Early this morning I was sitting in the fog on our suburban front stoop. The street was quite, but the nuthatches were noisily picking sunflower seeds from the feeder right above my head, calling out "yank- yank," while taking a single seed in beak and heading back toward the tall trees shrouded in gray. Right then, while watching the fog drift north on a slight breeze, the wonderful scent of honeysuckle drifted past on a sweet misty wave and all was right with the world.
Please feel free to post your personal observations on the world in which you find yourself....
I'll post more later.
lw
Last week I was watching a robin hunt might crawlers on the neighbor's front lawn. It would hop around the grass, cocking its head as it listened for worms and then thrust its beak into the soil, usually coming up with a fat worm. Pretty soon a little sparrow came out of a nearby conifer and landed near the robin. The sparrow hopped around in a half-circle, imitating the robin and then approaching from behind, stealing a worm just as the robing caught it. The sparrow flew into a tree to eat the worm, or give it to a fledgeling and was soon back in the grass, imitating the robin and attempting the maneuver a second time. But the robin had caught on. It acted like it was going for a worm and then turned and rushed the sparrow as it was coming in for seconds. After the sparrow was chased away, the robin went back ot bidness as usual. But the sparrow had mimicked behavior of the robin that it wasn't capable of performing in the real world. (Cocking its head to listen for worms.) Sparrows can't hunt worms that way. But they can use that acting ability to lull a robin into forgetting the sparrow is a thief in waiting. And the robin can learn the con and be on the look out after getting fooled once.
A couple weeks ago I was visiting a friend out on the prairie. We were sitting on a porch with a view of the lawn falling away toward the north, then a gravel road with farmland and timber rising on the other side of the road. A doe made her way through a plowed field across the way and suddenly stopped after catching our scent. She stood there for a few minutes before turning a full circle and then slowly headed toward a grassy draw near the trees. Right then we spotted the tiniest fawn I've ever seen, clumsily navigating the plowed field. The little thing was all legs and couldn't have been over a foot and a half or two feet tall. The fawn followed its mother to the grass and then sat down. The doe circled and then continued into the timber. I could see the silhouette of the little fellow for a few minutes before it laid down. My guess is that the mother was leading her fawn away from the spot it was birthed and we were watching its first steps. I'd never seen such a tiny fawn before.
lw
If you go out my back door, you can sit on the second floor deck and look out at our yard. To the left you got a butterfly bush, then creipe myrtle, some roses and a maple tree we planted 10 years ago that is now close to forty feet tall. In front of it on a small lawn are bird feeders, two finch socks and 2 regular seed feeders. Typical morning you get a dozen various finches and sparrows, 6 or so doves, a junco or two, and other visitors.
Hanging from the beam are hummingbird feeders and we watch them feed in front of our faces. They are cranky little things and don't like sharing.
Oh yeah down to the left is a brugmansia with peach to rust colored flowers in profusion. In the middle of the lawn an arbor , covered with Grateful Dead roses (the bush was here when we moved in),leads to the pond with a couple of elusive bullfrogs. Back of the pond we got another white brug, a nectarine tree, crepe myrtle, acacia maidenii and a parking pad made from pavers and another lawn.
To the right we got some kind of pine and another brug covered with yellow flowers under what was our xmas tree 10 years ago and now is a towering redwood with an ever thickening trunk. The trees are home to a bunch of squirrels, jumping from tree to tree to telephone line to roof to the attic of the ghetto apartments behind us to the right.
Some nights we get visits from skunks, possums, and racoon families.
There is an alley behind the yard and we can watch the world walk by. First it's an old muslim guy in traditional dress walking his grandkid (or kid?) to the park. A chinese family may be next or hispanics headed to the big church. Loud Mexican oompa music plays from the apartments, church bells ring and from the park a block away someone is doing a soundcheck for a festival on the big bandstand. Our 3 dogs bark at some kids running down the street in front and we yell at them to shut up. Someone fires up a chain saw or jackhammer.
Some kids drive by bumping the rap and rattling windows.
This 'hood was once the redlight district then went downhill from there, when we moved in this place had been abandond for years, the yard a pile of rubble and weeds. It was a squat for junkies, and we found 35 hypos in the yard.
A typical day down here on the ground, I love it here!!!!! It's the opitome of diversity and that kind of selects out people that are uptight about stuff. If you don't like blacks,muslims, asians, hispanics, gays, hippies, pretty much anyone, you wouldn't dream of living here. But all these groups live in harmony under the 100 year old trees.
Right on, jrl. Thanks for drawing that picture.
Our yard has been designed to attract birds. There is a chokecherry, service berry, mulberry and wild grape vine on the property. We also hang a sunflower seed feeder under a conifer in front and mixed seeds for sparrows and juncos near the garage. The cedar waxwings have finally been coming around for the service berries for the first time ever. The hawks still hunt the feeders in the winter when it snows. And the cats reign over their own nature preserve. At least as long as Paco, the neighbor's sissy-assed rottweiler doesn't get off his leash. hehe
Paco likes to come around for garbage sacks before they are taken from the back stoop to the dumpster. One day a couple of months backI caught him and attempted to get him out of our yard in a civil fashion. But Paco circled the house and went back for more garbage. However, this time, I was bent over cleaning up the mess he had already made. Paco took one look at me hunched over the garbage and apparently decided I was horning in on his free meal. So he growled right in my face. I stood up and kicked him in the ass. He turned and snapped at my foot. So I grabbed a plastic lawn chair and went at him like a lion trainer, holding the back of the chair and pointing the legs his way. Paco took a little nip at the chair and then turned tail and scooted toward home with a yelp after I poked him in the ass with a chair leg...
Fast forward to last week. Paco is in the yard messing with a garbage bag. He turned to go when I opened the door and yelled at him. And when I picked up the lawn chair and brought the legs down hard on the sidewalk twice paco flinched twice lowering his butt and letting out dual yelps, like I'd just prodded him with the leg of a chair. However, paco was already running through the neighbor's yard when I picked up that chair and prolly 100 feet away when struck with those phantom pains stored in his memory. hehe
lw
One night a couple years ago I heard a bunch of rustling leaves at the side of our house and the dogs goin nuts. I head out to the side of the house and there s a fat possum sitting on the low fence. If you have ever been real close to a possum you know how creepy they are. Filthy, smelly and dripping from its nose and mouth. I looked around for a weapon and grabbed a broom. I wacked the possum hard as I could but I couldn't knock it off the fence. it it again its just looked at me. I turned around to grab the hose and it took the opportunity to take off running.
What's weird about all this wild life is we are 4 blocks from the downtown part of our city. This area has been urbanized since Queen Victoria ruled( some of the houses are beautifully restored Victorians).
But we are also 4 blocks from the Sacramento River and across the river is rural Yolo County plus one block away is a large park with a big pond home to many kinds of ducks(a lot of mallards and Chimese wood ducks) Canadian Geese, sometimes an egret or two. We have hawks that flies over, one time TJ watched as one pounced on a baby sparrow.
This afternoon I took a little walk out on the prairie and found a wild rose. While it's the Iowa state flower, I haven't come across a wild rose since I was 12 or 13. This little 200-300 acre prairie area has a slough running down the middle that feeds a little lake at the bottom of the section. I'm guessing this piece of land hasn't been worked for decades or maybe ever because of it being too wet at the bottom and hilly at the top.
lw
A year or so ago one of my dogs was out on the front porch, just hanging out. It was nighttime and we were going to be going to bed soon.
All of the sudden the dog starts freaking out. As anyone who has a dog knows, they use certain distinct barks to signify different things. A sound at a neighbor's house gets one bark, a deer next to the house gets another, and so on. In this case she was using her there is an animal here bark, so I went out to investigate.
Laying in the middle of the porch -- about two feet from the front door -- was a dead possum. She was starting to calm down, doing more sniffing that barking at this point. I picked her up and put her inside and started contemplating the best way of disposing of a dead possum. Should I use a trash bag and put it in the garbage? Should I pitch it over the cliff and let it do its thing for the scavengers? And just how did a dead possum end up on my porch anyway? Had the hound killed it that quickly?
And then it hit me. It was a possum. The dog and I ran outside to investigate.
Yep. We had both been fooled. There was no dead possum.
LOL THose possum are sure ugly creatures. I've had to chase one off our yard from time to time. Funny thing is, the cats just ignore the damn thing. I went out to call the cats in one night and there was a possum right by the door eating garbage from a bag. The cats all jumped over or just went around the possum to get into the house.
One morning when we lived in the Santa Cruz mountains near Santa Cruz CA I opened the back door to find a possum half in a garbage bag. I yelled at him but that got no results. So I stepped forward and gave his tail a yank. That got his attention. He came out of the bag and glared at me with beady little eyes, hissing through dripping fangs before finally ambling off into the woods.....
lw
Yesterday was one of the hottest days in quite some time out here on the prairie. It was a sweltering 97* when I took a little stroll through the dogwoods and wild roses at about 2:00 pm. As I was driving home along a gravel road there were TALL clouds peeking over the western horizon with wind from the south. I was so beat when I got home at about 2:30 that I crashed for about an hour. When I woke up at about 3:45 it was dark outside. Stepped out the front door and was greeted by 72* breeze from the north that immediately gave me goose-bumps. So I sat outside on the stoop with the cats enjoying the beautiful weather until the thunder and lightning ushered in the rain. And boy did it pour. We dropped 25* and received prolly over an inch of precipitation in a short real time. All in all, it was an interesting day on our neck of the plains.
lw
I've been snooping around the prairie the last few weeks attempting to edjumakate myself on the native prairie plants. At first I was only looking for Desmanthus illinois, (with no luck so far.) Then I started getting curious as what I was finding and decided to buy a local identification book with color photos and known traditional uses.
I discovered a patch of partridge pea in flower the other day. This beautiful plant has small yellow flowers, acacia like leaves and develops typical legume seed pods.
Yesterday I came across a low-growing plant with clusters of what look like small, unripe (green striped) tomatoes. HOwever, upon biting into one of the "fruit" it turned out to be more of a nut that oozed a bitter, astringent juice that stayed with me all the way back to my truck no matter how many times I spit.
I had no luck locating this species in the book so I'll prolly head back out in a few minutes to get a better look at the rest of the plant.
lw
Took a little hike on da prairie this afternoon and stumbled upon a patch of ground cherries. The individual fruit hangs inches from the ground and is wrapped in parchment like a tomatillo. These were yellowish orange and sweet with no pits. I read that the native americans used this fruit for making sauces.
The green nut/fruit clusters I mentioned in a post above appear to be on a thistle plant of some kind.
lw
Our corner of da prairie got walloped by quite the snow storm the past couple of daze. Over a foot of snow , winds blowing at 40-60 mph creating drifts up to 15' tall and wind chill factor of -15 to -20F.
I've had no classes for two days and mrs lw has been snowed in the driveway since tuesday evening. She ain't going anywhere until the guy comes by with the blade on his truck, which should be any time. However, I parked my truck in a parking lot behind our house that is kept pretty clean, so I stayed mobile through the whole storm. Not sure why, but I really do enjoy running errands in a blizzard and always have.
lw
Quote from: "laughingwillow"Over a foot of snow , winds blowing at 40-60 mph creating drifts up to 15' tall and wind chill factor of -15 to -20F.
Remind me:
what is the attraction to the mid-wast again?
Uh...... the wife's family?
lw
We nearly had a snow storm here in Sacramento. A friend at 1800 ft has been snowed in for several days. It got down to the mid twenties, beat the shit outta my brugmansias, the salvia is doin ok.
It got down to 26 here, as cold as I remember in my 50 years here.
Quote from: "laughingwillow"Uh...... the wife's family?
Cool. I kind-of figured it wasn't weather or geography-related.
The things you do for love...
amom: I have also found it easier to remain grounded living out here on the prairie than it was when I lived in the middle of psychedelic central. (No Cal)
However, I DO enjoy crazy winter weather and I always have.
lw
We're getting a little ice storm out here on our corner of the prairie today. Woke up at about 6 am, looked outside and all was shiny-white. (Ice on snow) All schools are closed. The missus is working from home and I'm on my way out the door to pick up a few provisions. We have most everything I need to make up a batch of Tom Ka Gai soup: curry paste, kaffir lime leaves, galanga, onion, straw mushrooms, coconut milk and lemon grass. But we have no chicken. hahaha!
Meanwhile I can hear the ice pellets hitting the window and see the build up accumulating on handrails, sidewalks and vehicles in the driveway. Come to think of it, busting INTO the truck might be the most difficult part of the adventure to follow. The few cars I see on the street appear to be moving about ok. (The city puts down a substance to melt ice.) So if I manage to make it over the new skating rink to my truck, manage to bust through the ice to open the door and actually navigate the untreated parking lot leading to the untended side street, I'll prolly make it to Grand Ave and all that name entails.
Wish me luck on this, my first adventure of the unexpected vacation day.....
lw
I didn't know you could eat Thai soup in ice storms. Being from south-east Asia, I thought they were incompatible!
The lack of chicken isn't a problem, though. Just remove the Gai from the name, and you're good to go.
Good luck!
amom: THis soup travels surprisingly well. We threw a Thai dinner party once and now we have friends who beg me to make it. This is one of my all time favorites that, unfortunately, gets mangled by most any local restaurant that has it on their menu. We did find one place a long time back that made kick-ass tom kah gai for a spell. Unfortunately the food changed the day he quit. Its difficult to find authentic thai food here on the prairie. Most places load their dishes with sugar for some reason. And that really turns me off.
lw
am i to assume that the trek was safe and the gai showed up to honour the soup?
Oh, yeah, sistah-j. The gai found its way home. Wading through 6" of slush was the worse part of the day. However, a little later the ice grew so thick on hand rails, etc that stepping outside for any reason was a little dangerous. No school yesterday and I'm still waiting to see about this morning. I teach in a city library for a community college. Sometimes the library closes and sometimes the community college shuts down with bad weather. Things still look shiny out there this morning. We'll see.
lw
Quote from: "laughingwillow"amom: THis soup travels surprisingly well. We threw a Thai dinner party once and now we have friends who beg me to make it. This is one of my all time favorites that, unfortunately, gets mangled by most any local restaurant that has it on their menu.
I live in a very small town (like 1,000 people, kind of removed from any big city), and surprisingly, there's a Thai/Japanese restaurant in town that makes a surprisingly good coconut soup. I always get it when I go; makes a good appetizer for the Chicken Basil...I mean Gai Pad Kapow.
So, when is dinner? I'm getting hungry.
SO we're in the middle of the latest snow storm to cross our corner of the prairie. They say this one will stick around for a couple more days. Lots of folks I know are getting tired of this winter bidness, but I'm not one of them. I love snow on cedars.....
lw
Quote from: "laughingwillow"...We threw a Thai dinner party once and now we have friends who beg me to make it. This is one of my all time favorites that, unfortunately, gets mangled by most any local restaurant that has it on their menu. We did find one place a long time back that made kick-ass tom kah gai for a spell. Unfortunately the food changed the day he quit. Its difficult to find authentic thai food here on the prairie. Most places load their dishes with sugar for some reason. And that really turns me off.
lw
I know we had a great time that night, el dub, and we thank you again for it.
The food was absolute deliciousness, but it was the company that really made that night so great. :e_smile:
In fact I am still waiting for the shrimp and mint dish recipe! :lol:
Here comes the snow. We need about another 14" of the white stuff to break the all time seasonal record that I'm pretty sure was set the year I was born. So I have mixed feelings about that record potentially falling, as I watch the small flakes come down and look for an excuse to get myself out of the house and into the elements...
Life is good on da prairie this morning. I got in about an hour of drumming while the wife was out and now its time ot run some errands. Then its off to Iowa City this afternoon to catch a wrestling dual between Iowa and Ohio St tonight. (I busted free for a day from the tax season grind by getting ahead in me work and there is no ESL classes on Friday.)
Now, its time to get out of the house and into the snow. Anyone need anything? hehe
lw
Woke up to a very white spring this morning. I'm guessing we got 3-4 inches of new powder last night. Kind of surprised me, but not really. A student from Congo asked me last week if it was done snowing for the season and I told her I couldn't give her an answer, never mind the fact that it was sunny and 50+ degrees that day.
ANyway, it was snowing sideways for a spell yesterday, straight out of the north. Special delivery from Minneapolis......
Thanks, kemp.
lw
The prairie is in full bloom right now; a pastel riot of pink and white framed by shadows on soaked branches and the first green of spring. Last night there was big thunder and lightning and this morning nature is sporting her finest scent of the season, distilled from the essence of lilac and maple during an electrical storm. Its sunny with a breeze pushing clouds north. They say more rain is to follow, so the robins are all busy making nests and babies. Lilacs in bloom mean its time to chase morel mushrooms around these parts. Wild asparagus should be out, too.
We had snow on the ground for most of the winter, which apparently kept the ground warmer than usual. I had to start mowing the lawn already last week. (That job usually doesn't start until may, when morel season is about finished.)
lw
That sounds beautiful.
No grass mowing here yet this year. Today though we planted pears (recently sprouted seeds), choke cherries (sprouted seeds), peaches (sprouted seeds), and a couple of random apple seeds that were sprouting in the fridge. We also put a Red Lake currant bush in the ground, but we bought that at a local nursery.
Snow is fun. I like the growing season too though.
Your place sounds beautiful. Any idea on how many trees you have planted in the last decade?
I'd like to get an acreage to have room to plant more trees but it won't be easy moving mrs lw to the country. If we stay in town I'd like a new garage with space for a music room to keep me occupied while the wife/neighbors enjoy their peace and quite. However, that arrangement would be a far cry from having the same set up in the country with space for more planting of trees bushes and shrubs, fruits and veggies.
lw
I've been planting trees in one form or another for decades. Back in the day the game commission and local gun clubs would buy trees for us boy scouts to plant.
Now granted, I remember planting a lot of crabapples, multiflora rose, and asian honeysuckle plants. So I suppose the good we did maybe was some what countered by the number of invasive foreign species that we planted. Nowadays some of those sites are over run with asian honeysuckle shrubs, but hey, we were kids, and the game commission said it was a Good Idea.
I've found that certain crab apples and choke cherries are really tasty, and I've planted a fair number of those in the last few years. They seem to strike roots and grow better than domesticated fruits, surprise, surprise.
If you ever have had trouble getting jelly or jam to set, try using choke cherries and following the recipes for regular cherry jelly. You'll need a sharp knife to cut that stuff.
-G-
If I remember right, you moved into your place about 10 years ago, eh glider? I bet you have planted a ton of stuff on that property in that time.
Anyway, the times, they are apparently changing.... I went into the local garden store for a little potting soil today and found their new organic section much to my liking. I was paying for the soil and another shopper (an old lady) struck up a conversation....
"What's that?" she asked.
"Happy Frog potting soil," I replied. And then nodding in the direction of the business owner and I said to the lady, "Ask him why the frogs are so happy."
The shop owner actually turned a little red as he cleared his throat and explained to the lady that the soil in question comes from a booming business in Humbolt county CA.
"Ask him what kind of business," I urged the old gal. But before he could answer, I couldn't help but reply myself, with hand to mouth as in a whisper. "its from the mara-JU wanna business."
"And now you know why the frogs are happy," the shop owner said.
"But where do I get some of whatever is making those frogs so darn happy?" the lady inquired.
SO I stood there with my mouth open for a second and it would appear that the last laugh was on me.
lw
You know, with the report and quote buttons so close together, I'ma gonna hit the wrong one sooner or later.
Happy Frogs come from California, eh? I wanna lick one.....
Moved in here 7 or 8 years ago, and I've probably cut out more trees than I've planted. It was a Christmas tree farm at the time....
I probably put in two dozen apple trees, fewer of peach, plum, pear and cherry. Turns out that commercial fruit trees do poorly on soil that spent nearly two decades growing evergreens. The soil is finally coming around to be able to support anything but acid lovers. Which means that the blueberries, rhododendrons, and strawberries have done excellent thus far. Pick your battles, don'tcha know?
Now I've got a number of fruit trees that are doing well. This year we're putting seed grown peaches in, and hopefully a few pear / apple / cheery trees and some grape vines., all from seed. Who knows what the fruit will look like, but in a few years maybe we'll get a surprise.
I had probably 150+ brugmansia in 2004. Many of them grown from seed. Sadly that gets expensive in terms of cash to keep them warm through a 40th parallel winter, and also in terms of time to prepare them for cheap storage. They can mostly be cut down to sticks, stored in a bucket of water in a cool, dark area, and be rooted and ready to plant in the spring. But that is a lot of time in cutting them down, labelling them, storing them, and then checking them periodically to make sure that soured water isn't going to rot the whole batch before spring.
-G-
Took a little drive onto the prairie yesterday afternoon and ended up drag racing a wild turkey. She came out of the ditch on a gravel road in front of my truck, head down like a sprinter out of the blocks and soon hit her full stride, head up and sprinting hard before finally taking off and flying into the timber down in a bottom. I bet I was going at least 20 mph while following her. I see a few wild turkeys around these parts, but usually not on the gravel roads.
lw
Went for a 10 mile mountain bike ride around a local lake yesterday. The weather was perfect and so was the scenery. All the snow/rain of the last several months has really made the wildflowers bloom in full force. Everyone was enjoying themselves biking, hiking, fishing, sailing, and kayaking. Riding through the canopy of trees with the smell of honeysuckle was fantastic. There was a small festival for children and they seemed to be content feeding the ducks, fishing, and eating funnelcakes. I kept a watch out for cacti and only saw a small patch of prickly pear all by their lonesome in an open field.
Lilacs are out in force here, along side the dandelions. No honeysuckle here for a little while yet. I think it is in the next round of blooming. Wild turkeys are all over the place, but usually crossing the road, not flying along side it!
Where you at, eccentro? Sounds like colorado to me.
glider: That turkey wasn't flying along the road. She was a runnin'. I bet I paced her for at least 50 yards. Then she got up and flew back into what I consider turkey habitat. (a plowed field in the timber about a quarter mile from anything.)
lw
Wow. Better cook that one a little longer than usual!
Running has become a survival mechanism for pheasants here on the prairie, as those that fly, usually die. Maybe this is anew evolutionary phase of prairie turkey. Btw, shooting a turkey out of season or without a license is potentially big problem here in Ioway, as turkey is the only animal we have that is officially considered "big game" believe it or not.
lw
....which reminds me of a funny story...
One day I was out pushing deer for a bow hunting buddy. I was ready to shoot ducks and photos. (Shotgun and camera.) Anyway, I was sitting on a log in cammo and a big gobbler came out with a jake to eat grasshoppers along the creek. I shot a few pics before spooking the birds. The tom ran away as fast as he could and the jake flew right past me. I actually got a coupel of photos of the bird flying a few feet above my head. And later when I left, that damnable jake was sitting in the timber right behind me and scart the living piss out of me when I almost stepped on him and he flew off. The friend later told me the toms hang with the jakes and show them the ropes, so to speak, leaving the jake to predators while tom gets away.
lw
Heh, sounds like an effective strategy. Of course an inexperienced jake might also draw predators, but que sera sera.
Rabbits are out in force this year. I can hardly step into my lawn in the morning without seeing half a dozen or more cottontails. It'd be cute if they weren't already eating themselves out of their brush and into my shrubbery.
Took a drive/walk onto the prairie today and saw two bald eagles. (or maybe one, twice. hehe) I'm guessing both birds were young. The first was climbing thermals above a plowed field, like he was lifting off from a feeding. Then about an hour later another eagle crossed the road right in front of my truck at tree top level on its way to the river.
lw
G...speakin of rabbits. I was adding a flower bed last spring and as I dug my first whole, I found a 'nest' of baby cottontails without their eyes open. I read up online and found that you could move their hole up to 10 feet & the mother would return. My wife & I carefully moved the babies and their nesting material into my newly dug hole and sure enogh the mother returned and they grew up and hopped off. The flower bed has done amazing and she and her children leave it alone as payback!
Wow, I never tried moving a rabbit nest before. I wish I'd thought of that. Last summer there was a nest of cottontails under the swing set, and while I tried to let it be, I believe the young rabbits got driven off the nest about a week to ten days earlier that what should have been.
It makes sense that they'd leave the area immediately around their nest mostly untouched. Eating away your cover is probably not a winning survival strategy. I'll have to look into ways to convince mama rabbit to nest in my shrubbery rather than lunch in it!
I'm betting you fellas don't have cats. The only reason rabbits come in our yard is because we feed the birds. Feeding the small birds brought large predatory birds onto the property as well as rodents, but the cat patrol really keeps things in balance, imo.
lw
No, actually I have a cat. I got the cat because
1. I like cats, and
2. I feed birds too, which as you said draw rodents
3. rodents draw weasels, and cats
4. weasels and stray cats tend to eat my birds.
So I've got a cat. He seems to like the birds, but over time we've manage to reach a mutual respect on that point. He doesn't eat my birds, and I don't eat him.
He does seem to do pretty decent on the small rodents. However no, he doesn't seem to have much of an interest in rabbits. A shame really. If I could just convince the rabbits to sprout feathers, he'd probably be right on that....
-G-
The cats we take in are usually stray and used to fending for themselves. Most have wandered onto our preserve and we end up taking them in over time. Rabbits are considered big game by two of our females. And mommy cat likes to pick off a nest, one baby bunny at a time, night after night, like her own drive through.
I don't like our cats killing birds, so when its time for the robbins to fledge and leave the nest, I usually start keeping the cats in during the day and only letting them out at night to prowl when the birds are roosting and the rodents come out.
Not many weasels around here. I did come across a mink caught in a trap a few years back while hunting pheasants along a creek. ANd yes, I did end up springing that mink from that trap. By hand (and foot) I managed to release the tension on the spring while keeping the minks' head out of biting range with the butt of my gun. He seemed happy to be let go, but prolly just stumbled into another trap further down stream, for all I know.
lw
Quote from: "laughingwillow"The cats we take in are usually stray and used to fending for themselves. Most have wandered onto our preserve and we end up taking them in over time. Rabbits are considered big game by two of our females. And mommy cat likes to pick off a nest, one baby bunny at a time, night after night, like her own drive through.
I have a brace of hounds, and they (especially the younger) are the sweetest, kindest, animals you're likely to run into. But they're hounds, and they like killing.
Many years ago my family and I lived on a "farmette," and we had a lot of wildlife about. One spring day we hosted a birthday party for my son, and the property was crawling with toddlers.
My sweet little hound found a rabbit nest and achieved self-actualization. Rolling around on the groomed, tossing their little lifeless bodies into the air, It was an orgy of death, and I've never seen her so happy. It was hound nirvana.
The image of a herd of toddlers running around yelling "Broken bunnies! Broken bunnies!" is indelibly etched in my memory.
Ouch! We had a pit/dal that killed bunnies, squirrels and cats. Chased a cat right though my cactus collection. She would get our sheperd mix all riles up and they would do the dog pack thing. When we put her down, Chester never killed again.
Broken... bunnies.... Wow, what a day.
Mink are reasonably intelligent, or so believeth I from when I tried to trap them. Having been through the capture, and the close personal contact with a human, that mink probably experienced explosive gastrointestinal events for the remainder of its life every time it smelled steel, rust, human, and whatever the trapper was using as a lure. If the trapper used a muskrat gland lure, many muskrats lived to tell of their close call with the paranoid, psychosis driven mink. Hopefully that taught the trapper to use a kill set.
Thinking about those hounds, maybe that is part of the issue. My little beagle wasn't getting around quite so well last year, and she passed away earlier this year. That might have more to do with the onslaught of rabbits this year than I was giving credit for.
When I was a kid I was playing in the yard and my dad found a nest of baby bunnies with the lawnmower...that wasn't pretty.
So many broken bunnies.... In farm country occasionally a fawn is caught in a hay mower. We call that veal.....
I liked this thread better when we were talking about landscapes, quiet country roads, and trees.
Flowering quince is mostly faded away here now. The forsythia have all dropped their yellow and are once again actively growing. Speaking of quince, anyone ever grow it? Eat it? Propagate it?
How about silverberry (Elaeagnus)? It is just coming into flower here. Smells nice, tasty berries, crying shame it is listed as a noxious invasive from Asia. http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/ind ... s/2009/10/ (http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/gretchens/2009/10/)
The plant isn't illegal in this state, and I've left several large shrubs growing just because I like to eat the berries in the fall.
There is a crab apple flowering today as well. Beautiful pink blooms, sprouted up in the middle of a Christmas tree field, so I imagine it is a nature's original hybrid. It gets those inch diameter sized crab apples on it, so of course I'm always tempted to nibble on them in the fall. Unfortunately this particular one must have a double dose of Granny in it, because it goes right from powerful green pucker to rotting on the branch, without ever making a stop in tasty land. I gotta get me a nice mate for it that is friendlier in the fruit.
Honey suckles are starting to crack blooms right now as well. I can never quite distinguish the different asian invaders, but I'm pretty sure most of these around here are either Lonicera maackii or L. tatarica. I used to think they were L. japonica. But then I discovered L. japonica has a black fruit, and these are typically red, occasionally orange. Oh, and japonica is a vine, these are shrubs. The flowers look similar though! (Anyone wanna trade / sell me some Lonicera caerulea?)
Take care,
-G-
I agree with G. I guess you could say we were 'chasing rabbits' as my old college professor used to put it. I'll get back on track.
Hahaha! Chasing rabbits is very different from catching rabbits.
Make no mistake about it, rabbit is good food!
The process of changing a living rabbit into stew meat is the only negative to the meal. Perhaps that is why fruit bearing / medicinal bearing plants are so much fun. Generally one can harvest without the death of the plant.
-G-
The locust are in bloom now. Pretty, and smell nice, although they make some folks miserable.
glider: It sounds like you folks are a couple of weeks behind us as far as growing season goes this year. Its been an early start for us. However, there are frost warnings for part of the state tonight and tomorrow, so I'm glad I dug all the holes for our tomatoes and prepped the soil in the last couple of weeks, but held off from planting.
lw
Definitely no locust in bloom here. Various asian honey suckles are coming on strong though. Strawberries are blooming pretty good though, and the lilacs are starting to taper off.
Temperatures lately have been in the mid 20's at night.
hey glider - about quince - yeah. We once rented a house, set back from a main city street, filled with fruit trees. We had lush guava, persimmons, chinese apples (an apple looking persimmon) and quince. Quince are usually an ingredient people cook up as a compost. Very firm and hang on to their taste. We used to just pick em and chomp on them.
Around here, negev desert, the pecan tree has just shed a million little seed pods, the lilacs are in bloom. The lush flowering weeds are dying - thistle heads are bent, and the chamomile is only slightly still fragrant.
We had 100 degrees yesterday and a sandstorm, then suddenly the weather broke in the evening down to about 80 degrees. I expect we've seen the last of the rain till next November or so, but we sometimes get surprises.
Fields are blooming with some squash, green onion, corn. Carrots were just harvested.
And the songbirds are lively right now, early morning.
have a great day/night y'all.
Thanks to everyone for posting about the current conditions in your neck of the woods.
glider: Is it really that cold at night still? We've had our first frost warnings in a couple of months last night/tonight. Otherwise we've been at least up in the 40's the whole month of April.
judih: No more rain until fall, eh? That's crazy.
Prairie plants are coming up and looking healthy. I found some wild strawberries ripening in a clearing the other day. Last season, the patch had already finished fruiting by the time I discovered it. (the end of May) So I've found wild strawberries and ground cherries on the same hillside.
I myco'ed a few tomato holes on Sunday and then we received over an inch of rain on Monday......
lw
Last three nights it has gotten down into the 20's. Nice heavy frost in the morning. The sumacs all got knocked back a good one. They put their foliage out relatively early, and a couple heavy frosts in a row costs them the tender new growth. Same thing happened to an ash tree or two.
Tonight they are calling for a low in around 42 F. Today it isn't more than 45, and pouring rain. Unlike judih, we are going to see a lot of rain for the foreseeable future. I started deadheading some of the lilacs yesterday, there just isn't any bloom left on some of the plants. I have some small shrubs just started, which is the only reason I'm willing to pick off flower heads. Once they get up above my head and dozens of blooms a piece, I don't bother. Last frost around here is still some weeks away.
Kind of up in the hills, and away from any large body of water, the days get warm, but the nights are still chilly. We've had weather well into the 70s already. It just doesn't always hold there well through the night.
After a stormy weekend, it is definitely warming up here, gonna be 81o tomorrow.
It will be summer all too soon. At least this year the three year long drought was relieved. The Sierra snowpack is 150% of normal and the reservoirs are filling.
That is good news, jrl.
We used to frequent the San Louis Reservoir when I had friends in Gilroy. The water level was so far below full in the late 80's that it was scary. I think it rained on me about four times in the four years I lived in the bay area.
lw
Good to hear that you've got water now. It's one of the things we so often take for granted. I suppose this isn't the case so much if you live in or near the desert, or if it is spring 2010 and you live on the Gulf of Mexico.....
Last evening we had 1/2 of snow on the ground. I suspect that it is the last we'll see of it this season though. It usually doesn't lay this late into the spring. Today the temperatures are running a good 10 or 15 degrees warmer than yesterday, though it is still a damp day. Crazy thing is that it has been warm enough that with all the rain, the grass is growing like mad. Anyone need a little hay made?
-G-
'hay made'?
yeah- i'd take a ton or two
on the way back from seeing 'alice in wonderland' in be'er sheva, we passed a ton of stored wheat ablaze. gorgeous to watch, but i'm thinking that it's gonna be missed.
Funny how a fire can be beautiful and terrible at the same time. We watched a fire burn late one night in the Black Hills. It was a beautiful sight until we learned that Reptile Gardens, a swell place we had visited earlier in the day was burning down.
lw
In Cali life revolves around water. Seems like we mostly have too little or too much. Before they built Folsom Dam, Sacramento would flood every winter. My house is a highwater bungalow, the bottom floor is now an apartment, but in decades past it was for flood protection.
I came across an iris today in the country on a grassy corner of a lot with gravel pit tucked back a ways. It caught my attention from probably 100 feet away while I was driving out of town, so I just had to stop back and take a little closer look. It's a mature purple iris with yellow beard. And it smells heavenly. I wonder how it got there?
lw
The day started out dreary and overcast, but in the afternoon the sun came out and burned away the clouds. A tourist pointed out to me how pretty the water was, I hadn't really noticed that before because I am on it almost everyday. The sea looked like blue green glass, food for the eyes. Right after I became aware of the way the sea looked two seagulls came down and started fighting, it is kinda sad that was the high point of my day at work.
Heck, alice, any day spent within gazing distance of the ocean can't be all that bad, imo. I really like that color you mention.
lw
And who doesn't like to watch birds?
lw, wild iris? I think my roommate dated her once.
It's starting to get into the 90s here...already too hot for me. The plants are loving the recent rain. Tomatoes are doing amazing. Jalapenos are growing like mad but no japs yet. 'spices' are gettin spicy. One of my pc pach is in the lead for cacti with 5 to 6 inches of new growth this season. I'm leaving it (& it's pot of course)in a bowl of water constantly just for an experiment.
Taking the dog to the lake soon. She loves water more than anything else. She's a golden retriever. 6 months after we got her as a puppy we took her to her first large body of water that she ever gazed upon & she ran right in & swam into the middle of a large pond. We were worried but she was in heaven.
Quote from: "judih"'hay made'?
yeah- i'd take a ton or two
Well I didn't actually rake it and bale it. Most of it was over 12" though, and just at that point where the seed head was starting to form, but the whole stalk is still tender and supple. Today it is pouring though, so even if I had the equipment and the will, I don't know that it would have worked out. Weather man is calling for a good week long drenching.
Most of the corn around here has sprouted. Some beans not planted yet.
The other day I was driving along a gravel road and kicked up a huge flock of goldfinches that wove a gold and black tapestry between my truck and the trees they headed for when I approached.
Yesterday I saw an oriole a few miles from town. I never see them here in the burbs, but am guessing a few make it to the past edge of civilization.
I put a few tomato plants in the ground yesterday afternoon in the sweltering heat, which topped out at about 87* just as I was finishing up at about 3:30 pm. I was wiped out after a couple of hours under the sun in that high humidity and crashed hard, sleeping for about an hour and a half. I woke up at about 5:30 and it was getting dark. Stepped outside and the temp had dropped prolly 15*, the wind was picking up (smelled great) and a little thunderstorm was fixing to make its way through the area from the south. Guess it was my lucky day. hehe
lw
i was biking by the corn today - it's looking fairly tall and in the distance some haystacks were parked by the side of the road. We've got a few rows of pumpkin and a few of watermelon and green onions. lazy kinds of crops close to the ground under a huge blue sky. Today was forty degrees centigrade which is almost 100 F, i think. tomorrow's supposed to be five degrees cooler (yay!)
After the last few nights of helicopters overhead and those wild shrieking peacocks, it's quiet tonight.
I think 40C it a little over 100F, maybe 104F?
No corn here. If there is any even planted yet, I haven't seen it, though maybe I just need to look closer.
Locust bloomed and is nearly done. A lot of roses are in bloom now, as are blackberry brambles. A local field looked practically white with them. Perhaps we'll have a good haul of berries this summer.
We had a couple of freakish days of thunder storms, trailing off today. What weird weather the past few years.
I looked out at the bird feeders the other day and saw a squirrel had climbed the shephards hook and was hanging upside down like a finch stealing seed.
That is one goal oriented squirrel. I wonder if he needs a job in IT...?
There is one lilac bush along the drive home that _still_ had full blooms, weeks after the rest of them are done. I'm starting to wonder if it isn't a 10' tall plastic plant....
Took a drive through some different roads today. Corn is going in some fields, 2-3" sprouts in others. I guess I gotta plant my veggies or scrap the project this year.
Wild (feral?) Viburnums in flower around here, by the way. No clue which species.
-G-
Not sure why the squirrel went to such lengths to eat, there was bird seed on the ground as well as squirrel food.
LOL Squirrels are goofy sometimes. No stopping them.
lw
Love watching them, we got 4 or more that live in our yard.
A big "thank" to all who have contributed to this thread about "lonely country roads," as Glider put it.
Went for a walk on the prairie the other day and ended up crossing the edge of some tillable land next to a friend's acreage. We had been wondering when they were going to plant this particular field. last year it was corn, so this year should be soybeans. It appeared to be unworked. But while crossing an edge of the field I noticed bean sprouts just peeking out of the soil. A closer look revealed the entire field was just coming up. So this farmer must be practicing no-till. The beans were knifed into the ground BETWEEN last year's rows of corn. The field was never plowed after harvest last fall. SO the top soil tends to remain in the fields, rather that blowing into the waterways from a naked field. I'm happy to see local farmers taking up this ancient practice once again.
Got a call at about dusk last night. My friend said her dogs were going crazy by the trees on the edge of her property. Last time they acted that way, they ended up treeing a bobcat right in the corner of the yard.
lw
Are you certain that it was beans knifed into the ground this spring?
Sometimes here in order to achieve a similar goal the farmers will plant a "under crop" so that the field only needs disturbed once for several years farming. Typically here it is something fast like oats coupled with something slower like an alfalfa or trefoil underneath. By the time the oats are harvested in late summer or early fall, the legume hay should be just growing up through the oats.
I'm relatively certain that wouldn't be the case with soybeans and corn, but many of the legumes look similar to me when they are sprouting.
I'm curious as to what techniques they are using out there as opposed to around here.
Farmers around here that make silage from their corn will sometimes seed a legume hay as an under crop, but if they aren't making silage, most of them prefer to plow the corn stalks into the ground.
-G-
Yesterday I spent a fair bit of time on the road. An hour+ south of me the catalpas are starting to come into flower. Much closer to home I saw an orange azalea that was still in full flower.
My brugmansias have all burst into bloom, smell delicious at night, as does the honeysuckle.
Mmmmmm. Brugmansia. I miss mine.
I have one left. It is sitting above me, in a 1 gallon pot. The only one to survive the Great Freeze. Soon I'll have to take it out into the yard and plant it, see if it has some bloom power left in it. It is a candida-heavy hybrid, bought it at Bob Smoley's back in the day. It was labelled very simply "orange". Turns out it is not an orange flower producer, but instead the very bland colored cream-ish flowers produce a scent that scream orange. More the color orange, in scent form than anything citrus-y. Yup, I sure do hope it has some bloom in it this year.
The farmers around these parts plant every spring, alternating between corn and soybeans. The beans are a quicker crop, so they are usually the last fields to get planted. Unfortunately, the practice for much of the last century involved harvesting a crop in the fall and then immediately plowing the fields in order to get a head start on spring. However, this practice leads to extensive erosion and represents bad land stewardship practices, imo.
If the beans were planted in the fall, they would have come up much sooner. Possibly too soon to survive late frosts. So I'm pretty sure the farmer simply cut the corn down to very short stubble in the fall and then knifed the beans in a few weeks back between the old corn rows. And that's a good start to protecting our precious topsoil, imo.
lw
I agree with you. Soybeans are a rather uncommon crop here. We've got a few fields that have them every year, but the nitrogen fixing crops are usually alfalfa, trefoil, clover, and buckwheat, more or less in that order.
Crop rotation around here typically starts with corn, then after that oats are often the second year. A legume-hay crop like clover or alfalfa is after that, though sometimes they go straight from corn to the legume hay.
How long the field is left in alfalfa varies, but usually 1-3 years. Then it is either back corn, or there is a period of grass-hay, often a timothy mix, or a timothy-clover mix. I suspect, but do not know, that the farmers who run a shorter alfalfa rotation probably favor the clover in the grass mix.
We've got a lot of small dairy and beef farms, and a smaller number of pig and sheep farms. I'm not aware of anyone in the area that still operates a for-profit horse breeding operation.
I was watering our tomatoes the other day and was bitten by a few half red/half black bodied ants. Yesterday while working in the garden, I found the same ants had started a colony in the soil of a tomato plant potted in a ten gallon smart pot. Anyone know if it should be a concern as far as the plant is concerned? And if it is a potential problem, how do I get rid of this ant colony from my organic tomatoes?
Thanks in advance.
lw
I got home last night around midnight and had to park a few doors down from the house. As I walked up the sidewalk I saw a huge raccoon coming my way. It spotted me, stopped and then walked my way a bit more. I think we were playing chicken because when i just kept walking toward it it turned and walked the other way away from me.
I was driving home from work tonight, fumbling with my mp3 player trying to find something to fit my mood. I came over a small hill in the road and saw a cat that had gotten hit by a car I kept driving but in the glare of my tail lights I saw him moving so I put the car in reverse and moved it back to where he was. He was still alive...... blood was dripping out of his mouth and he was trying to stand up... I sat down next to him and cradled him in my lap until he slid off into the next place.....hopefully we will meet again.
It's insane to me that any human could hit a cat or fuck anything and just leave it there in the road without checking it's status.
If I ever did something like that I would kill myself, how do they live like that? denying any responsibility for their own lives.
As a race we can only be judged upon how we care for creatures that share this place.
Quote from: "laughingwillow"I was watering our tomatoes the other day and was bitten by a few half red/half black bodied ants. Yesterday while working in the garden, I found the same ants had started a colony in the soil of a tomato plant potted in a ten gallon smart pot. Anyone know if it should be a concern as far as the plant is concerned? And if it is a potential problem, how do I get rid of this ant colony from my organic tomatoes?
Thanks in advance.
lw
How about a small pile of ant bait? Kills ants. They may take some underground to feed others, so that might put the bait into the root zone. But they are small, shouldn't hurt the plants, and little will be taken up. You can put the baits out away from the root zone, the ants will come for them. Winter should break them down.
I make bait houses with clorox bottles.
I have to use them now, we have some new micro (almost invisible) ants with a fiercely painful bite. I'm getting used to the poison, but they still hurt for hours. They're living in the chacruna, so I have to take it. But bait has cut the numbers some. We place bait around the carport and house access points, and so far the ants have stayed out of the house. Used some volk oil on the citrus last week, at least the citrus will clean up and not vector to the chacruna so much. :tea:
Crazy ants.
I thought we had reached an agreement in da garden awhile back. THe ants were getting flooded out of their favorite smart pot a couple of times a week and finally moved out. But I was watering the plants the other day and ended up standing on their new nesting site for a few minutes without realizing it. THe first one bit me through my shirt. I thought it was a horsefly until looking down and seeing a battalion of red/black bastards making their way up my pant legs and over my shirt. It was a fight for a few minutes, but I managed to clear them off my body without losing too much flesh and I do know where they are residing now.....
We have a brand of ant killer called Taro here in Iowa that is illegal in some states but does wipe out whole colonies.
I've come to a truce in the garden with the poison ivy, mice, rabbits, deer and now I hope ants....
lw
Man, I wish I had some of that Taro. I'll see if it's available online.
These buggers are just too much. I have to deal with these fire ants daily, ouch! We had the arrival some 25 years ago of some ants that sound like yours, red and black, about 1/8". Super painful. But they formed discrete hills, and they could be sprayed or baited out of the yard. Whew!
Now we have these no see um anties, and they must make many small colonies because they are hard to eradicate. I think they actually live in the bushes sometimes. They may never return to the ground to eat the baits. They may nest in lichen etc. on the branches.
So I hope I can find a bait, maybe Taro, that clears them out completely.
Hawaii seems like paradise, until you try to garden here! :blaugh:
We have coqui frogs here now, and now the tiny ants. New stuff, including dangerous pests, is coming in to Hawaii daily, from all over the world. And the ecosystem just can't deal with the newcomers.
Plus we have the usual wandering dogs, cats and pigs. But at least no deer, squirrels, rabbits or coons! :twisted:
I wish I could grow nice organic tomatoes here. We have a medfly that stings and lays eggs in any soft fruit or veg it can get into, then the fruits just start to rot on the vines. So it's hard to grow melons, maters, squash, soft fruits, etc. Unless you build screen houses! Or spray tons like the local produce farmers do!
The weather is great tho! This is why I grow mostly roots and leaves, or things in pods.
Den: I can send you some terro. (I spelled it wrong the first time.) I'm not sure how many different types of ants it kills, but would be worth the effort, I'm sure. Let me know if/when you want any. Shoot me an addy, bruddah.
(edit) Just peeped the box. Terro controls "sweet eating" ants, including, Argentine, Ghost, Cornfield, PAvement, Acrobat, White footed, Little black, Odorous house, Crazy and Big headed ants.
The ones around our house are very small and brown, but I don't know their name.
lw
Ours are called Little Fire Ants, or LFR's. From Central America, now spreading thruout the world.
LW, your post has inspired me to do some reading. Thanks for the offer on the Terro, but it is sold locally too. Terro is basically boric acid, and yes it does work on LFR's. But they don't eat it readily. They eat sweet, but they also need protein. So the bait of choice has been Amdro, which we use. However, Amdro is sensitive to moisture, and decomposes quickly in humid weather, as we have (thus the bottle houses I have made for the Amdro). And ground baits don't necessarily attract the tree dwelling LFR's. I think they live partly on whitefly webs and larvae in the trees.
I've used boric acid on roaches before. So I found a Maui farmer's site, and he has blended the terro or boric acid into peanut butter, and he smears or sticks the goop onto the branches of trees. He claims it works well, so I will try it. Maybe there is some relief ahead, we'll see. :tea:
I don't live in a city anymore, so I don't have to deal with roaches anymore--thank God! (I'm a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but my equanimity doesn't extend to roaches or poison ivy.) I've used boric acid before to some success. But it was my understanding that the roaches didn't have to eat it. Merely by walking trough it, it gets in their breathing holes and adversely affects them. Don't know if it would be the same with ants, though.
It would need to be dry, though, which could be an issue in paradise.
yes Amom, boric acid works best indoors in Hawaii, usually placed inside walls, behind the sheetrock is best. Cuz that's where roaches like to hide out, and it's dry there.
Since most of the kids grew up and moved away, we don't have problems with roaches any more. :mrgreen:
But the LFR's must be stopped! I may have to call in the Spyder Army... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
Its been beautiful out on the prairie as of late. Sixteen glorious days without rain, mostly in the 70s' and 80's, and more in the forecast. The trees are decked out in their fall finest; orange, yellow, red and purple with still a hint of green. Farmers are in the fields and on the gravel roads because the beans and corn are coming out. Time to make hay while the sun shines!
ps: I think I finally found my first D illinois in a ditch along a well-traveled gravel road. However, when I stopped for a closer inspection, it appeared the pods had been removed from the plant. (I'll go back out in a couple of days to check this last detail out.)
lw
Yikes!
Having a little tussle this morn with a feral tabby tom. We started feeding him last winter when he was a kitty.cI finally coaxed him into the house last night with a bowl of food inside an open door. Its getting cold outside. He came in to eat and then went into the basement. I closed the door, herded him into an isolation room, gave him food, water and a litter box. This morning he beat the shit out of me. I was ready for the claws but not the teeth. So, he won that first round, but I'll go back down a little later with a towel to help wrangle him into a pet carrier so he can go visit the vet. LOL Wish me luck.
lw
Ding! Round two....
Little bastid had an appointment with the vet this morning that I couldn't make. Or should I say, the little bastid decided we wouldn't be taking any field trips this morning. He shucked, jived and tight rope walked his way out of my grasp again. He now looks at me with contempt like I'm his bitch. Poor boy is covered with dust and cobwebs from nose to tail.
I'll prolly let him settle down for a couple of days and then put a live trap into the room with food on sunday evening to get ready for a trip to the vet on monday morn.
Time to go lick my battle wounds......
lw
Feral cats. (shudders).
We got the cat lady here. This misguided soul sees herself as a saintly animal lover, coming at dusk everyday and putting mass quantities of cat food out. Coming home couple nights ago, her SUV was stopped on a busy street half way in the lane, no blinkers.
What she is doing, against the wishes of most in the neighborhood is creating a large feral cat population right on the corner 2 doors down. Also we get possums, skunks and street gangs of raccoons, who all love cat food. After a good meal the possums come uproot my cacti, killing some slow growing buttons and upending some nice t chilensis.
LOL I started feeding this guy when he was less than a year old and it was about -20*F last winter. I never realized how crazy-assed wild he was until this morning. Looks like he'll be cooling his heels in isolation until Monday morning. THen he'll get neutered, wormed, de-flead and then back into isolation until he comes out of the anesti-fog. At that point I'll prolly give him the run of the house until he decides that inside life is better (at present than sleeping in a snow bank for another winter.
We've taken in other strays over the years. Many were as cautious as this guy until I got my hands on them, or at least got them playing with a toy. This guy is another story entirely.
lw
sounds like the animal isn't entirely in favour of being taken in.
i'm wondering if things'll change by monday
He's gotten a little better in 24 hours. Not much, though. Still not eating.
THe bottom line, imo, is that he needed to come in for the winter. Heck, he walked in the door and down the basement himself.
I've been planning on taking him to Cali when I go. Mrs lw says the cat herd stays with her until she moves. He's mine, if'n all goes as planned. I'm guessing he'll settle down when winter really hits. He has a few months to chill.
lw
sistah-judih: I like your question/observation about the cat really not wanting to come in from the cold.
I can relate. (To the cat.) As a matter of fact, his situation reminds me of my personal experiences with music and the active sacrament.....
I was really attracted to the Dead scene, and spent at least five years stopping by, getting spiritual nourishment and then going on my merry way until the next time I got hungry. One day a door was thrown open to me, I walked in, was gripped by panic and fled the scene.
Then one day I started getting hungry again. The door was opened and I walked in. Soon the panic came back. But then I remembered that I'd already spent a lot of time around what turned out to be some really kind people in that scene, and I reminded myself that I'd made the choice to walk through that door in order to go further....
lw
interesting metaphor, LW.
a window into your compassion.
So, I went out and bought a live trap yesterday, hoping to take wild child to the vet this morning. But when I got up, the food and water were gone but the trap door hadn't shut. Kitty waltzed in had a tuna fish snack and then waltzed back out. burp!
I'm guessing I'll get him later today or tonight.
ps: My arm hurts like fuck. Its not really infected, but he bit me to the bone right on the elbow and the claw puncture wounds surrounding the bites makes it difficult to rest my arm on anything or even put on or take off shirts with long sleeves.
I'll be baaack.
Wish me luck.
lw
goddamn critter
luck
Ha! Rude Boy (Rudie) went to the vet this morning after I managed to build a better mouse trap. He had really calmed down the past couple of days. Hope this doesn't set him back too much. (snip, snip)
lw
So, I just had a revelation while brushing my hair......
In the last few days, I've had success with Rudie due to an ability to remain sweet with him, no matter what he threw at me. In our relationship, I'm a big cat and mrs lw has been the lion tamer, imo.....
lw
My world: I just went to the PO to mail off a car payment. While waiting in line, I was able to over hear many details of a conversation between a couple in front of me. When my phone rang, I tried to be respectful of the people around me by talking in a hushed voice. I really didn't want to bother anyone. Anyway, the entire wait plus transaction lasted about three minutes. I was on my way out the door when I felt a tap on my back. I turned around and an old lady (70-80) deposited a note in my hand. I opened it and read her missive condemning my phone conversation in the PO. I turned back to the lady, a bit surprised.
Heck I was wondering if I should apologize or something when the old lady offered, "We don't want to hear it."
I was trying to be respectful, "I countered."
"We don't want to hear it."
Well, lady, this is america. I'm not sure you have the right to tell me where I can and can't talk on my phone. (I hate talking on the phone, btw.)
"We don't want to hear it," was all that came out of the lipstick smear she tried to pass off for a mouth.
"You have a nice day, Ma'am," I offered before heading out the door for a second time.....
lw
The wife and I just spent a week in PV Mexico with her sister and new boyfriend. The change of pace was appreciated by all. A public bus took us from our ocean side condo into town in the morning for breakfast and a little exploring/shopping. Then it was back to the condo for beach/snorkel/cocktail time followed by another trip into town for dinner before retiring to the condo to listen to the waves crashing on the beach below.
I was impressed by the quality of the local herb this trip, but even then, a week in paradise was perfect for lowering my thc levels, as there is really no comparison between what you get down there and what we do up here. My guess is that I could have stopped smoking all together if we had spent another week in PV.
Our condo was about 100 feet above the ocean and prolly the same distance to the ocean's edge at high tide. We watched dolphins on a few occasions even caught a show by a few whales passing through the neighborhood, all from our balcony. We mostly shared the surf with pelicans and diving ducks chasing schools of shad. A few moral eels came out for the feast as well as a few small manta rays and a sea turtle or two.
lw
Watching dolphins play makes me think they are making art. I walked along the beach in watching them jump for joy, creating shapes. What beauty!!!
the onslaught of new peaceful impressions opens the mind. It becomes so simple to live in another rhythm, habits often have no need to be part of the day.
welcome home, LW
Our cozy, little corner of da prairie has received about 10" of snow in the last couple of days. Now comes the cold and a little wind to boot. More snow expected before the weekend. I love it.
lw
What a cool idea for a forum!
The relentless heat and humidity is washed away as the heaven unleashes raging fury accross the sky, Rain comes down so thick you cannot see more than a few feet in front of you, the sounds of a thousand lizards running over your tin roof is strangly intoxicating.
Laying in your hammock sipping kava as you are rocked gently by the strong winds you hear the rainforest come alive with the sounds of thousands of frogs all singing in harmony, all welcoming the life that the rains bring. The smell of mycelium and fungi is thick as the fungi to spring to life, they do not discriminate as you watch your timber surfaces everywhere start growing mould, you can hear the plants singing in bliss, new growth and new life already spring up everywhere.
The begining of the monsoon and the life it brings in papua...
Casuarius - listening to your spores thrive amid the lizard footsteps - lush description
here - we cheer with each extra millimetre of rain, but rumour has it that there'll be little more.
aloe popping its gorgeous orange blooms, wheat sprouts in optimistic growth - wondering it rain is an illusion
desert in january
Only here, does rain forest meet desert and prairie.
cas: Do you folks have glass windows or just open air access down there? (I'm picturing huts, hammocks and awnings.)
lw
Snow/sleet/rain have been passing through the last while. Yesterday it actually warmed to above freezing after dropping 20* or so overnight, our world is a skating rink this morning.
A sharp-shinned hawk has been hunting our feeders as of late. He was flushing sparrows from a tangle of wild grapes and a mulberry bush the other day without much success. The sparrows seemed to figure out that the little hawk was still too big to get into their tangled habitat and have started remaining there after he makes an unsuccessful attack at the near by feeder. Anyway, this tactic has got the predator a little frustrated. He sat in a little tree in the yard eyeing the thicket for a spell and then started trying to crawl into their hideout and gave winged pursuit after the flush. While the sparrows, juncos, cardinals, nuthatches and chickadees are in the yard every day, the birds of prey usually only come by when its threatening snow.
lw
Mostly open air all the time but with insect screens. I lived without insect screens for 3 years but after a while those mosquitoes wear you down hahaha. Windows are like a hatch you see in like tiki huts but made of glass So you can close them when it "really" rains haha, like 400mm overnight rains!
cas: Mosquitos must be crazy down der. Believe it or not, around here, the further north one travels, the worse/bigger the mosquitoes get. I'm pretty sure that "death by mosquito swarm" is possible in Alaska and points north.
I've been studying PNG a bit since you came around. Sounds like you are prolly one of the more educated folks in that country. What other languages do you speak? (I saw you use a bit of spanish on another site.)
lw
Hola Laughing Willow ;)
Haha we have some pretty big ones here too, I dont mind the big ones because they are easy to dispose of, the ones i hate are these small tiny ones that hover around at foot level in the dark. You usually dont feel them biting until its to late and they really really itch. I dont know what they have in them but no other mosquitos cause a itch like these ones do.
My parents where spanish so i can speak it poorly, Im trying to use it more in forums etc to remind myself so i dont forget it. I can speak a bit of thai, tagalog and a bit of local papuan to (theres alot of papuan languages).
Saludos