I HAVE lived in Ringwood for a decade. And in that time I have been into almost every single shop but until Thursday I had never been into the Fishing Tackle shop.

This is not surprising. I am not a big fisherman.

But it’s spring. A season that is beautiful, but also deadly.

You see, we own two horrible ginger cats who love nothing more than decimating the bird population for several weeks after the first spring dawn chorus in April.

I tried to thwart their killer instinct a few weeks ago and bought them “safe” collars, complete with whistles and bells, at the cost of a small mortgage.

Both returned with a pigeon. And without a collar.

One morning shortly afterwards I awoke to the sound of a desperate fledgling.

I went out into the garden to locate the terrified bird and found it hiding among the lily-of-the-valley.

Not sure what to do for the best, I left it there, hoping its mum would be around.

But when I went back to check later on, it was still there.

“You’ll have to feed it,” said the Teen. “Buy some mealworms from the fishing tackle shop.”

And so I headed down to the West Street shop clutching my 42p like a ditsy halfwit, hoping to get a mealworm bargain.

“Um, hello,” I mumbled as I shuffled into the shop.

The chap was really helpful as I explained I needed some live food for a fledgling. He didn’t even laugh as he gave me 42p’s worth of maggots.

Under the close supervision of the Teen, I fed the fledgling with tweezers.

I started to feel quite and maternal, and decided to hand-rear it. I could keep it safely in an cat carrier – away from the monstrous felines.

I went to find the cat carrier. I was gone about ten minutes.

But when I came back I found the poor bird dead, one of my cats sitting nearby, licking his smug lips.

I went out and bought high frequency collars that promise to scare off any wildlife before it can be brutally murdered.

This can, according to the instructions, rarely put the cat’s life at risk through strangulation.

Oh well.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here