Rat thoughts

They're letting me get closer.  It would be nice if they'd let me get close enough to pet them.



I've never seen them stand like this before.  Gives a nice view of its tail, though.



Lots of bumble bees in the clover this afternoon.  They are so heavy that they bend over any flower they land on.

After letting the dogs out early this morning, I returned to find a wasp buzzing around my bedroom.  I managed to lure it out and into the living room, but it disappeared before I could get the vacuum cleaner.  I closed my door and went back to bed.  Sometime later that morning, before I got up,my SO found the wasp in the kitchen and killed it.

When I started to let the dogs out again later that afternoon, I found several wasps buzzing around the front porch.  I let the dogs out another door, then grabbed a can of wasp & hornet killer and started spraying.

I almost bit off more than I could chew, because there were a lot more wasps than I saw the first time.  I sprayed at least half a can of poison onto the porch to take them out.  I later counted 11 corpses, though I think a few fell out the window and some are probably behind stuff.  I went outside and sprayed the rest of the can taking out a few more wasps that were hanging around.

I didn't see a nest anywhere.  Hopefully I managed to kill enough of them to stave off a full-fledged invasion.  I need to buy more poison tomorrow, just in case.  I usually buy pyrethroid-based poison, which is harmless to birds and most mammals (except cats), but is extremely effective against insects. (Back in Vista, where I didn't have to worry about pets, I used my own concoction of diazinon, chlorpyrifos and malathion.  It's super effective!)

A closeup of the ivy I posted yesterday.  This stuff is starting to grow everywhere, not just around the yard but all over the county.


Jimson Weed, also known as Thorn Apple or Loco Weed.  It contains atropine, hyoscyamine and scopalamine.  It can cause intense hallucinations that cannot be distinguished from reality and can last for days.  It is also quite potent and can easily cause brain damage, coma, respiratory arrest, seizures and death.  It was used during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 to poison British soldiers.  They spent 11 days chasing feathers, running around naked, making faces and generally acting insane.


Is this what I think it is?



Harvestman eating a cricket.  Like the harvestman I'd posted previously, this one also has only 7 legs.  Either losing limbs is fairly common for the species, or this one particular specimen really gets around (the two photos were taken about 130 feet apart)


I believe this is an American Painted Lady, a subspecies of the Painted Lady I'd posted previously.



I've tried, but I cannot identify this species.  It's a good closeup, though.



J S 1952.   This was engraved in the cement threshold of the garage.  The actual structure of the garage itself is probably much older; it's built out of the same kind of materials as the barn, which I believe dates from the 1910's..

This caterpillar was just dangling by a silk thread.  I almost walked into it.  Taking a picture of something this small hanging in midair is a real pain.

I saw this butterfly on the ground. I thought it was dead because it was all spread out and didn't move when I got in close, but it was gone when I went back outside.


Giant spider! Augh! This monster was a good 2 or 3 inches across. I found him on the side of the garage door as I was opening it.


My roommate's dog has started napping in my bedroom while I'm on the computer. For a Dane, she can sure look cute sometimes.

Wow, the camera makes my boots look way worse than they actually are.

Yesterday, I hooked up a bug zapper outside for the first time.

This morning I went out to check on it.  It's totally clogged with mosquitoes.  There must be thousands of them in there!  I'm just astounded, and more than a little bit horrified.  I guess I need to use Off a bit more often.

Some pictures I took last night that seem to be perfect, considering the day.  (The pictures are real.)



Possum butt!  

Roommate's dog left a "dead" possum on the deck.  I figured it wasn't really dead, so I kept watching through the window, waiting for it to move.  I could see it breathing, but it just kept lying there.  I finally turned off the outside light, waited a few moments, then turned it back on.  Sure enough, the possum was trundling off.  I managed to snap a single picture just before it went over the side.  It was pitch black outside, so I started snapping pictures blindly, hoping the flash would catch the possum again.  Instead I got...


Giant Earthworms!

Harvest time for the fields around the house today; the crop this year was dent corn. It's amazing just how fast these machines work. The combine pulls up the corn, shucks it, strips the kernels, which go into a holding tank, then spits the cob, husk, stalk and leaves out the back. Once the farmer makes a few loops around the field and has a full load, he rendezvous with a large truck, extends a tube, pumps the corn out of the storage tank into the truck, retracts the chute, then starts around the field again, all this in less than one minute. While the farmer continues harvesting, the truck quickly heads to a nearby silo, offloads the corn, then returns just in time to pick up another load.



The result is a field full of straw, leaves and red corn cobs. It almost seems wasteful, all that plant material left behind, but it all gets plowed into the soil for next year's crop.

All that tall corn had given us an extra measure of privacy; now that it's gone, the place feels naked and exposed.



The harvest seems to have freaked out the grasshoppers. They're all acting really odd, almost like they have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or something. You can practically step on them and they won't move. I suppose you'd freak too if a giant machine came along and tore apart your world.

Closeup of a couple burrs.  Those tiny hooks, invisible to the naked eye, are why they stick to your clothes so easily.


Grasshopper perching on the window screen.  There's tons of these things around.  They chew on the metal screens sometimes.

The corn fields surrounding this place are swarming with fireflies.  Thousands of them!  All blinking and glowing and flashing.  It's almost like the night sky is being mirrored on the ground.