I just had an email from someone asking me how many pets there are in Italy. This intrigued me as although I’ve recently posted about the Italian pet owning statistics published earlier this year, I didn’t recall reading any pet numbers in that. Anyway, I did a quick google search in Italian and there appear […]
So a couple of days ago I found myself in a new animal supplies shop, trying to ask for food for Picchio the handicapped pigeon. I say 'trying' because I had unsuccessfully attempted to buy him grain in a couple of other stores and ended up with bran for chickens, and bird seed. Not a
Well I spent Sunday doing a makeover of the downstairs kitchen. Alan was away in Modena meeting up with his old Motoclub friends and so I thought I’d take the chance to move things around a bit. In mid Changing Rooms trance, I suddenly realised I hadn’t heard our English Setter Gassie for about an
Just got back from a week in the UK. Alan has been looking after the animals and has pointed out that I had probably misheard the pigeon's name, which I was convinced was Picchio. (Pronounced pick-ee-oh). 'Don't you think it's probably Piccio?' he said. (Pronounced Pitch – ee-oh). 'Piccio?' I replied, immediately realised that this
Merlina hasn't come back although I have found a few crow feathers in the garden which makes me think that maybe she did make the great escape, although what happened to her after that I dread to think. I have called her name a few times and a couple of times got a 'caw caw
This morning I did the usual circuit of the garden before going out across the fields with the dogs and as I passed Merlina’s aviary I did a double take. No ‘caw caw caw’. I stopped and looked in disbelief at the little sanctuary I had created for her. Empty. With a growing sense of
Well, apparently a tiger has been spotted in the woods of Rufina near Florence. Today is the fourth day of the big hunt! They've got a trap set up as well as video surveillance and cameras triggered by movement in case it reappears. The first sighting was made by a local man searching for mushrooms
What a morning at the canile! One of the 'scaredy' dogs, Baldo, a lovely hunting dog, had escaped. The whole placed is well fenced, so when I say 'escaped' I mean he was out of his kennel but in the small fenced woods, where he had been running about enjoying his comparative freedom for three
A couple of days ago while on my morning walk with the dogs through the woods I heard a lot of panicked cawing from a large tree. As I have a handicapped crow, I knew immediately (as you do!) that it was an alarm call from a hooded crow and I scanned the tree to
It’s early morning in June on a day that promised to be scorching hot. The dogs are excited and race across the field behind the house which is full of purple flowering Lucerne, known as erba medica. They screech to a halt and start barking at something in the grass. I run over to investigate