This morning was overcast, somewhat cool but humid. Still it seemed like a good day to get started picking the mulberries that are ripening quickly. I ambitiously headed out to the big tree with my container in hand only to be attacked by a hoard of voracious mosquitoes. The mulberries really need to be picked before they are wasted and only the bugs (and perhaps the roving chickens) get to enjoy them.
I returned to the house and traded my tee shirt for a long sleeved denim shirt. Then added my beekeepers headgear and veil. My hands were the only skin exposed. I picked about a quart of berries before I gave up. Even though the nasty biters couldn't have a snack on my blood, their incessant buzzing was beyond annoying.
I am thinking the best option now is the old "spread the table cloths on the ground, shake the tree, fold up the table cloths and take the loot elsewhere to be cleaned and sorted" approach is going to be required this year. Since the destiny of the berries is juice for jelly, appearance isn't as important as quantity and I will never have enough quantity if the mosquitoes have their way!
I ended up with only one bite and it was inflicted early in the battle.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Snake season again
Two snakes in two days (or maybe the same one twice). One slithering along heading in the right direction to go where it belongs out back. The other comfortably sleeping in a drawer in the chicken house. I dropped moth balls on it to no effect. 20% vinegar solution obviously made it uncomfortable but I doubt it killed it. Had it been in a more accessible spot it would have suffered a more definite and permanent fate.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
eggs
As hens age, their egg production decreases. I only have 7 hens residing in the big chicken house and collect 4 or 5 eggs a day from them. Since they are older, this seems about right.
A couple of days ago my nephew came to visit. He has had a fascination with chickens since he was a child. When he asked to go into the chicken house to look for eggs I said "Go ahead."
He returned with over 2 dozen eggs. Since it was early in the day and I knew the hens weren't through laying eggs yet I was totally surprised with this collection. I asked him where he found them and he said they were in the big chicken house...most of them in one nest? I collect eggs every day from there so this was definitely an anomaly. I asked him to show me where he found them. Sure enough, the girls were using an old nest which I thought was abandoned and therefor I didn't check it daily. Most of these eggs were well past the fresh stage! All but a couple of them failed the water test miserably. (Older eggs have a larger air sack and therefor turn upward when put in water. The older the egg, the larger the air sack, the more they float.)
I know how a rotten eggs smells. The smell lingers if one is broken accidentally. I hard boiled these to minimize the smell and fed them back to the chickens. They were far from first quality, but the chickens cleaned them up nicely.
A couple of days ago my nephew came to visit. He has had a fascination with chickens since he was a child. When he asked to go into the chicken house to look for eggs I said "Go ahead."
He returned with over 2 dozen eggs. Since it was early in the day and I knew the hens weren't through laying eggs yet I was totally surprised with this collection. I asked him where he found them and he said they were in the big chicken house...most of them in one nest? I collect eggs every day from there so this was definitely an anomaly. I asked him to show me where he found them. Sure enough, the girls were using an old nest which I thought was abandoned and therefor I didn't check it daily. Most of these eggs were well past the fresh stage! All but a couple of them failed the water test miserably. (Older eggs have a larger air sack and therefor turn upward when put in water. The older the egg, the larger the air sack, the more they float.)
I know how a rotten eggs smells. The smell lingers if one is broken accidentally. I hard boiled these to minimize the smell and fed them back to the chickens. They were far from first quality, but the chickens cleaned them up nicely.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
raccoon Page 3
The raccoon has left the building.
Let us hope he had such a miserable time on his visit he never returns.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Raccoon-Page 2
When I came home from work yesterday, the raccoon not only had not departed the bus, he was curled up snoozing away, totally unbothered by the fact I was there. By evening, his position had only changed slightly and he was still sacked out.
I decided to block the pet door to keep the cats out, set the hav-a-hart-or-not-trap, bait it with cat food and when I had him trapped to dispatch him in an appropriate manner.
Bad mistake. The bus is even more trashed than yesterday. Any shelf he had missed the night before, he got last night. In addition, he really wanted to get out of there and pretty much destroyed the pet door. Obviously gave up after creating mass destruction and climbed back into his comfortable spot by the ceiling and hunkered down for another day of sleep. The trap and the cat food were untouched. It has a sensitive trigger on the closing mechanism and it wasn't even tripped. (It did, however slam shut when I touched it!)
Thor discovered him this morning. He is not happy that creature is in the bus. He knows the raccoon doesn't belong. Hackles up and barking, he tried to roust it without getting too close. Since he already had to deal with porcupine quills, I really don't want him dealing with Mr. Raccoon.
Tonights' plan is to place the trap immediately in front of the pet door on the outside of the bus and hope he enters the trap and doesn't just destroy it. We have already lost one trap to some kind of creature who actually chewed through the end of the cage to escape. Hopefully the cats will leave the trap alone to allow my idea to have a chance at working.
Stay tuned for updates.
I decided to block the pet door to keep the cats out, set the hav-a-hart-or-not-trap, bait it with cat food and when I had him trapped to dispatch him in an appropriate manner.
Bad mistake. The bus is even more trashed than yesterday. Any shelf he had missed the night before, he got last night. In addition, he really wanted to get out of there and pretty much destroyed the pet door. Obviously gave up after creating mass destruction and climbed back into his comfortable spot by the ceiling and hunkered down for another day of sleep. The trap and the cat food were untouched. It has a sensitive trigger on the closing mechanism and it wasn't even tripped. (It did, however slam shut when I touched it!)
Thor discovered him this morning. He is not happy that creature is in the bus. He knows the raccoon doesn't belong. Hackles up and barking, he tried to roust it without getting too close. Since he already had to deal with porcupine quills, I really don't want him dealing with Mr. Raccoon.
Tonights' plan is to place the trap immediately in front of the pet door on the outside of the bus and hope he enters the trap and doesn't just destroy it. We have already lost one trap to some kind of creature who actually chewed through the end of the cage to escape. Hopefully the cats will leave the trap alone to allow my idea to have a chance at working.
Stay tuned for updates.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Keg Party!
When I went to open the door on the bus to let the cats out for the day I couldn't get it open. Somehow they had wedged something in the way. After much effort, inch by inch, I got it open enough to get inside. The entry area was totally trashed with lumber and containers everywhere. As I proceeded further in it got worse. The bus looked like the inside of a frat house after a keg party: bedding tossed every where, food bowls scattered along with the food, kennels on their sides. In the area where we store the canning supplies there were jars and broken glass the entire length of the room.
There have been arguments in the bus overnight in the past, but never to this degree. Apparently someone was really ticked off. Since I'm working at the restaurant over the lunch hours and this is Coop distribution week I really don't have time to deal with a mess of this magnitude. Grumbling and cursing the cats under my breath I happened to look in the eave above the table saw where (previous to last night) we store trim boards. Hunkered down as close to the wall as possible was the creature who had entered the bus overnight, undoubtedly by the pet door and obviously caused the disturbance. Looking at the fur my thoughts were "Oh, crap. The opossums are back." I pondered what to do about the situation for a bit and discounted the gun idea, tossed out the trap option as in the bus I'd more likely catch a cat or two, erased the thought of stabbing it from my mind and walked out the door.
When I returned to the scene of the destruction it was still hunkered down where it had been cornered, but now I could see the tail. Not a naked tail like opossums but a striped tail instead. This huge furry trouble maker is a raccoon. You may recall I trapped one of these in the big building a couple of years ago. They are so cute and so destructive as well as obviously unpopular with cats when territorial issues are at stake.
Last time I checked he had progressed from his fetal position to the point where his face was visible...sure enough, 'coon eyes looking back at me.
I'm leaving the big door open and hoping he will quietly leave during the day while I'm at work and his experience was so traumatic that he won't return. Keep your fingers crossed he'll be gone when I get home and won't come back so I won't have to deal with him.
There have been arguments in the bus overnight in the past, but never to this degree. Apparently someone was really ticked off. Since I'm working at the restaurant over the lunch hours and this is Coop distribution week I really don't have time to deal with a mess of this magnitude. Grumbling and cursing the cats under my breath I happened to look in the eave above the table saw where (previous to last night) we store trim boards. Hunkered down as close to the wall as possible was the creature who had entered the bus overnight, undoubtedly by the pet door and obviously caused the disturbance. Looking at the fur my thoughts were "Oh, crap. The opossums are back." I pondered what to do about the situation for a bit and discounted the gun idea, tossed out the trap option as in the bus I'd more likely catch a cat or two, erased the thought of stabbing it from my mind and walked out the door.
When I returned to the scene of the destruction it was still hunkered down where it had been cornered, but now I could see the tail. Not a naked tail like opossums but a striped tail instead. This huge furry trouble maker is a raccoon. You may recall I trapped one of these in the big building a couple of years ago. They are so cute and so destructive as well as obviously unpopular with cats when territorial issues are at stake.
Last time I checked he had progressed from his fetal position to the point where his face was visible...sure enough, 'coon eyes looking back at me.
I'm leaving the big door open and hoping he will quietly leave during the day while I'm at work and his experience was so traumatic that he won't return. Keep your fingers crossed he'll be gone when I get home and won't come back so I won't have to deal with him.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Good Momma Annabelle
It has been a prolific year for mice. Betsy has had one for dinner 3 nights in a row. Last night she was playing with a mole she had caught. The cats don't eat the moles, they only play with them and then abandon them. Carl showed up with half a pack rat a few nights ago. They are great hunters, but still there always seems to be more rodents out there.
Somehow a baby mouse managed to make it into my house. I was unaware of it, but this morning when I let Annabelle and her kittens out of their kennel, Annie was staring intently under the table in the corner. After having seen a rather large, very squashed snake on the road by the mailbox yesterday my initial thought was, "Oh no! If that is another snake I will just die."
She remained motionless for several seconds, then slowly crouched forward. I looked around for something that could be used as a club. She sprang. She came out from under the table with a small tail hanging from her mouth. I watched closely. She cried for her kittens to come to her. And then she dropped the little baby mouse on the floor in front of them. JoJo quickly grasped the situation and grabbed the mouse, snarling and guarding it as he dared his sibling to take it from him.
I went outside to take care of chores and when I returned Samson had the little mouse and was snarling and guarding it as fiercely as his brother had. Samson, however knows what mice are for. Breakfast! There is no more baby mouse.
Somehow a baby mouse managed to make it into my house. I was unaware of it, but this morning when I let Annabelle and her kittens out of their kennel, Annie was staring intently under the table in the corner. After having seen a rather large, very squashed snake on the road by the mailbox yesterday my initial thought was, "Oh no! If that is another snake I will just die."
She remained motionless for several seconds, then slowly crouched forward. I looked around for something that could be used as a club. She sprang. She came out from under the table with a small tail hanging from her mouth. I watched closely. She cried for her kittens to come to her. And then she dropped the little baby mouse on the floor in front of them. JoJo quickly grasped the situation and grabbed the mouse, snarling and guarding it as he dared his sibling to take it from him.
I went outside to take care of chores and when I returned Samson had the little mouse and was snarling and guarding it as fiercely as his brother had. Samson, however knows what mice are for. Breakfast! There is no more baby mouse.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
mmmmmm goat milk soap is delicious
While preparing an order for delivery through the coop some tell tale signs that a 4 legged visitor had been in the shop appeared in the basket where the soap is displayed. Fortunately, this was noticed before the product was shipped as the bottom of the bar of soap previously packaged which looked perfectly fine on top was already half eaten from the bottom. Looking at the others in the basket, several of them had been sampled. After searching and finding enough untouched ones to fill the orders, the remaining soap was removed from the shop with the exception of two bars which were already at least 1/3 gone.
Sure enough, upon checking again there were more signs of "tampering". This stuff contains lye which one would think would kill the nasty creatures, but alas the effects of the pure goats milk obviously cancel out that effect.
After considering that a cat would catch the creature in no time, visions of products scattered all over the shop and broken jelly jars with their contents leaking and strewn around the floor caused that idea to be abandoned. The answer was a mouse trap. Previously there were 3 mice who met their demise in traps in the mobile home. Unfortunately, those traps were put away in a safe, logical place and may be found in the future when someone does an archaeological dig but they are no where to be found now. However, one trap was still available. It was baited and carefully set beside the soap. Next morning, the bait was gone but the trap was unsprung. The creature had once again partaken of the buffet of soaps available as well as the bait in the trap.
Being aware of the effects caused when one of these traps spring shut, a pencil was used to set it off so new bait could be added. Nothing happened. It seems the plastic was too soft to trip the trigger and the trap would not slam shut. After some adjustments it now works. The trap was set between the two types of soap without any bait this time. The following morning a customer came to buy eggs. The stench in the shop was horrendous. Immediately the cats were blamed however unfairly. Upon checking the trap, the mouse was undoubtedly dead with his body nearly sliced in half in the trap with bodily fluids oozing. It was a very large male field mouse. If there are Sumo Wrestlers in the mouse world, this guy could have been one. With the judicious use of tongs, the trap and the mouse were removed from the shop. The mouse was so nasty the cats declined to have anything to do with it when offered to them. Picky cats.
Oh, by the way, I prefer the goat milk soap with tea tree oil. It makes my skin feel wonderful. The mouse, however, had no preference whatsoever and was delighted to dine on either kind.
Sure enough, upon checking again there were more signs of "tampering". This stuff contains lye which one would think would kill the nasty creatures, but alas the effects of the pure goats milk obviously cancel out that effect.
After considering that a cat would catch the creature in no time, visions of products scattered all over the shop and broken jelly jars with their contents leaking and strewn around the floor caused that idea to be abandoned. The answer was a mouse trap. Previously there were 3 mice who met their demise in traps in the mobile home. Unfortunately, those traps were put away in a safe, logical place and may be found in the future when someone does an archaeological dig but they are no where to be found now. However, one trap was still available. It was baited and carefully set beside the soap. Next morning, the bait was gone but the trap was unsprung. The creature had once again partaken of the buffet of soaps available as well as the bait in the trap.
Being aware of the effects caused when one of these traps spring shut, a pencil was used to set it off so new bait could be added. Nothing happened. It seems the plastic was too soft to trip the trigger and the trap would not slam shut. After some adjustments it now works. The trap was set between the two types of soap without any bait this time. The following morning a customer came to buy eggs. The stench in the shop was horrendous. Immediately the cats were blamed however unfairly. Upon checking the trap, the mouse was undoubtedly dead with his body nearly sliced in half in the trap with bodily fluids oozing. It was a very large male field mouse. If there are Sumo Wrestlers in the mouse world, this guy could have been one. With the judicious use of tongs, the trap and the mouse were removed from the shop. The mouse was so nasty the cats declined to have anything to do with it when offered to them. Picky cats.
Oh, by the way, I prefer the goat milk soap with tea tree oil. It makes my skin feel wonderful. The mouse, however, had no preference whatsoever and was delighted to dine on either kind.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
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