Outside the Mammal Feeder

This is a view from outside the night time mammal feeder in my garden in Sheffield, England. It is an adapted poultry feeder, put into use during the quieter months when mammal visits are less frequent, to avoid attracting or feeding rodents. It is also used generally if rodents have been spotted at all, to prevent there ever being a growing population because of the feeding. I have nothing against mice and rats personally (they’re rather cute!) but I have to consider the potential disruption to where I live in order to continue doing the feeding and streaming.

The badgers took to using this feeder very quickly but unfortunately the foxes haven’t dared try it yet. I leave eggs in their shells out for them in the garden which they normally take and consume completely, so I don’t have to worry about them going completely without or that there’s any food lying around.

The cut out badger you see was sent to me by a viewer (Daun!) and depicts our favourite stalwart who's been visiting for the whole time I've been doing this (2 years) called Limpy. He's a lovely old fellow, hopefully you'll catch him plodding this way sometimes. He has a trademark scar/bald patch on the left side of his head and quite often a bit of a mangey tail area. And not fogetting the trademark limp, which comes and goes!

Usually there is food for the badgers in here at night 3-4 times a week. I try to keep a balance and take several nights off a week so they continue to forage naturally, and the quantity of food, especially while few animals turn up, is suitably low.

If the light is shining on the feeder at night then it's likely to be a feeding night! The camera does a great job as it's a very low wattage 12v bulb which is very dim to the naked eye! Sometimes I'll experiment with the light off but still have food in there - it's worth checking inside the feeder!

There is another stream which is actually inside the feeder! It is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2wiDO1kvq0

Also this stream is just part of a multi-stream page which also has chat and many other views during the day and night of birds, squirrels, and the badgers and foxes. You can find that here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJYcgL18FGQ

Enjoy!