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Getting To Know You => Laid Back Lounge => Topic started by: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 01:04:42 AM

Title: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 01:04:42 AM
lots of us have animals in our lives. pets, livestock, weird relationships, historical anomalies. animals are interesting to me, and there are shitloads of them.

what's in yours?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 01:16:52 AM
ive had new additions

som eo you may recall that back in the winter i rescud a kitten from a pile of deadout beehives. well, it stck, and is now a juvenile female cat. gray, like most all the other kittens in the vicinity of otis, my 11 pound gray tom. she's a friendly animal, on her own terms:

(https://i.imgur.com/Psob5FJl.jpg)

then there's th ebees i recently added. for packages. haven't bough packages in a while, so this was interesting.

(https://i.imgur.com/F676GpGl.jpg)

and today e went and picked up two baby possums from a friend who extracted them from the pouch of a recent roadkill

(https://i.imgur.com/wQhwBw5l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/49Oc5rRl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on April 23, 2020, 01:17:52 AM
My pet monkey:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Hovind_portrait.jpg)

My drummer:
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/disney/images/3/35/150921-news-the-muppets-animal.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20180302201514)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on April 23, 2020, 02:53:59 AM
We currently have a beagle/dachshund (b/d) mix and a Prince Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix, both rescues from the local shelter. The b/d got recycled twice due to issues with kids. The kids were taking her toys away and she took exception to that...duh. It took her awhile to assimilate, probably because of being recycled twice. We got lucky- part dachshund that doesn't dig, part beagle that doesn't run about barking like a complete imbecile. The spaniel mix is "Prince" instead of "King" because of coloration. The "mix", I jokingly call coyote, because these spaniels typically have really short legs, and her legs are really long, plus she has a large torso. She looks almost wolf-like in proportions. It has taken her many months to assimilate. I suspect that her previous owners were quite authoritarian. She would not go out for toilet unless supervised and let out through the regular door. I understand that she lived in an apartment or a condo before, so that could be part of it. We got her to go out through the dog door whenever she wants, and managed to get her to run around like a puppy, which it seemed she never did before. She used to fall down making turns due to low muscle strength. She's gained a few pounds, and it's obviously muscle. She doesn't fall down anymore when running around. Both are smart as whips, which for me is a welcome change from the (two) Maltese and (one) Chihuahua that we used to have...though I still miss that one sweet little Maltese dog.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 03:41:09 AM
dang

the people we got the possums from have a new dog . . .

a dachsund/beagle mix.

has an affinity for shoes. picked one up to carry around while everybody else was doing greeting ceremoniez
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on April 23, 2020, 08:07:46 AM
Sally

(https://imageshack.com/i/47dsc2356j)

Katie

(https://imageshack.com/i/71dsc2380j)

Katie when wet.

(https://imageshack.com/i/n2dscf3607jj)

Sally doesn't do wet. She is Teflon coated. Katie has all the dirt resistance of a nappy!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on April 23, 2020, 08:49:12 AM
One can never have too many cushions.

(https://imageshack.com/i/74dsc3436yj)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on April 23, 2020, 08:51:48 AM
Oh fuck! I'm dead!

(https://imageshack.com/i/14dsc04801xj)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: jumbojak on April 23, 2020, 12:44:43 PM
I love possums.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on April 23, 2020, 12:52:28 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 01:16:52 AM
and today e went and picked up two baby possums from a friend who extracted them from the pouch of a recent roadkill

(https://i.imgur.com/wQhwBw5l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/49Oc5rRl.jpg)

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on April 23, 2020, 01:46:01 PM
Those possums are so cute! :grin: Send one to me? :tellmemore:

:P
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on April 23, 2020, 02:04:35 PM
At the moment I don't have any pets. Not that I don't want any, it's just my future is a bit uncertain right now. Even before this coronavirus pandemic I didn't know if I wanted to stay in Brazil or not, and even if I stay I'm probably going to move around quite a bit.

If I survive, that is. ::)

But anyway...this is Kyra, my beautiful German Shepard dog. My all time favourite pic of her:

(https://i.imgur.com/2EEX7ke.jpg)

Once she learnt how to retrieve balls became a bit obsessed with the game. Her way of interacting with people (especially welcome strangers) was by placing a ball at their feet.

More pics:

(https://i.imgur.com/UgOWax1.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/37yzxfj.jpg)

(Her beautiful almond eyes were one of her most striking features, besides the floppy ear  ;D ).

(https://i.imgur.com/LaL2Pgq.jpg)

Kyra showing all her personality in this pic.

Unfortunately she lost motor control of her hind legs in 2017. She deteriorated so much that we had to euthanise her in January of the next year. Still makes me very sad to think about it, but that's life, I guess. We generally outlive our pets by many years.

Here's a short video of her about a month before she passed away.



(Camera shy...)

She was always in pain, even though we gave her a twice-daily cocktail of anti-inflammatory and pain medication. My only regret was not euthanising her sooner, to end her suffering. But when she did, she died at home (less stressful for her) with a barbiturate overdose after she had gone under general anesthesia.   
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 23, 2020, 02:04:35 PM

She was always in pain, even though we gave her a twice-daily cocktail of anti-inflammatory and pain medication. My only regret was not euthanising her sooner, to end her suffering. But when she did, she died at home (less stressful for her) with a barbiturate overdose after she had gone under general anesthesia.   

yes. i usde to take dogs th ethe vet when they were too far gone. scared em because they knew it smelled like  a place dogs go to die. no more.

now i take em out under the elm tree, give em something special to eat and put a bullet through their foramen magnum. they die happy and at home. its an obligation, as i see it, but i live in a place where i can do that. not everybody does.

in the meantime,

(https://i.imgur.com/uUQ4wHEl.jpg)

iheyre definitely pouch babies. theyre tolerant of anything you do but keep hanging on tight until you drop them into a wooly hat or a stocking. then they quiet doen immediately and go to sleep
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on April 23, 2020, 05:46:22 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 02:36:13 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on April 23, 2020, 02:04:35 PM

She was always in pain, even though we gave her a twice-daily cocktail of anti-inflammatory and pain medication. My only regret was not euthanising her sooner, to end her suffering. But when she did, she died at home (less stressful for her) with a barbiturate overdose after she had gone under general anesthesia.   

yes. i usde to take dogs th ethe vet when they were too far gone. scared em because they knew it smelled like  a place dogs go to die. no more.

now i take em out under the elm tree, give em something special to eat and put a bullet through their foramen magnum. they die happy and at home. its an obligation, as i see it, but i live in a place where i can do that. not everybody does.

Even if I had a gun and some quiet spot to take my dog, I couldn't distance myself psychologically enough to pull the trigger.  :-\ Even if the outcome is the same.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 23, 2020, 09:05:14 PM
its not everybodys choice. but i take it as an obligation to an animal to treat it with respect and to prevent suffering whenever i possibly can. for me, that means accompanying the animal and participating in its death in a way that ensures what i see to be  as humane and pain and suffering-free as i possibly can. i can most surely make that hppen by providing the death myslf.

the two moral outrages that cause me to see red and cntemplate violence are mistreatment of animals and children.

ive killed vast numbers of things in my life. little creatures, big creatures, with guns, knives, clubs, axes, my bare hands, you name it. years ago i stopped killing things, even to eat, if there was anyreasonable way around it. but i make an exception for animls who have been my  friends.

don't have to do it much, but i'll remember every occasion forever.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:35:37 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/kR8wexXl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/45yH00hl.jpg)

on solid food now

they still like the security of hanging out in something lik ea pouch. it just needs to be dark and closefitting-- sleeves, shirts, hats, hoods, whatever. show them a hidey hole, and they in it in a second or two and thgen peering back out at you in a second or two more.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:43:16 PM
american robin, a mid-sized thrush that sings from exposed perches high up,  sounds like its on acid. open nests on ledges or branches, never very high . we have too many cts for these to survive where we live. saw this one when i fueled in the afternoon. dont thinbk ive ever seen more than  four eggs.

(https://i.imgur.com/0vNoAkel.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/tiDA8njl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/i3bhkJql.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Aqd605Sl.jpg)

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 11, 2020, 07:59:09 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:43:16 PM
american robin, a mid-sized thrush that sings from exposed perches high up,  sounds like its on acid. open nests on ledges or branches, never very high . we have too many cts for these to survive where we live. saw this one when i fueled in the afternoon. dont thinbk ive ever seen more than  four eggs.
...
(https://i.imgur.com/Aqd605Sl.jpg)
Wow! Look at that!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 19, 2020, 02:43:40 PM
theyre progressing

(https://i.imgur.com/He8GJl5l.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 19, 2020, 02:49:38 PM
the possums are big enough now to eat scarab beetles

(https://i.imgur.com/BxiWWtBl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/H5TOjJZl.jpg)

theyre about the age that they get left behind by momma as she makes her rounds, and nearly big enough to defend themselves against the twenty or so cats that my family tolerates.

about time to take a burlap bag or two of cats into town leave them there, in my opinion, but i have to maintain harmony with the rest of the family
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 19, 2020, 08:32:04 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 19, 2020, 02:43:40 PM
theyre progressing

(https://i.imgur.com/He8GJl5l.jpg)
Awwww.  :tellmemore:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on May 20, 2020, 12:29:09 AM
Is the mother bird still around? I suppose she is but I didn't see her in the photographs. Life is amazing to watch.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 20, 2020, 02:01:34 AM
theyre both around somewhere. thats how i spotted the nest. one flew out when i walked by.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 20, 2020, 02:46:20 AM
Years ago i put up extra blocking on the rafters for my front porch because of birds. They'd nest and crap all over, and the siblings would push some of them out, to their death. That's a bird thing. We have a bunch of birds here this year, many more than in the past, They're crapping all over the place. I've gone and put up more blocking around the video cameras I have installed to deter my neighbor from vandalizing our property, and the birds have actually tried to build nests on the camera heads. :lol: The parent birds will fly around to distract potential predators if they are near the nest. You're in the wilds, and I hope that those birds make it to flight.

I always wanted to have a cage full of waxbills or zebra finches. I love the colors, and the fluttering around is relaxing. After the birds in the neighborhood currently dive-crapped my car, I'm completely done with that idea! :lol: There must have been 50 turds on it after two weeks of being parked because of the lock down. I'm going to have new shingles put on soon, and there will be deterrents placed to keep them from crapping all over my front porch. They can go live somewhere else.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on May 20, 2020, 04:31:37 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/H5TOjJZl.jpg)
How do you know Obi-Wan?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 20, 2020, 03:51:58 PM
One of my sons found the kitchen trash can knocked over and trash scattered. Looks like it's time to put the blocking panel on the dog door. It was probably trash pandas again. This happened once before about 15 years ago when I was out of town. No footprints this time, though. I really hope that the dogs didn't do it. Blocking the door will help determine that.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 22, 2020, 08:04:58 PM
current possum discoveries:

(https://i.imgur.com/tdRMgrql.jpg)

extreme sports

(https://i.imgur.com/9iiXnSMl.jpg)

the internet

(https://i.imgur.com/aaC7Ifel.jpg)

rye whiskey

(https://i.imgur.com/1uQ6NE9l.jpg)

all but the whiskey were quite popular.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 22, 2020, 08:06:23 PM
and the robins are growing fast

(https://i.imgur.com/enGhNMKl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/7lT7kp3l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/5huDKeol.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on May 22, 2020, 11:24:16 PM
The nest looks like it's out of room. Do you know how old robins get before they leave the nest?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 23, 2020, 12:14:02 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 22, 2020, 08:06:23 PM
and the robins are growing fast

(https://i.imgur.com/enGhNMKl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/7lT7kp3l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/5huDKeol.jpg)
There were 4 eggs and I only see 3 birds.  :scratch:
One died?
Quote from: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:43:16 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/Aqd605Sl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 02:20:06 AM
It's fairly common for baby birds to push siblings out of the nest. I doubt a predator was involved, since all those sweet morsels would have been eaten in rapid sequence by a predator. Such is life.

ETA- I have a short video of one of my dogs taking a morsel of chicken from me that is quite amusing. It wouldn't load at imgur. What platform are other people using to host videos? In this case the file appears to be a .MP4
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 04:20:04 AM
I think I want to use the colour of their eggs in a painting.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 23, 2020, 05:00:26 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 04:20:04 AM
I think I want to use the colour of their eggs in a painting.
It's like a Tiffany Blue, isn't it?  :tellmemore:
Quote from: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:43:16 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/Aqd605Sl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 05:06:36 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on May 23, 2020, 05:00:26 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 04:20:04 AM
I think I want to use the colour of their eggs in a painting.
It's like a Tiffany Blue, isn't it?  :tellmemore:
Quote from: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:43:16 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/Aqd605Sl.jpg)

Tiffany blue is a slightly lighter shade of turquoise, cyan, or teal, or whatever you want to call it.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 05:17:07 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 05:06:36 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on May 23, 2020, 05:00:26 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 04:20:04 AM
I think I want to use the colour of their eggs in a painting.
It's like a Tiffany Blue, isn't it?  :tellmemore:
Quote from: billy rubin on May 10, 2020, 09:43:16 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/Aqd605Sl.jpg)

Tiffany blue is a slightly lighter shade of turquoise, cyan, or teal, or whatever you want to call it.

I'd call it "robin's egg blue" for lack of a better name. :P I had a hot rod '68 Buick Skylark GS that I painted that color. Here's pic of it after I laid that color on. I had planned to put flames in the "scalloped" area that shows up as black in this picture, but I sold it before that happened.

(https://i.imgur.com/Lujqeh4.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 06:02:05 AM
That colour suits the car so well. In the world of artist's paints, one of the best single pigments that are used to get that part of the spectrum is PG50, called Cobalt Turquoise Light by Winsor & Newton and Cobalt Teal in the Michael Harding range. I am never without it, for reasons shown in this video:

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 06:04:12 AM
Sorry, billy rubin, I seem to have veered away from your animal topic a bit.
:boaterhat:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 23, 2020, 09:24:13 AM
Quote from: Randy on May 22, 2020, 11:24:16 PM
The nest looks like it's out of room. Do you know how old robins get before they leave the nest?

i dont know. ive never ckunted the days. its always quicker than i expect

mags i dont know whethere there is a fourth. i couldnt get a good look and didnt want to disturb tgem more than a few seconds.

but three is still a profit for the parentz
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 23, 2020, 09:27:03 AM
hermes. [its all one conversation.

digressuionz are generally tbe most imteresting partz of a conversation.

i know nothing about colour, so im alwayz interested.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 23, 2020, 09:35:46 PM
i checked again today when i got fuel. dfinitely only three

(https://i.imgur.com/OouRHETl.jpg)

and then my wife texted me and now we have two orphan raccoons

(https://i.imgur.com/BgQ39ZDl.jpg)

which i have not seen yet.

any more and im going to start charging admission to my house
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 10:59:29 PM
Here's an interesting article about bee-havior. Sorry for that horrible pun. Not.  ;D

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pollen-deprived-bumblebees-may-speed-plant-blooming-biting-leaves
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 11:05:31 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on May 23, 2020, 06:02:05 AM
That colour suits the car so well. In the world of artist's paints, one of the best single pigments that are used to get that part of the spectrum is PG50, called Cobalt Turquoise Light by Winsor & Newton and Cobalt Teal in the Michael Harding range. I am never without it, for reasons shown in this video:



That was a neat video!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 23, 2020, 11:10:24 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 10:59:29 PM
Here's an interesting article about bee-havior. Sorry for that horrible pun. Not.  ;D

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pollen-deprived-bumblebees-may-speed-plant-blooming-biting-leaves

lots of stresses cause early bloom.

ive zeen a plum bloom in december because a tractor gouged the trunk in a turn.

but actuall early blooming causedby tge pollinators iz pretty neat
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 24, 2020, 12:23:54 AM
I didn't know this!
This ain't right!  :sulk:
(https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/robincowbird.jpg)
Freeloading mother birds force others to raise their hatchlings
https://whyy.org/segments/freeloading-mother-birds-force-others-to-raise-their-hatchlings/ (https://whyy.org/segments/freeloading-mother-birds-force-others-to-raise-their-hatchlings/)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 24, 2020, 01:09:18 AM
lol

cowbird

yes thats the way of the world

european cuckoos too
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 24, 2020, 03:52:31 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 23, 2020, 11:10:24 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 10:59:29 PM
Here's an interesting article about bee-havior. Sorry for that horrible pun. Not.  ;D

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pollen-deprived-bumblebees-may-speed-plant-blooming-biting-leaves

lots of stresses cause early bloom.

ive zeen a plum bloom in december because a tractor gouged the trunk in a turn.

but actuall early blooming causedby tge pollinators iz pretty neat

Nature is a wild mother. Just look at the vast array of plants and animals!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on May 24, 2020, 03:40:54 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on May 24, 2020, 03:52:31 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 23, 2020, 11:10:24 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on May 23, 2020, 10:59:29 PM
Here's an interesting article about bee-havior. Sorry for that horrible pun. Not.  ;D

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/pollen-deprived-bumblebees-may-speed-plant-blooming-biting-leaves

lots of stresses cause early bloom.

ive zeen a plum bloom in december because a tractor gouged the trunk in a turn.

but actuall early blooming causedby tge pollinators iz pretty neat

Nature is a wild mother. Just look at the vast array of plants and animals!

I know this topic is beginning to veer off course but I just wanted to add a quick comment to DL's comment.

I've seen a lot of pictures and videos showing Earth from space. Our planet looks so beautiful and fragile. I think of it teaming with wildlife in all its different glory. Most of the animals and plants that have lived here are extinct. It's all the more reason we should protect our little blue marble.

(Steps off soap box.)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 24, 2020, 03:47:58 PM
^ Agreed!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 24, 2020, 11:07:10 PM
did i mention that now we alzo have two of these?

http://imgur.com/gallery/tuNMjcy
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 25, 2020, 01:24:49 AM
We're pretty sure we had some trash pandas in the house, the other night. Trash cans tipped over, etc. I went and made a new cover for the dog door to the outside. Of major concern is that there were chicken bones in one trash can, and I don't want to have to take the dogs to the vet for it. Last time this happened (different cause) the dog had surgery and died anyway. $5k shot in the ass.  >:( I told my wife after we found the bones that if the dogs suffer intestinal injury, we're not coughing up that kind of money. Yes, I like the dogs. They are probably OK, given that we found bones in the kitchen and family room that the dogs (obviously) hadn't eaten. The expectation is that they didn't eat any, or their digestive systems handled it well. It's been 3 days, and we're not seeing bloody stools or mopey behavior. The trash goes out every night, now. That's kind of wasteful of bags, but cheaper in the economic and emotional fronts. :smilenod:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on May 26, 2020, 06:01:39 AM
I do so wish that more people understood that chicken bones are devastating for dogs. Other bird bones too.  They are hollow and splinter easily which can kill your best friend. I have not lost any of my companions that way but I know some people who have.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 26, 2020, 02:39:40 PM
we have a pair of sparrow hawks that nest in the eaves of our house every spring.

ysterday at least one of them fledged, and the parents are going crazy guarding it outside while it learns to fly. ill add some images if i can get them to hold still.

theres starlings that nest just underneath that seem to do just fine with their neighbors.

and the hyla versicolor have finally come out!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 26, 2020, 03:32:43 PM
Quote from: Icarus on May 26, 2020, 06:01:39 AM
I do so wish that more people understood that chicken bones are devastating for dogs. Other bird bones too.  They are hollow and splinter easily which can kill your best friend. I have not lost any of my companions that way but I know some people who have.

Indeed. I think that if mine were to have gotten sick, it would be by now. They dodged that bullet!  :frolic:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 26, 2020, 03:33:45 PM
how do the foxes that kill my chickens survive?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 26, 2020, 06:36:35 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 26, 2020, 03:33:45 PM
how do the foxes that kill my chickens survive?

I think that raw chicken bones are a different story, but have no hard facts to back that up.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on May 27, 2020, 06:32:31 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 24, 2020, 11:07:10 PM
did i mention that now we alzo have two of these?

http://imgur.com/gallery/tuNMjcy

All you need is a hog and you've got:

(https://scontent.fpoa4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/101431325_3001854039869560_6041449149155508224_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=xETHROO5mzMAX_Wvt0L&_nc_ht=scontent.fpoa4-1.fna&oh=76e25d87943a1e42dedc06a80123d36c&oe=5EF599D1)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 27, 2020, 07:42:28 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on May 27, 2020, 06:32:31 PM
(https://scontent.fpoa4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/101431325_3001854039869560_6041449149155508224_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=xETHROO5mzMAX_Wvt0L&_nc_ht=scontent.fpoa4-1.fna&oh=76e25d87943a1e42dedc06a80123d36c&oe=5EF599D1)

That racoon looks just like my cat from the back.  :lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 27, 2020, 08:33:20 PM
tht is genuinely weird
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on May 28, 2020, 12:10:25 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on May 27, 2020, 06:32:31 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 24, 2020, 11:07:10 PM
did i mention that now we alzo have two of these?

http://imgur.com/gallery/tuNMjcy

All you need is a hog and you've got:

(https://scontent.fpoa4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/101431325_3001854039869560_6041449149155508224_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_sid=8024bb&_nc_ohc=xETHROO5mzMAX_Wvt0L&_nc_ht=scontent.fpoa4-1.fna&oh=76e25d87943a1e42dedc06a80123d36c&oe=5EF599D1)

He's practically got a petting zoo already. Maybe we can chip in for a hog.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 10, 2020, 05:00:27 PM
the possums are getting close to independence

(https://i.imgur.com/67BNg7Hl.jpg)

we stuck their cage outside last night so that they can get used to nocturnal smells. pretty soon we'll start leaving them unlocked. they generally wander off on their own about this age

absoluely amazing animals. theyre cleaner than cats.

very unlike the coons

(https://i.imgur.com/r0FwMjSl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/NOq35c4l.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 17, 2020, 02:03:57 AM
my kids gave me a nest box for leafcutter bees. these are native non-apis hymenopts, family megachilidae, that some people use for pollination. they work well in wet areas for alfalfa pollination where honey bees dont work out so well. an interesting reason for that. alfalfa flowers have a spring-loaded stamen (i think its the stamen. not the anthers)  that whacks the insect on the head to dust it with pollen when the insiect goes in for nectar. honey bees don't like  that, and learn to avoid the stamen, thus avoiding the pollination theat theyre there for. leafcutter bees ar too stupid to learn the technique, and so in wet areas where the stamens are harder to trigger farmers rent leafcutter bees because they trigger the flower every time. in dry areas where the flowers get set off no matter what, they rent honey bees because theyre cheaper, in general.

anyway, leafcutters like tube nests. anything will work-- bamboo, cardboard, drinking straws. if you give them a selection of sizes, they'' pick out what they need.

(https://i.imgur.com/pCswG5Zl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/NU0eM7Rl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/plUUAhQl.jpg)

i put this up on the south side of the warehouse and the leafcutters around the neighborhood found it immediately. the ones with the holes are where the newly metamorphsed bees have already emerged. this is just a curiousity thing. pollination units are shaded trailers with blocks of drilled wood containing tens of thousands to millions of bees. th adults go in and lay eggs in the tubes, stock it up with pollen, then seal the eggs inside. i cant remember whether they have more than one egg in the tube.

techinically these are solitary bees. they only hang out together if hey can find holes.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on June 17, 2020, 02:52:05 AM
My wife bought one of those things. I'd have to go look and see if there are any larvae in it.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 17, 2020, 03:05:02 AM
there were bees on mine today, but i was busy. i'll go look at it tomorrow and see if i can figure out what they are
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 17, 2020, 03:14:55 AM
That's a very informative post, billy rubin.  :smilenod:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 17, 2020, 04:42:37 AM
animalz are cool.

my lovely wife just finished a cat tree for the raccoons. they are intensely arboreal and were hoping to keep them off the booksheives

when theyre weaned well see about moving them outside

i have a stinking cat on my chest as i speak

animals
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on June 17, 2020, 05:38:42 AM
Speaking of stinking animals, our dachshund/beagle mix is really bad about rolling in her and the other dog's shit and then bringing the smell into the house. In contrast, the other dog brings no smells into the house. My wife and I went camping last February, and that dog laid by my wife's side in the dirt, in spite of being encouraged to lay on the mat we had bought. The dirt just didn't seem to stick to her.  8)

I'm intensely allergic to cats, BTW. I was sick for years in this house until all the carpet was removed and hardwood floors were installed. No amount of professional or self- cleaning of the carpet was working.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 17, 2020, 08:54:03 AM
the possums are cleaner than cats

i was surprised
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on June 18, 2020, 02:29:45 AM
I have been a dog guy for.......a few eons.  Alas, I am told that pigs are at least as smart and cleaner than dogs.  Anyone with experience of that sort?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on June 18, 2020, 02:48:00 AM
Our neighbor two doors east has a pot-bellied pig. They say that is is pretty clean. But it weighs well over 200 pounds, and gets rambunctious if not fed on time. I wouldn't want to deal with that. We're not zoned for pigs here. Eventually someone is going to spot it and it'll be gone.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 21, 2020, 08:06:47 PM
pigs have big, sharp teeth. coons have sharp teeth too, but not so big.

and theyre very social, so long as you're buying breakfast

(https://i.imgur.com/hnTEs5Cl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on June 21, 2020, 10:16:22 PM
Our neighbor 2 doors down across the street has been leaving his roll-up garage door open about a foot to let air circulate. A few nights ago a family of six trash pandas got into the dog food container in the garage and were partying down. His son went out to see what was going on, and the smaller raccoons panicked and ran all over the shelves which had cans and boxes and bottles. Stuff was strewn everywhere! He closes the garage door all the way at night, now. :lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 21, 2020, 11:22:03 PM
they are definitely arboreal. theyre death on beehives too

when my wife starts making food they will come running and go right up her leg to her shoulder to watch.

dunno what she ll do when theyre bigget
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on June 22, 2020, 06:41:25 AM
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50031829223_926d6ef1a9_m.jpg)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50032367286_b8c98bee09_m.jpg)


Ricky D. He ain't no possum or raccoon, but he breaks my heart with his cuteness daily.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 23, 2020, 07:58:28 PM
another litter, this time upstairs, only two kittens. we have one in the cellar stairwell already with three.

(https://i.imgur.com/pzHsg3Jl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/ShAxcIal.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/azuzpyzl.jpg)


this whole cat thing just has me shaking my head, but it's an untouchable subject if i want to maintain domestic tranquility. i love cats, but not this many everywhere.


Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on June 24, 2020, 04:02:46 AM
You are good people. The world would be a better place if there were more like you.  :love:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 24, 2020, 11:10:50 AM
there would certainly be more cats anyway.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Davin on June 25, 2020, 04:24:06 PM
My lazy little monsters.
(https://i.imgur.com/kKFuPEE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Zdt6QLz.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 26, 2020, 06:51:03 AM
Quote from: Davin on June 25, 2020, 04:24:06 PM
My lazy little monsters.
(https://i.imgur.com/kKFuPEE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Zdt6QLz.jpg)
You have cute, lazy little monsters.  :tellmemore:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on June 27, 2020, 06:22:06 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on June 26, 2020, 06:51:03 AM
Quote from: Davin on June 25, 2020, 04:24:06 PM
My lazy little monsters.
(https://i.imgur.com/kKFuPEE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Zdt6QLz.jpg)
You have cute, lazy little monsters.  :tellmemore:

Indeed. Those ginger kitties get me every time.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on June 27, 2020, 02:55:04 PM
How do cats sleep like that? We've got eight (yes eight) here in the house. They are so flexible but it still puzzles me how they can sleep like that?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 01, 2020, 08:42:46 PM
what is it with hummingbirds thjis summer?

i've just had to go throw one out of the kitchen, where it gets caught between the window sashes and can't gt ot.

the third one this week. i'll bet its the same one.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 02, 2020, 09:15:59 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 01, 2020, 08:42:46 PM
what is it with hummingbirds thjis summer?

i've just had to go throw one out of the kitchen, where it gets caught between the window sashes and can't gt ot.

the third one this week. i'll bet its the same one.

It's a Trump voter.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on July 08, 2020, 08:01:23 PM
Birds

Turn on sound. enjoy................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYdPnuGXo78
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 21, 2020, 08:07:49 PM
the possums and raccoons have graduated to independent living, sort of. they're all nocturnal, so i don't see them much. but last night i was sleeping in th ewarehouse where its cooler, and i heard a thunk. turned on a light, and there was a halfgrown possum staring back at me. so i said hello and turned back to go to sleep again, while th epossum explored the warehouse and made thunking noises from all over.

in th emeantime the other one was at the house, bothering the kids who were trying to play a video game. eventually my son picked it up and escorted it back outside.

that's not a wild animal, says my number three son.

ooooh yes it is, aren't you, my little possumm baby, says my wife, feeding the possum graham crackers in the kitchen in the midst of feet and cats and dogs

so what about the raccoons, i ask. did you see them last night?

theyre fine. the come in to the living room and climb up on me if im siting down. last night they tried to help me wash the dishes by rubbing their hands in the dishwater and making a mess.

oh?

yes and then one stole starbuck's toast out of the toaster right in front of him because he wasn't quick enough to fetch it himself when it was done.

ah . . .

i fixed the dishes issue, she says. i took an ice tray out on the porch and dumped it all into the water dish. the rwcoons ran out of the kitchen and spent their time trying to grab the ice cubes floating in the water instead.

if it's watery, you can distract a raccoon with it. i'll see whether anybody takes photographs
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 21, 2020, 08:16:31 PM
Quote from: Icarus on July 08, 2020, 08:01:23 PM
Birds

Turn on sound. enjoy................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYdPnuGXo78

jeez i just had to go through that again.

how does he do that? im familiar with a man stateside who raised a clutch of canada geese (i think) and had them imprint on him. but this guy has half a dozen species. what s going on?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 25, 2020, 01:13:49 PM
My grandson brought his tortoise for a visit.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/4060/UKjNbr.jpg)

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/3216/z2hySU.jpg)


Sally was not impressed. Terry didn't smell interesting.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2682/a3FYpd.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on July 25, 2020, 06:26:21 PM
https://youtu.be/0Fy7opKu46c
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Sandra Craft on July 26, 2020, 03:19:22 AM
Quote from: Tank on July 25, 2020, 01:13:49 PM

Sally was not impressed. Terry didn't smell interesting.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/2682/a3FYpd.jpg)

I think Sally looks perplexed.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 26, 2020, 07:13:50 AM
She was. It moved, but slowly. It didn't run away. It didn't smell... right.  ;D

Katie just licked him once and then ignored him. :rofl:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 08, 2020, 01:48:12 AM
   Watch your step when in the woods.                                       

https://massivesci.com/articles/snakes-predation-camouflage-evolution/?utm_source=drip&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Clever+creatures+%28Weekend+Reads+08-07-20%29&utm_content=Strange+and+clever+animalsds...................
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on August 08, 2020, 04:20:48 PM
That's a fascinating read, Icarus. We only have four venomous snakes here in Georgia but we have a bunch of others. I don't think the viper is one of them though. Still, evolution is interesting to see in action in all its forms.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 09, 2020, 01:12:55 AM
Silver may have some interest, or comment, about this doggie brain thing.......or not.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/genetics-research-explains-why-dogs-are-very-good-boys?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on August 22, 2020, 11:12:49 AM
Quote from: Icarus on August 09, 2020, 01:12:55 AM
Silver may have some interest, or comment, about this doggie brain thing.......or not.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/genetics-research-explains-why-dogs-are-very-good-boys?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Ah, that's really cool, Icarus!  8)

QuoteWhile the choices made by the wolves were more mixed with a human present, the dogs largely ignored the treat box to stare at the human, often walking over and trying to get their attention instead. While this shift in focus was indicative of the social nature of dogs, the dogs also struggled to open the box when there wasn't a person around. As such, the genetic mutations that aided in the domestication process are also linked to cognitive deficits in our friendly pups. Thankfully, dogs have us around to grab their treats for them.

This is interesting, though I'm not sure about the genes linked to extreme sociability also bringing cognitive deficits in dogs. Taking my goofy dog as an example, she was super smart, just not "street-smart", like a stray or even a wolf. I think it has to do with many dogs' over-reliant nature and not cognitive deficits per se.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on August 22, 2020, 11:18:29 AM
I'm probably going to move (again ::) ) early next year and I've been thinking, it's probably time to get another dog. :grin: 

I've been thinking of getting a male German Shepherd pup this time and have even thought of a name for him...Loki. 8) When I do, I'm just hoping he doesn't live up to the name, too much.  ;D

Maybe I'll even get two.

This all depends on whether I find a house with a decent external area. Two, or even one, pups that will grow into large dogs in an apartment is a bit of a problem.  ::)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 22, 2020, 10:36:55 PM
very large dogs are often good apartment dwellers. i have been told that great danes are so sedentary that an apartment sometimes suits them just fine.

not things like red setters.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on August 22, 2020, 10:45:53 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 22, 2020, 10:36:55 PM
very large dogs are often good apartment dwellers. i have been told that great danes are so sedentary that an apartment sometimes suits them just fine.

not things like red setters.

Hey billy rubin! :wave hi:

German Shepherds are quite active (unless they're old in which case hip problems are common) and I have to think about what happens to the dog(s) when I'm at the lab. I generally spend the entire day there, and I don't want them relieving themselves inside the apartment. Me being at the lab for long periods of time is why I'm thinking of getting two, so that they can keep each other company.

I'm already looking for a house. I'd only move next year, but it's good to see neighborhood pricing and all ahead of time. I'm not really looking for an apartment, only if there is no other way. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 07, 2020, 08:05:48 PM
the orphans from the springtime are huge now

th epossums are off on their own. the male comes to the porch every night to eat dog food, and then stares at you when you bring him something to eat. after a bit, he turns his back and wanders off into the night.

the female, however, is a sucker for treats. last night i was talking to my son in the kitchen when she waddled in th edoor, looked at us, and then proceeded into the living room to climb up in her cat tree in the corner. there she held court while my wife fed her animal crackers (yes) and bits of hardboiled egg.

(https://i.imgur.com/Rrt3TNPl.jpg)

my kids frown on all this:

theryre supposed to be wild animals, you know.

except the possums don't know, actually, and are just fine being not-wild so long as there animal crackers and dog food.

the raccoonns are regualras too, immense round fluff balls. they prefer banana pieces if available, but will take anything. we know they've been by in the night because there's piles of dog food sunk to the bottom of the water dish. he s female is shy now, but the male is shy only if he doesn't see any food in your hand. besides bananas, chocolate chips cookes are pretty popular too.

i'll see whether i can get any pictures of him tonight.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on October 07, 2020, 10:13:11 PM
Awwwww :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on October 08, 2020, 04:48:36 AM
"Awwwww :)" Times two! :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on October 11, 2020, 07:56:29 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on October 07, 2020, 08:05:48 PM
the orphans from the springtime are huge now

th epossums are off on their own. the male comes to the porch every night to eat dog food, and then stares at you when you bring him something to eat. after a bit, he turns his back and wanders off into the night.

the female, however, is a sucker for treats. last night i was talking to my son in the kitchen when she waddled in th edoor, looked at us, and then proceeded into the living room to climb up in her cat tree in the corner. there she held court while my wife fed her animal crackers (yes) and bits of hardboiled egg.

(https://i.imgur.com/Rrt3TNPl.jpg)

my kids frown on all this:

theryre supposed to be wild animals, you know.

except the possums don't know, actually, and are just fine being not-wild so long as there animal crackers and dog food.

the raccoonns are regualras too, immense round fluff balls. they prefer banana pieces if available, but will take anything. we know they've been by in the night because there's piles of dog food sunk to the bottom of the water dish. he s female is shy now, but the male is shy only if he doesn't see any food in your hand. besides bananas, chocolate chips cookes are pretty popular too.

i'll see whether i can get any pictures of him tonight.

Wow, she got big!  :o
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on October 12, 2020, 01:02:21 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on October 11, 2020, 07:56:29 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on October 07, 2020, 08:05:48 PM
the orphans from the springtime are huge now

th epossums are off on their own. the male comes to the porch every night to eat dog food, and then stares at you when you bring him something to eat. after a bit, he turns his back and wanders off into the night.

the female, however, is a sucker for treats. last night i was talking to my son in the kitchen when she waddled in th edoor, looked at us, and then proceeded into the living room to climb up in her cat tree in the corner. there she held court while my wife fed her animal crackers (yes) and bits of hardboiled egg.

(https://i.imgur.com/Rrt3TNPl.jpg)

my kids frown on all this:

theryre supposed to be wild animals, you know.

except the possums don't know, actually, and are just fine being not-wild so long as there animal crackers and dog food.

the raccoonns are regualras too, immense round fluff balls. they prefer banana pieces if available, but will take anything. we know they've been by in the night because there's piles of dog food sunk to the bottom of the water dish. he s female is shy now, but the male is shy only if he doesn't see any food in your hand. besides bananas, chocolate chips cookes are pretty popular too.

i'll see whether i can get any pictures of him tonight.

Wow, she got big!  :o
Too many animal crackers will do that to you.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 12, 2020, 01:13:16 AM
https://youtu.be/gr4ZG9z-PtM

ha sorry about the eyeshine

had the light on on my telephone. freaked him out too. normally he s more laidback

you get to hear my wife talk to him in raccoon language. thisbbn one is the male. the female hzs gotten shy
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 12, 2020, 01:16:55 AM
shit fire busy tonight as well

https://youtu.be/DUpNR_YNjsI

the coyotes here in the east have deeper voices thanthe ones in the wezt. physically larger animalz. tbeyll weigh 40 pounds here but in arizona a 20 pound coyore is about average
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on October 12, 2020, 03:22:07 AM
Coyotes are not popular in my town.  A couple years ago we had a coyote invasion that resulted in quite a few domestic pets. Kitty cats, small dogs, etc.  Have not had any trouble with them lately. If we do there are still some people, former pet owners, who would kill them in a blink of an eye.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 12, 2020, 04:16:08 PM
coyotes are all that keep me from being overrun with cats. i've lived here some 16 years and i estimate that weve gone through at least 75 cats. right now there's between 15 and 20. they eat the songbirds, the chipmunks, the rabbits, the shrews, the voles, whatever they can kill.

i no longer has any empathy left for them. we have about four that i'd keep. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 24, 2020, 12:36:53 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/4M0wC0Ol.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on October 24, 2020, 02:59:38 AM
^ Needs more mice. I'm deathly allergic to cats. I was sick as hell until we got the carpet out of this house and put in wood floors.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on October 24, 2020, 04:19:49 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on October 24, 2020, 12:36:53 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/4M0wC0Ol.jpg)

Oy, Katzenjammer!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 24, 2020, 03:10:28 PM
at least the possums and raccoons arent underfoot all the time

last night the remaining racoon met my wife at her car when she got home and woukdnt leave until all the out of date mcdonalds apple pies were gone

the possum sat on the porch under a bench and got her own share. she eats slower so she doesnt get as much
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on October 24, 2020, 06:07:33 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on October 24, 2020, 12:36:53 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/4M0wC0Ol.jpg)
Wow!  :tellmemore:
They're beautiful.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on October 24, 2020, 07:59:56 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on October 24, 2020, 03:10:28 PM
at least the possums and raccoons arent underfoot all the time

last night the remaining racoon met my wife at her car when she got home and woukdnt leave until all the out of date mcdonalds apple pies were gone

the possum sat on the porch under a bench and got her own share. she eats slower so she doesnt get as much

I am sooo jealous! I would love to be met by a wild animal when I got home!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on October 25, 2020, 01:29:39 AM
^ I am sometimes met by a wild animal when I get home ar later than expected.  She has cooked some pleasing food and it has gone cold because I was two hours late to get home.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 18, 2020, 07:23:53 PM
Joy distracted by something to the left:

(https://i.imgur.com/8v0IAVo.jpg)

Joy distracted by something to the right:

(https://i.imgur.com/1Ro2AUS.jpg)

Yes! Focused! ;D

(https://i.imgur.com/iT4iLQc.jpg)

Joy refusing to learn how to properly play fetch, but that's ok:

(https://i.imgur.com/QOJc1za.jpg)

Ready to go up to my room for nap time:

(https://i.imgur.com/qrNctyL.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 18, 2020, 07:46:13 PM
What an absolute little beauty!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 18, 2020, 07:58:03 PM
Quote from: Tank on November 18, 2020, 07:46:13 PM
What an absolute little beauty!

Isn't she?  ;D   Just a little stinky right now, but I don't care, she's gonna get hugs from me! :grin:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 18, 2020, 10:33:37 PM
lol

my sister in law had a border collie

no sheep, so the dog would gather up and herd socks into a pile in her bedroom
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on November 19, 2020, 02:27:54 AM
I love those pictures of Joy, Silver. How big will she be when she's an adult?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 19, 2020, 10:17:58 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 18, 2020, 10:33:37 PM
lol

my sister in law had a border collie

no sheep, so the dog would gather up and herd socks into a pile in her bedroom

Our first dog was part Border Collie and she would run rings around the kids if they got too far away!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bad Penny II on November 19, 2020, 12:51:35 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 18, 2020, 07:23:53 PM
Joy distracted by something to the left:

(https://i.imgur.com/8v0IAVo.jpg)

She looks a lovely friend, it would be hard to find one better.
Unless you're willing to explore a relationship with more interesting species, such as a Green Tree Frog.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 19, 2020, 10:36:50 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 18, 2020, 10:33:37 PM
lol

my sister in law had a border collie

no sheep, so the dog would gather up and herd socks into a pile in her bedroom

:lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 19, 2020, 10:39:07 PM
Quote from: Randy on November 19, 2020, 02:27:54 AM
I love those pictures of Joy, Silver. How big will she be when she's an adult?

Probably from 15 to 20 kg. More or less a medium to large sized dog.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 19, 2020, 10:42:18 PM
Quote from: Tank on November 19, 2020, 10:17:58 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 18, 2020, 10:33:37 PM
lol

my sister in law had a border collie

no sheep, so the dog would gather up and herd socks into a pile in her bedroom

Our first dog was part Border Collie and she would run rings around the kids if they got too far away!

:snicker:

Joy did something interesting with her ball the other day: when I threw it she ran towards it, lay down, got up and stared for a couple of seconds, stalked it and pounced when she was close. Besides the pouncing part it all looked very much like what Border Collies do when they're herding sheep. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 19, 2020, 10:44:06 PM
Quote from: Bad Penny II on November 19, 2020, 12:51:35 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 18, 2020, 07:23:53 PM
Joy distracted by something to the left:

(https://i.imgur.com/8v0IAVo.jpg)

She looks a lovely friend, it would be hard to find one better.
Unless you're willing to explore a relationship with more interesting species, such as a Green Tree Frog.

Heh  ;D Maybe some other time.  :P

How is the frog doing?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 20, 2020, 08:28:17 AM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

I'm sure she could have her own account. And post about her mistress :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 20, 2020, 08:09:04 PM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

Quote from: Tank on November 20, 2020, 08:28:17 AM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

I'm sure she could have her own account. And post about her mistress :)

Heheh, the little girl's so smart I'm sure she'll learn how to sit at the computer and type soon enough! ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on November 21, 2020, 01:16:05 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 20, 2020, 08:09:04 PM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

Quote from: Tank on November 20, 2020, 08:28:17 AM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

I'm sure she could have her own account. And post about her mistress :)

Heheh, the little girl's so smart I'm sure she'll learn how to sit at the computer and type soon enough! ;D
Look out, she'll have your job soon and the pay will be in dog biscuits!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 21, 2020, 11:09:25 AM
Quote from: Randy on November 21, 2020, 01:16:05 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 20, 2020, 08:09:04 PM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

Quote from: Tank on November 20, 2020, 08:28:17 AM
Quote from: Icarus on November 20, 2020, 12:30:55 AM
How 'bout we make Joy an honorary HAF member?  It is almost a sure thing that she has an atheist philosophic position.

I'm sure she could have her own account. And post about her mistress :)

Heheh, the little girl's so smart I'm sure she'll learn how to sit at the computer and type soon enough! ;D
Look out, she'll have your job soon and the pay will be in dog biscuits!

She'd like that! :lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 21, 2020, 04:27:50 PM
Our Cavalier spaniel was off her feed for many weeks, and losing weight. I'd put out different food for her to pick through. I even threatened to take her to the vet and have them put thermometer in her butt.  :o She was OK eating treats, though she can't live on that. She goes ape over the dental chews, so I cut a piece about 2 cc in size into small pieces and put them in the bowl, then the kibble. Now she digs in and eats all her food!  ;D I was really starting to worry. I've never seen a dog this picky before.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 21, 2020, 05:52:39 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on November 21, 2020, 04:27:50 PM
Our Cavalier spaniel was off her feed for many weeks, and losing weight. I'd put out different food for her to pick through. I even threatened to take her to the vet and have them put thermometer in her butt.  :o She was OK eating treats, though she can't live on that. She goes ape over the dental chews, so I cut a piece about 2 cc in size into small pieces and put them in the bowl, then the kibble. Now she digs in and eats all her food!  ;D I was really starting to worry. I've never seen a dog this picky before.

Dogs can be tricky little buggers at time.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on November 22, 2020, 01:02:18 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on November 21, 2020, 04:27:50 PM
Our Cavalier spaniel was off her feed for many weeks, and losing weight. I'd put out different food for her to pick through. I even threatened to take her to the vet and have them put thermometer in her butt.  :o She was OK eating treats, though she can't live on that. She goes ape over the dental chews, so I cut a piece about 2 cc in size into small pieces and put them in the bowl, then the kibble. Now she digs in and eats all her food!  ;D I was really starting to worry. I've never seen a dog this picky before.
I've never heard of a finicky dog. This must be a rare breed. :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on November 22, 2020, 11:39:29 PM
Cavaliers are indeed a rare and expensive breed.  Gorgeous little dudes well suited for uppercrust owners.   If I remember correctly (maybe not) , The breed is officially identified as  Prince Charles Cavalier Spaniel

I once had a wealthy girlfriend who had a  Yorkshire Terrier. The mutts name was Truffles.  I asked Patricia ('Patti: when we were physically involved)   why she had named her dog Truffles.  She replied; "Because they are small and black and very expensive".
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 23, 2020, 12:59:30 AM
OK, disclaimer, here! Ours is a mutt from the animal shelter, and has these long legs that make me think that her momma got nailed by a coyote. I've never paid more than bail money for a dog from the shelter. The rest have been free. Well, except for that yappy little chee-hooa-hooa that my wife bought while I was out of town.  :???:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 23, 2020, 02:55:15 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on November 21, 2020, 04:27:50 PM
Our Cavalier spaniel was off her feed for many weeks, and losing weight. I'd put out different food for her to pick through. I even threatened to take her to the vet and have them put thermometer in her butt.  :o She was OK eating treats, though she can't live on that. She goes ape over the dental chews, so I cut a piece about 2 cc in size into small pieces and put them in the bowl, then the kibble. Now she digs in and eats all her food!  ;D I was really starting to worry. I've never seen a dog this picky before.

Joy rejected (and still rejects to some extent) her solid puppy chow even though I've maintained the same food she was eating before. She would literally spit them out. That worried me a lot because she can't live on just rice, chicken, bread and eggs, so what I've been doing is crushing the puppy pellets and sprinkling the "dust" onto her chicken or egg meal.

The vet told me it helps to make food smellier (hence the eggs :lol: ) when a dog loses their appetite. Heating food, for instance, helps as well.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 23, 2020, 03:37:18 PM
I draw the line at heating her food! :lol: One of my sons mentioned we could make our own dog food out of our people food. My wife told him that if he started doing that, he'd better be prepared to do it as long as the dogs are alive. They're spoiled enough, already.  ::)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 23, 2020, 04:30:29 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on November 23, 2020, 03:37:18 PM
I draw the line at heating her food! :lol: One of my sons mentioned we could make our own dog food out of our people food. My wife told him that if he started doing that, he'd better be prepared to do it as long as the dogs are alive. They're spoiled enough, already.  ::)

:snicker:

Yeah, spoilt dogs can be tough to manage sometimes ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 23, 2020, 04:42:31 PM
One of Joy's ears had been threatening to pop up for the past couple of days and finally did so overnight. The other, it seems, is a little reluctant but will probably do so as well. 

(https://i.imgur.com/Rtzk6WK.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on November 24, 2020, 01:13:39 AM
Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and several other of the herding dog type do not have erect ears. Breeders identify their ear behavior as "pricked ears". Half up with folded over tops.  Other categories like "working dogs often have erect ears... Dobermans, Akitas, Wolves, etc.  The herding types, when well trained, respond to whistle signals, so why do they not have erect ears?  Beats me. Breeds such as Beagles, Bassets, and bloodhounds have ears with no sign of erection ability. They can hear very well however.

Dog behaviorists are much aware of the dogs mood by observing ear position.  An example is when a dog with standup type ears lays them back on his head.  That is Aggressive mode. Straight up and tilted slightly forward indicates careful attention, etc.  Tail behavior is also an indication of emotional mood.  Not as reliable as the ear thing however.   

An item of interest for dog lovers appears in this months Smithsonian magazine. It is a study of the cognitive abilities of canines. The article is titled: Evolution of Friendship.  Hoping to illuminate our strangely powerful bond, scientists are studying dog behavior as never before.  They have discovered that dogs have been studying us for thousands of years.   

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 01:59:17 AM
friendship?

one of our dogs has a pet cat. just one of the nameless felines that wandered around as a kitten until she became attached to the dog. hangz out with him inside or out,  rubs on his legs, sleeps across his feet and general is sickenenly adoring.

doesnt care for people. couldnt touch her for a year even though she follows the dog around the house
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on November 24, 2020, 03:35:04 AM
Lulu, my parrot, is very picky. She refuses to eat apples or bananas, but loves yoghurt, cheese, tomatoes, and meat. Her vet said it was OK to give her a few sips of coffee, but Nescafe isn't good enough for her, and she only drinks cappuccino from my coffee machine.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 04:41:29 AM
pictures!

i love parrots.

what completely improbable animalz. they prove evolution.

who could ever have thought up a parrot?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on November 24, 2020, 04:54:22 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 04:41:29 AM
pictures!

i love parrots.

what completely improbable animalz. they prove evolution.

who could ever have thought up a parrot?

This is the spoilt little brat. She doesn't know she's a bird and simply ignores other birds.

(https://i.imgur.com/M61FBRT.jpg)

I love her as much as any human child.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 06:42:20 AM
damn

african gray?

how long have you had her?

what iz  her personality? why no apples or bananas?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on November 24, 2020, 07:37:37 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 06:42:20 AM
damn

african gray?

how long have you had her?

what iz  her personality? why no apples or bananas?

Yes, she is a Timneh African Grey, not the more common, bigger Congo African Grey. She came into my life when she was a few weeks old — she is almost 8 now. She is an intelligent, very loving bird who has bonded closely with me, to the extent that she protects me when she thinks someone is getting too close to me. She is always on my shoulder and goes everywhere with me, even when I go shopping at my local supermarket, where everyone knows her by name.

Like anyone else, she just has certain food preferences and she simply doesn't like apples and bananas. They can eat anything humans eat, except avocados. Humans are immune to the cardiac glycosides in avos, but parrots are not.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 24, 2020, 12:02:17 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on November 24, 2020, 04:54:22 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 04:41:29 AM
pictures!

i love parrots.

what completely improbable animalz. they prove evolution.

who could ever have thought up a parrot?

This is the spoilt little brat. She doesn't know she's a bird and simply ignores other birds.

(https://i.imgur.com/M61FBRT.jpg)

I love her as much as any human child.

She's beautiful! :tellmemore: And she looks well looked after too.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 24, 2020, 05:02:19 PM
I bet the locals know you as 'The Parrot Man!'
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on November 24, 2020, 05:25:26 PM
Quote from: Tank on November 24, 2020, 05:02:19 PM
I bet the locals know you as 'The Parrot Man!'

Yes, I am quite well known in the community as the eccentric guy with the parrot on his shoulder. The funny thing is that Lulu is a woman magnet, and not just the older ones. When I'm trying to buy stuff in the supermarket, some are quite difficult to shake off. If I were that way inclined, I could easily befriend many of them.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 24, 2020, 06:24:58 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on November 24, 2020, 05:25:26 PM
Quote from: Tank on November 24, 2020, 05:02:19 PM
I bet the locals know you as 'The Parrot Man!'

Yes, I am quite well known in the community as the eccentric guy with the parrot on his shoulder. The funny thing is that Lulu is a woman magnet, and not just the older ones. When I'm trying to buy stuff in the supermarket, some are quite difficult to shake off. If I were that way inclined, I could easily befriend many of them.

:rofl:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 08:28:36 PM
animals and children apparently  are cues to stranger women that you are less likely to be a threat and so arevmore approachable for ordinary conversation

its like getting to be an old fart. i can discuss waxing my butt crack with female drivers who cheerfully describe needing a lawnmower to trim their pubic bush without either of us being even slightly uncomfortable with the conversation.

i dont actually wax my butt crack but it came up in the discussion somehow
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 24, 2020, 08:55:10 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 08:28:36 PM
i dont actually wax my butt crack but it came up in the discussion somehow

:lol: Just like it did now?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 24, 2020, 09:02:30 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 08:28:36 PM
animals and children apparently  are cues to stranger women that you are less likely to be a threat and so arevmore approachable for ordinary conversation

its like getting to be an old fart. i can discuss waxing my butt crack with female drivers who cheerfully describe needing a lawnmower to trim their pubic bush without either of us being even slightly uncomfortable with the conversation.

i dont actually wax my butt crack but it came up in the discussion somehow

We are now categorised as NTOMs (Non Threatening Older Male).
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 25, 2020, 12:30:20 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on November 24, 2020, 08:55:10 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 08:28:36 PM
i dont actually wax my butt crack but it came up in the discussion somehow

:lol: Just like it did now?

well, i have no control over my mouth. peopl are generally tolerant tho
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on November 25, 2020, 03:20:54 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on November 24, 2020, 08:28:36 PM
animals and children apparently  are cues to stranger women that you are less likely to be a threat and so arevmore approachable for ordinary conversation

For that reason I've found there's is no shortage of fag hags either. There's an endless supply of wealthy Jewish widows who thrive on the company of gay guys in my neck of the woods.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bad Penny II on November 25, 2020, 10:07:11 AM
Hermes has got a parrot.
Has he, what sort, a rainbow lorikeet, a bold red and green male king parrot?
No, it is a female.
Well the female king parrot is a striking green.
Yes they are but he doesn't want a raucously coloured bird, it would clash with his minimalist decor.
Sulphur crested cockatoos are all white 'cept for the yellow crest.
No, he has an African Grey.
Oh ye that would work, very harmonious with your subdued colour scheme your African Grey.

Lulu's feathers are wonderful.
The attempts to portray dinosaurs I've seen haven't been particularly inspiring, I wonder if dinosaur feathers rivalled the beauty of bird feathers.

Here's some feathers from a maestro
https://www.leilajeffreys.com/works (https://www.leilajeffreys.com/works)
https://www.leilajeffreys.com/series/ornithurae (https://www.leilajeffreys.com/series/ornithurae)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bad Penny II on November 25, 2020, 10:16:13 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx link=topic=16552.msg407507#msg407507

She looks a lovely friend, it would be hard to find one better.
Unless you're willing to explore a relationship with more interesting species, such as a Green Tree Frog.

Heh  ;D Maybe some other time.  :P

How is the frog doing?

I don't know, he wasn't there today.
If the weather gets wetter perhaps I'll hear him.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on November 28, 2020, 06:32:06 AM
https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6 (https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6)

Ricky D. He is a chick magnet.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Sandra Craft on November 28, 2020, 07:56:45 AM
Quote from: Anne D. on November 28, 2020, 06:32:06 AM
https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6 (https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6)

Ricky D. He is a chick magnet.

Pretty.  I love when cats are asleep, it's the only time I'm certain they're not into anything.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bad Penny II on November 28, 2020, 10:06:09 AM
Quote from: Sandra Craft on November 28, 2020, 07:56:45 AM
Quote from: Anne D. on November 28, 2020, 06:32:06 AM
https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6 (https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6)

Ricky D. He is a chick magnet.

Pretty.  I love when cats are asleep, it's the only time I'm certain they're not into anything.

There's much to be said for taxidermy.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on November 28, 2020, 06:15:54 PM
Quote from: Sandra Craft on November 28, 2020, 07:56:45 AM
Quote from: Anne D. on November 28, 2020, 06:32:06 AM
https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6 (https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6)

Ricky D. He is a chick magnet.

Pretty.  I love when cats are asleep, it's the only time I'm certain they're not into anything.

LOL.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on November 28, 2020, 07:04:48 PM
Quote from: Anne D. on November 28, 2020, 06:32:06 AM
(https://imgur.com/7ueJlP6.jpg)

Ricky D. He is a chick magnet.

That's a beautiful cat. :tellmemore:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on December 01, 2020, 05:23:54 AM
Animals are not always respectful of the social graces.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I72pH7ljGrw
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 01, 2020, 10:16:27 AM
Quote from: Icarus on December 01, 2020, 05:23:54 AM
Animals are not always respectful of the social graces.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I72pH7ljGrw

Can't view in the UK :(
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 01, 2020, 11:42:36 AM
Quote from: Tank on December 01, 2020, 10:16:27 AM
Quote from: Icarus on December 01, 2020, 05:23:54 AM
Animals are not always respectful of the social graces.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I72pH7ljGrw

Can't view in the UK :(

It's a dog that goes up to multiple people and sniffs their butt cracks.  :eyebrow:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 01, 2020, 08:41:29 PM
Joy has learnt to bring her toys to my feet (I've been trying to get her to play fetch to wear her out a bit) and this morning she left a urine puddle on the floor, dropped her flip flop into it and proceeded to chase me with it in her mouth. She eventually caught up and rubbed the soaked thing all over my foot. ::)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 01, 2020, 08:44:26 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 01, 2020, 08:41:29 PM
Joy has learnt to bring her toys to my feet (I've been trying to get her to play fetch to wear her out a bit) and this morning she left a urine puddle on the floor, dropped her flip flop into it and proceeded to chase me with it in her mouth. She eventually caught up and rubbed the soaked thing all over my foot. ::)

:rofl:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 01, 2020, 10:42:56 PM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 02, 2020, 07:54:31 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 01, 2020, 10:42:56 PM


Awwwww!!!  :hug: :frolic:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on December 03, 2020, 02:58:13 AM
Pretty dang cute!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 08, 2020, 10:33:19 PM
A moment of calm before the storm.



Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on December 09, 2020, 12:46:50 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 08, 2020, 10:33:19 PM
A moment of calm before the storm.



Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

She seems pretty healthy to me. Let's hope she continues to cause havoc. That way we'll know she's okay.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 09, 2020, 01:02:51 AM
Quote from: Randy on December 09, 2020, 12:46:50 AM
She seems pretty healthy to me. Let's hope she continues to cause havoc. That way we'll know she's okay.

Yes, so far the medication is doing her good, she has fewer and fewer bad days. Still a little feverish but apparently not in pain anymore. We're really optimistic.  ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 09, 2020, 01:48:44 AM


our raccoons are on a later nnght shedule now that orion is high, and i don't see them.

the malepossum drops by, but disdains any hand feeding these days, turns up his nose and stalks down into the basement.

but the female comes up to my lovely wife to beg for chocolae chip cookies. she can eat three at a sitting. if my wife tries to give her apple piees instead, she searches and searches and ignores the appl. chocolate chip cookies are her thing.

yesterday i came home after dark and shut in the chickens to keep stuff from tearing thecir heads off again. in th emoring my wife o5opened it up and possum number thre was sleeping inthe nest box. i had shut him in the night before

(https://i.imgur.com/mDToQu4l.jpg)

this is a new possum who is younger than th eones we raised sbut has learned from them that we are easy marks. he didn't even wake up when my wife o5opened the door and took a picture of his butt
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on December 09, 2020, 02:11:26 AM
We already know that Joy is a super dog. She can even understand Portuguese.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 09, 2020, 06:36:58 PM
Quote from: Icarus on December 09, 2020, 02:11:26 AM
We already know that Joy is a super dog. She can even understand Portuguese.

She's getting there  ;D

I asked her where the rope was and she nudged it with her nose and barked.  :P Then I told her to take it and she did. :grin:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 09, 2020, 06:37:29 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on December 09, 2020, 01:48:44 AM


our raccoons are on a later nnght shedule now that orion is high, and i don't see them.

the malepossum drops by, but disdains any hand feeding these days, turns up his nose and stalks down into the basement.

but the female comes up to my lovely wife to beg for chocolae chip cookies. she can eat three at a sitting. if my wife tries to give her apple piees instead, she searches and searches and ignores the appl. chocolate chip cookies are her thing.

yesterday i came home after dark and shut in the chickens to keep stuff from tearing thecir heads off again. in th emoring my wife o5opened it up and possum number thre was sleeping inthe nest box. i had shut him in the night before

(https://i.imgur.com/mDToQu4l.jpg)

this is a new possum who is younger than th eones we raised sbut has learned from them that we are easy marks. he didn't even wake up when my wife o5opened the door and took a picture of his butt

:lol: That's adorable!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 09, 2020, 11:48:52 PM
the possums don't seem to be interested in the chickens, and both happily seem to coexist in the henhouse

raccoons and skunks on the other hand take great joy in tearing chicken's heads off, and we have lost quite a few to them.

but possums are mellow and happily sleep in the henhouse floor whilethe chickens roost above them.

fascinating animals. marsupials are much more interesting than placental mammals, primitive (maybe, for whatever that means) but widespread because what they do they do so well

if i lived in australasia id spend all my time messing with them
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 10, 2020, 09:05:50 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on December 09, 2020, 11:48:52 PM
the possums don't seem to be interested in the chickens, and both happily seem to coexist in the henhouse

raccoons and skunks on the other hand take great joy in tearing chicken's heads off, and we have lost quite a few to them.

but possums are mellow and happily sleep in the henhouse floor whilethe chickens roost above them.

fascinating animals. marsupials are much more interesting than placental mammals, primitive (maybe, for whatever that means) but widespread because what they do they do so well

if i lived in australasia id spend all my time messing with them

That sounds a little 'dangerous' do the chickens not defecate on them?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on December 10, 2020, 09:10:24 AM
Do the 70+ million trumpanzees count?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on December 10, 2020, 09:16:40 AM
Quote from: No one on December 10, 2020, 09:10:24 AM
Do the 70+ million trumpanzees count?

:lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 10, 2020, 05:19:55 PM
Quote from: No one on December 10, 2020, 09:10:24 AM
Do the 70+ million trumpanzees count?

:lol: Good one!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on December 10, 2020, 05:39:07 PM
I have my moments.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 10, 2020, 09:16:49 PM
Quote from: Tank on December 10, 2020, 09:05:50 AM


That sounds a little 'dangerous' do the chickens not defecate on them?

don't seem to. possums are super tidy (unlike raccoons) and he's always spotless when i see him.

i keep the henhouse shut at night but open in th emnorning. th epossum sleeps in the open henhouse all day long, gets shut in at night, and munches chicken feed at will. then he's back asleep in the mornign when i open it up.

a weird symbiosis for a supposedly wild animal. my wife hit him in the ass today with an outdated mcdonalds apple pie, and he just stared at her.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 10, 2020, 09:19:17 PM
i can see where we're headed tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ziu2rrNS7S0
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 11, 2020, 07:27:31 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on December 10, 2020, 09:16:49 PM
Quote from: Tank on December 10, 2020, 09:05:50 AM


That sounds a little 'dangerous' do the chickens not defecate on them?

don't seem to. possums are super tidy (unlike raccoons) and he's always spotless when i see him.

i keep the henhouse shut at night but open in th emnorning. th epossum sleeps in the open henhouse all day long, gets shut in at night, and munches chicken feed at will. then he's back asleep in the mornign when i open it up.

a weird symbiosis for a supposedly wild animal. my wife hit him in the ass today with an outdated mcdonalds apple pie, and he just stared at her.

:rofl:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 07, 2021, 10:55:05 PM
Joy spat out a baby tooth this morning. I thought that was endearing.

ETA: the smelly fart she let out just now was not.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on January 08, 2021, 10:40:55 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 07, 2021, 10:55:05 PM
Joy spat out a baby tooth this morning. I thought that was endearing.

ETA: the smelly fart she let out just now was not.

Never, ever allow your dog to eat a raw brussels sprout! The results are eye watering!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 08, 2021, 11:56:59 AM
Quote from: Tank on January 08, 2021, 10:40:55 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on January 07, 2021, 10:55:05 PM
Joy spat out a baby tooth this morning. I thought that was endearing.

ETA: the smelly fart she let out just now was not.

Never, ever allow your dog to eat a raw brussels sprout! The results are eye watering!

Noted!  ;D

Joy loves boiled eggs. I would add that to the list of things to never give a dog that lives indoors.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on January 08, 2021, 12:38:18 PM
I don't think I've ever given a dog anything but meat or dog food. I hate eggs so I would never have fed a dog that anyway.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on January 08, 2021, 01:31:30 PM
Quote from: Randy on January 08, 2021, 12:38:18 PM
I don't think I've ever given a dog anything but meat or dog food. I hate eggs so I would never have fed a dog that anyway.

If we drop an egg by accident the dogs clear it up immediately. Very useful :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on January 08, 2021, 11:08:33 PM
In the distant past....maybe not so distant a past.............certain farm dogs would raid the hen house to consume numerous eggs.  The offenders were labeled "suck egg dogs" and many of them were killed for that offense. 

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 09, 2021, 10:45:52 AM
Quote from: Icarus on January 08, 2021, 11:08:33 PM
In the distant past....maybe not so distant a past.............certain farm dogs would raid the hen house to consume numerous eggs.  The offenders were labeled "suck egg dogs" and many of them were killed for that offense.

People would kill the dogs instead of investing in securing the eggs? :lynch:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 09, 2021, 07:52:36 PM
yes. bad dogs have short lives in the country. i taught my dogs to leave the chickens alone by waiting until i caught them killing a hen and then i beat them. the dramatic moment has lasted their lifetimw. most dogs i beat with a single finger, because thats enough. other dogs take more emphasis.

my wife has a weaknwss for bad dogs. one she git once would chase cows, and take the good dog with her. it wasnt until the good dog came home with a fresh bullet hole in his ear that she would get rid of the bad one.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 22, 2021, 03:04:48 PM
the female possum came by last night and my wife fed her a hardboiled egg. the male has apparently heeded the call of the wild.

both raccoons returned the other night and the male accepted a banana. the female is skittish but still hanging out.

they all run when i go out the door because i do not resemble the Earth Mother, but are happy to be fed by her when she waljs out
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on January 26, 2021, 07:00:51 AM
Here are some clever critters who are not to be messed with.  Honey badgers are bad ass little dudes capable of driving off a wolf or a bear.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c36UNSoJenI
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on January 26, 2021, 09:08:15 AM
I love that guy. Seen him a few times now :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 27, 2021, 12:16:43 AM
Joy after barking at her reflection in the window for 40 minutes.  ::)


(https://i.imgur.com/8te0Qfg.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/xwKGPbg.jpg)

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on January 27, 2021, 02:54:50 AM
It makes me happy to see her looking so strong. She seems to be fighting the virus very well.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on January 27, 2021, 01:35:33 PM
Joy looks good even with the virus. Maybe the worst is over?  :shrug:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 27, 2021, 02:01:27 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on January 27, 2021, 02:54:50 AM
It makes me happy to see her looking so strong. She seems to be fighting the virus very well.

Me too! Each day that passes without the appearance of any neurological signs brings me more hope that everything will be fine. :grin:

Quote from: Randy on January 27, 2021, 01:35:33 PM
Joy looks good even with the virus. Maybe the worst is over?  :shrug:

Doesn't she? :tellmemore:
Hopefully! ;D

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on January 30, 2021, 03:50:16 AM
She's so cute when she's all tuckered out. Pics of animals sleeping always break my heart. So sweet.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 30, 2021, 12:59:47 PM
Quote from: Anne D. on January 30, 2021, 03:50:16 AM
She's so cute when she's all tuckered out. Pics of animals sleeping always break my heart. So sweet.

:grin: It's a precious moment not only because it's a cuteness overload but because it's also a moment of peace and quiet in the household. Heheh!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 30, 2021, 02:02:04 PM
i was given a pit bull/lab cross many years ago from some amish around here that s had been dumped

dumped twice actually. we found it the first time and the young owner retrieved it, only for it to be dumped again ten miles farther away three months later

anyway the reason was quite clear. within a week he had surrounded the house with a huge ring of chewed sofa cusions, shoes, gloves, cardboard boxes, articles of clothing, you name it.

an astoninshing sea of destruction

lasted a few weeks more btil he was seven months old, then he mellowed out for the next ten or twelve years
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 30, 2021, 06:45:04 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on January 30, 2021, 02:02:04 PM
i was given a pit bull/lab cross many years ago from some amish around here that s had been dumped

dumped twice actually. we found it the first time and the young owner retrieved it, only for it to be dumped again ten miles farther away three months later

anyway the reason was quite clear. within a week he had surrounded the house with a huge ring of chewed sofa cusions, shoes, gloves, cardboard boxes, articles of clothing, you name it.

an astoninshing sea of destruction

lasted a few weeks more btil he was seven months old, then he mellowed out for the next ten or twelve years

"an astoninshing sea of destruction" :snicker:

For a pup, Joy is relatively well behaved. She hasn't destroyed...much...other than her toys. Maybe it's because she has a lot of toys to destroy and so leaves other things alone, I don't know. :shrug: I don't know what she'll do when the other pup arrives, though. I imagine things will get pretty wild here and they will pretty much dominate the house.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 30, 2021, 10:24:25 PM
two dogs are easier than one dog because they wear each other out and you have some breathing room
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on January 31, 2021, 12:47:29 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on January 30, 2021, 10:24:25 PM
two dogs are easier than one dog because they wear each other out and you have some breathing room

That's true.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 31, 2021, 03:55:00 PM
it's like the amish say

one boy is a boy

two boys is half a boy

three boys is no boy at all
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 02, 2021, 02:52:27 AM
the femal possum came to visit last night while my number two son had a camera.

mrs. cream, she is now called, apparently

(https://i.imgur.com/10k0Stkl.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Qfi5kPml.png?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/9i4YKkol.png)

mrs cream is still fond of the cat tree we used to have in the living room, and climbs up on top in order to hold court and accept honorifics

in this case the honorific was half a banana, although hardboiled eggs ae re more popular and chocolate chip cookies still top the list
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 03:05:29 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on February 02, 2021, 02:52:27 AM
the femal possum came to visit last night while my number two son had a camera.

mrs. cream, she is now called, apparently

(https://i.imgur.com/10k0Stkl.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/Qfi5kPml.png?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/9i4YKkol.png)

mrs cream is still fond of the cat tree we used to have in the living room, and climbs up on top in order to hold court and accept honorifics

in this case the honorific was half a banana, although hardboiled eggs ae re more popular and chocolate chip cookies still top the list

She's huge! Must be the food you're feeding her. :popcorn:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 09:52:44 PM


Joy discovers her calling while receiving a guest (better with sound on, and activate subtitles  ;D )
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 02, 2021, 11:18:53 PM
ive never seen a border collie set to music before.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 11:36:20 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on February 02, 2021, 11:18:53 PM
ive never seen a border collie set to music before.

:grin:

(She helped edit the video :lol:)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 12:09:19 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/1Ju4djB.png)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 12:19:19 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 09:52:44 PM


Joy discovers her calling while receiving a guest (better with sound on, and activate subtitles  ;D )

:tellmemore: Dimples!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 12:35:36 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 12:19:19 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 09:52:44 PM


Joy discovers her calling while receiving a guest (better with sound on, and activate subtitles  ;D )

:tellmemore: Dimples!

Yes, as I would tell her (my sister and occasional puppysitter) when she was younger, she got those dimples from people pinching her cheeks often :P

I think she's the only one in my family who's got them. :notsure:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 01:10:38 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 12:35:36 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 12:19:19 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 09:52:44 PM


Joy discovers her calling while receiving a guest (better with sound on, and activate subtitles  ;D )

:tellmemore: Dimples!

Yes, as I would tell her (my sister and occasional puppysitter) when she was younger, she got those dimples from people pinching her cheeks often :P

I think she's the only one in my family who's got them. :notsure:

:-[ Guest. I was thinking that that was you. Tell your sister she has cute dimples.  :D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 01:13:57 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 01:10:38 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 12:35:36 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 12:19:19 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 02, 2021, 09:52:44 PM


Joy discovers her calling while receiving a guest (better with sound on, and activate subtitles  ;D )

:tellmemore: Dimples!

Yes, as I would tell her (my sister and occasional puppysitter) when she was younger, she got those dimples from people pinching her cheeks often :P

I think she's the only one in my family who's got them. :notsure:

:-[ Guest. I was thinking that that was you. Tell your sister she has cute dimples.  :D

:P  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on February 03, 2021, 01:34:25 AM
Joy recieves her guests with great enthusiasm. Bless her for such charming behavior.   

Sister has more than dimples. She has admirable patience with nice little dogs who wash her face and scratch her back.  I take it that this is not the sister who has gone off the deep end.   
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 01:43:39 AM
Quote from: Icarus on February 03, 2021, 01:34:25 AM
Joy recieves her guests with great enthusiasm. Bless her for such charming behavior.   

Sister has more than dimples. She has admirable patience with nice little dogs who wash her face and scratch her back.  I take it that this is not the sister who has gone off the deep end.

Yeah, Joy adores her. :grin: The only inconvenience is she leaves a trail of urine puddles in her excitement whenever guests come over. ::) But apparently that's normal for young dogs. 

No, it's not the same sister who has gone off the deep end. That one has been institutionalised in a psychiatric hospital...again...far far away.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on February 03, 2021, 01:50:06 AM
Here are some shots of a physicist who uses his skills to defeat a squirrel  from raiding his bird feeder.  This is a fun video that displays the intelligence and cleverness of the squirrel. Tiny little dude has an impressive capacity for exploring his alternatives.

I too have tried to defeat my squirrels from robbing the bird feeder. It is nor easy, they are really good at what they do to score desirable food.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0LueiUkb9c

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 03, 2021, 01:58:27 AM
Quote from: Icarus on February 03, 2021, 01:50:06 AM
Here are some shots of a physicist who uses his skills to defeat a squirrel  from raiding his bird feeder.  This is a fun video that displays the intelligence and cleverness of the squirrel. Tiny little dude has an impressive capacity for exploring his alternatives.

I too have tried to defeat my squirrels from robbing the bird feeder. It is nor easy, they are really good at what they do to score desirable food.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0LueiUkb9c

Clever little animals!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on February 03, 2021, 02:06:36 AM
Quote from: Icarus on February 03, 2021, 01:50:06 AM
Here are some shots of a physicist who uses his skills to defeat a squirrel  from raiding his bird feeder.  This is a fun video that displays the intelligence and cleverness of the squirrel. Tiny little dude has an impressive capacity for exploring his alternatives.

I too have tried to defeat my squirrels from robbing the bird feeder. It is nor easy, they are really good at what they do to score desirable food.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0LueiUkb9c
Squirrels seem to be more clever than we give them credit for, and more determined!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 04:04:01 AM
Sailing ships have had rat guards on them for centuries! Squirrels are just rats with fluffy tails. The "Cyclotron Physicist" is just providing internet entertainment. That conical guard should have been his first purchase...
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 03, 2021, 04:37:20 PM
there are more direct solutions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNltR4iCRCA
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 03, 2021, 05:53:42 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on February 03, 2021, 04:37:20 PM
there are more direct solutions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNltR4iCRCA

:rofl: I love that solution!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 06, 2021, 06:35:02 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KObGsibzbaI
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 06, 2021, 07:38:48 PM
Awwwwwww!!!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 06, 2021, 09:27:58 PM
shes eating what was suppozed to be my lunch today
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 06, 2021, 09:32:27 PM
Moving it up the food chain- It's time for roast possum. :smilenod:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 06, 2021, 10:30:14 PM
that would be worth my life, im afraid
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 07, 2021, 01:10:06 AM
Moving further up the food chain then, dad eats roast possum, family eats roast dad.  ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 07, 2021, 01:12:07 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on February 07, 2021, 01:10:06 AM
Moving further up the food chain then, dad eats roast possum, family eats roast dad.  ;D

Well that escalated quickly! :lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 07, 2021, 02:52:23 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 07, 2021, 01:12:07 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on February 07, 2021, 01:10:06 AM
Moving further up the food chain then, dad eats roast possum, family eats roast dad.  ;D

Well that escalated quickly! :lol:

:lol: It's a gift.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 07, 2021, 08:49:52 PM
my number two son would probably be up for it.

ill come into the kitchen and he will be cooking squirrels or crawdeds or other random things he kills around here.

but not cats unfortuneately
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on February 11, 2021, 06:22:54 PM
Here is an assessment of the intelligence of bugs.  Who knew that they have more than one brain?   Maybe I should have put this one in the Brain thread...........Fun read: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/i-asked-leading-entomologists-what-s-the-smartest-bug-in-the-world?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 21, 2021, 01:32:37 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/dE0gd0z.jpg)

Joy after getting her second vaccine yesterday. She wasn't too happy, but I was!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 21, 2021, 02:03:46 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/WbosCwB.jpg)

Joy's work. ::)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 21, 2021, 03:36:22 PM
You could always send her back :D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 21, 2021, 04:03:36 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 21, 2021, 03:36:22 PM
You could always send her back :D

I couldn't do that to my baby! :(
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 21, 2021, 05:20:51 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on February 21, 2021, 04:03:36 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 21, 2021, 03:36:22 PM
You could always send her back :D

I couldn't do that to my baby! :(

I was teasing. That's what I say to my wife when she complains about the dogs! :D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on February 21, 2021, 09:38:13 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 21, 2021, 05:20:51 PM
I was teasing.

I figured  ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 25, 2021, 10:52:37 PM
this animal is not in my own life. but i would happily baby-sit for a day

https://www.facebook.com/mark.celestino.5/videos/3681856588542529
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on February 26, 2021, 02:04:12 AM
My mangy old computer is giving me a hard time. I had typed a nice description of one of my latest animal adventures.  For no reason the whole damned thing disappeared from the reply page.  Ok I will start over but with less verbiage.

Yesterday, mid day, I noticed a small brownish object on my front porch.  After examining it, without touching, it appeared to be an infant Bat.  It was only a little larger than a golf ball and had what appeared to be wings about an inch long and black.  I have not been aware that there are any bat colonies in my neighborhood.  What the  hell is that little thing? I did not disturb the tiny little thing even though I was tempted to poke it with a stick or other probe.   

Later, after dark I checked on the mysterious little creature.  It was gone.  Did a mama bat rescue her baby?  Did the owl that often hides out in a front yard palm tree use it for dinner?  How and why did it get to my front porch in the first place?  I will never know what happened. 

Given the choice, and/or the knowledge, I would have tried to rescue the little thing. Bats have a bum rap. They are an important part of our ecology. Most recently they have been blamed for causing the "Chinese Covid".  Maybe a bum rap. No matter, bats are an important part of our environment here in Florida.  They consume more mosquitoes than any other counter measure has achieved.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 13, 2021, 10:14:41 PM
i love bats.

weird, impossible things.

i'll never forget once in the paiute reservation in arizona, looking west into the sunset over an alfalfa field, horizonatal golden sunlight, the h5our of ong shadows,silhouetted against the light in the distnace were tiny flickering shapes darting over the field

swallows i thought, as i got ut th efield glasses.

no, they wee hundreds of bats, dipping and whirling against the fading light, out early to catch the midges and moths flickering above th ealfa,

beautiful.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 13, 2021, 10:15:50 PM
whereas these days near late afternoon all i getwhen i come home  is the supper commitee informing me that i am late with dinner

(https://i.imgur.com/ExjJZM9l.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on March 14, 2021, 01:47:35 AM
Goats are most interesting critters.  That picture shows that they know where dinner is coming from.  Hey you can make Manchego cheese if you have some cooperative nanny goats.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 19, 2021, 08:12:46 PM
damn

back at the house and the cats are spawning everywhere. there's two newborn kittens upstairs in my underwear drawer, at least two more females that look like they're going to pop any day now.

springtime.

so my last day hauling sand i went up on top of the sandbox and scooped out about twenty pounds of clean hundred-mesh. beautiful pure silica sand, not rounded stuff like beach or aeolian sedimensts, but cracked and crushed frac sand. it will be sharper than natural sand but it's so pretty i decided to give it a try.

(https://i.imgur.com/Oc6uwXZl.jpg)

so here it is in the most recebt twenty gallon tank on the south side of the dining room. no animals yet, as i just got home. i have to buy a dip net and go down to the creek and start scooping fish. generally at this time of the year the stream downhill from the bridge is full of new darters, etheostoma. about one every 18 inches on the stream bed under the tumbling water. all hatched, not so many eaten yet by the bigger fish. they stay on th ebottom, perched on their petoral fins until something floats by. then, ZOT-- they dart up, grab it, and sink down to th ebottom again. very pretty in cold water, red, white , and blue stripes. the colors go faint when the water is warmer.

we'll get some minnows, too, various notropis species, and if i'm lucky some suckers. maybe an odd thing or two, depending on what comes uyp in the net.

but that will be tomorrow. i still have to open up th ebeehive. haven't even looked at it yet.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 20, 2021, 08:31:09 PM
went to the beehives. i thought all but one were dead, but one of the dead ones wasn't. not very strong, tho. but there were drones everywhere, which is what i needed to make this successful.

so i got my number two daughter out of bed, the introvert genius one, and we went out to divide the hive.

i didn't know whether it had swarmed. probably not, i thought, but it would be due very soon. and it was. there were queen cells on the bottom of four frames of brood. if i had left it,, the hive would have swarmed in less than a week.

so i set out some empty boxes and commenced my personal technique of brutal hive multiplication. the beehive was three boxes high, with brood in every box. and there's a honey flow on, which i could see by shaking a frame and watching the nectar plash out.

so i set the empties out and put a frame with at least one queen cell in each one. then i divided up the sealed brood among the four boxes so all of them got some, and gave them all a frame of pollen and all the honey to work with.

now, all the books will tell you that you cannot divide hives unless you take the new daughter nucs to a spot at least two miles away so that you don't lose the fielders to the parent hive. but ive been a commercial beekeeper, so i know the books are all wrong.

i took the parent hive and left it in place but rotated it 180 degrees, so the entrance faced the wrong way. then i took the three new hives with queen cells and faced them forwards alongside it  in the same direction as the parent hive had been. then i went away.

over the next  24 hours, the bees will fly out of the hives and then return to a confusing scenario. but they will divide themselves among the hives facing the original direction, and the original hive will retain more bees than the divides. whichever hive still retains the original queen will end up with the most drifted bees, and in a day or two i will return and swap the hives back and forth to equalize the numbers of fielders.

in the meantime, all the hives have sealed queen cells. in about four more days, the virgins will emerge, and in another four or five they will fly out and mate. when they come back, it will be another week before they start to lay. the one with the old queen will probably have her killed by the new one, which is what bees do.

so in three weeks i will return to the divides and see who has a laying queen and who does not. if there's a queen, i will pile on the syrup and get em to grow. if there is no queen, i will recombine the queenless units into the weaker ones with a queen.

then we will will spend the year growing the hives. not as fast as i wanted== i had planned on dividing four hives this way, not one. but teh quens from tis breeder were pretty shitty-- one had died, one was supeceded, one was lousy, and one i replaced with a random swarm i caught in another box. when i bred my own queens for sale i did a better job than that.

no time for pictures this time, too busy. but i'll have some coming up soon. vthe one that wasn't dead was pretty mean, so i left it alone. i'll see about it in a day or two.i have no tolerance for mean bees.

so i asked my daughter if she had learned anything after all this was over.

and she said, no.

hard to work with those genius types. they think they know everything already.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 24, 2021, 11:15:39 PM
damn

more kittens

two in my underwear box, three in the linen closer

im lying on the ciuch and suddenly i hear more underneath.

my wife came home, walked into the living , stopped and listened a moment, and said, where are they?

i can hear the mother purring over them now
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 25, 2021, 12:21:44 AM
and another litter in the ceiling of the cellar, just started howling now

thank god we don't have cows

my earth mother wife has now gone outside with two big tubs of worms she's going to stick into the worm colony
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on April 25, 2021, 04:22:54 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on April 25, 2021, 12:21:44 AM
and another litter in the ceiling of the cellar, just started howling now

thank god we don't have cows

my earth mother wife has now gone outside with two big tubs of worms she's going to stick into the worm colony

Your life is rich material for a reality TV show. I can't wait to see it.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on April 25, 2021, 05:49:09 AM
 :this:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 25, 2021, 02:33:54 PM
im about drowning in too much reality at thr moment
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 11, 2021, 05:11:02 PM
back at the home ranch for a week.
here they are the little bastards.

two in my bedroom, now in a cardboard box instead of my underwear

(https://i.imgur.com/G5ln38yl.jpg)

three still in the linen closet but loose on the floor for the first time last night

(https://i.imgur.com/gnMPGTal.jpg)

and behibd the couch in the living room, three more

(https://i.imgur.com/yDAPJVcl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/HSp7x9Nl.jpg)

if i were a mountain stream i'd be infested with salmon
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on May 11, 2021, 08:25:31 PM
They look cute :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 12, 2021, 01:52:02 AM
dammit

we blew a fuse in the cellar stair well and while rummaging for a new fuse i found three more.

theyre all the same color and i know exactly which tomcat to blame. otis blood, my daughter named him.

i came home and his fur was all matted and rumpled like he'd gotten soaking wet and dried that way

didn't think anything of it because he's always chewed up and bloody this time of year, but then i noticed that the light over the fish tank had been knocked off

. . . as if someone whose name is otis had jumped on top and ended up takingan unexpected bath instead.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 12, 2021, 11:24:52 PM
went to the creek with my net for fish

no darters, dammit. i wanted darters.

but i got two species of minnows, little buggers.

one bluntnose minnow, Pimephales notatus, and three little things that are either minnows, shiners, or chubs, cant tell.

i really wanted darters, but i didn't even see any. usually you can see them perched on the bottom, but not now. i'm either too late, or too early, or they aren't/won't be there.

and look at the pictures. these are so bad i'm posting every one.


(https://i.imgur.com/81nhsMcl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/LwdYYI7l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/PMnh2PAl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/p5js58Bl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/b7GHKhnl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/kQhBVXUl.jpg)

i'll work on my ophotography later. maybe i'll still get some darters
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 14, 2021, 12:34:31 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 11, 2021, 05:11:02 PM
back at the home ranch for a week.
here they are the little bastards.

two in my bedroom, now in a cardboard box instead of my underwear

(https://i.imgur.com/G5ln38yl.jpg)

three still in the linen closet but loose on the floor for the first time last night

(https://i.imgur.com/gnMPGTal.jpg)

and behibd the couch in the living room, three more

(https://i.imgur.com/yDAPJVcl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/HSp7x9Nl.jpg)

if i were a mountain stream i'd be infested with salmon

(https://media.tenor.com/images/170a8539b47765baf3a2d8f4bfedaa71/tenor.gif)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 14, 2021, 01:59:24 AM
i love cats.

but jeez, there's just flat too many to deal with.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 15, 2021, 08:11:58 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 14, 2021, 01:59:24 AM
i love cats.

but jeez, there's just flat too many to deal with.

(https://i.pinimg.com/236x/84/25/4d/84254d74b52a88868185e774df04dae9--starter-kit-crazy-cats.jpg)


(https://i.imgflip.com/1dhskc.jpg)

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 15, 2021, 09:23:56 PM
this morning the linen closet kittens were all over the hall
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Randy on May 16, 2021, 02:29:51 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 14, 2021, 01:59:24 AM
i love cats.

but jeez, there's just flat too many to deal with.
As a family in a single household we have seven cats in all. I don't remember how we collected them but they rarely come into my room so I don't think about them much.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on May 20, 2021, 10:28:36 PM
Welp, Joy is in heat now. Oh joy hehe. So far the young male, Iago, hasn't been successful in copulating with her, though he constantly tries.

:notsure: At least I don't think he has...I can't say what goes on when I turn off the lights at night.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2021, 12:46:53 AM
new baby chicks

film at 11
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2021, 02:26:52 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/spFLZURl.jpg)

at the moment we have only two hens and th turkey. no rooster for a long while. we used to have mexican fighting chickens, sixty or so at a time. strange story. anyway one of the hens went broody two weeks sgo and hss been sitting on two fake bait eggs the whole time. so my lovely wife went and got some chicks and stuffed em under her butt. dunno what kind or how many

the hen didnt know what to mske of it as we were making her skip steps but if she takes to the chicks it will be best for everybody.

we ll see tomorrow
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2021, 10:40:30 PM
took the number three son to the creek to see if we could get any darters.

we did not get any darters.

but we got some pollywogs. Rana catesbiena, the american bullfrog. only about the size of my thumb. 2.5-3.0 inches

(https://i.imgur.com/90HiViol.jpg)

bullfrogs get pretty big. not so many here in ohio. when i was a kid on the prairies i used to shoot them for dinner, but now i just listen to em sing after dark. not interested in killing them anymore.

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fnatural-japan.net%2Fphotos%2Fbullfrog03.jpg&hash=da606ce48fc4dc33e91f17a7092187271dd6f2b0)
and some others too small to identify

(https://i.imgur.com/uLOYpnvl.jpg)

and some water striders, gerridae, species unklnown. family is good enough for insects, for me

(https://i.imgur.com/7lEqOJ3l.jpg)

and some more minnows

(https://i.imgur.com/oQd24yxl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/9bSKbWZl.jpg)

^^^these little bastards hide under the rocks, which is why they're hard to catch.

but the piece de resistance are two--not one, but two--little efts. dunno what they are? notopthalmes, or maybe eurycea?

can't get pictures opf the little salamanders because they immediately ran under the rocks and stayed there. but they both have gills, so they're okay in the tank for the moment. i'll see if they come out after dark. cool little buggers. can't keep the bullfrog pollywog in with em, or they will be turned into dinner, so it will have to go back to the creek

got some crawdads as well but i know better than to put them in the tank, because they eat the fish. so they got tossed right back into the water.

but for the moment all is well.

i picked up some wads of spyrogyra to get some greenery in there. but its pelagic and is now stuck to the filter intake.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 07, 2021, 07:16:32 PM
five more

(https://i.imgur.com/lOLMVKSl.jpg?2)

this makes seventeen, i think
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on June 07, 2021, 09:00:23 PM
I think this makes you crazy cat man!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 07, 2021, 09:34:58 PM
no, i am actually the crazy father, and the crazier husband.

i am more interested in household harmony than i am in cat reduction, and so i don't take matters into my own hands without everybody else going along.

i have agreement with the household that the kittens will all be given away, so i'm resting on that. if the coyotes were doing thier job, we wouldn't as many adults either. i don't know what's the matter with the coyotes.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 08, 2021, 06:04:44 PM
here's one. hard to get a picture because i move th erocks and then i'm looking down through a mobile surface that the focus can't deal with

(https://i.imgur.com/eIeFvYFl.jpg)

i don't think these will do well on a sandy bottom. probably the bullfrogs won't either. but i'll leave them in for two weeks and make sure the family feeds em a lot, since there's more biomass in there than usual
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 08, 2021, 10:03:03 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on June 08, 2021, 06:04:44 PM

(https://i.imgur.com/eIeFvYFl.jpg)

(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/JauntyVastGemsbok-max-1mb.gif)
Ecurb Noselrub, is that you?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 09, 2021, 02:42:22 AM
Yes. Once again, you turned me into a newt.  This is getting old.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 09, 2021, 05:00:59 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 09, 2021, 02:42:22 AM
Yes. Once again, you turned me into a newt.  This is getting old.
You started it. Maybe you should tell god to make me stop.  :P
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 10, 2021, 04:18:38 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on June 09, 2021, 05:00:59 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 09, 2021, 02:42:22 AM
Yes. Once again, you turned me into a newt.  This is getting old.
You started it. Maybe you should tell god to make me stop.  :P

Apparently, he is ok with it.  I guess it keeps me humble.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 10, 2021, 05:24:58 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 10, 2021, 04:18:38 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on June 09, 2021, 05:00:59 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 09, 2021, 02:42:22 AM
Yes. Once again, you turned me into a newt.  This is getting old.
You started it. Maybe you should tell god to make me stop.  :P

Apparently, he is ok with it.  I guess it keeps me humble.
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/f4/d0/92f4d066a68b10b1e3ceac6f703fc1ec.gif)
"Cheers"
--To humbleness.

So...are we dancing, or what?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 10, 2021, 03:38:20 PM
I want that bottle/glass.  Please send me one.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 10, 2021, 08:20:50 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 10, 2021, 03:38:20 PM
I want that bottle/glass.  Please send me one.
I have a better one for you.
(https://media1.tenor.com/images/483c3c8663ba92a2d30d29d9a6f27d73/tenor.gif?itemid=3520545)

(https://pics.me.me/thumb_this-looks-like-the-kinda-pic-40-year-old-moms-43397886.png)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 10, 2021, 09:09:37 PM
Nice! Perfect to use as a Newt Pool - I can swim in wine!!!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 11, 2021, 01:54:09 AM
the chinese do that with newts, i believe, as prep for eating them.

cantonese, anyway. theyll eat anything.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on June 11, 2021, 01:58:50 AM
Most newts secrete a mucous that is poisonous. Does the wine neutralize that, before consumption?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 11, 2021, 03:27:06 AM
Oh no! I see it all now. Magdalena intends to marinate me, then eat me! 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 11, 2021, 06:29:42 AM
(https://media1.tenor.com/images/483c3c8663ba92a2d30d29d9a6f27d73/tenor.gif?itemid=3520545)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bad Penny II on June 11, 2021, 10:09:20 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 11, 2021, 03:27:06 AM
Oh no! I see it all now. Magdalena intends to marinate me, then eat me!

Don't panic mate, She isn't going to eat you.
Perish the thought, She'd never think of it.
The marinade is just to keep your eyes fresh
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on June 11, 2021, 08:03:05 PM
(https://s3.amazonaws.com/lowres.cartoonstock.com/computers-eye_of_newt-cauldrons-software-covens-potions-mbcn3300_low.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on June 12, 2021, 03:15:50 AM
Shame on the witch who might abuse newts.

I have dozens of little lizards that are never harmed by we home inhabitants. They do no harm and they keep the place pretty well rid of all manner of bugs including roaches and other undesirable insects. The little guys need no help from we humans.  They get sustenance from their insect prey and manage to find sufficient water to sustain themselves.  I like them. The big ones are only about 8 inhces (20 cm) long.  The little guys are sometimes only 2 inches long until they eat enough bugs to mature.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on June 12, 2021, 03:29:19 AM
We put in a xeriscape in our front yard. Lots of wood chips, watering that is below, for the most part, the surface of the chips, and drought-tolerant plants. I guess it generates a lot of food for bugs, because we must have a couple dozen lizards running around our property these days. They are simply everywhere. I like having them around, too.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 12, 2021, 10:56:19 PM
Quote from: Icarus on June 12, 2021, 03:15:50 AM
The big ones are only about 8 inhces (20 cm) long.  The little guys are sometimes only 2 inches long until they eat enough bugs to mature.

green anoles?

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on June 13, 2021, 03:32:50 AM
They are mostly brown often with stripes from head to tail. Sometimes black ones that  have a slightly different appearance.  Never green ones but the residents do have different hues of whatever color they have.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 13, 2021, 11:10:21 PM
in houston the little green anoles live in the shrubbery all over town.

cant get an image link on phone

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/os-picures-green-anoles-the-lizard-of-florida-20130605-photogallery.html
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 16, 2021, 02:19:54 AM
i sleep by a railroad siding here in appalachia, in pennsylvania. at night there are american toads, chorus frogs, and some large ranid that i absolutely cannot identify yet.

this morning there was a line of tracks from a larger mammal, the american whitetailed deer. used to be Odocoileus virginiana, before that Dama spp., now i believe the name has changed again

(https://i.imgur.com/ELywCO3l.jpg)

these are common around here, more of them than at any time since the ice retreated, in fact. theyre pretty dangerous at night because tbey leap on front of moving vehicles, and around here tbey can weigh 250 pounds. a big mule deer in the west is only 120

the first time i saw one of these cross the road i thought it was a heifer
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 18, 2021, 01:27:10 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/X8TmHOc.jpg)

(https://imgur.com/a/ADaLnRl)

(https://i.imgur.com/KLxafBc.jpg)

peregrine falcon nest at the sandyard.

the definition of birdbrain:

looky i hav bilt my nest on top of the litening rod




Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 19, 2021, 10:56:09 PM
Once , in Big Bend National Park, I was walking the South Rim. I heard what I thought was a jet plane. It was a peregrine falcon, diving over the desert. It was phenomenal. It is one of the most amazing events of my life.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 23, 2021, 04:38:41 PM
got home and pulled my bedding out of the truck to wash.

(https://i.imgur.com/5wDdSMsl.jpg)

not yet i guess
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 24, 2021, 02:58:01 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 19, 2021, 10:56:09 PM
Once , in Big Bend National Park, I was walking the South Rim. I heard what I thought was a jet plane. It was a peregrine falcon, diving over the desert. It was phenomenal. It is one of the most amazing events of my life.

ive never seen em dive. they say they do over 200 mph
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on June 25, 2021, 12:10:50 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on June 24, 2021, 02:58:01 AM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on June 19, 2021, 10:56:09 PM
Once , in Big Bend National Park, I was walking the South Rim. I heard what I thought was a jet plane. It was a peregrine falcon, diving over the desert. It was phenomenal. It is one of the most amazing events of my life.

ive never seen em dive. they say they do over 200 mph

I do not doubt it.  It looked like a secret weapon. They nest in Casa Grande, a table top rock in Big Bend.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 25, 2021, 03:16:10 AM
i dont believe this

i was hungry, so i ate the last two or three chocolate chip cookies.

then the wandering raccoon showed up, and my lovely wife is scrounging t he kitchen for something to feed him. and making silly raccoon trilling sounds.

she gave him a banana for crying out loud.

which he happily accepted and then ran away into the night. bananas are not a natural food fo a raccoon.

but then i guess neither are chocolate chip cookies
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 25, 2021, 04:25:30 AM
here it is the little bastard

https://youtu.be/v1aO4AsllVg

im sorry i sound like such a fool. i am a fool, i cannot help it, but pay attention to the raccoon
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on June 26, 2021, 06:19:56 AM
The raccoon's banana feeding is pretty darn adorable. I'm surprised he's (she's ?) not going after the big bowl of cat food.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 27, 2021, 12:52:57 AM
whenever o go out in the early morning, there's a raccoon in that cat food, who just looks up at me with a , what, its taken you a shit load of time to get up. where's my banana?

i think its a wandering raccoon. the ones we raised have wandered off to look for bananas lsewhere. even the possums have moved on to snails and crawdads elsewhere.

but i stll wake up with a kitten on my chest looking deeply into my eyes, and asking, now is breakfast?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on July 02, 2021, 03:27:19 AM
One for billy rubin.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 02, 2021, 09:51:12 AM
that is indeed accurate
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 06, 2021, 12:04:52 AM
hummingbirds

https://youtu.be/I59M2JS61ro

only one species here, the rubythroated. males have the iridescent throat patch. lots more kinds in ghe border states to the south. tiny things

strong flier. they migrate across the gulf of mexico vecause its shirter to cross the sea than to folloow the curve of central america

we have a bunch butbthe feeders take cknstant filling. they can emlty a quart in three days and we havevthree i think
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: S19002350 on July 06, 2021, 05:45:58 PM
That's very cool, how much do you spend on feed? Would love to have something like this in my backyard

Quote from: billy rubin on July 06, 2021, 12:04:52 AM
hummingbirds

https://youtu.be/I59M2JS61ro

only one species here, the rubythroated. males have the iridescent throat patch. lots more kinds in ghe border states to the south. tiny things

strong flier. they migrate across the gulf of mexico vecause its shirter to cross the sea than to folloow the curve of central america

we have a bunch butbthe feeders take cknstant filling. they can emlty a quart in three days and we havevthree i think
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 06, 2021, 06:00:09 PM
you can spend as much as you want to become involved with them.

where i am two kilos of granulated cane sugar costs about US$10, and i think that will fill a one litre feeder like the one on the video about six times. i saturate the solution, sp its a thick syrup. do that twice per week and you can support what appear to be a half dozen nesting pairs.

they havea superhigh metaboislism.

its hard to tell how many arehere,  because these ruby throats dont seem hostile to others. farther west where its drier  the hummingbirds are fiercely territorial, so you can see how many youve got by who is driving who away

if you get serious and are willing to keep up with them, i dont think theres a limit on how many you can support in one spot. inthe mountainsin arizone ive seen 10 or12 at atime ata big feeding set up, three orfour different species
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 10, 2021, 02:47:24 PM
https://youtu.be/mpHdVk3yuuA

haventheard tbe coyotes in months. they split up in the spring and summer to raise pups, and then get back together in the autumn.

maybe i should get the family out to sing when im home. if you go out at night and sing to them tbeyll call back at you
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 10, 2021, 05:11:17 PM
Wow!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 11, 2021, 02:02:49 AM
and we now have five

five.

raccoons on the porch for breakfsst.

five.

this is not my fault.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 11, 2021, 05:56:01 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/udXS7SN.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/142RZcL.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/RWidXws.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 11, 2021, 05:57:54 PM
https://imgur.com/a/fLVOZDl
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on July 11, 2021, 07:29:37 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 11, 2021, 05:56:01 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/udXS7SN.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/142RZcL.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/RWidXws.jpg)

^^^
Those are nice pictures, billy rubin.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 11, 2021, 10:26:54 PM
right at sunrise

(https://i.imgur.com/TyqB3d1.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on July 12, 2021, 03:06:29 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/1pBJI1U.jpg)

Iago grew quite a bit since you last saw him. :grin:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on July 13, 2021, 08:24:35 AM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on July 12, 2021, 03:06:29 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/1pBJI1U.jpg)

Iago grew quite a bit since you last saw him. :grin:
Yes! Yes, he did!
:o
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on July 13, 2021, 05:49:36 PM
(https://i.postimg.cc/sDVKXJVq/Petes-Dragon-Review.jpg)

Used to belong to Pete, Pete isn't very good at poker.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on July 13, 2021, 06:50:53 PM
Quote from: No one on July 13, 2021, 05:49:36 PM
(https://i.postimg.cc/sDVKXJVq/Petes-Dragon-Review.jpg)

Used to belong to Pete, Pete isn't very good at poker.

:tellmemore:
I don't know what that is, but there's something about huge fangs.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: No one on July 13, 2021, 08:00:42 PM
It's a distant cousin of Tiamat and Smaug, raps.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 16, 2021, 01:10:29 AM
i love maine.

no moose yet but had a bear cub cross the road infront of b e
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 17, 2021, 04:55:23 AM
https://imgur.com/a/nGFiaU3

my front porch
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on July 18, 2021, 03:16:32 AM
I communicate with a woman from Iran on Telegram. She tells me that having pets is not a part of Iranian culture. I informed her that in America, pets become part of the family. And, that dogs demonstrate emotions like joy, sadness and shame (when they poop on the floor and their humans confront them). The idea that dogs experience shame saddened her. She felt that humans had infected dogs with their negative emotions. I pointed out that the natural environment of animals is quite violent, and a human-pet relationship can be beneficial for both. I also informed her that dogs specifically look in the eyes of humans and can sometimes figure out their intentions. This surprised her.

Anyway, I wanted to ask people if they have ever seen a dog exhibit "shame".  I have - they hang their head, slink off, avert their eyes, etc. It is when they violate some "rule", such as "don't poop/pee on the floor, don't tear up the couch", etc.  Thoughts?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on July 18, 2021, 03:25:52 AM
I have been a dedicated dog person for many decades.  I have seen them express shame and many other emotional traits.

Just today i ran across a picture of my dog Sailor of 25 years ago.  He was my constant companion and my best friend,  We certainly had a mutual emotional attachment.  Sailor is gone and the picture made me tearful.   
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on July 18, 2021, 04:06:53 AM
Quote from: Icarus on July 18, 2021, 03:25:52 AM
I have been a dedicated dog person for many decades.  I have seen them express shame and many other emotional traits.

Just today i ran across a picture of my dog Sailor of 25 years ago.  He was my constant companion and my best friend,  We certainly had a mutual emotional attachment.  Sailor is gone and the picture made me tearful.   

Yes, the thought of some dogs I've had brings a similar reaction. I specifically remember Tex, Sugar, and Mugsy as real companions.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on July 18, 2021, 04:31:49 AM
Dogs most certainly have and exhibit emotions. Our (Prince Charles Cavalier) spaniel mix has many examples. Our favorite is when she's pacing around, I go to the back door and ask if she wants to go outside. She will turn her head away and drop it, and won't go out. It's just a check on my part, because she was kept indoors by her previous owners and only allowed out when nature called. At least, that's what we think. I don't force her to go out, as it's obvious she doesn't need to go. When we first got her, she wouldn't go outside at all without someone taking her out, and wouldn't use the dog door.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on July 18, 2021, 04:33:31 AM
Lulu, my parrot, looks me in the eye as well to figure out what's up with me. She expresses regret by kissing me when she nips me accidentally when we're playing.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 31, 2021, 06:50:29 PM
mud dauber!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXTXfW6NiWE

we have open doors and windows, no screens, so things are always invading the house. the mud daubers of the family sphecidae have been favourites of mine all my life. the various poter wasps will build tuvbes, like these, or big clumps of mud, or sometimes exquisite little perfect amphorae. then they stuff em full of paralyzed arthropods and lay an egg on em and seal em up.

i never knew whether they could sting until i finally picked one up and kept jabbing her against my arm to see. finally after about 20 jabs she stung stung me, but it was obviously not a hjigh priority of her behavioural regimine.

wonderful things. they congregate on teh edges of mudholes to pack up little balls of building materials, and the next time you see them theyre constructing apartments on your walls
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 31, 2021, 08:22:09 PM
thank goodness none of these live around here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNLhO9Je2o
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 31, 2021, 09:35:00 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 17, 2021, 04:55:23 AM
https://imgur.com/a/nGFiaU3

my front porch

:rofl:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 01, 2021, 07:16:25 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 31, 2021, 08:22:09 PM
thank goodness none of these live around here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxNLhO9Je2o
:snicker:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 01, 2021, 08:29:52 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/SF0yRnw.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 02, 2021, 12:46:13 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on July 18, 2021, 04:33:31 AM
Lulu, my parrot, looks me in the eye as well to figure out what's up with me. She expresses regret by kissing me when she nips me accidentally when we're playing.

i have always loved parrots, but i have enoughl long term commitments now.  bht they are fascinating animals
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on August 02, 2021, 04:42:13 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 02, 2021, 12:46:13 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on July 18, 2021, 04:33:31 AM
Lulu, my parrot, looks me in the eye as well to figure out what's up with me. She expresses regret by kissing me when she nips me accidentally when we're playing.

i have always loved parrots, but i have enoughl long term commitments now.  bht they are fascinating animals

Their intelligence can be a problem, in that ones like mine need stimulation all the time. She is always curious to know what's going on and has learnt to open the lower kitchen cabinets to play inside and destroy any cardboard boxes she can find. Last week, when the technician was here to replace the filter in the water supply pipe to the ice maker of my fridge, she was following him around like a little dog to see what he was doing.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 02, 2021, 04:56:43 PM
i wonder why they are so smart. typically birds have sacrificed much of the space in their brain to make room for vision and motor control, so lots of their behaviours are fairly rigid and stereotyped. but parrots are different.

there used to be a parakeet in the continental united stares but it was killed ofg
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 03, 2021, 01:06:20 AM
My observations also suggested that crows and ravens are also plenty clever. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 07, 2021, 10:29:19 PM
used to have a pet crow, raised it from after the winds through it out of nest high in the blue gums trees. it was indeed intelligent, sometimes annoyiongly so

rode around on top of the wifes straw hat while she worked in the garden.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 07, 2021, 10:30:10 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/4sEN8bJl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 08, 2021, 02:47:24 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 07, 2021, 10:30:10 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/4sEN8bJl.jpg)
That's a cool picture.  :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 08, 2021, 04:04:08 AM
Wait.
They're sleeping, right!?  :worried:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on August 08, 2021, 05:48:08 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 07, 2021, 10:30:10 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/4sEN8bJl.jpg)

The cuteness is unbearable! Oh the cuteness!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 08, 2021, 04:55:28 PM
lol

yes the insufferable sleeping kittens all look like this most of the day
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 08, 2021, 07:03:32 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 08, 2021, 04:55:28 PM
lol

yes the insufferable sleeping kittens all look like this most of the day
(https://c.tenor.com/MkyiUsAp8t8AAAAd/tom-and-jerry-tom-the-cat.gif)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 15, 2021, 12:59:03 AM
I have grasshoppers that are so big that they can no longer be classified as insects.  They are animals of destruction.  They are wingless and have bodies at least four inches (101 mm long).  Bug spray does not phase them at all.  The only disposal method is with a 2 by 4 and a hearty smash. Yuk!

An old wives tale is that grasshoppers can defend themselves by spitting tobacco juice at its' enemies. These giants are slow to respond. So far I have no tobacco stains.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 15, 2021, 01:04:43 AM
picture ! picture !

camel crickets? mole crickets?

all thelocustidae acrididae and tettiginiidae so on have wings.

what do you have?

picture!

if you squeeze a lugger  they puke brown stomach contents on you.

its true.

just like horny toads squirting blood from their eyes. that is true too

sorry i cant help myself
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 15, 2021, 02:14:14 AM
OK, I've been a recipient of Horny Toad eye blood, as a kid. As for Icarus' creatures, I'm pretty sure that a lit match or cigarette lighter with a spritz from a can of diethyl ether (engine starting fluid) is going to exterminate them, tout-suite.  :lynch:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 15, 2021, 05:59:59 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 15, 2021, 01:04:43 AM
...
sorry i cant help myself
:snicker:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 15, 2021, 02:47:09 PM
we get cool orthopterans ip here in appalachia

the really huge mantids and walking sticks

https://images.app.goo.gl/atVrYMDjucHQh9vX9

https://images.app.goo.gl/CHKb8qhg8fLEyeQU7

wasps too . beautiful varieties.

were not seeing butterflies though. i first noticed the butterflies diminishing several years ago. i used to see a dozen monarchs a day. now ive seen maybe one all summer.

same with the big swallowtails and the middle sized fritillary types.

the little skippers snd so on seem okay, but even tjose are fewer than i recall
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 15, 2021, 02:48:39 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 15, 2021, 02:14:14 AM
OK, I've been a recipient of Horny Toad eye blood, as a kid. As for Icarus' creatures, I'm pretty sure that a lit match or cigarette lighter with a spritz from a can of diethyl ether (engine starting fluid) is going to exterminate them, tout-suite.  :lynch:

think of them as land shrimp. deep fry em with lemon and butter
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 15, 2021, 06:26:49 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 15, 2021, 02:48:39 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 15, 2021, 02:14:14 AM
OK, I've been a recipient of Horny Toad eye blood, as a kid. As for Icarus' creatures, I'm pretty sure that a lit match or cigarette lighter with a spritz from a can of diethyl ether (engine starting fluid) is going to exterminate them, tout-suite.  :lynch:

think of them as land shrimp. deep fry em with lemon and butter

Fact is, I had it explained to me by an Army Ranger that eating crickets should involve pulling the guts out to avoid any bad stuff living in there. This is done by pulling on the face, which usually removes all the internals, just leaving the crunchy husk.  :thumbsup2: :let'seat:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 15, 2021, 11:08:39 PM
with crawdads thats the part you eat
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 16, 2021, 12:21:33 AM
There is a small industry that use crickets for human consumption.  Crickets are claimed to be a nutritious food.  of course witchity grubs are also nutritious.  Bluenose will be able to advise us about that claim.  Not that he eats them, but that he is our resident authority on Aussie stuff. 

I do like DLs solution for dispatching the giant grasshoppers. Incidentally they do not appear to hop.  I see them climbing walls more often than not. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 16, 2021, 12:48:39 AM
Quote from: Icarus on August 16, 2021, 12:21:33 AM
There is a small industry that use crickets for human consumption.  Crickets are claimed to be a nutritious food.  of course witchity grubs are also nutritious.  Bluenose will be able to advise us about that claim.  Not that he eats them, but that he is our resident authority on Aussie stuff. 

I do like DLs solution for dispatching the giant grasshoppers. Incidentally they do not appear to hop.  I see them climbing walls more often than not.

;D Nothing like a little fire to brighten up a paraphiliac's day! Just wear protection, you don't want any chitin embedded in you.  :o
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 16, 2021, 01:53:20 AM
excuse me, but you have just said a weird thing.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 16, 2021, 03:18:47 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 16, 2021, 01:53:20 AM
excuse me, but you have just said a weird thing.

Easy explanation. If one sets an arthropod on fire, it can explode, under the "right" conditions. The parts of it can cause damage to other beings. Example- one of my cousins served in the US Air Force. One of his buddies demonstrated how a black widow spider would explode, if exposed to an oxyacetylene torch flame. They were in Texas, but I can assure you that those things grow every bit as large, here in California. When the guy torched the spider, it exploded, as could be expected from a thing with a "hard" shell suddenly exposed to high temperature. Parts of the spider hit that guy in one eye at high velocity. Notwithstanding the potential for venom in the debris, the shards could (and did) easily blind a person. In this case, in only one eye. Edge of the envelope for weird.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 16, 2021, 04:53:27 PM
i actually was referring to the "paraphilia" part

QuoteParaphilic disorders are recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors that are distressing or disabling and that involve inanimate objects, children or nonconsenting adults, or suffering or humiliation of oneself or the partner with the potential to cause harm.

^^^this was a new word for me
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 16, 2021, 06:36:49 PM
My bad. I meant pyrophiliac.

Pyrophilia is a relatively uncommon paraphilia in which a subject derives gratification from fire and fire-starting activity. It is distinguished from pyromania by the gratification being of a sexual nature. It is also not destructive, per se.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on August 16, 2021, 09:40:26 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 16, 2021, 06:36:49 PM
My bad. I meant pyrophiliac.

Pyrophilia is a relatively uncommon paraphilia in which a subject derives gratification from fire and fire-starting activity. It is distinguished from pyromania by the gratification being of a sexual nature. It is also not destructive, per se.

Freudian slip.  Either way, fire of some kind is involved.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 16, 2021, 10:17:40 PM
i am still dubious about all of this and icarus's grasshoppers, i have to say
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 16, 2021, 11:45:58 PM
My vocabulary is expanding thanks to the help from DL Recusant and others. Paraphilia, pyrophilia, etc. 

I have read of disturbed persons who derive sexual gratification for inflicting cruel pain on another person, usually of the opposite sex........................And now back to grasshoppers.

My grasshoppers are indeed very large.  They have rather interesting colors, like yellow, orange, and some green and black.  To dispatch them I prefer the use of a one by four or other handy club. They are durable creatures. You have to smack them with some strength to effectively dispatch them.  They are slow movers so smacking them is not difficult.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 17, 2021, 06:26:41 PM
i am such a sap. i piss and moan about all these cats everywhere. this year is a high point. generally they stay outside and run and in the fall and winter the coyotes graze on them to keep themselves going.

but this year the little bastards are social. i come downstairs and ten kittens look up at me from the kitchen floor. i make coffee and sit down, and the smallest ones walk up to me and climb into my lap and go to sleep. two at a time.

all they want is somewhere secure to settle down.

this presents a great philosophical problem for me, because if i let the cats continue to multiply, we will soon generate a malthusian excess of feline biomass. as if we were not already there.

i am writing this with a small trusting kitten nestled in the crevice between my crossed lower legs at the dining room table. i can't move without disturbing it.

thank god i didn't end up with boa constrictors.

did i mention that we have yet another litter? i chased her out of the dining room and she popped them under the front porch.

i am a fool.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 17, 2021, 06:34:28 PM
had an issue with one of them with an eye infection--swelling of a suborbital sinus and the eyelids were stuck closed with dried mucous every morning.

i tried opening the lids with warm water and a ball of cotton, and then swabbing with a topical antibiotic. that worked a little, but not well. i finally discovered that there were TWO identical kittens with the problem and that was one reason i couldn't seem to get consistent results.

anyway the other day i switched to an athlete's foot fungus cream and the apparent infection went away. both kittens are looking good.

i remember horror stories of coccidiosis from the southwest deserts not so long ago, so i am glad they are improving. having your brain penerteted by fungal filaments is not a good way to go.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 18, 2021, 04:19:20 AM
Billy, you are a man for whom the christian God would approve. I join Jehovah, or whatever his name is, in respecting your  compassion for lesser animals. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on August 18, 2021, 04:29:52 AM
Quote from: Icarus on August 18, 2021, 04:19:20 AM
Billy, you are a man for whom the christian God would approve. I join Jehovah, or whatever his name is, in respecting your  compassion for lesser animals.

I second that.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 18, 2021, 12:44:48 PM
well i confess my compassion gets spread pretty thin around here
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 21, 2021, 01:35:55 AM
heterodon! random video

https://i.imgur.com/Jdvn2pe.mp4

i love these things. haven't caught one in ages. if you turn em back right side up they flip over to dead again. i need to go do some log rolling around th efarm. i confess i don't know jack shit about the herps here except for the snakes and anurans
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on October 03, 2021, 07:31:38 PM
Doggo update:

(https://i.imgur.com/ocv9NH7.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/n3KuvSw.jpg)

Iago (German Shepherd) grew quite a bit since you last saw him. :grin:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 03, 2021, 07:51:12 PM
yes indeed

he has become huge
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on October 03, 2021, 09:03:39 PM
My son and his wife have just got their first dog.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/6610/RYqLu0.jpg)

His name is Panko. After the bread crumbs!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on October 22, 2021, 02:11:58 AM
Too adorable, XSP and Tank. I hope to have a dog at some point.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 15, 2021, 01:20:02 AM
the raccoon just showed up on the porch for a banana but ran away from the camera

the cats are not even barely shy

(https://i.imgur.com/mHabT1Tl.png)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 15, 2021, 08:16:42 AM
 :lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 19, 2021, 03:19:52 PM
the number two daughter the other night

mom, theres a raccoon in the cellar

(i had sealed the basement to exclude cats, but managed to include a young raccoon)

how do you know?

it was looking at me from the top of the upstairs landing, then ran down into the cellar

ah

well, we ll leave the coal skuttle open tonight and it can get out . . .

---this raccoon isnt even one of ours- its a volunteer that decided to move in alngside the washing machine. so hopefully it will move out. raccoons in the house are messengers of chaos.

good thing it didnt find the fish tank
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 01, 2021, 10:59:57 PM
supper time on the porch

(https://i.imgur.com/N1y55Kyl.jpg)

we ve got them banished from the house finally except for the gimpy one that spent last night sleeping on my chest

oops said the wife. missed that one
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on December 01, 2021, 11:33:43 PM
Billy, I am confident that you understand the concept of geometric progressions.  The cats may not understand that when you explain it to them. 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 02, 2021, 06:32:21 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/8GU1CrKl.jpg)

excusr me  about a year ir tei ago i posted sbout a tiny kitten i discovrted the night before a hard freeze, and named bhisma.

shes still here, on my lsp riggjt now  gappily genrrating narital discord

fuck typoes

i love cats. i eish they didnt love ne
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 12, 2021, 10:24:39 PM
Oh, Joy...



(Best with sound on  :P )
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 12, 2021, 10:56:39 PM
lol

what is that . . . pink thing? or have i missed a prior explanation?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: xSilverPhinx on December 13, 2021, 03:15:59 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on December 12, 2021, 10:56:39 PM
lol

what is that . . . pink thing? or have i missed a prior explanation?

Heh, it's a sink declogger.   ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 13, 2021, 11:18:41 AM
okay

ive seen a similar design elsewhere
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on December 13, 2021, 04:31:03 PM
Quote from: xSilverPhinx on December 12, 2021, 10:24:39 PM
Oh, Joy...



(Best with sound on  :P )
:lol:
I love it.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 24, 2021, 12:02:42 AM
i have an old dog named ygmir.

ygmir is almost totally blind, which is not a real handicap out here in the country. he has trouble deciding whether doors are opened or closed, but he has no difficulty ensconcing himself in My Personal Chair when i want to be sitting in it.

he also likes choclate:

totally by smell and intuition, ygmir went into the dining room, selected an unopened cardboard mailer on the table, opened it, extracted an expensive wrapped bar of chocolate, ate that and that only, and went back to my chair.

here is proof

(https://i.imgur.com/KQSUwMpl.jpg)

ygmire has apparently forgotten the whole thing, but my wife now has to go out tomorrow and buy chocolate to replace what he ate, since it was christmas present.

plus one for determination in the face of physical disability

(https://i.imgur.com/GaWeUJCl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 24, 2021, 03:25:37 PM
I hope he's ok. Chocolate can make dogs very ill.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 24, 2021, 05:13:52 PM
he s okay. hw appears to lead a charmed life 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on December 24, 2021, 06:23:17 PM
 :dance:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 24, 2021, 07:24:31 PM
i should attempt to make a group portrait of ygmir with his pet cats.

formerly he only had one familiar, but with the current high level of cat avatars around here, there are now at least three who will sleep under, next to, or on top of ygmir when he stops moving. all my dogs have gotten on well with cats-- except for my wifes pit bull which i made her get rid of-- but ygmir's attraction for felines is quite remarkable.

dunno whether its attitude, smell, or psychic magnetism, but cats love him
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 27, 2021, 07:17:18 PM
boxing day was warm! and so is today, but rainy.

so warm the small mammals are out. this morning the cats brought in a blarina brevicauda, shortail shrew. maybe 15 or 18 grams, a pretty big sucker as american shrews go

(https://i.imgur.com/D6GSuDql.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/E8fZVrcl.jpg)

typical elongate insectovore skull, and the large size and short tail are diagnostic. theres a notiosorex that they sometimes bring in too, but its about 1/5 this size. the blarina are cool because theyre venemous-- poisonous saliva. they attack and bit repeatedly, and if youre an earthworm or a cricket or smething then the venom is enough to paralyze you. ive never been bitten by one. we have a few other insectivores out here like starnose moles, but see them so seldom because the cats create a mammal free zone around the house.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on December 27, 2021, 07:22:13 PM
got some pictures of the fish as well. theyve okay in this 20 gallon tank, about doubling in size since last summer.

(https://i.imgur.com/fHZPslpl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/QUsJhFDl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Do9SDmyl.jpg)

hard to photograph because they arent dead. these are bluntnose minnows, pinophales notatus, very common throughout ohio in all the various drainage basins. clear water stream dwellers. im going to clean the tank some and see if i can get better light. i have an overhead light for the tank but the cats have jumped up on it and made it fall into the water, so now it doesnt work. replacements are close to a hundred bucks, so they get natural light only for a while.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on January 04, 2022, 03:41:08 AM
I live in a somewhat sophisticated city of medium size.  Yes I know that Florida is being rightfully criticized as a nest of ignorant assholes who vote for Trump. I hasten to add that that is not all 22 millions of us. 

I live in a semi prosperous part of town.  Oddly, and well out of place for the area, there is a 20 acre orange grove separated from my back yard only by an eight foot high concrete wall. The remainder of my back yard is enclosed by a chain link fence. 

We have Coyotes in the midst of this prosperous and well cared for town.  Coyotes?  Yes, right in the middle of a densely populated area.  I went to my back yard bird feeder yesterday only to find a nearby dead animal that had been eviscerated. I had to clean up the mess before the maggots got to it. It was a neighborhood kitty cat, what was left of it.  It bore the signs of a Coyote kill. Coyotes typically disembowel their prey.

I am not a cat person, but I do care about their humane treatment.  I have long been a canine guy who loves them dearly, but the Coyote is not to be confused with a noble dog. Yet he is a canine type. A vicious predatory (and hungry) one.

This is not the first episode of having cats and small dogs killed by these predators. If I encounter a Coyote, which is not likely, because they are nocturnal, I might try to destroy him/her.  If I did so I am in big trouble for firing a shotgun within city limits and also for killing a wild animal other than fair game like deer, boar, or rabbit.

Why are life decisions so challenging?  I do not even want to kill the Coyotes; I still want to protect my neighbors' domestic animals.  ODTAA is ...One Damned Thing After Another.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on January 04, 2022, 04:45:51 AM
Crossbow. A bit unwieldy, but a lot quieter than a shotgun. If you are a reasonable shot, you can also use a .22 short rifle round, though you'd need to be pretty close to it.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 04, 2022, 09:11:51 AM
i suspect youll not get close enough to the coyote to get it with a crossbow. theyre very smart.

ours have begun singing again in the evenings, but i seldom see them. i actually see red foxes more often than coyotes. the bobcats are mostly invisible, but theyre around.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 20, 2022, 07:53:30 PM
not actually in my life but i need to benchmark this linkl

https://www.reddit.com/r/Naturewasmetal/comments/kuuslt/sleeping_spinosaurs/
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on January 20, 2022, 08:29:09 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on January 20, 2022, 07:53:30 PM
not actually in my life but i need to benchmark this linkl

https://www.reddit.com/r/Naturewasmetal/comments/kuuslt/sleeping_spinosaurs/

I still want a wombat :(
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on January 20, 2022, 09:19:31 PM
All the animals in my life are inside of me - there is a wolf, a pig, a snake, a fox, a dove, a bear, a peregrine falcon, a chupacabra, an owl - my psyche is basically a zoo.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on January 20, 2022, 10:06:53 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on January 20, 2022, 09:19:31 PM
All the animals in my life are inside of me - there is a wolf, a pig, a snake, a fox, a dove, a bear, a peregrine falcon, a chupacabra, an owl - my psyche is basically a zoo.

My spirit animal is the three toed sloth.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Ecurb Noselrub on January 20, 2022, 10:23:22 PM
Quote from: Tank on January 20, 2022, 10:06:53 PM
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on January 20, 2022, 09:19:31 PM
All the animals in my life are inside of me - there is a wolf, a pig, a snake, a fox, a dove, a bear, a peregrine falcon, a chupacabra, an owl - my psyche is basically a zoo.

My spirit animal is the three toed sloth.

LOL!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:11:49 PM
Saw this, thought of Hermes



Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 04:37:37 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:11:49 PM
Saw this, thought of Hermes



:lol: Thanks. They can be quite naughty. My Lulu imitates me when I laugh.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:39:12 PM
I love the way the cat looks so pissed off!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 04:42:45 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:39:12 PM
I love the way the cat looks so pissed off!

I know the feeling. She's sitting on my shoulder as I'm typing this.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:55:47 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 04:42:45 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:39:12 PM
I love the way the cat looks so pissed off!

I know the feeling. She's sitting on my shoulder as I'm typing this.

:rofl:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: TheFightSong on February 05, 2022, 06:08:51 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 04:42:45 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:39:12 PM
I love the way the cat looks so pissed off!

I know the feeling. She's sitting on my shoulder as I'm typing this.
Maybe I should give you all of my cats. That way an army of cats on your lap protects you from pissed off cats.  :snicker1:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 06:27:17 PM
Quote from: TheFightSong on February 05, 2022, 06:08:51 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 04:42:45 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 05, 2022, 04:39:12 PM
I love the way the cat looks so pissed off!

I know the feeling. She's sitting on my shoulder as I'm typing this.
Maybe I should give you all of my cats. That way an army of cats on your lap protects you from pissed off cats.  :snicker1:

Lulu is a very smart little Timneh African Grey, who will not take kindly to any feline competition.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 05, 2022, 06:35:18 PM
parrots are fascinating to me

theyre not as smart as humans, but that immediately brings up the question

what is smart?

they are beautiful and thoughtful. what exactly do they bring to the conversation of what life is?

i suspect they know m,ore than me

i have always been interested in them

but they require more committment than i have ever had available to offer
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: TheFightSong on February 05, 2022, 09:53:28 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on February 05, 2022, 06:27:17 PM
Lulu is a very smart little Timneh African Grey, who will not take kindly to any feline competition.
Lulu sounds like a sharp and no-nonsense hustler ready to strike in self-defense. I wonder how many cats Lulu can defeat.

Now, I am thinking about a video game where cats fight each other with martial arts. It will be like the cat version of Tekken.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billyportne on February 07, 2022, 12:08:57 AM
My feline friends are gone but not forgotten. Cheers to everyone and their animal friends. More often than not, mine were better pals than my two-legged pals.

(https://www.ebooks-by-bill.com/forum-images/cats-fence.jpeg)
(https://www.ebooks-by-bill.com/forum-images/cats-walk.jpeg)


Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 07, 2022, 12:33:33 AM
You'll have to host them somewhere like imgur.com and load them from that hosting site. Can't upload directly from your machine.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 07, 2022, 01:34:25 AM
i have so many cats i cannot tell them apart visually and must rely on behaviour.

there are maybe five or six that i can recognize through age or pelage, but the rest i have to distinguish based on what they do. i think we still have around twenty
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 07, 2022, 08:57:45 AM
Quote from: billyportne on February 07, 2022, 12:08:57 AM
My feline friends are gone but not forgotten. Tried to insert an image from my computer but "Attachments" doesn't offer that option and all I got with the "Insert" option were the [img] tags. Maybe I'll figure that out later. Meanwhile, cheers to everyone and their animal friends. More often than not, mine were better pals than my two-legged pals.

We don't allow file Attachments or uploads for 2 reasons. First they massively bump-up the site size and thus hosting cost. Secondly we don't end up trafficking child porn of other illegal stuff.

This thread explains how to get images up https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7484.0
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billyportne on February 07, 2022, 04:37:46 PM
Quote from: Tank on February 07, 2022, 08:57:45 AMWe don't allow file Attachments or uploads for 2 reasons. First they massively bump-up the site size and thus hosting cost. Secondly we don't end up trafficking child porn of other illegal stuff. This thread explains how to get images up https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=7484.0

Thanks Tank. Makes sense to me.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Biggus Dickus on February 26, 2022, 09:53:24 PM
I'll work out I promise, no really...I want to burn off some of this winter fat.

Woof Woof!

Lazy bastard....

(https://i.imgur.com/457AJof.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 06, 2022, 12:18:57 AM
its spring.

after a week out losing wheels in pennsylvania and maryland, after multiple flats and brake problems last week in pennsylbvania too, i am home for tonight and tomorrow. then off to nebraska with coils of sheet metal, and probably back to ohio with bulk rod and bars, slinkies or crowbars. or chisels.

but in the meantime, the day here was warm. when i got hme i listened, and the redwing blackbirds were calling. the males arrive before the females in order to set up territories, and they were all singing in the evening.



and then fter dark,  the peepers. first frogs of the spring. theyll call even with ice on the water. just a few, but when im back in a week theyll be choruses of thousands. they wait and wait, buried in the mud and leaf leitter, until the spring is triggered and then they commit.



wonderful creatures. ill make a recording here when i can. theyre strictly an eastern north american animal. from th eprairies west they dont exist.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 06, 2022, 08:32:29 PM
first robins today. and the chorus frogs are calling alongside the peepers. pseudacris triseriata.

we ll have the american toads next, then the gtay treefrogs and the leopard frogs. finalky the green frogs and uncommon stuff like the pickerel frogs and bullfrogs.

no flowers yet. redbuds should pop any day, and then the sweet cherries.

spring for sure
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on March 08, 2022, 03:01:18 AM
The constant video coverage of the carnage in Ukraine includes many scenes with dogs or cats and their caring owners desperately seeking shelter.  One such video shows a young woman who is attempting to carry food to a kennel for dogs that had not been fed for three days. She was killed before she could deliver the food to the poor animals.  Those scenes are painful for me, much more painful for those unfortunate Ukrainian animal lovers. Even more so for the family and friends of the unfortunate young woman.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 15, 2022, 08:58:51 PM


mockingbird

mimus polyglottis

i heard it this morning but it was cold and incoherent. i finally decided i was hearing a starling but no.

the cool thing about mockingbirds is that they memorize other birds they listen to all along their range  ive been in cities in arizona and heard cactus wrens . which are desert birds, lower sonoran. looked around to see why it was in town and discovered a mockingbird.

sometimes ill hear a dustinctive bobwhite quail calling.

they dont live around here. but the mockingbirds rwmember them.

theyre insectivores so it means well get bugs soon
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 15, 2022, 09:05:29 PM
there were two  ? ukrainian zookeepers lilled trying to feed the snimals in the zoo in one I f the easter cities  nasty business.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 28, 2022, 04:56:31 PM
it was spring, then it got cold again. snow on the blooming daffodils yeterday.

my dog ygmir is almost completely blind. he can detect light and dark but thats about it. even so, he can navigate quite well in the infrared

(https://i.imgur.com/lyk3WBOl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 14, 2022, 07:08:26 PM
not in my life but

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/13/ivory-bill-woodpecker-not-extinct-researchers-say

the ivory billed woodpecker may not be extinct.

tjis spectacular bird has been thought exticint for 70byears due to the malevolebt indifference of an american loghing company, long out of business.

maybe there is hope

. . . and maybe there is a reason for hope. i am not convinced.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 28, 2022, 05:05:29 PM
kittens again. we didnt manage to get any fostered out last year but at least 6 or 8 adults have recently disappeared. maybe tbe coyotes are doing their job after all

one litter on the porch, one in the cellar, one under the house
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 07, 2022, 03:17:07 PM
well, the cat population is in flux. we peaked at around 24 in the fall, mostly friendly lap-climbers but a few skittish ones that came onto the porch for food but ran when the door was opened. along with the raccoon we raised two years back that only stays if you have a banana in your hand.

about half the cats disappeared, either natural dispersal or because of the coyotes. i havent seen the coyotes in years, but i hear them all the time. yesterday my number two son was walking down the road and came across the mandible of a marmot in a circle of trampled grass, evidence that the coyotes were still working the neighborhood.

anyway, my number three sone tells me that we apparently have eight litters of kittens, in the cellar, in the carriage house, in cardboard boxes on the porch, in the barn, and so on. one is in my chair in the living room:

(https://i.imgur.com/Kn3uhfll.jpg)

this is bhisma, th ekitten i rescued from a pile of bee boxes the night before a killing snowfall three years ago. she is an earth mother type, and is currently distressing the other mothers because she is stealing their kittens. at one point she had kittens of three different ages here in my chair, and keeps robbing one mother of one kitten in particular, who has to come and retrieve her baby several times a day.



Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on May 08, 2022, 03:51:30 AM
Heartbreakingly cute. She looks so calm.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 08, 2022, 12:11:19 PM
kittens do that.

some cats will run away when you come near. then they have a litter of kittens and become human-friendly overnight.

bhisma has always been a lap cat tho

theyre out of my chair today. shes gone and done something else with them.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 08, 2022, 09:27:56 PM
at least the dog isnt involved this time with kitten thefts. last year the border collie was distressing th e cats because she was stealing the newborn kittens and lying down to cuddle them under my desk. shes a dog, not a cat, so everybody was having fits unti we got it sorted out.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2022, 06:30:40 PM
cats

almost all the toms from last year have dispersed or been turned into baby coyotes. who would have thought. so we have two toms, otis and minge, half a dozen females, and a dozen kittens.

ygmir still sleeps with his pet cat

(https://i.imgur.com/sGnnTxdl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 22, 2022, 02:16:07 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/cSRT7Csl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/RdziU6Rl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/VnsOUmul.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZXV2FkQl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/h3WAUlMl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on May 22, 2022, 06:48:28 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 22, 2022, 02:16:07 AM(https://i.imgur.com/cSRT7Csl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/RdziU6Rl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/VnsOUmul.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/ZXV2FkQl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/h3WAUlMl.jpg)

(https://media1.giphy.com/media/26FLdmIp6wJr91JAI/giphy.webp?cid=6c09b952e0bf1c8d791536fcf9ded94b809d33b486124b69&rid=giphy.webp&ct=g)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 25, 2022, 01:15:31 AM
spittle bugs!

saw the first ones this morning in the lane to the warehouse

(https://i.imgur.com/weu1zXSl.jpg)

they wetr everywhere. live inside the little foamy mssses where stuff cant eat em

cercopidae, of the hemipterans.

mote pitchers, if theyll load.

(https://i.imgur.com/dZld2Q9l.jpg)

last night wad the first night of the year for the lightning bugs too.

all kinds of stuff lives here if you dont spray. l

right now its evening, and im listening to the agelaius defending theirvterritory. this morning i thought i saw the bobolink that returns every year. not sure as it was distant.

eastern bluebirds as well. havent seen the flycatchers yet

and the chimney swifts are swooping in and out of the warehouse, chittering the whole time. we have two unused chimneys up at the house that they live in all spring and summer
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on May 26, 2022, 02:23:40 AM
My backyard bird feeder is a source of wonder sometimes.  A redheaded woodpecker will rap on the feeder if it is empty.  He is either telling me that I need to fill the feeder, or he is trying to rattle any remaining sunflower seeds out of the feeder. Clever bird.

There is a certain Blue Jay who has the habit of pecking at the perch stick that he is standing on. Why? I have no idea. Other BJs have no such habit.

Today in early afternoon there were five different kinds of birds at or within ten feet of the feeder, all at the same time. I was pleased to observe that they were politely taking turns at the platform that holds the seeds.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 28, 2022, 08:28:55 PM
the sparrow hawks are fledging. time is running by at breakneck speed. summer in three weeks.

https://photos.google.com/direct/AF1QipPh3S50LnKv5mrENavOe9hj8mZidwhaT6W7PCX5hqUTRd-XrPX6wltsaeifeFrRCg/photo/AF1QipNJm3dx3vh_tOr_pmNFW8s6gBsq91ZTGKA08Sfz

anyway, this one popped down and got stuck in the tall grass, so my loveley wife picked it up and set it on the old chicken run before the cats could find it. turn the sound on.

 iasked her whether the parents were upset, and she said . . .yes. you can hear them freaking out in th etreetops

sparrow hawks are small, but fierce.

the toads are still trilling, and the hyla versicolor are still calling. but the equinozx is approaching.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 12:37:18 AM
dammit none of my videos will load.

so you cant see the kittens growing up to be fierce, cant hear th elast of the tree frogs in the spring, cant listen to the rustling of the cottonwoods in the wind, cant even see th eswallowtail barn swallows flitting in and out of the warehouse this morning.

high tech has precluded all of this art.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 12:47:04 AM
doggone it this is all i have




 . . . and none of the linkls will play.

phooey
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 12:50:52 AM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 01:22:22 AM
well then watch this

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 01:23:11 AM
this is a problem.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on June 06, 2022, 05:13:20 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 12:47:04 AMdoggone it this is all i have




 . . . and none of the linkls will play.

phooey

The first and third one are the same and play when I copy the links, but the second one is a problem.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on June 06, 2022, 05:14:23 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 01:22:22 AMwell then watch this


Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Recusant on June 06, 2022, 06:00:11 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on June 06, 2022, 12:47:04 AMdoggone it this is all i have




 . . . and none of the linkls will play.

phooey

The new software has its own way.

If you're manually inserting YouTube links, you need to copy the section of the address following "v=" up to the ampersand. That is the identifying portion of the address of a YouTube video.

The first video posted above will display using the following code:

[youtube]tGhiZoDsmLA[/youtube]

If you use the YouTube button on the post editing page, it should give a pop-up asking you to copy/paste the full video address. The software will strip all extraneous text from the YouTube address once you click "Insert" in that pop-up. Doesn't work for mp4 videos I'm afraid, nor Vimeo.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on June 11, 2022, 05:21:50 AM
If you have a few minutes, take a look at this TED talk.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 03, 2022, 07:25:36 PM
no pictures but the female raccoon we rsised has come back.

with four babies.

shes still nuts for bananas.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 04, 2022, 02:12:44 AM

you furriners arent lucky enough to have mockingbirds.

whenever youre outside and you hear seventeen different species of bird calling one after another from tbe same tree, yku can bet its a mockingbird.

mimus polyglottis, or, many-throated mimic
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on July 17, 2022, 04:31:20 AM
Lemme ee if I can manage to post this Imgur clip ????
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyni1VYT_hI (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyni1VYT_hI)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on July 18, 2022, 01:54:39 AM
I blew it once again.  That is definitely not the clip that I intended.  The clip showed a crow who was riding down a sloped roof.  The clever bird was using a jar lid for a sled.  He coasted down and at the end, he ripped the jar lid,
 went back to the top of the slope to do his snowboard thing again.

The video that the post shows, is for a whole other subject, like politics.  I apologize for my continual ineptitude.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on July 18, 2022, 03:51:54 AM
Here I go again with a vid that could give us pause. It is after all, about animals in or lives.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on July 18, 2022, 03:52:39 AM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 26, 2022, 02:51:13 PM
tracks!

i get all kinds of tracks in the mud lane leading to my warehouse

(https://i.imgur.com/yENFjpwl.jpg)

look at ^^^this

its summer and the muddaubers are buzzing around in my kitchen and living room, making little pottery nests to stuff full of spiders and caterpillars. but they have to get the mud from someplace.

so they get it here

(https://i.imgur.com/0QcrGfgl.jpg)

lots of little tiny wasp footprints, where they gather a little ball of mud to stick on the wall in my kitchen.

not just wasps. a possum came by last night too

(https://i.imgur.com/TTGPOtrl.jpg)

the possums have opposable thumbs that stick out on both front and hind feet, and the hind foot looks like a little human baby


ill see if i can get some better pictures. i see em all the time
 we still have the coon on the porch every night. havent seen her babies myself



Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 31, 2022, 02:31:29 PM
walked out the front door this morning

the neighbors were already up

(https://i.imgur.com/KLruhdKl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Uv3Ndhhl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 01, 2022, 04:18:08 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 31, 2022, 02:31:29 PMwalked out the front door this morning

the neighbors were already up

(https://i.imgur.com/KLruhdKl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Uv3Ndhhl.jpg)

billy rubin, why is that cow so...round?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on August 01, 2022, 04:49:10 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 31, 2022, 02:31:29 PMwalked out the front door this morning

the neighbors were already up

(https://i.imgur.com/KLruhdKl.jpg)

I like the arrangement of the group in the first photo. I assume you gently coaxed them into those poses to get that pleasing composition? The photos are giving me ideas for abstract paintings, provided you wouldn't object to that.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 01, 2022, 06:55:07 AM
Quote from: Magdalena on August 01, 2022, 04:18:08 AMbilly rubin, why is that cow so...round?

thats what a cow looks like from the front. they hsve a whole bunch of different stomachs in thrre busily fermenting the grass shes been eating. theyre only round like that around the middle 1/3
 but i dont have pictures of cows from above

when theyre pregnant theyre rounder than that
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 01, 2022, 07:01:20 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on August 01, 2022, 04:49:10 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 31, 2022, 02:31:29 PMwalked out the front door this morning

the neighbors were already up

(https://i.imgur.com/KLruhdKl.jpg)

I like the arrangement of the group in the first photo. I assume you gently coaxed them into those poses to get that pleasing composition? The photos are giving me ideas for abstract paintings, provided you wouldn't object to that.

go for it. i dont object  and im sure all of them have forgotten me. they only got turned in there today so they have lots of other stuff to think about.

had a couple hundred geese flyover at sunset. maybe i can youtube what i saw later this same say.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 02, 2022, 02:01:54 AM
magdalena, hers a picture i found of a cow from above. its just the middle bit thats round

(https://live.staticflickr.com/3212/3141055464_b6351b5a15_b.jpg)

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 02, 2022, 06:16:17 PM
Our little beauty Sally passed away. Not a dry eye in the house  :'(


(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/7131/7CDWzO.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 02, 2022, 06:49:14 PM
^ Bummer! Sorry for your loss. Looks like a sweet little dog.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 02, 2022, 06:54:03 PM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 02, 2022, 06:49:14 PM^ Bummer! Sorry for your loss. Looks like a sweet little dog.

She was. The postman is noticeably more relaxed.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 02, 2022, 08:13:57 PM
sorry to hear that.

losing a dog never gets easier
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 02, 2022, 08:46:14 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 02, 2022, 08:13:57 PMsorry to hear that.

losing a dog never gets easier

No it doesn't. Our other dog is looking confused by all the hugs.  :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 02, 2022, 09:20:34 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 02, 2022, 02:01:54 AMmagdalena, hers a picture i found of a cow from above. its just the middle bit thats round

(https://live.staticflickr.com/3212/3141055464_b6351b5a15_b.jpg)


Cool.
I had never noticed they were that round in the middle.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 02, 2022, 09:22:33 PM
Quote from: Tank on August 02, 2022, 06:16:17 PMOur little beauty Sally passed away. Not a dry eye in the house  :'(


(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/7131/7CDWzO.jpg)

Awww.  :(
That's so sad.
I'm sorry to hear that.


...But I'm glad you are here with us, again.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on August 03, 2022, 04:51:17 AM
Quote from: Tank on August 02, 2022, 06:16:17 PMOur little beauty Sally passed away. Not a dry eye in the house  :'(


(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/7131/7CDWzO.jpg)

So sorry to hear that, Tank. Some people don't understand how much we love our pets.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 03, 2022, 03:23:46 PM
You are quite right.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 06, 2022, 04:57:11 PM
Sally in her little casket.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/7240/NHNMHC.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Magdalena on August 06, 2022, 06:40:50 PM
Quote from: Tank on August 06, 2022, 04:57:11 PMSally in her little casket.

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/7240/NHNMHC.jpg)

Awww.
 :cryandrun:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 07, 2022, 02:00:17 AM
I am going to guess that the beautiful container was lovingly made by Tank.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 07, 2022, 04:04:29 AM
Yup. My wife bought a cheapo cardboard box with daisies embossed on it for the cremains of our best, sweetest dog of ever, Daisy, a Maltese we were fortunate to have had for 18 years. I may have posted it before, but here is another pic. This dog was so gentle that lizards could come and touch noses with her in the back yard, and finches would come down and eat seeds off the ground right next to her, while she sunned herself. She also had her nose in something or other all the time, so this pic shows her with a scrap of paper on her nose. :lol: I'd've gladly made a wood box and carved a daisy on it, but I'm not going to argue with the wife about it.

(https://i.imgur.com/CvGXdWj.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on August 07, 2022, 04:53:54 AM
:love:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 07, 2022, 09:00:00 AM
Quote from: Icarus on August 07, 2022, 02:00:17 AMI am going to guess that the beautiful container was lovingly made by Tank.

It was.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 07, 2022, 09:01:35 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 07, 2022, 04:04:29 AMYup. My wife bought a cheapo cardboard box with daisies embossed on it for the cremains of our best, sweetest dog of ever, Daisy, a Maltese we were fortunate to have had for 18 years. I may have posted it before, but here is another pic. This dog was so gentle that lizards could come and touch noses with her in the back yard, and finches would come down and eat seeds off the ground right next to her, while she sunned herself. She also had her nose in something or other all the time, so this pic shows her with a scrap of paper on her nose. :lol: I'd've gladly made a wood box and carved a daisy on it, but I'm not going to argue with the wife about it.

(https://i.imgur.com/CvGXdWj.jpg)

Awwww so lovely  :love:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 07, 2022, 03:58:46 PM
Thanks, guys. We always got them "puppy cuts" when we had her and her sister, Rosie groomed. Daisy  is near to the time of needing another grooming, in this pic.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 11, 2022, 10:10:17 AM
Not one of my animals but wouldn't it be cool to live in the same town as Jenny.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 11, 2022, 03:58:55 PM
lol

jenny walks all over town but is never late at suppertime back at tbe ranch
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 12, 2022, 02:15:24 AM
^ Jennies story is pleasing to hear and see.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 12, 2022, 03:59:24 AM
every night and every morning outside my door

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 12, 2022, 10:57:20 AM
Those 4 back markers are going to have to work hard to catch up with the pelaton.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 12, 2022, 03:53:49 PM
they all fly northwest in the morning and southeast in the evening.

almost always two groups, one much larger. yesterday there were three or four in the evening.

i have no idea what theyre saying to eavh other or why its necessary to be so noisy about it
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 21, 2022, 10:33:20 PM
late summer. the flowers have moved on. summer blooms like the multiflora rose, the dead nettles, and the various ground flora have pretty much expired. but we're not into the goldenrod yet. the bees are reacting with predictable boredom:


^^this is called washboarding. the bees in the morning might still find enough to keep themselves occupied, but in the afternoon, the nectar flows have stopped. so the fielders come home, and then perch outside the entrance and worry, just twiddling their thumbs, if they had any, and waiting for something to do.


when they're doing this, you leave them alone. theyre not happy, and the older, irritable fielders are all home waiting for something to piss them off. touch them and theyre in your face.

the goldenrod has just started blooming, yesterday. thats a major honey flow in my area, and the bees will go nuts on it when it starts. i use it to build up stores for the winter. the honey itself is very dark and strongly flavored. most people who are looking for sugar syrup-honey dont like it. when the bees are btringing it in and evaporating the volatiles in the evening, the yards smell like something has died. after the putrid stuff is gone, the honey is pretty good, at least for me.

i have amitraz strips coming to treat for varroa mites, and i wont be pulling any honey. ive managed to preserve a single colony through benign neglect, and need to get serious if im going to build back from one to two or three hundred.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 21, 2022, 10:37:36 PM
try this

late summer. the flowers have moved on. summer blooms like the multiflora rose, the dead nettles, and the various ground flora have pretty much expired. but we're not into the goldenrod yet. the bees are reacting with predictable boredom:


^^this is called washboarding. the bees in the morning might still find enough to keep themselves occupied, but in the afternoon, the nectar flows have stopped. so the fielders come home, and then perch outside the entrance and worry, just twiddling their thumbs, if they had any, and waiting for something to do.


when they're doing this, you leave them alone. theyre not happy, and the older, irritable fielders are all home waiting for something to piss them off. touch them and theyre in your face.

the goldenrod has just started blooming, yesterday. thats a major honey flow in my area, and the bees will go nuts on it when it starts. i use it to build up stores for the winter. the honey itself is very dark and strongly flavored. most people who are looking for sugar syrup-honey dont like it. when the bees are btringing it in and evaporating the volatiles in the evening, the yards smell like something has died. after the putrid stuff is gone, the honey is pretty good, at least for me.

i have amitraz strips coming to treat for varroa mites, and i wont be pulling any honey. ive managed to preserve a single colony through benign neglect, and need to get serious if im going to build back from one to two or three hundred.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 21, 2022, 10:39:56 PM

fuck it
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 22, 2022, 10:26:51 AM
Love the videos. And all the descriptions.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on September 08, 2022, 08:53:23 PM
i love bees. when i was in california i started with one hive, then increased each year. 30, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 . . .

i was working with another beekeeper, trading free labour for apprenticeship. the first year he had 40 beehives, then we divided to about 400. he then went to china for a year, and left me in charge. trial by fire. i learned queen rearing, increase, pollination, medication, feeding, and on and on. he would come back from china and over-divide his colonies too late in the year, and they would die back to 100.

then i would carefully nurture them up to 400 again, and he would return and kill them back to 100 again.

it was a spectacualr learning experience, but strangeley reversed. i learned every wrong method of managing commercial beehives: saw it in action, saw the reults. all i had to do to learn how to keep bees efficiciently was to simp[ly to do exactly not what he did, and to watch other beekeerps.

i ended up in a small city in central california where i was the smallest beekeeper in town, with 800 hives. my neighbors ran 4000, 3500, 3000, 1500, 1000, and 500 . . . increase the radius to thirty miles and it would include another 20,000 hives.

theres money to be made with them here in ohio, but i have to woprk them differently. stll have to decide how to do it.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on September 20, 2022, 02:36:29 AM
came intot he warehouse after dark and this little guy was inside waiting for me to open the door

(https://i.imgur.com/PUmQ46jl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/WAgr59ll.jpg)

bufo americanus, looks a lot like bufo woodhousei except americanus has a single wart inside each large spot and woodhousei generally has two.

also woodhousei has a croak that sounds like its strangling and the american toads trill like litle songbirds.

mostly you hear them in the middle spring at night, b ut when th eget love-addled they will call in the daylight at your feet while you watch
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on September 20, 2022, 09:23:45 AM
A warty little cute bug.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 05, 2022, 10:28:52 AM
Katie doing her cute face :)

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8849/wJupw7.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on November 13, 2022, 01:37:51 AM
Quote from: Tank on November 05, 2022, 10:28:52 AMKatie doing her cute face :)

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img924/8849/wJupw7.jpg)

Is Katie disappointed by the recent lack of jobs for Ewoks in the movie biz?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 13, 2022, 02:41:53 AM
Looks like, "One more photo, and I'm going to eat your face!".  :D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 13, 2022, 09:40:16 AM
She's a very lazy dog by nature so she would not want to act and as she has few teeth she might try to suck your face off.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on November 13, 2022, 11:35:39 AM
:lol:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on November 13, 2022, 04:24:36 PM
ygmir

(https://i.imgur.com/LNisYonl.jpg)

hes been losing his eyesight for some time now, bumping into closed doors and misplced furniture.

last night i waved a high intensity LED flashlight in front of his eyes with no response at all.

living out in the country this doesnt hinder him much tho. he still trots down to the road to the warehouse to clean out any leftover cat food, and goes on long walks with the other dog, who is deaf.

started out a a pump here 10 years or so ago. still has some years left in him i think
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 15, 2023, 06:25:55 PM
further adentures of ygmir the blind dog

(https://i.imgur.com/ZX5L9NBl.jpg)

he cant see the screen door in the kitchen to go outside, so he runs into the jamb unless you guide him. then he pushes it open. but the other day he was outside and then walked up to the kitchen porch. i turned away and then heard the screen door slam. looked up and ha was inside.

i called to the lovely wife,

wife, did you let the dog inside?

no, he lets himself in.

how? i asked

he reaches up to the string where the door handle used to be, pulls the door open, gets his head in and wiggles inside.

so i have a totally blind dog that discovered that there was a string tied to the screen door a foot above his head, that he could pull to open the door, and then he could squeeze in.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on January 15, 2023, 07:34:08 PM
Awwww what a wonderful pooch  :love:  :love:  :love:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on January 16, 2023, 06:23:00 AM
Yes, a real sweetie.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 19, 2023, 10:25:27 PM
went looking for fish to join the last survivor in the fish tank, this hornyhead chub

(https://i.imgur.com/7PLLmTbl.jpg)

the creek is running clear, but there arent any darters yet

(https://i.imgur.com/cVow5M5l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/vZa7DWml.jpg)

but something has been tearing this tree apart on the bank. we have woodpeckers year round, so it could be one of them

(https://i.imgur.com/EnZbxFql.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 19, 2023, 11:18:42 PM
holy shit its sunset and i just heard the first redwinged blackbird call.

its spring.

(https://i.imgur.com/P0Ojnmrl.jpg)



aegelius phoneceus or something like that

mostly marsh dwelling. the first ones back are the males who set up territories. then the females trickle up a week or two later from the south and pick out the maled with the best territories to mate with
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 19, 2023, 11:44:52 PM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on February 20, 2023, 12:24:48 PM
Lovin' your posts.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on February 26, 2023, 08:32:16 PM
hey

https://i.imgur.com/cKGc8Lf.mp4

do you brits still have bins of these at the fishmongers?

i remember them
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 01, 2023, 09:32:16 PM
not spwcifically in my life but something to think about
The weight of life: Cattle 40% of all mammals by mass, wild animals 6%

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/the-weight-of-life-cattle-40-of-all-mammals-by-mass-wild-animals-6-101677696422898.html

For News on the go, Download HT app. Click https://htiphoneenglish.page.link/download
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 01, 2023, 09:34:12 PM
in other news

A Gujarat court has made some observations on cow slaughter as it dealt with a case of the illegal transport of cattle from Maharashtra. Giving life imprisonment to the accused, the court said all problems of the earth will be solved that day no drop of cow blood falls on the earth, LiveLaw and Bar and Bench reported. Likewise, the universe will cease to exist if cows become extinct, the district court of Tapi said.

All problems of Earth will vanish when cow slaughter is stopped: Gujarat court

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/all-problems-of-earth-will-vanish-when-cow-slaughter-is-stopped-gujarat-court-101674406455982.html

For News on the go, Download HT app. Click https://htiphoneenglish.page.link/download
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on March 01, 2023, 10:13:00 PM
I think it is safe to say that the Hindu religion is unlikely to catch on in Texas.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 01, 2023, 11:00:47 PM
well, i would agree, in general, but there appear to be a fair number of ashrams in texas.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ashrams+in+texas&oq=ashrams+in+texas&aqs=chrome..69i57.3768j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

i cant see that they are mainstream in any way there. frankly, i wouldnt be a hindu in texas, but then ive spent a lifetime avoiding texas, not always successfully. im from oklahoma, after all, so texas is periodically inevitable.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 01, 2023, 11:04:06 PM
weve got more birds, but i cant get a sight of the bastards to tell what they are.

more coming.

my wife has been gathering praying mantid egg cases to distribute. with any luck she ll find some walking sticks. i love the orthopterans

(https://trekohio.com/wp-content/uploads/201210_walking-stick-insect_8116637794.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on March 02, 2023, 07:19:24 AM
(https://media.gettyimages.com/id/106567928/photo/houbara-bustard.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=RfndbzHBWAcowFt213L4lP4N9CkTqT-6tB4iGteVsWs=)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on March 02, 2023, 08:39:30 AM
Ia that Green's friend Slightly Brown?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on March 02, 2023, 10:03:31 AM
Quote from: Tank on March 02, 2023, 08:39:30 AMIa that Green's friend Slightly Brown?

Quote from: billy rubin on March 01, 2023, 11:04:06 PMweve got more birds, but i cant get a sight of the bastards to tell what they are.

It's a bustard.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 02, 2023, 01:43:39 PM
i have never seen a bustard
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on March 03, 2023, 01:08:29 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on March 02, 2023, 01:43:39 PMi have never seen a bustard

I don't think I have either.
I think they're avoiding me.

(https://i.imgur.com/C4mYEam.jpg)

They sound impressive, the Oz ones - Size Range 80 cm to 120 cm
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 03, 2023, 11:56:04 PM
rufous sided towhees are back

like this


you can hear a mourning dove in the back of this video

killdeer are looking over nest sites too

no meadowlarks or flycatchers yet
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 19, 2023, 09:07:47 PM
well, the number one daughter has rescued an armadillo baby. this might as well be th eoklhama state animal. theyre everywhere in the plains and the american south. shes in arkansas marking trees for a forestry gig.

(https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/imgs/512x768/0000_0000/0416/1464.jpeg)

notthis one. sje jasnt sent a picture. its eyes are still closed, she says. as big as a large cat when theyre full grown.

this is a nine banded armadillo. th elatin name is Dasypus novemcinctus, which is translated as "nine-banded armadillo." the only member of the edentata in north america. came over at the end of the pleistocene from the neotropics, during the great american faunal exchange, where the nearctic and neotropics exchanged marsupials and pumas and stuff after th e land bridge at panama connected the two continents.

they had gotten as far north as kansas by 1960, which is where i first encountered one that my father pulled out of the dustbin in the alley.

anyway, she's looking for kitten formula now and trying to figure out how to keep it from choking. they live as long as 20 years or more, so theyre an invvestment in time.

ive never managed to catch one. they have only little peg teeth, so i dont think they have much of a bite, but theyve got wicked claws.

pictures as soon as she sends any. she might have more soon. shes in the middle of tornado alley, and the winds are coming.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on March 19, 2023, 09:50:22 PM
I'd recommend being careful with it. They are a known carrier of leprosy.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on March 19, 2023, 09:58:29 PM
They do look very cute :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 19, 2023, 11:49:18 PM
theyre fast too. ive chased em before and they humiliated me.

DL, i have suggested she not be licking it and to keep her hands washed. shes trying to get a wildlife center to take it but nobody is interested si shell be taking it with her to work and feeding it every few hiurs.

its really young
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 20, 2023, 07:08:51 PM
here it is

(https://i.imgur.com/6p6valol.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/lBoPibtl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on March 21, 2023, 08:37:25 AM
Awwww it's so cute!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 21, 2023, 10:20:57 PM
and tiny

(https://i.imgur.com/ia9mBSMl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on March 22, 2023, 08:57:22 AM
That tail is seriously alienish!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 22, 2023, 12:38:00 PM
yes

theyre pretty odd looking

i dont know what kind of temerament an armadillo has
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on March 26, 2023, 02:18:04 AM
It's both cute and crazy alien looking. Has your daughter said anything about its temperament?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 26, 2023, 10:17:39 PM
ah no

sadly it died friday. i called to ask how it was doing and she told me that it had given up an hour or two before. but it was very, very young, too young, really. it ws mostly a last ditch effort from the start.

so that is sad, but she tried pretty hard to give it a good chance
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 26, 2023, 10:23:59 PM
but on th eother hand the bees are good. i looked in them just now, the first good afternoon that i have been free.

one hive, overwintered in four boxes. they had brood in all the booxes, but still space.

and drones.

thats a good sign, because drones make the hive happy. if something goes wrong with the food, they kill the drones off right away.

i have five queens coming from california the third week in april, which normally is swarm season here. but things are way early, so i may have to do some creative persuasion to keep this hive from getting too big. the fruit trees bloomed yesterday--cots and prunes and something that looks like a cherry-- so theyll begina serious buildup within th eweek.

ideally you want to catch the hive and either shake bees out of it or divide it the week before they build swarm cells, so as to take advantage of all the optimism, but i may have to go in and make queenless divides if they get stubborn too soon. then ill need to introduce the queens in a more difficult scenario.

so i got two empty boxes of mostly drawn conb and stuck them in the middle so they would havesomething new to work on and maybe that will both distract them and give me some extra brood to use when the queens show up.

i have to remember to tell the post office that theyre coming
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on March 27, 2023, 10:02:01 AM
I has sads :(
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on March 28, 2023, 02:55:41 AM
Oh no, that's too bad about the baby armadillo. I did not realize you could send bees through the post.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 31, 2023, 01:25:47 AM
yes. too bad anout the dasypus. you cant save them all, but you can try.

bees are shipped in cages. a few queens go in an envelope, more in battery boxes
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on March 31, 2023, 02:58:58 AM
Must be one hell of an envelope, given how the USPS handles packages.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 31, 2023, 11:34:16 AM
no, just a minila envelope wiith holes.

ive seen mouse mailers too
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on March 31, 2023, 10:07:02 PM
these are two pound packages. two pounds of worker bees, one caged queen, and a syrup bottle for feed.

https://imgur.com/a/PNLEZq4

they can live in these several days and get shipped all over the country this way
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 14, 2023, 08:06:43 PM
well its spring again

(https://i.imgur.com/eZbraCul.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on April 15, 2023, 08:19:07 AM
Pesky Pussies :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 15, 2023, 03:59:44 PM
i dpnt even know where these are. in one of my kids laundry baskets

when i find out ill also know whos been stealing my socks
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 15, 2023, 04:33:08 PM
i have just purchased thrre 1 x 12 x 10 boards to make tops and bottoms for five beehives.

for you metric people, thats a board like 1.8cm x 25 cm x 250 cm.

standard american dimensional lumber. v expensive . US $32 per board. dunno where from. looked liked american white pine. in the west its all ponderosa pine or douglas fir. here in the east theres no telling. just labelled "whitewood."

beehives have very complex dimensions and construction for hobbyist people who do only a few hives. there are dimensional boxes, carefully fussed over tops and bottoms, inner covers, spacers, stands, dividing boards, lots of bs.

lots of people do bees because theyre carpenters and like to do wood.

tbe bees dont care.

all tbey want is 5/16-inch between everything in tbe hive: the bee space. its the width necessary for two bees to get past each other when walking in different directions, and its all they care about.

put two pieces of wood closer together than 5/16-inches, and the bees will seal them together with wax or propolis. put them farther apart than 5/16-inches, and the bees will build burr or bridge comb in the space.

give them what they want and the parts stay free and moveable.

anyway, i dont use complicated tops, inner covers, and bottom boards. i use plain jane straightforward migratory construction, the kind that lets you knock out several hundred in a good day. i can do 90 frames in a hour if im set up carefully.

but im only doing five hives for divides for now
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 16, 2023, 06:28:16 PM
well, three ten-foot boards make four complete pairs of tops and bottoms, complete with cleats and beeways. not a lot of waste. bottom board

(https://i.imgur.com/169xNRfl.jpg)

14 inches by 21.5 inches, with a 5/16-inch U-shaped set of beeways to make an entrance on one side.

top is identical t the bottom, just no beeways.

(https://i.imgur.com/SJ4HXSYl.jpg)

hobby hives have all sorts of fussy inner covers, telescoping lids, special gimmicks and so on. the bees dont care. if there's a hole, thy either use it to fly through or plug it up.

if i was doing a lot of these id have a decent set up, but for just five i pulled the saw out of hibernation and just cut pieces as i needed them.

(https://i.imgur.com/m9DWVBSl.jpg)

buyng ten foot boards and cutting them all to 21.5 inches gave me all the pieces i needed without a lot of waste.

(https://i.imgur.com/tfhBg1Xl.jpg)

but i was hoping for five sets. ill have to buy another boad.

turns out the wood shortage in america has made dimensional lumber weird. i cut some 12-inch boards to 21.5 long, then ripped a two-inch piece  to add to make a 14-inch wide bottom, and foubnd i was an inch to narrow, at 13 inches

turns out that a 12-inch board is now only 11 inches wide. bastards.

i looked and looked, but i didnt have any 1.5-inch staples for the senco gun that i normally use for tops and bottoms. had to use the two-inch staples from the paslode, which i normally only use for assembling hive bodies. so i had to tap the ends over. not to worry, the bees dont care.

ive been gone from keeping bees a long time. this is the first time ive beuilt tops and bottoms in twenty years. ive got hundreds of frames to assemble in one of the apple bins stacked up in the back, but i have to get the hydraulics fixed on the forklift before i can unstack the bins.

not a problem for today.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 16, 2023, 06:40:41 PM
ive got hundreds of hive bodies and supers stacked up, even after burning hundreds from the great bee catastrphe a few years back

(https://i.imgur.com/hawZmE9l.jpg)

so theres no shortage of boxes. just tops and bottoms. ive still got all my queen rearing equipment in there too. lost about 35 pollen traps, though. may have to make some more of those. be pollen is a high profit enterprise

anyway, i have to go open up my one beehive now. ive had the queen confined to the bottom box for a week, and i need to raise the excluder and let her fill up some more comb so i have something to divide with when the queens show up.

ive contacted the posyt office and told them to hold the box for pick up rather than than putting it in my mailbox. my town is small enough-- 300 people in the village limits and surrounding countryside--that everybody is pretty laid back. so theyre accomdating.

i have no intention of harvesting anything from these for several years. the product is simply 100 percent more hives, so all the honey stays on the bees for feed. honey is a pain in the ass anyway, compared to commercial pollination, buit im in ohio where there isnt a lot of that. so we'll be doing honey eventualy. probably just comb honey. my extractor is huge and i dont really need a set up that large. i could do nine 55-gallon drums a day by myself when it was set up, and with three people you can do 25 drums a day. but i dont want that many bees.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 22, 2023, 06:07:19 PM
queens comi ng thursday next

went to the one hive i have behi d the warehouse. its now 5 boxes tall, two boxes with brood, one with honey, two being filled.

about 6 queen cells in the brood. not sealed yet, but the real thing. killed them all to keep the hive from swarming.

i work in the day so i cant get into the hive during the period when the fielders are all out. so in the afternoon when i go in all the old irritable bees are home and they sting the shit out of me. i try to go in and out as quick as i can but they are quicker than me.

today and tomorrow is cold but i have to breakbtbe hive in two anyway to slow it down. that should keep it out of trouble until i can take it apart and install queens into the divides
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 22, 2023, 08:21:29 PM
th eday continues.

a bit of sun between showers and i split the hive into two, three boxes high. one has the queen and one doesn't. this will keep thyem until th eend of this comng week. but in h emeantime i saw something ive never seen. hive beetles.

(https://i.imgur.com/mSTw2XRl.jpg?1)

little bastards can destroy a weak hive when th enumbers get big.

like all bee parasites, this one came in on bees smuggled into florida from overseas. unlike new zealand, where animal smuggling can cost a lo of money, the penalty in the US is just $1000 per offense, so for somebody who wants cheap bees by the ton, its not a deterrent.

ive never seen them before anywhere until a half hour ago. there are various strategies, bith chemical and physical, but nothing is ever cheap and id have preferred not to discover them.

wrking the bees in bad weather gets me stung too much. i think ive taken thirty or forty stings from these things yesterday and today. im out of pratice so they hurt more than they will later on.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on April 23, 2023, 01:59:20 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on April 22, 2023, 08:21:29 PMive never seen them before anywhere until a half hour ago. there are various strategies, bith chemical and physical, but nothing is ever cheap and id have preferred not to discover them.

Traps with sticky boards or Fipronil based bait shouldn't cost much.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 23, 2023, 03:23:38 AM
https://www.dadant.com/catalog/m01545-beetle-bee-gone

youre right

i have no experience with the beetles but if this works then it appears to be manageable.

medication was a major cost for me with a bunch of hives. and this colony got through the winter with nothing but varroa treatment
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 26, 2023, 11:22:04 PM
well, bhisma has run ygmir out of my chair, with three of these

(https://i.imgur.com/igMg8Yml.jpg)


ygmir was asleep and minding his own business when she came downstairs with the first one and dropped it on top of him.

being blind and at a disadvantage,  ygmir did not contest the usurpation and retreated. bhisma now controls my chair

(https://i.imgur.com/pTmGryAl.jpg)

i may take this opprtunity to reassert my own control over my chsir, but bhisma has to have somewhere to go first, i supposr
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on April 27, 2023, 08:10:31 AM
Awwwwww so cute!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on April 27, 2023, 09:30:49 PM
I don't like to keep pets because I think that it is cruel in a way. I am not a vegan.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 27, 2023, 10:19:13 PM

queens are in. i expected them through the post, but they didnt show. then the UPS parcel service delivered them.

very unexpected

i have five single story colonies waiting right now, so ill give them an hour at close of day and then slip the queens in
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 28, 2023, 12:04:14 AM
 i hate working bees in the later afternoon. all the fielders are in, and they dont like me messing with them.

anyway, the little single highs have been queenless a day or so now, and ive fed them syrup through this particular dearth.

no nectar coming in at the moment.

and so they were all ready for an improvement in their lives

(https://i.imgur.com/TBE81qWl.jpg)

queens came in the usual minicages in a box with about two ounces of nurse bees

(https://i.imgur.com/El3Xh76l.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/kXLECPQl.jpg)

currently the photo ap wont do much for me.  but anyway, i got all five opened and the queens slipped down into some brood. theres a short candy tube in the end of each cage  that takes about three days for the bees to eat through. when they do, theyve forgotten that theyve never seen this particular queen before and all should be well.

hurry this process and theyll kill the new queen in a minute. you have to let them do it the way they want.

in fact, thats the whole thing about beekeeping in general-- they have no obligation to stay in your box, and will blow the moment they think they have a better gig somewhere else.

so you have to figure out what it is that they want, and then give it to them. else they just pack up and leave.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 28, 2023, 12:17:10 AM
here we go. heres one mated carniolan queen aboyt two weeks old in a minicage. the black tube is packed with soft sugar candy and is open to the outside once the candy is eaten

(https://i.imgur.com/OPdQogKl.jpg)

and heres a really good frame of brood from the old queen. she was great. i havent killed her and have just relocated her to another hive and put the new queens in with some of her brood.

(https://i.imgur.com/I1SpYGZl.jpg)

im m aking these divides pretty thin, because im going for numbers and not anything else. so i use two frames of brood, two frames of pollen, two frames of honey, and two empty frames. my brood boxes hold eight frames, which is an antique way of doing it here in the states, but it works well if you pay attention to them. if you dont. they swarm pretty quickly

i used to have dramatic problems with swarming. hollywood potential. but im better at it now.

bees have a weired way with sex chromosomes. generally speaking, . humans have two--= X and Y. bees have about twenty.

a worker bee is heterozygous for one chromosome from her mother, and another from one of possibly twent fathers.

onl;y heterozygous bees live. homozygous bees die.

so you want the queens to mate with as many drones as possibe, to increase th echances that all the brood is heterozygous. that soldi fram of brood above has almost no skips, which means that queen diddled with drones who were all differently chromosomesd from her.

remember queens and workers are diploid, and drones are haploid. so a dron has only a songle type of sperm to offer, and if its the same as the one the queen contributes to a worker egg, it dies.

queens mate with fifteen or twenty drones on two or three mating flights whnen theyre about ten or eleven days old. got to have good weather.

thes queens were delayed a week because califonia was rainy and none of thr queens could get out to do the wild thing
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 28, 2023, 12:21:44 AM
queenless bees dont like being queenless. they know its a death sentence for the hive. here's a quenn i set on th etop bars of a queen less hive.

(https://i.imgur.com/ByQDUDal.jpg)

and here it is about 30 seconds later

(https://i.imgur.com/OLN1g2gl.jpg)

you cant see it but all the workers on the top bars were turning and runnign to that queen cage
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on April 28, 2023, 01:17:51 AM
To bee or not to bee - that is the question.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on April 28, 2023, 02:50:19 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on April 28, 2023, 12:21:44 AMqueenless bees dont like being queenless. they know its a death sentence for the hive. here's a quenn i set on th etop bars of a queen less hive.

(https://i.imgur.com/ByQDUDal.jpg)

and here it is about 30 seconds later

(https://i.imgur.com/OLN1g2gl.jpg)

you cant see it but all the workers on the top bars were turning and runnign to that queen cage

What does that mean?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on April 28, 2023, 06:03:09 AM
they were excited to see her

if tbe hive had had a queen they would have ignored her
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on April 28, 2023, 08:32:12 AM
Absolutely fascinating!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on April 29, 2023, 10:35:51 PM
Among animals best avoided is the beastie in the video.....

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on April 30, 2023, 12:44:58 AM
Quote from: Icarus on April 29, 2023, 10:35:51 PMAmong animals best avoided is the beastie in the video.....


I had an experience with some of those a few weeks ago, the Pacific sort anyway.
I'd pulled ashore and was just getting back in kayak. I saw what looked like a broken glass bottle and frowned, can feet viscerally cringe? but it was really only plastic.  Then I saw one of those blue fellows and said fuck, then another, fk, and then another and another and another, I did a sort of fk fk fk fk fk dance, lost count of the steps.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on April 30, 2023, 03:20:10 AM
I have plenty of people around me who are animals.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on April 30, 2023, 04:15:23 AM
I took our mutt for a walk after dinner today. Earlier in the day, one of my sons noticed some ducks wandering around the neighborhood. When walking the dog, she noticed the ducks. She's a pretty smart dog and notices a lot on our walks. She kept turning back to look at these strange interlopers in our neighborhood. She's seen crows and squirrels, but doesn't give them more than cursory attention.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 03, 2023, 09:41:36 PM
I'm an animal living my life.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 03, 2023, 11:56:06 PM
put a gallon of syrup through the divides, just mixed up more.

i used to buy sugar to make my own syrup, in small quantities. 17 gallons in a 55 gallon barrel will take right at 400 pounds of granulated sucrose to saturate the water and fill the barrel. i would feed t nucs with a gasoline pressure pump and a 50 foot garden hose with a gun  nozzle.

later i just made a deal with a neighbor who bought syrup in bulk. he could buy it and fill my gallon cans for me cheaper than i could buy it myself. i would buy 300 or 400 gallons at a time

for the six little hives im feedong now i just pour a gallon and a half into a big stew pot on the kitchen stove, heat it up and add sugar unril it floats. that gives me 4 gallons of syrup.

feels strange to be doing this in sych little quantities. when my wife and i started out, we had one hive. finished the year with thirty something, then 130 the next year. tjird year we had 300, then we added about a hundred a year u til we werr runni g 800 hives.

lots of work, that was
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 12:34:59 AM
I think that I've got hives.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 04, 2023, 01:28:37 AM
marcus, youve said that you dont keep pets because you think its cruel.

until a moment ago, i had a cat in my lap. a pretty happy one.

what is it about keeping animals that you find cruel?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 04, 2023, 01:49:16 AM
and now the cat is back
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 02:42:25 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 04, 2023, 01:28:37 AMmarcus, youve said that you dont keep pets because you think its cruel.

until a moment ago, i had a cat in my lap. a pretty happy one.

what is it about keeping animals that you find cruel?

I don't know especially why I find it cruel to keep pets. I just feel rather sympathetic to the fact that animals should be allowed their freedom.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on May 04, 2023, 07:59:21 AM
You've never shared your life with a dog have you?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 04, 2023, 01:58:13 PM
my animals are free to come and go as they choose. none are confined.

i have added i dont know how many turkeys to the local population after they abscond. the raccoons and possums all graduated to the woods.

the cats come and go.

we do have goats and a donkey behind a fence, but they dont seem to mind
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on May 04, 2023, 09:19:03 PM
Goats are fun to watch.

Donkeys are bad asses that are not to be trifled with. According to the accounts that I have read, they can kill a bobcat or other critters that threaten them.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 09:31:13 PM
Quote from: Icarus on May 04, 2023, 09:19:03 PMGoats are fun to watch.

Donkeys are bad asses that are not to be trifled with. According to the accounts that I have read, they can kill a bobcat or other critters that threaten them.

My ass talks.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 09:40:45 PM
Baby ducks are just cute.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 10:20:42 PM
Quote from: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 09:31:13 PM
Quote from: Icarus on May 04, 2023, 09:19:03 PMGoats are fun to watch.

Donkeys are bad asses that are not to be trifled with. According to the accounts that I have read, they can kill a bobcat or other critters that threaten them.

My ass talks.

I am arty-farty.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 04, 2023, 11:00:34 PM
Baby elephants are cute as. I love how they go stumbling and charging about.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 04, 2023, 11:53:02 PM
our dobkey doesnt like coyotes or dogs

once he put a huge bruise in my sternum because i drank too much and tried to ride him.

hes happy to be ridden but only by people lighter than me

people say goats run away but when ours were running loose they just hung around the kitchen door
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 05, 2023, 12:13:36 AM
In Australia, we have a big problem with feral animals. As for cane toads, thanks science.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 07, 2023, 05:36:40 PM
yesterday got back from work late. checked the feeder cans on the bees a few days ago, and id mixed the syrup too thick and it had precipitated solids over the holes punched in the caps. so i cleared the holes, poured out a bit of syrup and refilled with water to lower the concentration of solids. it woirked, and all the cans were liquid and the bees were taking it in.

so i pulled the middle frames to look att he queen cages. all the candy was cleared, and the queens were loose. i looked more closely at one and the queen was busy layng as i watched, holding the frame in my hand.

carniolans are dark-coloured bees from germany. the germans have a strange ly high regard for racial purity, and are constantly trying t breed bees to historically pure "types," of which the carniolans are one. these racial types are associated with certain behaviours. in th ecarniolans its late but very rapid build-up, advntageous for western and northern europe. th emore traditional italian variaties are good for warmer mediterranean climates and have been th ebees most common in america until recently. supposedly the carnilans will do better in ohio than italian bees.

but im very skeptical. first, all that people are doing with carniolan strains is breeding for bees that are dark colored. we dont have any genuine german lineages that i am aware of. second, all the carniolan queens are mated with italian and carniolan drones. no way to keep them separate, unless you have isolated mating grounds that nobody has. so th egenes are all mixed up.

but what the hell. the alternative strains from my queen supplier were all the recessive cordovan mutants. these are beautiful light colored honey bees, producing big colnies early, but vulnerable to early spring bad weather which kept them in the hives going hungry. also they had a serious chalkbrood vulnerability when i ran them back twenty years ago. so i decided to give the other genetics a try.

right now theyre huddled up in the boxes because its raining.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZXzkb1Ql.jpg)

ive had beehives starve to death because they couldnt fly in th erain. there's lots of flowers available now, dandelion and crabpple and late pears and cherries soo. no real ground flora yet, but thats coming,. but they have to fly to gather anything and its still frosty in the early morning and rainy about every other day.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 07, 2023, 06:57:24 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/B2Of1zKl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/kld3jsjl.jpg)

theyre  all out.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 11, 2023, 11:04:06 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/lEnZrhAl.jpg)

the first litter is out of the nest

as of today

three more on the kitchen  porch
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 11, 2023, 11:42:31 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 11, 2023, 11:04:06 PM(https://i.imgur.com/lEnZrhAl.jpg)

the first litter is out of the nest

as of today

three more on the kitchen  porch

How such adorable things can turn out so cruel is beyond me.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 11, 2023, 11:47:16 PM
they can be pretty ruthless, i freely admit.

but we used to have a serious mouse problem around here, and the rat snakes i caught and turned loose around the house couldnt keep up. the cats mostly keep them down.

but they also do in the weasels, chipmunks, meadow mice, peromyscus, and baby thrushes and other passerines. we're constantly rescuing fledglings. baby falcons last year. theyre not back yet. normnally they nest in the eves above th ekitchen porch
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 11, 2023, 11:59:37 PM
Cats are a threat in Australia to native fauna and very much despised by some people.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 12, 2023, 12:32:21 AM
i would like to have fewer but i am not alone in my household
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 12, 2023, 12:47:34 AM
Human beings are animals that live against nature. It is good to get in touch with nature, it does the heart good.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bluenose on May 12, 2023, 03:16:11 AM
Gemma is always happy to see me when I visit Mum and Dad...

(https://scontent.fsyd3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/331876896_527021746086782_4538715534934488738_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=BqRBsCSjrqUAX8syPeM&_nc_ht=scontent.fsyd3-1.fna&oh=00_AfCPnotj8Mokkj98enE6MeBe4bVVCw8gmQJVMdJ4UKo3LQ&oe=64633D68)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 12, 2023, 03:20:27 AM
Quote from: Bluenose on May 12, 2023, 03:16:11 AMGemma is always happy to see me when I visit Mum and Dad...

(https://scontent.fsyd3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/331876896_527021746086782_4538715534934488738_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=BqRBsCSjrqUAX8syPeM&_nc_ht=scontent.fsyd3-1.fna&oh=00_AfCPnotj8Mokkj98enE6MeBe4bVVCw8gmQJVMdJ4UKo3LQ&oe=64633D68)

You even have a book about a cat.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on May 13, 2023, 12:19:01 AM
Mum and dad have a book about a cat and numerous other books.   

I confess that I surreptitiously scan the library contents of new acquaintances.

There are two cases. One is that the person has interests that are in evidence by the book titles. One can then make a hasty judgement about whether to pursue a new friendship. There are often items of mutual interest, the better to start conversations.

The other kind of library has books that have never been cracked  The books have impressive, or ostentatious titles. That's show biz. The third category has books that are of little interest to the owner. The owner feels that they must be displayed because his sister in law gave him the book as a present. He dares not hurt the feelings of the lame brained SIL.

You can get some clues about the mentality of your neighborhood by putting up one of the "Little Library" boxes.   Taking note of the disappearance of one category of book or another is a clue.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 13, 2023, 12:41:48 AM
I should build one and put all my university math and physics texts in it. "Hey, why is our next-door neighbor using his fireplace in July!?" :lol: I haven't cracked any of those texts in more years than I'd like to admit. When I left the antenna department at work for a mechanical position, my most well-thumbed tome was Machinery's Handbook.

Gratuitous picture of dog eating a piece of chicken. She's a real sweetheart, but those teeth.

https://i.imgur.com/EodtsoX.mp4

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on May 14, 2023, 01:56:26 AM
DL my former most thumbed books were Machinery's Handbook and Marks: Mechanical Engineers Handbook.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bluenose on May 14, 2023, 02:23:17 PM
Quote from: Icarus on May 13, 2023, 12:19:01 AMMum and dad have a book about a cat and numerous other books.   

I confess that I surreptitiously scan the library contents of new acquaintances.

There are two cases. One is that the person has interests that are in evidence by the book titles. One can then make a hasty judgement about whether to pursue a new friendship. There are often items of mutual interest, the better to start conversations.

The other kind of library has books that have never been cracked  The books have impressive, or ostentatious titles. That's show biz. The third category has books that are of little interest to the owner. The owner feels that they must be displayed because his sister in law gave him the book as a present. He dares not hurt the feelings of the lame brained SIL.

You can get some clues about the mentality of your neighborhood by putting up one of the "Little Library" boxes.   Taking note of the disappearance of one category of book or another is a clue.

At my parents house, there are more books than I can count.  I come from a long line of readers.  In Mum's case, she has books about cats (let us just say that this particular genre is well represented)  There are many books about history, particularly Australian history including early European settlement (we are descended from "First Fleeters") as well a vast array of historical fiction.  There are many art books and books about art, mainly regarding painters.  My Mum's father was a prominent Australian landscape artist.  There are too many cook books to count.  Then there are my father's collection of military books, particularly about naval history and naval aviation (he was a Royal Naval pilot back in the 1950s), books on woodworking and a plethora of general fiction owned by both my parents.  I'm sure I've left out vast swathes of their book collection.

I inherited a love of books and reading.  I particularly like good quality science fiction.  I also have an extensive collection of scientific books about Australian freshwater fish and ecosystems, plus my own collection of naval aviation books.  Furthermore, I was a (non - pilot) naval aviator back in the day and I believe that my father and I were the first father and son to serve as aircrew on the same squadron in the Royal Australian Navy.  Dad was part of a loan program in the 50s between the RN and the RAN.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 14, 2023, 10:23:48 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/aI5Okdul.jpg)

now its baby mockingbirds. the wife is still in specting dead possums on the road, but so far hasnt brought any pouch babies home.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on May 17, 2023, 03:06:51 AM
Billy the Avian flu is rampant across three continents, including our own.  The mortality rate of raptors and scavengers are especially concerning.  If you have dead Opossum carcasses, they are likely to attract Buzzards who can then spread the disease because of buzzard community sharing.

Have you seen any evidence of unusual bird mortality?

 
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 17, 2023, 04:14:57 AM
"Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." What's up with the mockingbird, billy?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 17, 2023, 02:00:20 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/1r5JF9pl.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/8nug5m9l.jpg)

my daughter is the maintenancce manager at a local hotel. inspectors came to look into the ventilation system, and tbe mockingbirds had a nest in it. so the nest had to go, and the sole occupant came home.

i think its a mimus. too big to be a starling i think and the juvenile plumage is ambiguous
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 17, 2023, 04:49:06 PM
the mockers are wonderful creatures. youll stand near a tree and listen to it and say

theres a robin

then

no its a grackle

no its a dove

no its a thrush

no its a wren

no its a nuthatch

eventually you just say

no.  its a mockingbird.

whats interesting is that they somwtimes will imitate birds that dont exist where you are. once i was in town in arizona, and i heard the distinct starter motor call of a cactus wren. catus wrens dont live in town-- theyre out in the lower sonoron desert. but there it eas. then it changed species and i realized, mockingbird.

they defend their nests with great diligence if you mess with them

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 17, 2023, 11:41:54 PM
The birds haven't started up this morning.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 18, 2023, 12:24:35 AM
damn

now we have a baby sparrowhawk. still in the down. wife found it on the ground by tbe kitchen, near where theve been nesting.

parents are going nuts

hung a catcarrier up under the eves. if they find it before dark it might survive the night
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 18, 2023, 05:00:29 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 18, 2023, 12:24:35 AMdamn

now we have a baby sparrowhawk. still in the down. wife found it on the ground by tbe kitchen, near where theve been nesting.

parents are going nuts

hung a catcarrier up under the eves. if they find it before dark it might survive the night

I keep forgetting that it is spring over there.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 18, 2023, 06:26:51 PM
yes

we are antipodal
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 18, 2023, 11:10:25 PM
here it is tbe little bastard


too young to stay outside. it was 37 F last night. so the nature goddess wife brought it in
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on May 19, 2023, 01:34:41 AM
:lol: Nice squeaky toy!  I hope that it lives...
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Bluenose on May 19, 2023, 03:15:25 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on May 17, 2023, 04:49:06 PMthe mockers are wonderful creatures. youll stand near a tree and listen to it and say

theres a robin

then

no its a grackle

no its a dove

no its a thrush

no its a wren

no its a nuthatch

eventually you just say

no.  its a mockingbird.

whats interesting is that they somwtimes will imitate birds that dont exist where you are. once i was in town in arizona, and i heard the distinct starter motor call of a cactus wren. catus wrens dont live in town-- theyre out in the lower sonoron desert. but there it eas. then it changed species and i realized, mockingbird.

they defend their nests with great diligence if you mess with them



Speaking of bird mimics, I live very near to one of the best locations to find lyrebirds (within 4 or 5 km of my home).  I never tire of seeing and hearing them, just beautiful.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 20, 2023, 09:56:14 PM
that is fantastic. i ve heard mockingbirds and grackles mimic here in th estates, but never anything that good
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2023, 08:32:41 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/453u61al.jpg)

three of tbe five queens were avcepted. one hive was queenlrss, and another had raised tbis beaitiful italian on tbeir own.

i put two frames of open brood into the queenless hive, and they can see about raising tbeir own queen. she ll be late, but all i need are bees to draw comb
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2023, 10:45:22 PM
there always seems to be more going on. theres a scarlet tanager hanging out in the elm tree above the old carriage shed. cant get a picture because the bugger is up in the treetops, but they look like this:

(https://www.lyricbirdfood.com/media/1570/scarlett-tanager-cropped-ts-146785253.jpg)

they sound a bit like a robin, but not as long  or complex a song.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2023, 10:48:13 PM
and then while i was feeding the bees on the back porch, i looked down and the cat was messing with this

(https://i.imgur.com/5kqWXVql.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/PQXH2ogl.jpg)

thres a lot of different snakes around here. this one is a Thamnophis sirtalis, a ribon or lines snake. gets maybe a foot or so long. family colubridae, which is the common non-venomous snake family in north america. i say they dont bite, but when i showed my daughter one when she was about ten, it promptly bit her, so im mre cautious now handing sakes to people
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 21, 2023, 10:51:14 PM
did i mention that the lightning bug larvae have come out? they crawl around and glow in th egrass in the late summer, and then disappear. into the leaf litter, i suppose. then in th espring they come out and metamorphose.

the larvae light up in long constant glows, unlike the brif flashes when theyre adults. maybe i cnaget a photo. theyre not very bright right now.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 22, 2023, 03:13:43 AM
There's certainly a lot of life in your life, billy.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 22, 2023, 06:55:05 AM
theres all sorts of things goibg on here
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on May 22, 2023, 08:17:09 AM
Fascinating. As always :)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 22, 2023, 08:23:47 AM
Not bad for a bloke stuck out in the sticks.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 22, 2023, 12:59:57 PM
the sticks is where all the interesting stuff happens.

about time to catch some new fish too
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 23, 2023, 07:15:44 AM
The sticks is where nature is.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 23, 2023, 11:57:57 PM
got home from work. eating dinner

what are those sparrow hawks upset about outside?

went and looked. discovered offspring number two

(https://i.imgur.com/FlRCGtTl.jpg)

the parents were savaging the cats when they got too close

so i caught it. got bit some but not more than a pinch

and since it had new feathers and presumably can thermoregulate we stuck it in the cherry tree over the old chicken coop

they can take care of it themselves iover there
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 25, 2023, 12:00:53 AM
lol

bird update

th efledling sparrow hawk has survived and calls to its parents out of the cherry tree. ill get a picture maybe this wekeend. the little falcons are beautiful bord. 8 x human visual acuity, if  remember correctly.

the lttle starling has graduated from amusing to hilarious. my lovely wife has been teaching it to fly around the house, which it will happily do, so today she took it out into the hayfield, where it could fly free, as a bird, so to speak.

and it did. it flies from her head to the cherry tree. from the cherry tree to her head, where it begs for food. from her head to the elm tree, where it seacrhes the branches for things. then it flies to her head to beg for food. so she works out in the fields, and the starling flies around until it gets hungry. then it comes to her to beg for food.

i told her, go buy some crickets or meal worms, and teach it to eat something besides cat food from your fingers. and she will eventually.

but int he meantime we have the archetypical teenage bird:

youre unnecessary. i can do just fine. leave me be . . .

will you drive me to the mall?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 25, 2023, 12:06:51 AM
pitchers, just in general from th enet

sparrow hawk

(https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/23/2015/08/GettyImages-1060429348-7080795.jpg)

starling

(https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a6390338a02c77bf05da4ab/1567011561284-8K0RVD6W6VDWFATN6WYR/33721607850_f40c2ac436_o.jpg)

you brits have the same falcon there in your woods. i dont think its was introduced to oz.

the american starlings were introduced to america about 1890 by bible society people who wanted to bring over ever animal listed in christian scriupture. 90 pairs releasd in new ork. have spread across the country
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on May 25, 2023, 08:17:48 AM
I have a cheeky Robin in my garden at the moment. I'll be sitting reading and it'll hope about a couple of feet from me with a 'Feed Me!' look in its eye :D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 26, 2023, 12:12:15 AM
and then tbere were three .
 . .
(https://i.imgur.com/QfKxiKel.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/cIQxYODl.jpg)

tjis one managed to stay on tbe roof. the other one os in the tree, and the first one is being re-habbed somewhere
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 26, 2023, 12:13:33 AM
Quote from: Tank on May 25, 2023, 08:17:48 AMI have a cheeky Robin in my garden at the moment. I'll be sitting reading and it'll hope about a couple of feet from me with a 'Feed Me!' look in its eye :D

your robins are different from ours. ours are pretty large thrushes. they got the name from the orange breast
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on May 26, 2023, 09:22:16 AM
This little chap posed for crumbs at The Eden Project in Cornwall. The cafeteria was in one of the glasshouses and open to any wildlife in there.

(https://imageshack.com/i/1drobinfw8j)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: The Magic Pudding. on May 26, 2023, 11:42:36 AM
Quote from: Tank on May 26, 2023, 09:22:16 AMThis little chap posed for crumbs at The Eden Project in Cornwall. The cafeteria was in one of the glasshouses and open to any wildlife in there.

(https://imageshack.com/i/1drobinfw8j)

You should attach him to a Hogswatch card, may not be at all cooperative though.

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 27, 2023, 12:33:20 AM
ro bin!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on May 27, 2023, 01:01:21 AM

sparrow hawks at beginning and end, and tge mockingbird in the middle.

only three birds in this: adult falcon, juvenile falcon, mockingbird
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 27, 2023, 05:06:24 AM
I saw a crazy bulldog rolling on a lawn today as it scratched its back. It amused the hell out of me.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on May 27, 2023, 10:03:54 AM
My dog does that and it is very amusing.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on May 29, 2023, 07:23:39 AM
Human beings amuse me the most.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 04, 2023, 01:47:55 PM
got up this morning and was walking out to the road

(https://i.imgur.com/K5Iwggll.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/RRRbBWHl.jpg)

odocoelius virginianus

abiut a metre at the shoulder. stood there sraing at me and wouldnt run.  when i got close she hopped into the hayfield and stopped again

i said, youve got a fawn holed up in there, doncha

so i cimbed up into the hayfield and started walking along tbe line of young chestnut trees parallel to the road. after about 30 feet a spotted fawn leapt up out of the timothy and ran to the doe. then they both stopped

i broke off then so they wouldnt get separated

lots of these whitetails around here. now with the hayfield fallow they have somewhere close by to hide
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 06, 2023, 05:30:31 AM
ever-present seagulls
in the bitter rain
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 06, 2023, 11:46:00 AM
this morning i walked over to my truck and there were chewed pieces of chicken nuggets all over the hydraulic control box.

i had picked up a n oil field chemical company box the day before. no chicken nuggets there.

so i looked closer and tbere were greasy raccoon footprints all over the box.

so now im a buffet table for the local nightife

must have bern ots of chicken nuggets around to have lefy such a mess behind
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 07, 2023, 12:56:20 AM
so i came home and walked up to thr warehouse door

(https://i.imgur.com/FJq5vjTl.jpg)

snake

(https://i.imgur.com/FPmMqGml.jpg)

not really a snake but a snake skin. this would be an elaphe obsoleta, local black rat snake. shed skin. they get tjree or four feet, altbough ive seen em six feet long

i looked around for more but none were visible. rat snakes are beautiful and good tempered animals, altbough all the ones ive caught tried to bite me ferociously i admit

otherwise nice to have around. i catch all i can and let em lose around the house

(https://i.imgur.com/QWkzoGKl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 07, 2023, 05:53:00 AM
a snoopy little pigeon
approached a cafe drinker -
where there's one, there's many.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 07, 2023, 06:06:18 PM
the cats next door
have gone, I guess that they just
died while I lived.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 07, 2023, 06:43:11 PM
a bird in a cage
makes me weep, frustrated -
unspoken words
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 08, 2023, 03:15:10 PM
most mammals are bats and rats
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 08, 2023, 04:36:41 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on June 08, 2023, 03:15:10 PMmost mammals are bats and rats

Well, bugger me if you're not right.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 09, 2023, 02:58:58 AM
I see no mammals here
but people dressed for the fine
weather.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on June 13, 2023, 05:50:39 AM
 Orcas on both sides of the Straight of Gibraltar are pissed or motivated by some other reason..  There have been numerous attacks and even some sinkings of boats in those areas.  They particularly favor attacking sailboats.
 
Speculation about why these attacks vary.  One of the more logical posits is that the Orcas know that food is almost surely aboard those sailboats. Hungry pod of Orcas....sink the damned boat. Other speculation is that the fin keels of the sailboats may pose an imaginary threat to the Orca mind.  They attack fin keels and are particularly adept at destroying rudders.  Some speculation is that Orcas do it for sport.

Few if any sailboats can sail faster than an Orca can swim. No running and hiding is in the offing for the unfortunate mariner.

https://forscubadivers.com/ocean-conservation/orca-encounters-now-sinking-boats-new-learned-behavior/?fbclid=IwAR357vHFf2iB4PKC2aHocWvzAkVoD8L4DnJVHNi-A817H6RzHF2KEd3BMus
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 14, 2023, 08:50:14 PM
Animals in my life? There's enough of them.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on June 15, 2023, 10:13:40 AM
Over the last few days I have had the following dinosaurs in my garden.
Blue tit
Great tit
Dunnock
Pigeon
Jackdaw
Sparrow
Blackbird
Goldfinch
Magpie
also overflown by Red Kites

and one mammal
Grey Squirrel
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 16, 2023, 11:37:33 PM
I don't have pets but I eat meat.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 17, 2023, 01:28:38 AM
konrad lorenz was into jackdaws

i dont know what they look like

we have gray sqirrels, fox squirrels, a red squirrel, eastern flying squirrels, and a chipmunk.

thats its for sciuridae around here
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 17, 2023, 02:40:09 AM
A Jackdaw is a crow by another name.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 18, 2023, 01:05:52 AM
a pair of crows
saunter around the corner -
suspect gangsters
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 19, 2023, 09:53:32 AM
Quote from: MarcusA on June 18, 2023, 01:05:52 AMa pair of crows
saunter around the corner -
suspect gangsters

Everything's an excuse for poetry.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 20, 2023, 12:33:16 AM
Buggy is a little doggie.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 21, 2023, 02:36:35 AM
A little dog is a bit whiffy,
A big dog does big turds.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 22, 2023, 02:26:41 AM
Bad poetry is the bane of my life. It's like fleas that jump in a flea circus, gimmicky.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 27, 2023, 01:24:39 PM
so i stepped onto the kitchen porch at 0500 this morning to go to work and there is a large cage.

inside the cage is a young raccoon.

further developments to be announced.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 27, 2023, 04:26:08 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/WKi3ggCl.jpg)

there were two. too small to be away from the mother, one was dead.

so now we are bottle raising yet another trash panda.

luckily we seem to be at equilbrium with tbe chicken/raccoon relationship.

we keep enough dog food on the porch, and the chickens survive
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on June 27, 2023, 05:26:32 PM
What a cute little critter.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 27, 2023, 08:49:05 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/ErATNX7l.jpg)

theyre intelligent, social, and tame easily. they can be a probem in the wild because theyre part of nature, and nature doesnt share.

this one would have died in the rain last night if my wife hadnt rescued it from a box someone left under a tree. dunno what happened to the mother .

currently we sre feeding at least five on the kitchen porch at night, two of which are familiar with bananas. last night they wete inspecting the baby in the cage
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on June 28, 2023, 04:15:41 AM
You are good people, Billy.  :love:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on June 28, 2023, 08:34:51 AM
Quote from: hermes2015 on June 28, 2023, 04:15:41 AMYou are good people, Billy.  :love:

 :this:  :this:  :this:
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on June 28, 2023, 02:13:03 PM
theyre cool animals. theyve been pests in the past, but not latley
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on June 29, 2023, 05:08:56 AM
Cats are familiar to witches
Because cats like humans are
Inherently selfish.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on July 18, 2023, 02:44:16 AM
Man is a political animal.
- Transcribed from Aristotle
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 18, 2023, 02:50:51 AM
there are seven raccoons on my porch for dinner. the rescue sleeps snuggled up with the cats and comes running in about 0700 for breakfast.

the others hang out to see what my wife will give them
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on July 18, 2023, 02:54:30 AM
Do racoons make a racket?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 18, 2023, 01:56:18 PM
they trill, like rolling your rs without the r part
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 21, 2023, 12:03:50 AM
here he is yesterday morning.

(https://i.imgur.com/zLLKy0Bl.jpg)

came out at 0500 looking for raisins. hes biggere than th ekittens now, and the adult cats mostly ignore him. the adult raccoons mostly ignore him too. hes not old enough to be significant yet, but they tolerate him and his handsies very well.

he's completely free to come and go now, but still sleeps in his cage in the hammock my wife made for him out of a tea towel.

why do they call them tea towels?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on July 21, 2023, 07:49:09 AM
Spottie the dog
is a little rascal,
always getting out
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 21, 2023, 08:00:32 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on July 21, 2023, 12:03:50 AMhere he is yesterday morning.

(https://i.imgur.com/zLLKy0Bl.jpg)

came out at 0500 looking for raisins. hes biggere than th ekittens now, and the adult cats mostly ignore him. the adult raccoons mostly ignore him too. hes not old enough to be significant yet, but they tolerate him and his handsies very well.

he's completely free to come and go now, but still sleeps in his cage in the hammock my wife made for him out of a tea towel.

why do they call them tea towels?

That is such a wonderful picture.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 21, 2023, 11:13:50 PM
well, my kitchen porch is decrepit but the animals are nice
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on July 22, 2023, 01:36:34 AM
Wonderful indeed. Cute raccoon.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 24, 2023, 11:48:01 PM
dammit

i was top supering the six beehives on the back a[pron of the warehouse. late in the day, no smoke, no veil, i was in a hurry. but too late in the day, and all the old fielders were in and the little bitches stung the shit out of my face.

i couldnt find the stngers to take them out and now my lower lip is swollen.

i havent been swollen from a bee sting in twenty five years. i only took six or seven stings.

obviously my cue to get stung more.

thjis would be annoying if it werent so funny
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 24, 2023, 11:54:17 PM
and otis, my ancient and battle scarred tomcat is back. not dead after all.

he's about ten years old, all chewed up and decrepit from past conflicts in his golden age. he disappeared when i went to maine and didnt show up for about two weeks.

well, i said, the coyotes finally got him, i guess.

(theyve been singing every night pretty close)

but this morning there he was on the kitchen porch, alive after all.

and now he's here in the warehouse with me, eating the wet cat food that the cats who hang out with me get in the afternoon. a bit more shredded, so to speak, but hes doing okay for how old he is

(https://i.imgur.com/fmqM020l.jpg)

 so he dodged the bullet again.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 25, 2023, 09:25:12 AM
I love your life. From a distance and I don't think it would suit my wife! :D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 25, 2023, 05:37:49 PM
you might not say tbat if youd been with me tipping an open top box up in the air with 8000 pounds of semisolid poop in it this morning
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 25, 2023, 07:41:11 PM
That's why I say I love it at a distance lol
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 25, 2023, 11:11:02 PM
here

he came out this morning when i went in so i gave him some raisibs
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 25, 2023, 11:11:15 PM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on July 26, 2023, 09:11:30 AM
I am an animal. I am an atheist, naturally.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on July 26, 2023, 03:29:24 PM
well, if you hopped up on my kitchen porch in the morning to say hello, id give you raisins too.

except today he got whole banana
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on July 27, 2023, 06:54:00 AM
I want a banana.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on July 27, 2023, 08:55:45 AM
You are not alone. Bananas are the top selling fruit across all supermarket chains in the UK. And are in the top 10 items across most.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on July 31, 2023, 02:30:58 AM
I see a moth
Or it might be just a crack
Upon the wall
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 02, 2023, 12:17:58 AM
three vulnerable animals today tbat i could not help.

driving into town this morni ng about 0530, pitch dark, there was a chicken in the road. hunched over, obviously anxious,. it should not have been out in the dark, and should not have been in the road.  all i could think of was that somethibg had scared it out if its roost and it was seeking safety. i couldnt stop znd what would i do with a chicken for the next 12 hours, even if i could catch it? so i left it and drove on.

stopped by the side of the highway to pee. there was a large puddle on the shoulder  6  feet by two by three inches deep. in it was a small leopard frog. could have been a pickerel frog but i didnt catch it to look at its legs and it was big anyway. ten feet from highway traffic at 70 mph, this frog was sheltering in a puddle on the gravel. i knew better than to try to catch a frog ten feet from a busy highway so i left it and drove on.

later on i passed a turtle crosding the road. they wander this time of year, and people think it is fun to drive over them. about 8 ibch carapace. usually theyre midland painted turtles. i try to stop to help turtles whenever i can but there was no shoulder and i ckuld not stop. so i left it and drove on.

i hate doing that. i have a thing about killing or permitting killing through inaction. i have no hesitation about killing at all if circumstances require it, but needless death bothers me.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 02, 2023, 01:03:34 AM
I think I know how you feel about this. I had a buddy in the Navy who grew up in Oklahoma. People would run over turtles in the road all the time, he told me. Also, while working at Cape Canaveral in '05, there was a turtle migration (not sure why). There was a turtle about 18" wide in the road that someone had run over one side of; it's head and neck protruded from the shell in a death rictus of agony. It was a gruesome sight, and I was pretty pissed; who the hell would do something like that? Stupid question, given what people do to other humans on this planet.  :(
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 02, 2023, 01:40:37 AM
in oklahoma they think its fun to catch them just on the rim and flip them.

generally they partially crush them instead. thats what you saw.

i am from oklahoma. dont get me started.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 02, 2023, 02:16:07 AM
Sometimes doing nothing is the best policy.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 02, 2023, 02:38:36 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 02, 2023, 01:40:37 AMin oklahoma they think its fun to catch them just on the rim and flip them.

generally they partially crush them instead. thats what you saw.

i am from oklahoma. dont get me started.

People from everywhere do nasty shit, that's just the nature of people, unfortunately.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 03, 2023, 12:30:40 AM
Quote from: Dark Lightning on August 02, 2023, 02:38:36 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 02, 2023, 01:40:37 AMin oklahoma they think its fun to catch them just on the rim and flip them.

generally they partially crush them instead. thats what you saw.

i am from oklahoma. dont get me started.

People from everywhere do nasty shit, that's just the nature of people, unfortunately.

But Americans are a special people.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 05, 2023, 11:49:50 PM
dammit

cant live with it

cant live without it

(https://i.imgur.com/Rz5nl5Xl.jpg)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 08, 2023, 02:57:58 AM
Naree the Librarian is
an animal - she doesn't like
poetry.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 09, 2023, 03:38:00 AM
Not much life happening here.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 09, 2023, 03:54:33 AM
picked up a 30 yard box of garbage at a well pad, drove it 65 miles, opened it up at the transfer station and there was a juvenile raccoon huddled against the back door, inside. i got my plastic shovel and tried to get it out but it kept burrowing into the crumbled  cardboard and garbage. eventually i couldnt see it.

i  had trucks waiting behind me to i picked up the box about half way and gave it a little jerk to slide the stuff out slowly. but most all of came it out once.

dunno whether the coon made it. i told the frotn end load he was there and asked him to try breaking the pile up before he smashed it into the truck trailer.

i do not like killing things.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 09, 2023, 05:56:39 AM
If you don't shit, billy, you die.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 09, 2023, 12:19:33 PM
still dont like it .
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 09, 2023, 02:32:51 PM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 09, 2023, 03:54:33 AMpicked up a 30 yard box of garbage at a well pad, drove it 65 miles, opened it up at the transfer station and there was a juvenile raccoon huddled against the back door, inside. i got my plastic shovel and tried to get it out but it kept burrowing into the crumbled  cardboard and garbage. eventually i couldnt see it.

i  had trucks waiting behind me to i picked up the box about half way and gave it a little jerk to slide the stuff out slowly. but most all of came it out once.

dunno whether the coon made it. i told the frotn end load he was there and asked him to try breaking the pile up before he smashed it into the truck trailer.

i do not like killing things.

I'm with you there.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 09, 2023, 04:33:56 PM
laid back day.

im in a dispute with my out of town new manager. he wants me to work 13 hour days. i want to continue with the 10 hour days in effect when i started. yesterday i worked all my assigned loads, and came back at 14.4 hours -- illegal to drive. my pretty decent but powerless local manager said, okay then what time can you start tomorrow?

i said im not working tomorrow, at all, and went home.

so today their predatory schedule is shot to hell because instead of arguing with me over getting the last loads done, theyre not getting any loads done. bless my beating heart.

so it was time to look in on th ebees. theres a dearth right now, no honey flow in the midsummer here. the ground flora is over. not much teasel, little birdsfoot treefoil or sweet clover, no dandelions, no phlox, not much dutch clover or vetch, multiflora roae is long gone as are all the trees. theres daucus and chicory but the bees dont do much on those. so th e girls are just treading water until the goldenrod and asters kick in. if theyres enough fielders, theyll fill up the boxes, which is what im looking for.

anyway, i have em stacked up, mostly for show and so i dont have to worry

(https://i.imgur.com/Edg3s6ql.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/1UftERVl.jpg)

i top-supered everything about ten days ago in a spare moment, and so today i swapped the top box for the number three box. here in ohio i keep the brood nest in two 8 frame deeps. in california i kept em in a single  deep with an excluder under a shallow. not enough stores for the ohio winters here to do that, and they need two deeps for brood here anyway because the season is short. anyway, this puts the empty super between the brood nest and the full super on top, so they have to walk all over it and may draw it out as im still feeding.

i was about to do the last hive when i noticed something odd in front of the landing board

(https://i.imgur.com/uJHctzjl.jpg)

looked close and it was a dead virgin queen

(https://i.imgur.com/07gBcEpl.jpg?1)

(https://i.imgur.com/yjaQcMql.jpg?1)

this was the hive that contained the single good queen i overwintered who was the source for the other five divides. the virgin means either

-- they tried to supercede the original old queen and failed

--they tried to supercede the original old queen and succeeded but made too many queens and so they offed this one

-a supercedure queen from somewhere else tried to fly back into the wrong hive

not knowing which, i left this hive alone. inside there is either no queen, the laying old queen, a laying new queen, or a virgin queen that hasnt started laying. theres nothing i can do except bother them, so i let them bee, so to speak.

in th emeantime, im keeping the feeder cans on them all the time. theyll continue brood rearing into the fall if i keep them happy and fed. i cant do anything about the pollen for protein, but i can keep them stuffed with carbohydrates so their field force can concentrate on protein.

in the meantime im working on the race bike and listening to the most excellent in search of space, by hawkwind.

from long ago in a galaxy far away
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 09, 2023, 04:35:43 PM

i hate this place in the winter, becaue i imprinted in the tropics and the southwestern deserts. but i cannot deny that this place is extremely easy to live in during the summer and early fall. flowers, fair weather cumulus, warm fronts, occasional nimbus. sleeping with the doors open under the mosquito nets, the local wildlife wanders in and out while im asleep and i discover their nefarious activities only the next day.

pictures later maybe
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 09, 2023, 10:28:47 PM
A man is but an animal without a woman.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on August 10, 2023, 04:31:46 AM
Thank you for keeping us in the loop about your bees Billy. Always fascinating and educational.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 10, 2023, 04:40:33 AM
I am an animal - you can't fool me.
And animals don't go to heaven.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 10, 2023, 06:57:06 PM
On by the Osprey,
the peninsula leads
to the Antarctic.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 11, 2023, 04:22:08 AM
The spirit bird hovers
above me. It sees me
as a prey.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: MarcusA on August 12, 2023, 02:49:23 AM
The animal is conscious whether it has a conscience or not is another thing.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 15, 2023, 05:18:49 AM
The Panther is the Florida state animal. They are on the endangered species but there are still 200 to 300 of them. 

The video clip shows a young male panther invading a mature males territory. A fight ensues and the older one is getting the better of it. For an unusual ending, a wild boar appears. We have lots of wild and dangerous boars. The boar interrupts the fight and the younger panther has an opportunity to escape.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/two-florida-panthers-brawl-near-hunter-s-blind-until-an-angry-wild-boar-breaks-it-up/ar-AA1eXH6o?cvid=0b1a8df064a9483c87d0b44d150c60e3&ei=25

Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on August 15, 2023, 05:30:22 AM
https://imgur.com/gallery/iFWshGT



(https://i.imgur.com/2rNz7vH.png)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 17, 2023, 01:22:55 AM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on August 17, 2023, 01:24:23 AM
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on August 17, 2023, 02:24:53 AM
Quote from: billy rubin on August 17, 2023, 01:24:23 AM

My parent's-in-law used to live near a JC that was in a flyway for geese. They'd get two annual visitations to their swimming pool, geese coming and then going. Most of the geese went for the Olympic size pool(s) at the JC, but there were many other swimming pools (this being southern California) for them to get water from, as well.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Asmodean on August 17, 2023, 09:49:03 AM
Quote from: Icarus on August 15, 2023, 05:30:22 AMhttps://imgur.com/gallery/iFWshGT



(https://i.imgur.com/2rNz7vH.png)
:smilenod: Although the Assualt Unicorn is really a... Bicorn? Because he has two of them there corns..?

...Or is the lesser corn merely a... Cump? And if that be the case, unicump? :thoughtful:

Who says a Asmo can't Latin AND biologize?! ;D
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on September 13, 2023, 01:02:26 AM
https://imgur.com/a/txjuIJl

i
(https://imgur.com/a/txjuIJl)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on September 13, 2023, 07:37:53 AM
I have only ever seen a small example of one of these. I would love to see more.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on September 23, 2023, 08:42:53 PM
dammit

the coyotes have eaten my best cats

(https://i.imgur.com/5bR1lR0l.jpg)

tjhis one was a kitten from last spring. lived with me down in my warehouse while all the other cats hung out on the kitchen porch up by the house.

no name, except that my son's girfriend christened him "angel" because of hios easygoing and social personality. always there at the warehouse door, every day for two years when i came home from work, and then would wander around the warehouse with me while i worked, unless he decided to lie down on the keyboard and relax.

came back last week and he wasnt there. not a good sign, i thought.

we have coyotes here all the time, and they generally pick off half a dozen or so cats every winter. but those are generally the wild ones that wander oput into thew woods and get surprised out in the open.

anyway, he wasnt back the nexts day, or the next. or in th etime since.

i dont mind losing the anti-social cats, but i like the to keep the good ones around. but i live in the country, and the coyotes have to eat too.

lost otis, my old tomcat, too. he was about ten years old, and growing increasingly eccentric in his old age. i could handle him, but he wouldnt tolerate anybody else. he was gone for several weeks, then came back to the warehouse for a single day, then disappeared, apparently for good.

im guessing its the same coyote.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on September 23, 2023, 08:47:41 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/Yl8o2Rtl.jpg)

this one was about 4 inches long. ive seen other species that were smaller.

their egg cases are easy to find in the fall, honeycomb things stuck to the fences. when i fine em i bring em home and set em up somewhere.

(https://www.gardenmyths.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/praying-mantis-egg-case-noat.jpg)

about the size of a shilling, if youre that old
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Anne D. on September 24, 2023, 01:47:59 AM
Poor Angel and Otis. Angel has the same coloring as my boy cat, Ricky.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on September 24, 2023, 02:50:24 AM
yes.

its the way of the world
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on September 24, 2023, 05:49:26 AM
Yes, I am old enough. Shilling was a German poet. No, wait, that was Schiller.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 01, 2023, 10:19:15 PM
lol
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 01, 2023, 10:21:22 PM

its autumn.

the bees are killing the golden rod. thats the yellow plant you see all around. a good bloom in the aurumn. if the bees are syrong, they will plug the hives with a dark, strong smelling honey that will see them through the winter without feeding.

im interested in increase, though, so i feed the shit out of em.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 01, 2023, 10:34:57 PM
here they are


i have no interest in collecting honey from these for quite a wqhile. im using 9-1/8 inch frames exclsuively with no queen excluders, so the queen is free to move up and down the entire beehive.  what im looking for is drawn comb. converting eight pounds of honey to one pound of beeswax is energetically expensive for a beehive, so ive been feeding them continuously all year. later on ill put in an excluder to separate the brood from the production honey boxes, which are 6-5/8 inches. i use 8-frame hives rather than 10s, , which is an  antique style that nobody else uses any more. but it works well for me. it just means the hives get crowded quickly, and get tall ver fast. so you have to stay on top of them or they plug and swarm.

the drawn comb is priceless in the spring, as the queen can begin laying in it whenever she wants without waiting for the young bees to draw the combe out. its also vulnerable, because if there arent enough workers to cover the comb, the wax moths destroy it. iven lost hundreds of supers of drawn comb during my own financial crisis when all my bees died, and while i have lots of empty boxes with plastic foundation still in it, its a job for the bees to make it into comb again.

anyway, the video shows a number of things in the late afternoo. first, the bees are still flyying and brining in pollen from the goldenrod. brood rearing is down from its peak in may, but right now the bees are building up a number of workers with a unique long-lived physiology to last the five months of winter and carry the hive through to march and april. most workers live only three weeks during the active season after they emerge, and the winter bees are metabolically different and will keep the clustoer going for months until the weather warms. so im feeding thick sugar syrup on top of the honey theyre bringing in to make sure that nobody runs short. they will anyway, but i can help.

if you look at the entrances, there are bees coming and going.  there are also bees pointing their ass ends in the air and fanning their wings. thjose are the ones ventilating the hive and evaporating the goldenrod nectar, turning it into thicker honey. nectar is mostly water by weight, cant remember how mych. but honey is 80 percent fructose, glucose, and whatever else the plant puts in and the bees bring back. the goldenrod surprised me the first year i was here. id pulled all the honey atthe end of august and got set for feeding for the winter. then the goldrod popped and thge bees filled the hives up.

shit, i said. this is great. i dont have to worry about feed as much.

 goldenrod honey is very darlk and strong flavored. people who like traditional crap honey dont care for it. it is absolutely not subtle and delicate and all that 19th century nonsense. its a genuine regional varietal and if people dont like it i dont care. when the bees are brining it in, its awful. theres somethin g in it that smells like a rotting road kill, and the bee yards stink while the workers are evaporating the nectar. aftyer that aromatic fraction is gone, the honey is fine. i cant smell it any more because i have lost most of my sense of smell, but my wife told me today that the ones behiond the warehouse were smelly, so all is good.

i had a singl;e hive make it through last winter. bought five queens ( i used to sell them in boxes of 100) and increase3d to six. three queens were superceded, maybe more, as i havent looked for the girls in a while. the ones i bought were marked with a red paint dot, which i consider silly, but thats what the breeders do. anyway, if all these survivie, i will turn six beehives into thirty next year. thats the most i want to keep on the home ranch, as they only fly so far. but i live in the country, and theres lots of neighbors who want bees on their ranches. i can easily keep three hundred hives within five or six miles of my kitchen porch, and thats what ill do.

in california i ran 700 or 800 hives towards the end, and migrated them all over four or five counties. i dont want to do that right now, most especially because its expensive in termes of vihicles and fuel, and also because theres mostly no pollination contracts herein the american east. most of my income was from commercial pollination in california, and out here people arent eductaed in its benefits. soo two or three hundred hive is the plan.

ill do honey, spring varietal and fall varietal, and then pollen and propolis. theres lots of bee products i can sell on the net at a decent markup, and im looking for income from these animals.

as well as all the philosophy that keeping bees invariably brings.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on October 02, 2023, 04:23:10 PM
What are the black boxes on top of the hives for?
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 03, 2023, 12:41:41 AM
one gallon feeder jugs. the lids have a hole bored in the top, and i up-end the plastic jugs over the hole. tehre are three little holes punched in the cap.

when i was starting out i used all sorts of stuff to mix feed-- candy factory sweepings, bakery sugar, pallets of sucrose. later on i would mix my own in a 55 gallon barrell. start with 17 gallons of water and then add 400 pounds of sugar. it would fill the barrell with a thick syrup. eventually i would buy about ten barrells ata tiume from a sugar supplier.

towards the end i bought about 1100 steel gallon cans and arranged for another beekeeper to fill em for me with high fructose corn syrup he bought in bulk. he could sell me syrup in my own cans cheaper than i could buy it.

for this stuff i just pour two gallons of water into a big cooking pot, then pour in about 15  pounds of sugar. that will give me three full gallon cans of medium density syrup.

im doing all i can to make these bees fat for the winter, so im feeding them even though theres still a honey flow. i want them to have forty or fifty pounds of stores going into the winter. then in the spring, ill be feeding em again.

these deep supers are all destined for brood chambers. i collect honey in shallower boxes, and dont mix the tw. that way the pesticides and such that i use in the brood nests never contaminate the supers that ill be using for honey.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on October 03, 2023, 07:45:00 AM
Fascinating.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on October 03, 2023, 03:31:31 PM
bees are like that

amazing things just to watch and study

lots harder to keep than before parasites and pesticides
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Icarus on November 13, 2023, 04:13:25 AM
Some dogs have a keen sense of humor. My Irish setter, Molly, was cleverly inventive with some of the stunts that she pulled. All were harmless and most of them were hilarious.

https://imgur.com/gallery/C9JuKVO (https://imgur.com/gallery/C9JuKVO)
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Tank on November 13, 2023, 08:46:50 AM
I absolutely love that dog!!!
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: billy rubin on January 30, 2024, 04:18:46 PM
headed to a well pad yesterday



turkeys and white tailed deer. we used to raise turkeys but bands like this one always picked em off and they ran into the woods, never to return
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: hermes2015 on February 01, 2024, 02:56:27 AM
I like your music.
Title: Re: animals in your life
Post by: Dark Lightning on February 01, 2024, 03:36:52 AM
We took our rescue mutt to the vet yesterday for tooth cleaning. They took a couple out. At least this time the vet didn't guilt us about her teeth. We got her 5 years ago from the pound, at about age 5. We of course had no control over those years. It's amusing how calm and sweet she is at home, compared to the Mr. Hyde performance she gives at the vet.  :D