Blossoms and Snakes

It is that time of year! I so love spring! The warmth in the air feels so fresh and invigorating. And to see all the little green buds and sprouts poking through everywhere. I love everything about it. Last Saturday, I ran outside quickly to take a few pics of the blossoms before they're gone.

They're everywhere! Layers and layers of them on our old orchard trees. So beautiful!

As I was basking in the beauty, things took a real bad turn. Real. Bad. I mean polar opposite of sweet lovely blossoms. I had my first snake sighting in the yard. I always scoff when people say, "Oh, it's far too early for the snakes to be out yet". Right. This guy was a couple of feet away from where I was standing, and he didn't care a bit that I was there.

I quickly backed away, and sent this text to Bob (who was in the house at the time)...

He came out in a jiffy and dispatched the snake for me. 

At least we're one down for the year. I'm hoping to eradicate, but even as I do, our neighbors continue to make their yard a very snake-friendly yard. I think it may be hopeless.

Snakes... A Never Ending Supply

We've got a situation again around here. Snakes. We "got rid of" 7 last year, so my hopes were that the word would get around, and we wouldn't have a real snake problem this year. Alas, no. The fourth one for the year met it's demise on Tuesday, and it was the longest one so far.

I see a snake at least 3 times a week. I always tell myself that it's the same snake, but way inside I know better...

With all the sightings I have, you'd think it would become common and lose its fearfulness. Nope. Not at all. 

This one below was a classic catch. Bob was on the phone with an important call that he had to take while we were out in the backyard. I was walking through the yard, and said, "Snake!", and without a break in his conversation, he stepped on the tail of the snake and picked it up and held it there by the tail until he could get off the phone. The person he was talking to was none the wiser.

And then there are things like this that give me just as much of the heebie-jeebies. A snake skin. A pretty long snake skin. Which means that a good-sized snake was growing even bigger and had to shed his skin. And I love how it came off as he was crawling down into a whole. Ick.

Bob's second catch of the season. Can I describe how much I love this man o' my dreams, who gets how much I fear snakes? He never seems to tire of coming to my rescue!

How does a son-in-law earn his mother-in-law's eternal gratitude? By coming to her rescue and getting a whopper of a snake. I will ever be thankful for this man!

All of this leads us to this package from Amazon. I can't tell you if any of it works, but I certainly am going to give it all a whirl. It's either that, or put cement across my whole yard, which I've contemplated. 

I'll let you know how things go.

S-SOS (Second Snake of the Season)

Oh boy. I knew it was a probability, but still. We're already at Snake #2 of the season. And Bob has dispatched both of them for me, which saves me the bounty I normally pay per snake. Kindof.

I am slowly trying to make my yard more unattractive to reptiles, while still trying to keep it attractive to humans. It's a bit tricky, actually. But we're working on it. And in the mean time, my love continues to come to my rescue, literally. He doesn't give up easily, either.

He's so determined to get rid of the little beasts and make my life a bit more worry-free. He even bought a snake grabber. Okay, maybe it's really a garbage picker, but he bought it specifically to grab snakes with, and it works like a charm, as attested by the photo below.

Icky. The only thing good about this photo is that I know I'll never see that snake again. 

So, if you find yourself with a snake situation, run to Home Depot and pick yourself up a snake grabber. Maybe don't ask the workers for a snake grabber. Ask for a garbage picker, and know that you and a few others know the real use for that contraption.

Bunny

This year I've had some unaccountable things happen in my garden. The most obvious was that most of my new tulips were eaten clear down to the nubbins. No flowers... not even much of a leaf. We do have deer now and then, and I had seen many a dropping when I was cleaning up after winter, but still... The deer had always been kind enough to just chew the tar out of my euonymus, but left my flowers alone. Apparently this year their appetite had changed. I figured it was out of my hands, so I didn't spend much time thinking about it.

And then I noticed little holes being dug. Almost like a cat might do, but then the holes were just left empty, with dirt sprayed across my walks. What in the world? What kind of crazy hole-digging cat or dog has made their home in my yard? I couldn't figure it out for the life of me.

And then last Friday came. We were working on taking out all of the edging in our yard (to be replaced soon, I hope), and saw this...

At the risk of overusing the phrase, What in the World????

Oh, hello there, lop-eared rabbit. You have been enjoying my yard this year. You must be feeling rather chipper after having eaten hundreds of tulips -- greens, blooms, and all. You don't look as though you've missed many meals.

Hmmmm. I think you are looking far too comfortable here.

A Robin's Nest

We were cutting off branches in some of our apple-pear trees the other day, and there was a mama robin who was not at all excited about us being near her tree. Bob carefully took a photo of her sweet little nest. Isn't it perfect?



And then about a week later, we were doing some other yard work, and Bob wanted to check on the progress. In between literal dive-bombing, he took this photo of some very hungry little birds.

A little blurred, but what can you expect
while the photographer is being dive-bombed?

Hungry is a relative term here. I've seen those mama birds tirelessly running back and forth to the next with food for those babies. They feed them non-stop all day long!

Those Idyllic Summer Days

It's been a fast and busy summer, hasn't it?! I still wonder what ever happened to the long, lazy summers of youth. We would go out to play after lunch (and to my Dad's horror, in our bare feet), and we'd reappear sometime around dinner time. And then, we'd head back out for a healthy dose of night games. The days seemed to stretch on and on. We did all those cliche things, like laying on the grass and looking up at the clouds to find animals and shapes, making whistles out of grass shoots, rubbing yellow dandelion flowers on our chins to "see if you liked mustard", held our own carnivals and theatrical productions (complete with hand-written fliers going out to houses, and posters being put up at the end of the street), roller skated, rode bikes, and walked down to the drug store to spend our allowance on real penny candy. Do they even have real penny candy any more? I think not. Anyway. Those were the days. The summers were perfect. Our mom made sure to take us on trips to the beach, "turtle" hunting (which was really rock hunting mixed with creek walking), berry picking, and as school neared, shopping for school clothes. Ah. The memories make my shoulders relax a little, and my blood pressure start it's journey downward. Sweet, sweet times.

I've got a couple of weeks left of summer. Maybe I can get a cloud-gazing day in yet. I'm going to give it my all.

On a completely different subject, I've arrived at a do-able way for me to get my chores done. I was getting way behind, and kept putting off different chores until it was obviously a "chore emergency", and then I would have to spend time then and there and get 'er done. I decided something needed to change to get me back on track. So, I'm back at designating Monday for my cleaning day. I have two different lists that I rotate through every other Monday, and that seems to be the ticket. I can't clean my house from top to bottom every week. Time-wise that is not ever going to happen. So, I do half of the cleaning every other week. And you surely know by now that I love lists. So, I've put my cleaning to-do's on a list inside of a plastic sleeve so that I can mark it off as I go with a dry-erase marker. Perfect! And then, if I get interrupted by something important (like a grand baby making a visit), then I leave that list out for the next day or two til I get everything done. So far it has worked like a charm. I have even gotten to chores that I have put off for a very long time. Oh, and I also have added things to the list like "cleaning the fireplace glass" which only has to be done about once a year, but I want to be sure I do it, and have a date by it, so I'll know next year when to get to it again. I know, I know. Maybe a little OCD, but it really does work for me. (Finding a good house cleaner would work for me, too, but alas...)

And getting back to the subject of summer-time relaxing, Bob and I got away to the cabin for a little overnight last Friday night. It was critical (that sounds dramatic, but it is oh, so accurate) that we find some time to unwind, and that was just the ticket. Once we got there, we went out for a ride in the evening, and were treated to some amazing sights...

We saw a few different sets of mama and baby moose.

And then we rounded the corner and saw these two bull moose just chomping away at some sort of greenery. We turned the Mule off and sat and watched. Simply magnificent.

And then they decided to cross the road.

This guy stopped and looked at us as if deciding whether it was worth his time and energy to stomp or maybe even gore us.

Luckily, it was not worth his time. Or energy.

House Finch Rescue... Again!

Every single year, the house finches build nests all around our yard. They usually fill up the birdhouses fairly quickly, and then move on to other possibilities... like the lanterns attached to the house. I love the happy songs of the house finches. They are always welcome in our yard. However, the nests that they build in the lanterns can be quite troublesome for their new little families. On more than one occasion, we've had to rescue baby birds that have fallen out. Last year, I cleaned all of the nests out of the lanterns in hopes that the birds would find a safer place to build their nests. But no. They seem to keep coming back and building in the same place. Must be in their blood.

Bob had to rescue one of the birds last week, and it was a successful rescue. The little guy stayed put until the other day. When I walked outside the deck, I noticed the mama finch was all in a tizzy. I wondered if a starling got to her babies, or if a baby had fallen out of their nest again. As you can see in the photo below, there is a hole for the mama and daddy finch to come in and out to feed their babies. This hole is also an all-too-easy way for other birds to come in, or for the babies to slip right on out.

As I was glancing up at the nest, I heard a little guy chirping down by my feet. As I stepped closer to it, it scuttled along the deck, trying (but failing) to fly. 

Now, you may wonder what happened to my deck and why it looks cobweb-y and dirty. There are a few places that need sweeping off. I'm not too proud to admit that. At any rate, that little collection of cobwebs likely saved that little guy. He got trapped in them, so he couldn't move down the deck. Otherwise, he may have moved right on off of the second story deck he was on. And that wouldn't have been a good thing.

He was scared and I didn't know if he would try to get away again, so I got a box and placed it in his way, and sure enough... he untangled himself from the cobwebs, and scooted right into the box. I tipped it right side up and had the little guy safely where I needed him while I got things ready.

I got up on my ladder, took off the top of the lantern, and put my leather garden gloves on. I didn't want mama smelling human hands on or around her baby.

I tipped the box and nudged the baby back into the lantern, and she moved right in next to her sib. Hard to see in the next photo, but they are down to the right of the light bulb.

Easy peasy. She was back where she was supposed to be, and the lid was back on their home. Now I just needed to see if mama would be accept her back with open arms (or wings).

And thankfully she did. She's been hustling back and forth feeding the babes all day long. They are so ready to leave. Any day now. But til then, all is well with the little finch family.

After All This... Snakes Still?

Every morning, directly after I exercise, I go out in the backyard and water my pots with the hose. I also squirt the water on a few plants that look particularly thirsty. Today, when I went out there, it was cool after a big rainstorm yesterday. I thought I'd just give my planters a little extra water for the day. I was thinking about our snake situation. If you know me at all, you'll know that snakes are my #1 fear. It doesn't matter what kind or how big. I detest them all. I know, I know... I've heard the whole schpeel about how they are garden friendly and eat insects, etc. I'd rather have the insects. I'd rather have an insect infestation. I'd rather have anything else out there, but snakes. Ugh. Last year my dear family dispatched 7 snakes for me. (If you wonder what dispatch means, you should watch Princess Bride once more) I thought that was quite a large number of snakes, but I blamed it on the middle school that was being built a street away. It occupies what used to be a large field that oftentimes was used for corn crops. When they built the school, I'm sure there were hundreds (probably thousands, but I don't want to think about that) of snakes looking for a new home. I think with our pond, a large number of them decided to take up residence in our yard.

Some might say it is coincidence that we got rid of our pond a few months ago, but it really isn't. My biggest reason to get rid of it was because my baby grand #1 was walking, and I didn't want to worry about his safety, or the safety of all the baby grands to come. Coming in a very close second, was because I was sick and tired of snakes. Done. Caput. 

We also built a garage in our backyard this past year, so I figured with the garage construction, the pond removal, the tractors and rigs in our backyard for the projects, and all of the cement poured in the new driveway and play area, that the snakes would surely find another place to live. I've never been so wrong about anything in my life. Ugh.

Back to this morning. I thought about the snakes, and thought about the FOUR snakes that various members of my family have dispatched thus far this year, and I wondered if I just might have to be okay with sharing my backyard with those slithering creatures. Would I be able to? If I made enough commotion and noise, and they knew I was working out there, would they just go their way, and I could go on about my business? Could we all be back there without getting into each other's business? If I didn't ever see them, I would probably be fine. Maybe that was the solution. To just be okay with them being there. 

I continued watering, musing on this new idea, and turned around and within three feet was this creature looking right at me...

Can you see how his eyes are right on me?  It was at that moment that I came to the definite conclusion that the backyard isn't big enough for the both of us. This was his lucky day, however, since no one was home at the time to "take care" of him.

And last week, this is what I came across...

And no... they are not the same snake. I know this because this second photo is of a snake that is now longer with us, thanks to my daughter. That's all I need to say about that one. 

And besides the ones that have been dispatched, we have seen another one out by the play yard. What in the world? Seriously. What is going on? When I talk to my neighbors, none of them have seen more than maybe one snake a year. I can't figure it out. I've tried to make my yard a place snakes would hate to live in, but they just keep on a-coming. I'm just about ready to borrow my daughter's three cats for the summer to see if they can whip things into shape.

There is a product called Snake Away, that at first seemed to be a miracle product. 

I had bought it previously to use when the going got tough, so we pulled it out yesterday. As Bob began reading the instructions, it basically said not to use it around the perimeter of a yard that already has snakes in it, or you might create a "wall" that they won't be able to get out of. Whaaaatttt?? I mean, who would use that in a yard where you haven't had snake problems yet? I guess if you were any of my adjacent neighbors you might use it to prevent the snakes in our sanctuary from moving on into your own yard. Needless to say, we didn't use much of the Snake Away. I'm not sure how we're going to be at a point where we'll use it. Again... I think I need a pack of cats living in my yard (that I don't have to take care of).

The weather, it is a-changing!

We had an end-of-the summer cabin getaway last weekend, from Thursday to Saturday. Some of the family weren't able to come because of work schedules and such, but we had a great time with those that were there!

We went on a few Mule rides...

We saw some incredible wildlife. This enormous bull moose was just hanging around as we rounded a corner on the road. Wilson got out of the Mule to get a closer look, which makes his mother a little nervous, but he was careful, and ended up getting some great shots of the big fella.

We also happened upon a small herd of elk, which is a rare occasion. We are lucky to see even one elk once a year, but to see several together is a great event! We stopped the Mule and watched them for a while.

After everyone left to go home, Bob and I stayed around to do a bit of cleaning. While we were eating lunch, we had a crazy hailstorm! It was as if we were being reminded that summer is over, and the white stuff is on its way!

And then, to put an exclamation point on the thought, we saw these beautiful fall leaves on the way home. Can you believe it?!  It IS still August, right?

This made me excited for when Bob and I go on our annual cabin trip to cut down some of the gorgeous fall foliage to use in decorating our house and cabin. It looks we better be making that trip sooner than later!

Hornets' Nest

I have a long, long list of things I need to do around the house to get ready for our upcoming wedding luncheon. Have I mentioned that my son is getting married? Well, he is. To a wonderful girl! We love her and are so excited to have her be an official part of our family. Since we're having the wedding luncheon in our yard, we need to get it spruced up. We have about a month to get 'er done, so I'm on the countdown. As it is, it doesn't look terrible, but there are a few details to get nailed down, for sure. Aside from the yard, there are a few other things on the list of "To Do's". Hopefully I can stay on top of it all.

Way in the back of our yard, we have an old dog run that spans the whole back fence. Since we don't have dogs anymore, the weeds are hard to keep at bay. We decided to rototil it, which looked great when it was done, but after about two weeks, the bull-head weeds had come back a hundred fold. Come to find out, tilling is the worst thing you can do for that type of weed. Somehow it gives it energy to come back even more vigorously. After looking into it, we came to the conclusion that spraying them might be our only chance.

So, last week, we decided to spray. As we were working, we almost literally bumped into a hornets nest as big as my head. We have these every couple of years or so. They love the apple-pear trees, so they make their home there among the maturing fruit.

And the hornets very large and very busy. They were flying in and out and buzzing all around.

They are a different breed of hornets than we've seen in the past. They're a white-tailed (or bald-faced) hornet, and (we later found out) they are said to be pretty aggressive and mean.

We were in a rush to get our weed-spraying done, so we skirted around the hornets' nest, and went on our merry way.

A few days later, we had a family work day. The kids came and helped weed and clean up in the scorching hot sun. What in the heck would I do without my amazing family!?

Bob was using the torch to kill the bullhead seeds (oh, why do we have to have bullhead weeds and morning glory?). And he, along with our daughter and son-in-law, thought this would be the perfect way to get rid of the hornets' nest. When we were all standing around, oooing and ahhing over the hornets and their incredible creation, we didn't have the following information in our toolbelt...

BALD-FACED HORNETS

 Dolichovespula maculata

PEST STATS
Color:	Black with a white pattern on most of the face
Legs:	6
Shape:	Long, wasp-like
Size:	1/2 – 5/8” (12-15mm); queen ¾” (18-20mm)
Antennae:	Yes
Region:	Found throughout U.S.
Download the Bald-faced Hornet Pest I.D. Card

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This atypically large black-and-white relative of the yellow jacket gets its common name from its largely black color but mostly white face. It is named a hornet because of its large size and aerial nest. 

Habits

Bald-faced hornets are social insects, although not true hornets. They live in colonies that may contain between 100-400 members at their peak. They usually appear in late summer. 

Habitat

Bald-faced hornets build paper nests at least three or more feet off of the ground, usually in trees, shrubs, on overhangs, utility poles, houses, sheds or other structures. They are found throughout the United States, Canada and north into Alaska. 

Threats

Bald-faced hornets are aggressive and will attack anyone or anything that invades their space. This makes bald-faced hornet removal somewhat difficult. They have smooth stingers, so they can sting over and over again. Their stings also carry venom that makes the stings hurt, itch, or swell for about 24 hours. Humans are at the same risk of allergic reactions from a Bald-faced hornet stings as with other insect stings

So, torch it, he did. Hundreds of hornets came out, and they weren't exactly happy about the situation. But, I am happy to report that none of us got stung. I didn't stick around to see what would happen. I ran to a good, safe viewing distance.

See that apple-pear in the above photo? They seem to always have a live fruit or two built right into their nest.

And that is the end of the hornets. For now. Something tells me they'll be back, and this time, since I'm armed with more information, I will be sure to steer clear of wherever they make their home.