Suburban foxes
Q. Last month this mother fox and her three cubs took up residence under the shed in our back garden. They come out to play and the mother suckles them. How long will they stay?
Alice McGlynn, Knocklyon, Dublin 16
A. The fox family have been under the shed for months, where the cubs were likely born. They will stay with the vixen (the mother) for another three or four months before dispersing to look for a territory of their own.
Mining bees
There were over 50 mining bees flying low over the lawn and some crawled into holes in the ground.
Maurice Simms, Lifford, Co Donegal.
Q. We discovered in our lawn hundreds of small mounds of clay with a hole in the centre and small wasps flying close to the grass and crawling into and out of the holes. We are afraid to mow the grass lest we are attacked by swarms of wasps.
Irene Conlon, Cabra, Dublin 7.
A. They are solitary mining bees. You can safely mow the lawn in the late evening when they have all retired.
Canada geese
Q. Were these Canada geese trying to skip the waiting list at the back entrance to Midland Hospital, Mullingar?
Imelda Lambert, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
First cuckoo?
I heard the first cuckoo call of this year on April 17th.
Mairéad Higgins, Dromahair, Co Leitrim.
Female emperor moth
Cliodhna McNamara, Ardmore, Co Roscommon, sent a photo of a female emperor moth which laid golden eggs outside her kitchen window. And Barbara Cox found one in her garden near Louisburgh, Co Mayo.
Referring to Eye (April 8th) Noel Murphy, Mountshannon, Co Clare, sent a photo of a badger scratching a tree trunk
Ethna Viney welcomes observations and photographs at Thallabawn, Louisburgh, Co Mayo, F28 F978, or by email at viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address