Putting food out for the birds…

My next-door neighbour was leaving bowl of food outs ton her front lawn, this attracts rats, I saw one. I emailed the Environmental Health Department, the bowls of food disappeared in a couple of days. The Council is not allowed the name of the persons who report.

wibblywobblywobblebottom

My brother used to put food out for the birds, and when they turned he would shoot them with his airgun. They always came back.

Awful man

I would worry about rats if I'm honest 🙂

I have a three foot square bird table made of stone. I am not sure how ancient it is. I saw it at a reclamation yard not far away and bought it. It came by tractor!

It was a very opportune moment. The late neighbour over the road (a retired police inspector) grew apple trees in his front garden and covered them with nets to stop the birds eating them.

One day he came across to me and said 'What are you feeding those birds on? They are sh-- (his exact word) on my apples.

I said 'f they are doing that they must be getting their little legs caught in the nets, it would happen to anyone caught in a net'. I told him that birds never mess where they feed. That is absolutely true.

A few days later I went to the reclamation yard to buy some red Victorian bricks and saw the table. It was just calling for me to buy it for a bird table to show the neighbour I wasn't going to stop feeding the birds.

I had flocks of crow family flying down to the table as it was easier for them to fly in around the tree. One day a flock of seagulls came - led by a raven. Amazing sight. They all fed together. I think it was to confuse the Red Kites which kept flying overhead.

wibblywobblywobblebottom

My brother used to put food out for the birds, and when they turned he would shoot them with his airgun. They always came back.

That’s disgusting.

wibblywobblywobblebottom

My brother used to put food out for the birds, and when they turned he would shoot them with his airgun. They always came back.

Disgraceful.

Put it in a brown paper bag, and then in a plastic bag, and take it to a meadow or a public garden. You are inviting rats and mice and cockroaches, even if there is no food, because there might be crumbs, or the gravy scent, left.

Post pandemic I went to a local fruit and veg shop with the intention of buying smaller quantities of everything and using my own mesh bags. But it had closed down. Another smaller shop in another part of town has closed down, too, and I really wanted to support them. I would like to buy more from markets but can’t really carry large amounts if the car is a distance away. Our village shop, that sold everything, closed down years ago. It was a post office, too, and a sale had been agreed that would keep it as a post office but, when the sale went through it turned into a coffee shop. I had to throw out lots of larder food last year because I had a flour mite infestation. I felt awful about it although most of it went into the brown bin. I’ve learned my lesson, though, and flour is now frozen and everything is in airtight containers.

My brother used to put food out for the birds, and when they turned he would shoot them with his airgun. They always came back.

This in response those who are expressing their disapproval about “wasting” food stuffs.
I think the days of eating every last morsel of food are long long gone.

We - in Uk, are not in a state of rationing, and have purchased the food so it is ours to dispose of albeit with care.

However something that would make a huge difference to me personally would be the option to choose to purchase smaller quantities of pre packed foods.

I’m thinking smaller tins (I only ever see tinned tomatoes and baked beans ) because I probably won’t want to eat them again within the same week and find stuff sitting in the fridge in containers for several days unappealing.

I’d love to shop every 2 or 3 days for fruit and veg and buy “just enough” so they are eaten at their best

I could thrive very well I think on smaller portions at each meal but still enjoy shopping for a variety of ingredient to cook and create meals with.

It is not just a cost issue. It is a quality of life issue now for me.
I want to eat what I love and love what I eat ..without filling the rubbish bin up every week.

I think that cooked chicken bones might be dangerous for foxes given that they splinter and cause problems for dogs? I had a neighbour who was angry with the Sparrowhawk for killing the birds on his bird table but I pointed out that, as the bird table was a smorgasbord for little birds it was also a smorgasbord for their predators too.

I do think nature sorts itself out. I had a neighbour with a dovecote and the sparrow hawk looked on it as their Macdonalds drive thru. She was always saying that she had “ lost” all the squabs to the predators. Since she has gone into a home I haven’t seen a single kite or sparrow hawk. Some years we have two magpies,some years ten. We have a family of woodpeckers and quite a few jays. Pigeons come and go.occasional goldfinch. Plenty of tits and blackbirds. DH feeds them with seed and fatballs. I put out surplus fat with crumbs in small pots. We put out carcasses for the badgers and foxes after I’ve made stock. There are plenty of berries in our garden for all. They also are brutal in killing each other. If hungry the foxes will go after anything ,. We don’t get seagulls as there re too many trees for them for take off and landing. Live and let live . The squirrels are a pain and the rabbits tend to get drunk on overripe apples in the autumn . The deer only seem to eat the roses.

Cats are the biggest menace to birds accessing feeding tables and seed feeders etc …and squirrels are vandals!

I no longer put stuff out such as uneaten stale cake even though the birds would love it, because I don’t want to encourage rodents.

I acknowledge that Uk garden birds have evolved and adapted to seek out their own sustenance in winter but those that say providing feed is unnecessary seem to forget that people actually want the birds to be attracted to their garden so they can admire them…….just perhaps not so very many flipping pigeons/magpies and crows.

I rarely see a Starling anywhere nowdays whereas thirty odd years ago Magpies were quite rare but so were grey squirrels near our garden.
They are getting something that was obviously previously abundant in the parks and fields, but is no longer available.

MayBee70 and anyone else worried about re-using cooked rice- it's fine to use if it's put in fridge after cooling. I often keep for a week, covered. I re-heat in microwave, or make into fried rice with some veg. Rice can occasionally cause food poisoning, but cases were caused by large heaps of rice, left out for about 2 days, in careless restaurants! (I'm a retired microbiologist).
If I have a lot of leftover rice, after a party, I put in 2 portion size containers and freeze.

My next-door neighours were putting food out in bowls in their front garden, it can attract vermin, particularly rats. I emailed the Environmental Health Department. They no longer put food out in bowls in their garden. You should not put food out in that manner, wrap it up well and put it in the bin.

We had a neighbour who used to throw out food on the back garden at night, until her next door neighbour was bothered by rats they even chewed through some brick work. The local council environment office had to intervene to get the neighbour to stop putting food out a night. We put food on either our bird table or the hanging bird feeds that are high enough that any cats can’t reach the birds.

Where I live we are envoraged not to scatter unwanted food or as you do place in a container. Can cause rat infestation plus of course the bord poop can be a problem. Think the RSPB also recommends not feeding otger than with bird food. Does your LA not collect and recycle food with garden waste?

Grandma24

Perhaps when you take your dog out,put the leftover scraps in a bag and scatter them in a grass area for the birds.

The birds ate them out of their special bowl yesterday! The dog will find any scraps in the garden. She’s a hound and their life revolves around running and finding disgusting things to eat that will make them sick. Back home again now anyway where she has her own fenced off garden area. I don’t have much in the way of food scraps at home and, if I do I have a brown bin. It’s only when I’m at my partners and struggle with meal planning for two people as there is only a small freezer compartment and we can only leave non perishable food in the fridge; he doesn’t have a brown bin collection either. I’m terrible for cooking too much rice for meals, even though I do try to measure it out and the dog can always have some of it. I don’t like to reuse cooked rice.

There are quite a few feathers flying on this thread & I don't necessarily mean from the birds!
Not to mention, quite a few Angry Birds on this post too. I wonder if it's like this on Twitter! 🥴

Birds. Especially ducks should never be fed bread.

Perhaps when you take your dog out,put the leftover scraps in a bag and scatter them in a grass area for the birds.

I’ve stopped putting fat balls out for the birds as the squirrel eats all of them. He also digs up any bulbs that I plant if I don’t cover them with mesh. The pigeons eat anything on the ground and then poo it all out onto my drive and car…excuse the graphic picture. I have to keep my bins at the front of my driveway. I really struggle to keep on top of it…

My neighbour was an avid bird feeder - scattering seeds , bread etc on her lawn and having fat balls hung on her trees.Unfortunately a colony of rats made their home under her decking and became a nuisance.She finally got rid of them by spending a fortune on pest control. The pest control company said that rats are very common nowadays because of overuse of bird feed.

I hate food waste. Maybe try and just cook the amount that you need or do a few days worth and freeze them with leftovers. I used to put some food out for the birds until we had rats eating it.

I don't consider pigeons, squirrels, rats or anything 'vermin'. Everything has to eat to live. I feed the pigeons (feral) and the 3 or 4 grey squirrels in my garden. Last summer a family of rats was around, getting their share, the babies were so cute! I cook economically, don't have much food waste, and use a composter - plus I don't over-feed in the garden and I think it all balances out,