News from Wales - Robin wars

Believe it or not I have three Robins all trying to be the owner of the space around the meal worms that I've put out on the feeder for them to eat during this bitterly cold snowy weather.

Robins are not quite what they seem. They look so cute, but they are really territorial, staking out the boundaries of their kingdoms and then defending it with their all.

The fights they are having are horrendous.

I came down this morning to see two of them fighting a duel with pistols whilst the third laid a trap for the other two by suspending a small piano from the Holly tree above them. I soon put an end to that, shooing them all off and removing the piano from the tree – well, it was dangerous.

They were soon back though, this time with hand grenades, sub machine guns, and something that looked suspiciously like a rocket launcher. One of the Robins let rip with the launcher narrowly missing a passing thrush, it would have taken him down without a doubt.

I had to stop the conflict before it escalated into something far worse than a fight over mealworms and weapons of mass destruction became involved. I did have it on good authority (Blue Tits) that the Robins had access to both nuclear and biological weaponry, and I couldn’t risk that.

So, rather than invading their territory and taking action I simply removed the mealworms. If they were going to fight, then they didn’t deserve them. They needed to learn to share.

For a while I thought it’d done the trick. But this afternoon when I returned from the horror that is Christmas shopping, I noticed a number of strategically placed sparrows in the bushes, each with a bow and arrow.

I think one of the Robins may have taken out contracts on the other two.

Nature can be so cruel.