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Wood Pidgeon ,Collared Dove - Would They

Brian M

Well-known member
Hi

Whenever they all go out into the garden its always a mad scramble between the four of them as to be first out as I try to open the door ,then they all charge out looking for any birds on the ground but fortunately they have not yet been quick enough to get any .

Have any of your Cavaliers caught anything and eaten it ,I did recently read on one of the Yahoo Cavalier forums about a Cav that caught and devoured a grey squirrel tail and all .Its hard to imagine our sweet so loving Cavaliers reverting to wild Cavaliers but I know they would if they were quick enough.:):dogwlk:
 
I seem to remember that Charlie, my first Cavalier, once caught a mouse - or to be more accurate, a mouse walked up to Charlie while he was dozing by the back door and more or less put himself into Charlie's mouth, so that when he woke up he closed his mouth and caught the mouse. I can't remember whether he killed it - I think I removed it from his mouth and let it go.

A friend's border collie (a real dope) once caught a mouse underneath the kitchen stove. Ever afterwards, if anybody said the m word, Alex would rush to the kitchen and poke his head under the stove, with the rest of him sticking out across the kitchen (where everybody tripped over him) and would stay there for hours if not driven away. So everyone in the house learnt to spell the m word and never say it. Who says border collies are super intelligent - obsessive is more like it!

Oliver chases pheasants (and rabbits) when out in the countryside, but takes no notice of the birds in the garden.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
To my horror, my youngest Cavalier and our Shiddy-monster have formed an "attack team" when they are let out into our field in the mornings. So far they have caught (and fatally injured) one female Pheasant, one young Song Thrush and one young Collared Dove.

Needless to say, this has not gone down too well in our ornithological household, so they are now banned from the field other than on their leads until we have done at least one circuit without them showing any interest in the hedge bottoms.

I've never had dogs which have shown the slightest interest in birds before, so this has been quite a shock and a steep learning curve. I have always suspected that Poppy might have something "other" in her ancestry (we think possibly Springer or Kooikerhondje) as she is long-legged, long-muzzled and super-energetic. I'm even more convinced of it now I've seen the way she "works" the hedges to flush birds - very disconcerting and also worrying from the point of view of the outbreeding debate currently going on if temperament is going to be changed as a result.
 
To my horror, my youngest Cavalier and our Shiddy-monster have formed an "attack team".

I love it - Shiddy-monster!!!!!! I've never heard that term!

I have two shih tzu - almost 11 and 13 1/2 - and they are quite active and playful still. They play a lot with my young Cavalier girl who is 9 lbs so is just their size. Tucker is too regal and mature to play.

Trivia fact - the plural of shih tzu is shih tzu. Two tzu are still tzu!

Pat
 
Holly is always running out into the garden when the peewee's start calling. She can't get out quick enough and Jasper follows her. But the funny thing is the are scared of feathers! How wired is that. They jump a mile if they see a feather while out walking. Unless I pick it up then Holly wants to eat it!
 
When I did Discover Dogs at Crufts a few years ago, I overheard one of the other Cavalier people on the stand telling an enquirer (in all seriousness) that Cavaliers had been brought over from France by Charles II to hunt pigeons! So Marie-Anne's Poppy may just be a throwback to these hunting dogs! I don't think she necessarily has something else in her breeding - Cavaliers ARE spaniels, and can be trained as working gundogs (a friend of mine did it very successfully); Oliver never has his nose off the ground - he also air scents, and in his early obedience days by the end of a round could probably have told me the whereabouts of every bitch on the field! But I agree that a retired professor of ornithology owning a dog that kills birds is a little embarassing!!

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
My lot charge down the garden scattering birds and Willow won't let them feed when she's pottering about the garden. I think it's really strange as inside my house is ruled by birds and the Amazon flies about and walks on the floor all the time and no one takes the slightest bit of notice [even lands on them or "preens" their fur!]. Odd critters :rolleyes:
 
I have two shih tzu - almost 11 and 13 1/2 - and they are quite active and playful still.

Trivia fact - the plural of shih tzu is shih tzu. Two tzu are still tzu!

Pat


Sounds like they are quite long-lived then, Pat - but glad to hear that yours are still active and playful at their ages. I "inherited" Lucy from an elderly friend who became very ill and eventually passed away. All my plans were to have 4 Cavaliers (one of each colour) and I'd even got as far as identifying the fourth (ex-breeding B/T) when Lucy arrived in our household. We love her to bits and she is absolutely inseparable from Poppy now, but I don't think I'll ever get as far as worrying what the plural of shih-tzu may be (if OH has his way at least!)

LucyandPoppyPB.jpg
 
My Kirra.would love the opportunity of capturing either a pheasant, rabbit or.squirrel
However their speed allows the great.escape

I'm sure her dreams are of capturing one.

Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
 
Chamberlain hasn't shown an interest in the birds in the backyard or bunnies that roam my neighborhood. Even if he picked up their scent, he would become distracted by dandelions seeds floating by! lol
 
One of my previous Rubies was a hunter/killer - not only of Collar Doves and pigeons (and the odd smaller birds) but he was also an accomplished ratter. His littermate brother who I also owned was quite clueless, but apparently their father was also a hunter. Rowan often enjoyed a tasty pigeon snack after one of his hunting sessions, the most memorable for me being a half eaten trophy being left for us on the landing one Christmas morning.

He was stealth personified and would wait patiently for hours for his prey... He was otherwise such a sweet gentle little dog you'd never believe what he got up to - he was my "Jekyll and Hyde" boy.

There's (but only for the not-so-squeamish!) a photo of him here (http://cavalierkingcharles.com/twins/images/bird_dog.jpg) after one of his successful sessions...

Rosemary
 
One of my previous Rubies was a hunter/killer - not only of Collar Doves and pigeons (and the odd smaller birds) but he was also an accomplished ratter. His littermate brother who I also owned was quite clueless, but apparently their father was also a hunter. Rowan often enjoyed a tasty pigeon snack after one of his hunting sessions, the most memorable for me being a half eaten trophy being left for us on the landing one Christmas morning.

He was stealth personified and would wait patiently for hours for his prey... He was otherwise such a sweet gentle little dog you'd never believe what he got up to - he was my "Jekyll and Hyde" boy.

There's (but only for the not-so-squeamish!) a photo of him here (http://cavalierkingcharles.com/twins/images/bird_dog.jpg) after one of his successful sessions...

Rosemary

Thats a great photo, looks very proud of himself doesnt he?
 
Maddie has the hunting / killer instinct and has caught a grey squirrel in her younger days. Pippin on the other hand loves to chase but................

Last year on holiday in Scotland our cottage garden was always populated by wild rabbits. By the second week Maddie and Pippin had learnt to work together in their bid to catch one. Maddie was guarding the escape route while Pippin was giving chase. After a bit the rabbit, having nowhere to go, stopped dead and sat facing Pippin. Pippin stopped, sat and looked worried, and then gave me a "that rabbit's staring at me - help!" look. :badgrin: Maddie came charging up to go for the kill, leaving the escape route unguarded and the rabbit made good its escape.

Very interesting to watch, but I was pleased bunny got away!
 
Lucy is definitely obsessed with birds. We had an injured pidgeon in the garden only yesterday and she managed to get to it and would not leave it. I'm pretty sure that she would have killed it eventually if left alone with it. Poor thing, it was terrified. I was shocked as I saw this other side to her, shes normally such a sweetie.
I think she thought all her xmas' had arrived at once when she found it in the garden! She is definitely a bird lover!
 
Your thread has certainly struck a chord with many of us, Brian.

Perhaps this would be a good moment to flag up a list of Wildlife Rescue Centres around the UK, where you can take injured birds and other animals for treatment and rehabilitation.

http://www.animalrescuers.co.uk/html/wildcents.html

We have a marvellous one near Evesham (Vale Wildlife Rescue Centre) and my step-daughter is a trustee for one in Hampshire (HART).

Only the other day, a neighbour brought us three tiny greenfinches which had fallen out of their nest in the high winds. We took them straight to Vale Wildlife and they are still alive and thriving at the moment.
 
Hello Marie

Thanks for the information your link will be kept in my little black book.What do you think of wind turbines .There is talk of them quadrupling in size Burbank Wind Farm which is four miles off the Wirral Coast .I am all for helping the planet but am unsure regarding these eyesores ,the efficiency ,safety ,and hazard to wildlife .
Any thoughts please .
 
Hi

As a young lad Stephen my younger brother and I used to clamber all over Black Mountain near Erryys N Wales ,we had a little cottage up there and on one expedition we found a young Blackbird which had flown into barbed wire and damaged its wings .We left it where it was till we were sure its mummy wasn't coming to help then we took it home dug up a load of worms kept it in our bedroom stayed awake all night caring for it and feeding it ,then it died the next morning ,both of us were really upset for a week ,I think he was seven and I was nine ,poor bird .:(

And then the next week my clumsy brother Stephen trod on my terrapin as I was exercising it around the bedroom ,and then Mum found my frog spawn I had hidden under the bed and emptied it all away.:( Triple tragedy within a week .:(:(:(
 
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