The Last Person To Post Wins #58

mikey
mikey
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cecht wrote:I used to have

cecht wrote:
I used to have bird feeders, but the squirrels were a problem. So I started feeding the squirrels corn to keep their bellies full.  Alas, I finally realized that what I had were multiple cat feeding stations in the yard. So now the birds and squirrels have to feed themselves, and I just feed the cat. There is still plenty of bird song each morning and evening and everybody seems happy.

So you are saying the cats were thinning the herd of squirrels? Isn't that a good thing? I used to grow very hot hot peppers that looked alot like the cherry tomatoes I was also growing. I put the hot pepper plants at the top of the steps to the deck and the squirrels HATED them!! They would sink their teeth into one, take them out and after doing the same thing to another one go away leaving the tomatoes alone. A few squirrels would go up the railing instead of the steps and get to the tomato plants, but I would use an air soft pistol to shoot at them, I almost never hit them as the pistol was cheap and had HORRIBLE aim and besides the pellets couldn't penetrate them anyway, and they would run away. They learned that my deck was not their buffet and searched for other buffets elsewhere. I rehomed a BUNCH of squirrels before the guy at the store told all I was doing was creating a place to let other squirrels move in so I stopped that.

cecht
cecht
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mikey wrote:So you are saying

mikey wrote:
So you are saying the cats were thinning the herd of squirrels? Isn't that a good thing?

In theory, yes, but the herd vastly outnumbered the thinning abilities of that cat.  Our other cat, sweet old thing, preys on our affections and dinner plates. I used to really despise squirrels, back when they would rain fleas down on our dogs.  But the pooches have passed and the cat fleas are manageable, so now I just mildly dislike the tree vermin.  Their populations in our yard wax and wane by some random clock; for the past two years they swarmed over our neighbor's yard and left us alone - this year they again find some attraction to our yard.  The biggest nuisance is they have it in their tiny little heads that there are acorns buried in the potted ornamentals and herbs on our patio, so they rummage through the potting soil, uproot plants and make a mess of things.  Bless their hearts.  This too shall pass.

Ideas are not fixed, nor should they be; we live in model-dependent reality.

mikey
mikey
Joined: 22 Jan 05
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cecht wrote:mikey wrote:So

cecht wrote:
mikey wrote:
So you are saying the cats were thinning the herd of squirrels? Isn't that a good thing?
In theory, yes, but the herd vastly outnumbered the thinning abilities of that cat.  Our other cat, sweet old thing, preys on our affections and dinner plates. I used to really despise squirrels, back when they would rain fleas down on our dogs.  But the pooches have passed and the cat fleas are manageable, so now I just mildly dislike the tree vermin.  Their populations in our yard wax and wane by some random clock; for the past two years they swarmed over our neighbor's yard and left us alone - this year they again find some attraction to our yard.  The biggest nuisance is they have it in their tiny little heads that there are acorns buried in the potted ornamentals and herbs on our patio, so they rummage through the potting soil, uproot plants and make a mess of things.  Bless their hearts.  This too shall pass.

I hope so!! They do seem to be single minded and fixated on things though!!

cecht
cecht
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Quote:I hope so!! They do

Mikey wrote:
I hope so!! They do seem to be single minded and fixated on things though!!

I just discovered yesterday that a huge water oak in our back yard (644cm DBH) is dead, or nearly so.  I mean, that happened fast because I swear  two weeks ago it was alive.  The bark has small seems of a crusty black ooze, so I assume it's some kind of vascular fungal disease, maybe bacterial.  Either way, I'm blaming the squirrels for this, just because.  The trunk is about 8 feet from a rear bedroom and the branches hang over half the roof. It provided lots of cooling shade and is (was  *sniff*) an impressive sight from kitchen window. I will miss it dearly.  I'm guessing it will cost close to $2000 to remove.  Those squirrels will pay!

Ideas are not fixed, nor should they be; we live in model-dependent reality.

mikey
mikey
Joined: 22 Jan 05
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RAC: 207241

cecht wrote:Mikey wrote:I

cecht wrote:
Mikey wrote:
I hope so!! They do seem to be single minded and fixated on things though!!

I just discovered yesterday that a huge water oak in our back yard (644cm DBH) is dead, or nearly so.  I mean, that happened fast because I swear  two weeks ago it was alive.  The bark has small seems of a crusty black ooze, so I assume it's some kind of vascular fungal disease, maybe bacterial.  Either way, I'm blaming the squirrels for this, just because.  The trunk is about 8 feet from a rear bedroom and the branches hang over half the roof. It provided lots of cooling shade and is (was  *sniff*) an impressive sight from kitchen window. I will miss it dearly.  I'm guessing it will cost close to $2000 to remove.  Those squirrels will pay!

Don't delay if you don't have too, the damage a tree like that can cause is tremendous, of course insurance will pay at that point so depending on your deductible and how good your insurance is it may even make sense to wait for a disaster.

cecht
cecht
Joined: 7 Mar 18
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Mikey wrote:... it may even

Mikey wrote:
... it may even make sense to wait for a disaster.

Hmmmmmmm. Interesting...

Cecht wrote:
The bark has small seems ...

Make that, 'small seams'.

Ideas are not fixed, nor should they be; we live in model-dependent reality.

Gary Charpentier
Gary Charpentier
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cecht wrote:Mikey wrote:...

cecht wrote:
Mikey wrote:
... it may even make sense to wait for a disaster.
Hmmmmmmm. Interesting.

Until they find out you knew about it and didn't do something.

mikey
mikey
Joined: 22 Jan 05
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Gary Charpentier wrote:cecht

Gary Charpentier wrote:
cecht wrote:
Mikey wrote:
... it may even make sense to wait for a disaster.

Hmmmmmmm. Interesting.

Until they find out you knew about it and didn't do something.

I'm not sure they can do that in the US, everywhere you drive you see huge trees near homes that can come down at any time, and even on the News after tornadoes and hurricanes etc there are always large trees on homes and the insurance company still pays. Now the problems of delays etc may not be worth the hassle to save a few dollars, also what happens if you lose something VERY valuable like a loved one in the disaster.

RandyC
RandyC
Joined: 18 Jan 05
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Seems amazing, over a week

Seems amazing, over a week now without severe thunderstorms or tornadoes. The rivers have crested and they've even started to lower the water level at the dam.

WINNING!!!

Seti Classic Final Total: 11446 WU.

mikey
mikey
Joined: 22 Jan 05
Posts: 11888
Credit: 1828037366
RAC: 207241

RandyC wrote:Seems amazing,

RandyC wrote:

Seems amazing, over a week now without severe thunderstorms or tornadoes. The rivers have crested and they've even started to lower the water level at the dam.

WINNING!!!

Thank goodness!! I've had several days of storms and m now out of the water conservation restrictions mode. We are still behind for the month and year but not as far as we were behind. they are even allowing open burning now but ONLY with a permit, normally the farmers etc can open burn whatever they want too with no permits. I don't know what they burn, or grow, but it seems some farmers burn their fall/winter crop off every year before planting their spring/summer crop.

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