ in June Countryman. A few months back, in my wild life garden, a pair of wrens started nest building in a winter roof-box made of fibre. The whole thing seemed to be doing fine, until one morning a pair of blue tits arrived. One blue tit proceeded to dismantle the entrance area of the roof-box while the other just sat and watched. A few days later the tits returned and just one of them started to throw out the wren’s nesting material. After this the wrens started to remove their nesting material as well.

Again the blue tits returned but seemed to lose interest. The wrens meanwhile, seemed to have moved further down the garden.

I read in the book, Spotting Birds by Jaroslav Spirhanzi Dupris and Edmund Burke, the following:
‘One of the peculiarities of the bird (wrens) is the fact that more than one nest is built. Seemingly, the hen makes her choice and the ‘spares’ are used as …spots in bad weather. More than forty wrens have been counted in such a spot.’

Ronald Angus Jones, Widnes

My mother owned a book written by a Catholic saint and told me that in it St Gertrude the Great wrote: If one picks the leaves of the hawthorn bush, and stores them until brown, and brews them like tea-leaves, the boiling liquid is a cure for cholera. I wondered if any readers had heard of this recipe and can give me any more clues to the date it was later written.

Mrs Maureen Ford, Falkirk

I wonder if any readers can solve my problem: visiting cats. In the past, I have tried pepper, cat-pepper and ground cat crystals, sprays etc., to no avail. Recently I saw details of a plant, Coleus Carina, ‘guaranteed to repel cats’ and obtained a supply of them. I planted them and awaited results only to find that the only places in the garden that the cats had ‘used’ was directly on the ‘never known to fail’ Coleus Carina!

It is said one ‘cannot win them all’ but to win this one would be, for me, nothing less than a triumph.

Sylvia J. Gurney, Milton Keynes

During a recent visit to West Sussex, I was delighted to see watervoles once again appearing in quite large numbers. It was wonderful to see these rare creatures swimming in little streams and feeding on the nearby grasses. I saw them in various sizes and they range from light brown to almost black. I hope that this is just the beginning of what will prove to be a huge success story.

Clinton Whale, Bournemouth

We all had a chuckle at John Mainhood’s letter about village idiots. I could not resist telling you about ours.

A building site was begun in the village and the ‘idiot’ took to visiting regularly and would drag the wheelbarrow around upside down. One day someone said to him, “Turn that barrow the right way up, you daft ’aporth.”
“Not likely,” said the idiot, “I did once and they filled it with bricks.”

Another time he was watching man on the road shovelling horse manure into a bucket.
“Wotcha doing that for?” asked our friend.”
“I puts it on me rhubarb,” said the man.
“You orta come to our ’ouse, our mam puts custard on ours.”

Mr Mainhood is right, the village idiots have gone – perhaps they have all gone into politics!

Barry Jasper, Ludlow

Can anyone help with a cure or at least a deterrent for duck weed on my small garden pond? Surely nature has a cure somewhere!

Raymond Bacon, Croydon

Re Migrating Earthworms (July): some years ago I saw in a roadside gutter what appeared to be a football, only to discover it was a tangled mass of earthworms. I realised there were large numbers of worms approaching from all directions to join in. Perhaps Mrs Thompson saw a group of worms heading for a similar event – in which case she may have spoiled their fun by picking them up! Do any readers know if earthworms have mass matings of this sort and what triggers them off?

Peter M Smith, New Milton

Seeing the short story about Tommy Farr in last month’s magazine reminded me of my childhood when my father used to ask me to get up early to listen to Tommy’s boxing broadcasts from the USA. Tommy was a lovely man and had a wonderful singing voice.

Joan Frisby, Fleet

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Countryman, The Water Mill, Broughton Hall, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 3AG
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The editor reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.