The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Tag: Wildlife

Other creatures in our world

Garter Snake: Garage Door Refuge

Opening the garage door to start a morning of errands revealed a garter snake previously tucked neatly into the space below the door seal:

Garter snake under garage door seal – A

It’s somewhat smaller than the garter snake under the trash can, although I’m sure they’re closely related.

It was a cool morning and the snake hadn’t yet reached operating temperature, but it eventually flowed off into the garage and we went on our way.

A few hours later we returned:

Garter snake under garage door seal – B

Apparently that was the best place for a snake.

Mary lined up a four-cell seedling pot ahead of the critter, encouraged it to flow forward, and much to our surprise it tucked neatly into one of the cells:

Garter snake under garage door seal – C

We carried it to the herb garden, wished it well, and a few hours later it had uncoiled and gone about its business.

Unlike the Shoe Frog, it hasn’t been seen since.

2023-09-28
Gray Tree Frog: Urban Camo

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it:

Gray Tree Frog on concrete

In point of fact, I almost didn’t see it.

This was the fourth time Mary deported the critter from her gardening shoe, whereupon it hopped out of her hands onto the concrete patio. She hauled it to the far end of our lot and wished it well; so far it has not returned.

We are reliably informed it’s a gray tree frog, not a toad as we originally thought.

2023-09-07
Garter Snake: Garbage Can Guardian

A garter snake has taken up residence under our garbage can and is startled when I wheel it away:

Garter snake on the alert

This week it was curled into a compact bundle:

Garter snake in compact mode

The blue eyes indicate it’s in the process of shedding its skin, so next week we’ll have an even bigger and shinier guardian.

Shedding one’s skin apparently requires a great deal of thought, as it remained in that pose while I fetched Mary, then moved deliberately off into the leaf litter behind the can.

The small rodent population around here has definitely declined: garter snakes are murder on field mice and the hawks are taking out the chipmunks.

Go, snake, go!

2023-09-01
Onion Maggot Fly vs. Sticky Traps: Season 3 Finale
The six sticky traps guarding Mary’s onion beds in her Vassar Community Gardens plots collected this assortment of critter and mulch from mid-July through mid-August, when she harvested the last of the crop:
VCCG Onion Maggot Trap A
VCCG Onion Maggot Trap B
VCCG Onion Maggot Trap C
VCCG Onion Maggot Trap D
VCCG Onion Maggot Trap E
VCCG Onion Maggot Trap F
The labels do not match those on the first set through mid-July, because I don’t care quite enough to keep track of them.

The traps don’t collect many onion maggot flies, which suggests that a little control goes a long way. As far as she’s concerned, these traps work very well, because the crop has very little maggot damage.

Searching for onion sticky traps will produce the rest of the collection. Contact me for the full resolution images, should you need to ID all the critters.
2023-08-31
Worm Bin Valve Transplant

For reasons not relevant here, I have a spare water heater drain valve with a thread matching the drain valve for the Can-o-Worms bin:

Can-o-worms drain valve vs. water heater valve

It lacks the flange required to seal the O-ring against the outside of the bin, but I can fix that:

Can-o-worms – sleeved valve

It’s a chunk of PVC pipe faced to the proper length, bored to fit the valve body, then gooped in place with acrylic caulk.

Snug the nut inside the bin and it’s all good:

Can-o-worms – new valve installed

The original valve depended on having a smooth plug turning inside the outer shell, but years of grit scarred the interface enough to produce a slow drip. It also had the annoying mis-feature of aiming the opening inward, between the bin legs, where a jug didn’t quite fit.

The water heater valve depends on compressing a smaller O-ring against a seat inside the body, which may tend to clog with crud. We added a mesh filter to hold back the worst of the gunk, so this is in the nature of an experiment using free hardware.

2023-08-15
Foraging Skunk, Cautious Mouse

Early one morning, a skunk dashed toward the garden:

Skunk and Mouse – fast skunk – 2023-07-15 01-49-38

If you look very closely, you’ll see a mouse watching from the end of a 4 inch drainpipe stashed along the garden fence:

Skunk and Mouse – fast skunk – mouse detail – 2023-07-15 01-49-38

The skunk went exploring near the garden gate (off to the right) while the mouse continued watching the proceedings:

Skunk and Mouse – mouse keeping watch – 2023-07-15 01-49-53

When the skunk returned, the mouse decided discretion was the better part of valor and vanished into the pipe:

Skunk and Mouse – skunk – hidden mouse – 2023-07-15 01-50-01

With the skunk gone about its business, the mouse returned to its duty:

Skunk and Mouse – mouse watching – 2023-07-15 01-50-24

Just another night at the office, out in the back yard …

2023-08-04
Garden Bypass

Mary had been thinking of blocking the narrow path between the neighbor’s fence and her garden, so I set up the trail camera to see what went on out there when we weren’t around.

The Midnight Possum must have another appointment:

IM_00003 – Midnight opossum – 2023-06-21

Raccoons definitely use the path as a highway:

IM_00013 – Early raccoon – 2023-06-28

And, as if we didn’t have enough deer already:

Back yard deer – new fawn – 2023-06-24

My recommendation: don’t block the path, because we are badly outnumbered!

2023-07-07