Michael Viney responds to your queries and observations on nature.
Our rabbit Flopsey is having a hard time. A fox had been digging around his hutch until we put it in the shed at night. Then a huge badger arrived, and got on top of the hutch. Is it strange to get a badger in a city garden, and does he want to eat Flopsey?
Bernice Harrison, Milltown, Dublin 6
Yes, the badger does want to eat your rabbit. Badgers have already moved into the suburbs, where there are gardens with anything edible.
Travelling on a ferry in Greece, we saw about 20 house martin nests on the ship. When in port, the parents busied themselves feeding their chicks; when sailing, they stayed in their nests.
Michael Burns, Cushendall, Co Antrim
House martins build nests on ferries, and the Greek islands are within their breeding range. They will leave for Africa after the breeding season.
Edited by Michael Viney, who welcomes observations sent to him at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo. e-mail: viney@anu.ie Observations sent by e-mail should include postal address.