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3052. arkymalarky - 5/13/2005 6:04:21 PM Some Texans (like my grandmother) call them that, too. 3053. PelleNilsson - 5/13/2005 6:05:13 PM Today's afternoon sky. Nothing spectacular but still a bit odd.
 3054. thoughtful - 5/13/2005 6:12:06 PM neat picture...love the colors. Looks like the kind of day that brings lots of images with the clouds...That one in the middle...I see a swan, or a haughty lady with a prominent chin in a powdered wig! 3055. PelleNilsson - 5/13/2005 6:33:03 PM Your screen doubles as a mirror? 3056. thoughtful - 5/13/2005 6:56:42 PM very funny....
if it did, I'd see a hag with a wart on her nose 3057. wabbit - 5/13/2005 7:23:39 PM Hmmm, I thought you were an adorable little girl with a duck.
Hey Pelle, that would make a very nice desktop background - can you link to a larger version? 3058. thoughtful - 5/13/2005 7:38:40 PM thoughtful before she puts on her makeup
3059. concerned - 5/13/2005 8:03:13 PM We don't have 'skeeters in this part of the world con, so I cannot help you.
Nor snakes, I hear. St. Patrick wasn't very environmentally sensitive, was he? 3060. concerned - 5/13/2005 8:11:32 PM I don't know why, but ticks 'n chiggers are two types of bugs that I haven't had problems with on my heavily forested property complete with wildlife. Haven't been so lucky with horseflies & deerflies, however. 3061. concerned - 5/13/2005 8:17:32 PM I just received the 200 Repellex deer repellant tablets I had ordered today. They're supposed to be put in the ground next to the roots of plants to be protected from these rats with antlers with the idea that the plant will incorporate stuff from the tablet over several weeks and then taste repugnant to deer, etc. for a year or two.
They might actually work judging by the fact that merely handling the closed plastic bags when removing them from the mailing container created a bitter taste in my mouth that must have persisted for half an hour. 3062. PelleNilsson - 5/13/2005 8:21:56 PM Here is the original pic. You may want to crop it. 3063. wabbit - 5/13/2005 8:25:28 PM Thank you, Pelle - it is on my desktop now (with the same cropping you used). 3064. thoughtful - 5/15/2005 8:41:06 PM concerned, I'll be very interested to find out if it works. The only thing that's effective that I've found is staking out bars of ivory soap...not the most attractive for sure. 3065. thoughtful - 5/15/2005 8:43:58 PM Yesterday's walk down by the river took me past a jack-in-the-pulpit or two.
On today's walk, I saw a trilium in bloom...reminds me of an orchid. Tho I didn't have my camera with me...here's someone else's shot...
 3066. thoughtful - 5/15/2005 8:46:38 PM The other thing that's really popped this year is our crab apple tree in the front yard.
A close-up of the blossoms...
And they have a very nice fragrance too. 3067. thoughtful - 5/15/2005 8:48:56 PM And here's Casimir in the tree, with my roadside rock garden in the background...that little patch of blue in the garden is the ajuga which is in full bloom right now.
 3068. judithathome - 5/15/2005 9:19:24 PM Beautiful trees...and cat! 3069. Macnas - 5/16/2005 9:34:54 AM COn, I had to laugh, "rats with antlers", never heard that before.
Isn't it always the way though? To those who do not have them invading land and eating everything in sight, they are just plain deer, maybe a bit bambi like, or maybe even majestic.
To those who, as a farmer once said to me, are "feeding 100 cattle by day and 50 deer both night and day" they are quite the pest. I've never shot deer, nor have any hankering to do so, but I have been asked more than a few times. Farmers who usually have no interest in letting you set foot on their property become very welcoming when deer are competing with cattle for food. 3070. PelleNilsson - 5/16/2005 12:15:24 PM Why don't you shoot deer? Ethics? Practicalities? 3071. Macnas - 5/16/2005 12:41:07 PM Bit of both I suppose Pelle.
Ethics wise, I have no idea as to the sustainability of any deer herd I may be culling from. Deer are better managed as opposed to being shot as opportunity arises, pest control or not.
Practically, There are no deer in my immediate area (yet, they are slowly but surely increasing in numbers and range), and in any case I am not personally tooled up to shoot them. By that I mean I do not own a large calibre rifle at the moment. I'd want a .243 or the redoubtable 6.5x55 Swedish to tackle deer properly.
I have a very good feel for any game or vermin I shoot. I know numbers and keep records of everything I shoot, and as well as that of everything I see. So by looking through my diaries I can get some ready statistics for the amount of, say, woodpigeon in my area. I know that in comparison to last year there are less this time around, so I lay off shooting them.
The corvid population has gone through the roof, so I'm comfortable thinning down the numbers.
I've always thought of it like this: My family has lived in this area for hundreds of years. I am as much a part of this environment as any other animal, so I am part of the balance of things. Therefore I balance what I do with what I see and perceive in the countryside around me.
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