Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[dik9]

My soaked shoes & socks were put to one side, & a greyhound came along & cocked his leg & pissed in them. I kid you not, Tom & Compo both witnessed it.

Was there an Irishman in the background pissing himself?

[Rod Paradise]

Red, I've spent a far part of today watching a stoat zig-zagging about in the field beside Ma & Pa Paradise's house. I'm dumbfounded as to what it was hunting. The field's been grazed nearly to the bare earth, there's nowhere for mice, voals, shrews etc to hide & the rabbits are all in the longer fields. The ground is frozen which means the worms will be down deep, so I can't think what it was about.

I did a search online & found this:

Stoats don't like to be out in the open and so tend to hunt along ditches, hedgerows and walls or through meadows and marshes. They search each likely area systematically, often running in a zig-zag pattern. All but the largest prey is killed by a single bite to the back of the neck.

The bold bit describes the way it was running about, but the italic bit is why I was confused by its behaviour, there's a lot of birds of prey around here as well, which you'd think would keep it near shelter - it was a good 40 yards from the nearest bit of long grass.

Any ideas what it can have been after?

We got a good enough view to see the black tail tip & the white chest - so are confident it was a stoat.

[booder]

My soaked shoes & socks were put to one side, & a greyhound came along & cocked his leg & pissed in them. I kid you not, Tom & Compo both witnessed it.

Was there an Irishman in the background pissing himself?

 

[RED-DOG]

Red, I've spent a far part of today watching a stoat zig-zagging about in the field beside Ma & Pa Paradise's house. I'm dumbfounded as to what it was hunting. The field's been grazed nearly to the bare earth, there's nowhere for mice, voals, shrews etc to hide & the rabbits are all in the longer fields. The ground is frozen which means the worms will be down deep, so I can't think what it was about.

I did a search online & found this:

Stoats don't like to be out in the open and so tend to hunt along ditches, hedgerows and walls or through meadows and marshes. They search each likely area systematically, often running in a zig zag pattern. All but the largest prey is killed by a single bite to the back of the neck.

The bold bit describes the way it was running about, but the italic bit is why I was confused by its behaviour, there's a lot of birds of prey around here as well, which you'd think would keep it near shelter - it was a good 40 yards from the nearest bit of long grass.

Any ideas what it can have been after?

We got a good enough view to see the black tail tip & the white chest - so are confident it was a stoat.

I don't really know Rod.

Stoats and weasels use their sense of smell as their primairy prey locating tool, and working a zig zag pattern is common to all scent hunters when trying to pick up a spoor, but the open ground thing is really unusual.

I've often observed stoats and weasels in the wild, and I've never seen them do anything on open ground except dash across it as quickly as possible.

I wonder if this stoat was an escaped pet or semi-tame. The hunting instinct in mustilids, even hand reared tame ones kept as pets is very strong. Weasels, stoats, skunks, mink, otter etc often manage quite well if they are returned (Or escape) to the wild, but I would expect their defence mechanisms and instints to be impaired, hence (In this case) the lack of fear in open spaces.

[tikay]

Amazing picture, thanks, Rod - I've never seen a Stoat in real-life.

What a beautiful creature! I bet it packs a mean bite though.

[Rod Paradise]

Amazing picture, thanks, Rod - I've never seen a Stoat in real-life.

What a beautiful creature! I bet it packs a mean bite though.

The picture's off google Tikay - the stoat got about 30 yards from the house and didn't hold still enough to get a picture.

They're probably the deadliest hunters pound for pound I'd reckon - they need to eat a lot as well as they expend a lot of energy, never holding still.

I once was priveledged enough to watch one dancing a rabbit - they whirl about and chase their own tail & the rabbit stands transfixed, the stoat dances closer and closer and closer and then goes for the neck. I didn't see it kill the rabbit as the mate I was walking with caught up and exclaimed "there's a weasel" I could have happilly throttled him.

Red, escaped from captivity could be an explanation, although I've heard very little of people seeing, let alone catching them up here, but I suppose if somene had caught one they'd not make a lot of noise about it. It's certainly one for the weird file anyway.

[RED-DOG]

On the way to DTD last night I was listening to the radio and one of the segments included 3 hit songs from the 70's. As it turned out, the year was 1978 (I was 20) I didn't particularly like any of the songs, but they all brought loads of memories flooding back.

For instance, the first one, "Too much too little too late" by Johnny Mathis and Dense Williams was No 1 on June 1st 1978. It reminded me of when we were stopping on a piece of waste land behind a derelict factory in Bilston.

I remember it was a really hot sunny day and I was wrestling with a seized up bedford 500 engine that I had bought from a scrapyard for £60. If I could make it turn freely, I could sell it for reconditioning for £180, if not, I would have to weigh it in and blow about £50.

I remember an ice cream van rolled up, I went to get myself one and ended up having to fork out for ice creams for about a dozen random kids. Some of them had one in each hand.

The other two songs brought back other memories, different, but just as vivid, and I thought, I wonder if it's like this for everyone?

Well is it? Indulge me, Google to find out what was No1 on June 1st when you were 20 and tell us what memories it brings back. Where were you living, what were you doing?

[TightEnd]

"Nothing's going to stop us now" by Starship!

I was in the States, travelling before starting at Nottingham Univ in the September

In the US at the time No 1 was "with or without you" U2, which I actually remember everywhere on my trip.

[Rod Paradise]

Song was Adamski - Killer. I wouldn't know it if you played it to me now.

I'd just started working in Liverpool, at the big Plessey's factory on Edge Lane (the building I was in was the old United Biscuits building, it smelled of chocolate & had sticky floors in hot weather). I was being put up in the Adelphi Hotel (and stayed there for 8 months). I'd worked out that, 1. the drinks were really cheap in the Hippodrome on a Wed night, 2. Scouse birds almost always put out if you took them back to the Adelphi as they thought it was well posh. Great days..... moved out when the receptionists would hold up score cards for the girl from the previous night, time for someone a wee bit more discrete.

[tikay]

Can't answer that Tom, it'd reveal my age.....

Bizarrely, it wes a very famous song - subsequently adopted by Gilingham Football Club Supporters!

[kinboshi]

Number one on 1st June when I was 20 was Robson Green & Jerome Flynn with Unchained Melody.

I feel ill thinking about them.

However, I do have some happy memories of dancing with a girl I really liked at a school disco to Unchained Melody (The Righteous Brothers' version that was re-released after being in the soundtrack of the film Ghost) - but I was 15 or 16 at the time.

[gatso]

sigh, I wish you hadn't made me do that red, I feel dirty now. song was 'come on you reds' by the manchester united football squad

I was in kent on a break between my 1st (aborted) 1st year of uni and my 2nd 1st year. I was probablly drunk most times I heard the song

for the lazy readers out there you can find your song here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_number-one_singles_(UK)

[Geo the Sarge]

Stand and Deliver - Adam and the Ants -June 1981

I was on a 2 year posting in Ballykinler in Co. Down which is close to Newcastle and Dundrum Bay at the foot of the Mourne mountains. Some of the most beautiful scenery to be seen anywhere and one of the greatest walks following the Mourne Mountain wall.

The memory that sticks in my mind from this time was when a group of us went clubbing in Bangor, a place called the Sporstman. We had came out of the club and were making our way across the road to the chippie.

A mate of ours, Podge Lavin, wasn't too quick in getting across the road and was clipped by a car, we were in hysterics as he spun around a couple of times then giving the bird and shouting "Fecking arsehole!!" in the direction of the car that hit him..................only to be hit by another car coming the other way.

Cruel, yes, however very funny. We could hardly help for laughing. He survived with a broken leg and various bumps and bruises.

Geo

Interesting footnote:

On researching this I noticed that John Lennon actually replaced himself at number 1 in January/February of that year

January 4 – 31 1981  John Lennon - Imagine
February 1 – 14 1981  John Lennon - Woman

Anybody know if anyone else has done that?

[RED-DOG]

I dunno Geo, I have a suspicion that Slim Whitman did it.

I'm loving these stories, and other peeps songs are reviving even more memories.

[Karabiner]

Can't answer that Tom, it'd reveal my age.....

Bizarrely, it wes a very famous song - subsequently adopted by Gilingham Football Club Supporters!

"Any Old Iron" by Harry Champion ?