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.
Other creatures in our world
The chipmunks are busy cleaning up all the maple seeds from the driveway, but, being chipmunks, they like to stay near a safe spot.
The absolute best spot to watch for danger seems to be the 4-inch PVC pipe I attached to the garage downspouts: you can see out, but when a threat appears you can run up the downspout!
[Update: the Cooper’s Hawk just swooped on a red squirrel, missed, and landed on the patio railing as the rodent vanished up the pipe.]
Sat down for some tech reading in the Comfy Chair one morning and spotted a lump near the road, at the foot of the deer crossing warning sign.
While I don’t know if this deer was one of that group, it’s a fair bet.
There was no freshly smashed glass or broken plastic in the area, which indicates a relatively low-speed collision, the kind where the deer’s legs snap against the bumper and the body rolls over the hood, crushing sheet metal and deforming plastic frippery along the way.
Many cars display that kind of damage around here. They look as though somebody walloped them with a huge sandbag, which is pretty much the case.
The animal huggers seem strangely silent about such events. If they had the courage of their convictions, they’d subsidize drivers (and gardeners) affected by the deer overpopulating the area. But, no, they never offer to do that.
I did find this in the driveway across the street…
Before equipping your car with such gimcrackery, read that.
That’s pretty much in the midst of the City of Poughkeepsie, but raccoons have figured out that the livin’ is easy around people. I’m sure he’s also figured out dumpster diving, although he’s likely not looking for discarded electronics…
Love those eyes!
We stopped in Alfred NY to try out some trikes at The Bicycle Man, went to The Terra Cotta (not that one) for lunch, and parked on a side street. Every parking meter along the street (free on Saturday, fortunately) had an array of house flies parked along the upper edge.
Perhaps this is the best place for flies to warm up before a flight? Was there a recent hatching?
They swarmed off the meters as we passed, then settled back in the same way.
Weird…
The snows have retreated and it seems the mice have been busy tunneling in the back yard. If we cared more about the lawn, I’m sure I’d be outraged. As it is, the tunnels will be gone after a few mowings and life will move on.
I didn’t spot their grainery, but I’m sure the grass will be greener around the latrine…
Certainly these were different mice than the ones who made far more extensive living quarters out front, but they’re definitely relatives.
This herd, a family unit that’s been traveling around the neighborhood in recent weeks, paused for morning brunch in our neighbor’s yard. They generally cross the road at a dead run, but haven’t gotten themselves or anyone else killed. Yet.
They and their ilk are why our vegetable gardens must have ten-foot fences with robust supports. There are no understory plants left in the wooded areas and precious few young trees; the deer population is literally eating everything in sight.
Vassar College recently culled 60-odd deer on their preserve in about ten hours, much to the dismay of the local animal huggers. It wasn’t a hunt; professional sharpshooters took ’em out.
We have a proposal: if you like deer so much, adopt ’em, haul ’em home, and take care of the things. Let them eat your shrubbery, crap all over your lawn, and infect your children, but keep them off the streets and out of your neighbor’s yards. Fair enough?
And let’s not get started about deer ticks. Dutchess County is the epicenter of Lyme Disease infections, for well and good reason.
I accidentally-on-purpose spilled some sunflower seeds when I refilled the bird feeder, just to see who was awake. Surprisingly, the seeds remained untouched for about two days, then this fellow appeared… and cleaned them up in a matter of minutes.
Spring is on its way, despite the recent storms!
Taken with the Sony DSC-H5 zoomed in all the way (12x) through the 1.7x tele-adapter. It’s not a great combination, but it’s better than no picture at all. This is a crop of about the middle half of the image, with a touch of unsharp mask, then scaled down 2:1 for improved webbishness. After all that, it’s a wonder you don’t mistake the critter for a moose…
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 