h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just read in my Wild Ireland magazine that British hedgehogs are dying out!

Apparently the population as a whole has declined by 20-30% since 1991, due to habitat pressure caused by modern farming practices. In some areas the population has halved.

Keep looking after your slug-eating visitors..

(for the slugs)

Not good news about hedgehog populations I always thought they'd colonised suburbia pretty well, with gardens providing well for all their habitat needs. You tend to forget these familiar little animals are creatures of the wild and farmlands too. Beer traps for the slugs worked very well indeed but I still feel guilty about a couple of little frogs that drowned in the ones I set over the Summer. Must try and use shallower containers next year.
The woodpecker territory by the way is about 12 acres according to my bird book - huge compared to about 3 acres for common garden birds like robins and tits.

A big Hello there to HipSupport Good to meet a real life almost neighbour. Wonder if you've come cycling past my house, there's a very nice cycle path near me along the old railway lane through the Longdendale valley. I'm a dreadful cyclist, can only do straight and level without falling over.

Yes, the Longendale Trail is a nice way to avoid the mad traffic( but alittle too popular of a weekend for me)to head out over the hills. There's a lovely little cottage toward Crowden with a 1715 (i think) lintel above the door and of course Sean's "Bleak House" and gallery further on. Keep practicing the cycling- my space tells of my obsession!

Just saying hi, and thanks for being very nice to me on my first h2g2 meet.

Hello Sibling

Hello

A very big to both Chickens

In case you've missed it, Andy's organising a Curry Crawl in February, it's at A900082

I finally worked out how to look at the rusting one's visitors' book. Ohyesohyes this is even more exciting than being wrapped in tin foil and cooked for 3 hours at Gas Mark 4.

A kind gentleman said to me you might know why when I mix lager with cider sometimes it clouds and (with different brands)sometimes it doesn't.
is this true?
many thanks
i await your reply in anticipation.
gordy

Hi gordy
Thanks for popping by, with a difficult but interesting question.
Seeing as I'm partial to a glass of real cider or scrumpy I'm not that keen on mixing it with lager or anything else
However, although I've no experience of this I've given it a bit of thought anyway....
Your genuine farmhouse scrumpies tend to be cloudy anyway because of the juice content and the fermentation process, so maybe it's the brands that tend more to this style that cloud your snakebite.
Could be due to the acidity of the cider reacting with the lager. Some types will be more acidic than others so could account for the variation
Could just be down to impurities introduced from a not quite clean glass.

I think you need to conduct a scientific experiment, mixing a variety of lagers with a selection of ciders. Several attempts of each combination would be required for comparison purposes. You might need to draft some friends in to help dispose of the experimental residue and maybe a non-drinking observer or two ...

a gentleman

Volunteers to drink all the real that no one else is drinking whilst they experiment with the snakebites

Does that mean I get to help with all the spare real

Off course

*prepares two comfy leaning posts*

Squawk, Sibling.

I tried to put an entry in the review of your Lough Ine article, but I think I put in the wrong forum (against A2122633 rather than A1310699. Or is it all the same?).

Curse these humans. They have no feathers.

Seek and you will find my comments. Eventually.

Hi there again Roast, do you live anywhere near MC? If so demand she tell you about the curry crawl we're all going on

Hi,

Unfortunately I'm not located in the land of mufflers and flat caps, although even a chicken can dream.

Thanks anyway, and I look forward to seeing the photos!

never mind, you'll just have to link up a visit to MC

Hello to Granny and Roast ,

I've just proposed Roast for official Flat Cap membership F88144?thread=365168&latest=1

She's certainly got as good Northern credentials as me and probably better than some of our members
Granny's referring to our curry and beer night out at the end of January. A1343413 Or if you can't make that, there are sure to be future outings...

Hi, I noticed in the Book thread (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/F19585?thread=116314)you said you were reading 'The Reality Dysfunction' by Peter Hamilton. Have you read the others in the series? What did you think? Have a good one... Sludge