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

  • Lyme Disease

    Lyme Disease

    For reasons that made sense at the time, two weeks ago I ventured outside the house. A few days later, this appeared:

    Lyme Disease - arm rash
    Lyme Disease – arm rash

    The pallid skin over on the left comes from a bike glove. The central bump is one of those annoying sebaceous hyperplasias appearing after a Certain Age and not relevant here.

    Having been around this particular block a few times, Mary recognized the diffuse red rash, sleeping 30 of 36 consecutive hours, and a day-long 103 °F fever as Lyme disease. I’m currently taking 100 mg of doxycycline twice a day and (after a week) feeling better, while sleeping a lot more than usual at random intervals during the day.

    We’re both highly aware of Lyme disease: Mary routinely dresses in a complete overlayer of permethrin-sprayed clothing and I generally strip-and-shower immediately after any yard work in similarly sprayed, albeit less enclosing, attire. In this case, we think a tiny Deer Tick nymph affixed itself to the outboard side of my wrist, where I could neither see nor feel it, and (because I didn’t take a shower after being outside for only a few minutes) remained attached long enough to infect me.

    Caught and treated early, Lyme disease generally does not progress into “post-treatment Lyme disease”, an ailment rife with what can charitably be described as serious woo, despite some evidence of actual disease.

    Some of Mary’s Master Gardener cronies have endured co-infections of Babesia microti and we’ll be watching for those symptoms after doxycycline tamps down the obvious problem.

    I’ll be puttering very carefully around heavy machinery and posting irregularly for a few weeks …

    Memo to Self: the Basement Shop has a lot to recommend it!

  • Small Spider vs. Marmorated Stink Bug

    Small Spider vs. Marmorated Stink Bug

    Spiders know how to handle much larger prey:

    Spider draining Marmorated Stinkbug
    Spider draining Marmorated Stinkbug

    Apparently the stink bug’s armor doesn’t count for much when the spider has the luxury of attacking through a weak spot in the underbelly after the critter stops struggling.

    Stink bugs cause considerable damage to crops (notably apples) in the Hudson Valley, but they haven’t been the existential catastrophe we all expected when they first arrived.

    Hooray for spiders!

  • Another Snapper

    Another Snapper

    An approaching cyclist warned to watch out for the snapping turtle:

    Snapping Turtle - DCRT near Page Park - front - 2021-09-24
    Snapping Turtle – DCRT near Page Park – front – 2021-09-24

    This one claims the pond near Page Industrial Park along the Dutchess Rail Trail:

    Snapping Turtle - DCRT near Page Park - rear - 2021-09-24
    Snapping Turtle – DCRT near Page Park – rear – 2021-09-24

    We’ll not dispute any snapper’s territory!

    I’m hauling PYO apples from Prospect Hill Orchards in the hills on the west side of the Hudson; it was a lovely fall day for a 25 mile ride!

  • Beaver Lodge II

    Beaver Lodge II

    The beaver family living in their pond along the Dutchess Rail Trail near Titusville Rd is doing so well they’ve erected a second lodge:

    Second Beaver Lodge - near Titusville Rd - 2021-09-23
    Second Beaver Lodge – near Titusville Rd – 2021-09-23

    It’s 500 feet (-ish) upstream from the first lodge and seems somewhat smaller, so perhaps it’s for the kids.

  • Why LED Lamps Fail

    Why LED Lamps Fail

    Spotted over a fast food emporium’s parking lot:

    Disemboweled parking lot light
    Disemboweled parking lot light

    It’s hard to be sure, but I think there’s a paper wasp nest around the bundle of wires just above the transformer / ballast / whatever. Perhaps the repair tech departed with the job unfinished?

    As with traffic signals, flashlights, and automotive lighting, the LEDs surely work long after the driver circuitry has given up.

  • Too Many Deer: Another One Bites the Dust

    Too Many Deer: Another One Bites the Dust

    I passed another dead deer on New Hackensack Rd while hauling groceries home:

    Deer Collision - roadkill - New Hackensack Rd - 2021-09-08
    Deer Collision – roadkill – New Hackensack Rd – 2021-09-08

    The next day I walked past the other side of the collision at the corner gas station’s dead car collection:

    Deer Collision - front end damage
    Deer Collision – front end damage

    A closer look at that nice rounded dent links the two contestants:

    Deer Collision - front end damage - deer hair detail
    Deer Collision – front end damage – deer hair detail

    The impact didn’t blow the airbags, so maybe the car isn’t a total loss, despite extensive front end damage and some scrap metal inside the engine compartment.

    As far as I can tell, Vassar College has been holding a deer cull every January, but taking out a few dozen deer definitely hasn’t eliminated the road hazard. If the folks objecting to the cull set up a fund to help drivers damaged by the objects of their affection, it’d demonstrate their understanding of the problem.

  • Rail Trail: Fallen Tree Clearing

    Rail Trail: Fallen Tree Clearing

    We rolled up to a pair of walkers who had just watched a long-dead tree fall across the Dutchess Rail Trail ahead of them:

    Rail Trail - fallen tree - 2021-09-15
    Rail Trail – fallen tree – 2021-09-15

    Which is why I now carry a fold-out pruning saw in my tool kit:

    Rail Trail - fallen tree - cleared - 2021-09-15
    Rail Trail – fallen tree – cleared – 2021-09-15

    The mowing crew we encountered half a mile ahead had a chainsaw and cleared the remainder.

    Stay alert out there!

    Although I don’t have a picture, there was a freshly dead bat lying underneath the main trunk. I think it rode the tree down, only to get slapped hard against the gravel beside the trail. I’m sure bats power up faster than I do, but not quite fast enough.