The Garter Snake

Like many other youngsters, It is the Common Garter Snake that I first chased and handled. It was this species of snake Tommy and Jordan first encountered outdoors. I think almost anyone who spends time outdoors has encountered and can recognise the Common Garter Snake.

I have handled my share of Garter Snakes and have had a few land a painless bite. They have always been considered nonvenomous , but recently I read they do produce a mild toxic venom. And anyone who has ever captured a Garter Snake can tell you about the NASTY, HORRIBLE, PUTRID smelling fluid they produce when first captured. This is a defensive tool they use to discourage critters from messing with them.

We have an abundance of Garter Snakes here and although common, I still think they are spectacular animals.

The Boys

Sometimes a picture does not need a explanation.

Goodbyes Are Hard

There is a little door, under the window, in the corner of our bedroom. This was Keek's door.

With tears I buried my little friend today, and as I dug into the earth, I thought about how, before Jeanne and the kids came into my life, a little black cat filled an empty heart. I thought about how she never failed to brighten my day. I thought about how she showed up here the day I moved in, and how much I will miss her. I thought about how a little creature can break your heart. I thought about how grateful I am she was curled up on our bed when she unexpectily died.

Keek single handily changed the way I felt about cats, and I believe when she came here, I needed her as much as she needed me.

Thank You Keek, you touched deep into my heart, and you did more for me then anyone could know.


A year ago I Posted Keek's Story.
Here it is again.

Keek's Story

When I moved in a little Black Cat came to my back door every night. Not wanting a cat I hoped it would go home or go find another home.

Each time I opened the door this little thing would run off and then return as soon as my back was turned. I knew if I fed her she would never leave, but my heart was warming up to this little furball. So the tough guy who did not want a cat started picking up cans of food for her at the market.
She ran off every time I went out to feed her, but would return shortly for the free meal.

After a couple of months of this she would allow me to sit on the back porch and read my newspaper while she ate her 9 lives smorgasbord. Then one day while I read the paper she walked up close enough to brush her tail against me and run off, and a while after that she would bump her body into me and run off.
Then one day, all of a sudden, out of the blue, she jumped up on my lap and newspaper. This became a ritual, but by now I was getting concerned about the approaching Winter, it was getting cold and she would not come into the house.

Finally as she slept curled up in a chair on the porch I picked her up and brought her into the house. She hide in the closet all night and was terrified when I picked her up to turn her loose in the morning.

So she could maintain a sense of freedom,I bought one of those swinging cat doors and installed it in my bedroom window, and this is how she learned to come and go.

After the big flood, I did not see her for a number of weeks, and for awhile I feared I would not see her again. I was very relieved and excited when she returned.

She was really good company back when I was alone and today she still warms my heart and turned me into a Cat Person. She still has her door and comes and goes as she wishes and has bonded with Jeanne and tolerates Kopper.

Jeanne has been a great sport about Keeks private entrance, especially because on Jeanne's first night here, a Raccoon peeked his head in the door which was on Jeanne's side of the bed.

Wood Frog

I suppose I should start this post by saying, "Sorry Peg"

It appears my photos of Frogs are not appreciated by my sister Peg. She has informed me that I must cease posting pictures of Frogs.

So I will apologise to Peggy, and because I have a 20 year plan to photograph every living creature that inhabit our little piece of paradise, I will from time to time, have a need to post a Frog picture.

The Wood Frog is a interesting species of frog. They hibernate in shallow burrows, well within the frost range and 70% of their bodies freeze for extended periods of time. The Laboratory for Ecophysiological Cryobiology,(Thats a bigger word than I should be allowed to use) are conducting research into the Wood Frogs ability to survive these periods of freezing episodes.

Sorry Peg!

Future Momma Ducks

We have 2 expecting Mothers on the homestead. One we knew about, the other was a complete surprise.

Momma Duck-1 was leaving eggs around the yard so I put out a large, old dog crate, and she immediately took to it. We can lock this up at night to protect her and her eggs.
A couple of other ducks donated eggs to the nest, so I believe she might be siting at least 15 or so.

I discovered Momma Duck-2 today under the Goat House. I do no know how long she has been siting, but I believe it has been awhile. I am very surprised nothing has disturbed her, or her eggs.

I did take the necessary precautions to protect her and the nest and now we will sit back and wait for the youngsters to appear. No matter how many times I witness new life, it is always magical.

On Your Mark - Get Set-

We now have our Building Permit in hand, and I suppose this was our unofficial ground breaking. My hard working crew started digging the 17 footings that will support the front porch.

Many steps were involved securing this permit and I found every Dept involved at the Town of Mansfield was more then willing to help me with the process. Overall the entire experience was painless, and at times very interesting. It is always a pleasure when you work with good people.

The following are the steps taken to secure a permit. This list does not include the meetings I had with the many different dept heads as they patiently explained and quided me through permit process.
I never was good at filling out forms.

1) Filled out a application with the Zoning Agent.

2) Applied to the Zoning board of appeals.

3) Presented my plans to the zoning board of appeals at a public hearing.

4) Filled out a application for the Inland Wetlands

5) Inland wetlands did a field trip out to our house to get a lay of the land.

6) Appeared at a public hearing for Inland wetlands to answer any questions

7) Attended a meeting with the Conservation Commission to answer any questions

8) Filled out a application with the Dept of Health.

9) Perc test was done on our property by the Dept Health to be code compliant.

10) Filled out a application with the Building Dept, and presented them with 2 sets of plans.

We are very close to a official start date and I believe we will start very soon. I hope to have all the contractors on board this week. I will say I was very surprised and very disappointed many left me hanging while I waited for a quote from them, not so much as a courtesy call to inform me they were not interested after looking at the scoop of work.
They say everything happens for a reason, and I believe I am going to end up with a some really skilled Tradesmen that are truly interested in this unusual project.

And I think we will need a picture frame for our Building Permit.

200 Million Years And Still Going

The Eastern Painted Turtle is very common on the river. It is one of five species of Turtles observed here on the homestead. The Common Snapping Turtle is the largest turtle in the river, and the Eastern Box Turtle, the Spotted Turtle, and the Wood Turtle are much less frequent.

The Spotted, Box, and Wood Turtle are protected in Connecticut and keeping them in captivity is prohibited. We have had Spotted, Box, and Wood Turtles visit us here on the homestead and once we had a female spotted turtle lay her eggs out in the field. I fenced in the area to protect the eggs from predators, but unfortunately the eggs never hatched.

The Eastern Painted Turtle is a very beautiful animal, but It is a toss up between The Box Turtle, and the Wood Turtle for My favorite Turtle.

Seize The Moment

Call it a moment of weakness, and I took advantage and jumped on the opportunity. I asked Jeanne if I could bring home Chester, and I was expecting to hear, "over my dead body".
Amazingly she said, "YES", but she has warned me if it gets loose in her house, my days as a snake charmer would be numbered.

Chester is a 4 foot, 7 year old Corn snake and I think he is beautiful. Corn snakes are bred in captivity by the thousands, and come in many different colors and patterns that are not found in the wild populations of Corn Snakes. He came with the name Sven, but I don't think Sven will mind being called Chester. Except for being slightly underweight, Chester is in great shape. I think the gentleman who owned Chester before me was feeding mice that were to small. The mouse should leave a bump for about 24hrs as it makes it's way through the snake, and the mice that Chester was eating disappeared within a hour or so.

We only feed what are referred to as frozen mice. These mice are raised for snake food and frozen and packaged. They come in many sizes and is very convenient. We would never feed wild caught mice because of parasites, and we would never feed live mice because they could bite the snake and do damage, and mostly because, years ago I attempted to feed a live mouse to a snake and could not do it. I ended up with a pet mouse. Jordan and Jeanne bought a frozen mouse at the pet store yesterday and Jeanne was somewhat put off by the sight, but Jordan was fascinated and carried it out of the pet store with pride and showed everyone along the way. They only eat once a week and we have designated Friday night as family night when we can all get together as a family and feed Chester. ( I don't think this will be a tradition that will catch on)

Jeanne's dad was here when I left to pick up Chester, and he asked Jeanne why in the world I would want a Snake? She replied: "because that's what he does".

I hope the family will take the time to build a loving relationship with Chester.
I will give it more time, but I won't bet on it.

Long Night

It is 10pm, and I have eight spotlights set on and around our Chestnut tree. The Turkeys and one small Guinea Hen decided to camp out tonight high up in the Chestnut tree. This is not a good thing, and it truly is not all that great for my sleep. There are far to many dangers that lurk in the night.

The good news is they are not alone up there. Eight of the adult Guinea Fowl sleep high in the tree and with the area lit up like Times Square, the seasoned Guineas will alert me to anything that moves. I Hope!

For now I will sleep with both ears tuned to the outside, and I know every little noise will cause me to jump out of bed tonight.

3:30am update, Kopper woke me around 3:30 and when I sat up in bed I could see Bob the larger or the 2 turkeys walking on the ground. Kopper and I went out opened up the hen house and Bob went in.
The Little Guinea and Hope, the smaller Turkey are still in the tree, and Kopper and I are maintaining a vigil, and are ready to rumble.

8:30am update, All present and accounted for. Today I will place a hammock up in the tree so that Jeanne can keep watch tonight while I sleep.

Friends

Thank You Wendy For Sending This Feel Good Video

Save The Frog

We have a large population of leopard Frogs, and to help them thrive we have adopted a policy we call "Frog Islands". When cutting the field we try to leave several large uncut patches. This provides a micro habitat that provides a moist cool environment for the frogs and the insects they feed on. Birds and snakes also benefit from this practice, feeding on the large number of frogs,grasshoppers and other insects that are attracted to these small grass islands.

Sometimes I can't help thinking;

After 30 something years, I still wait for the day that I will utilize a skill I learned in high school biology.
To be honest, I do not know what I learned while dissecting frogs in high school, but after many years, I do remember what a frog pickled in formaldehyde smells like.

I wonder if dissecting frogs in high school ever influenced a students career choice? I could understand if your goal from a early age was to become a frog surgeon.

I have read that the numbers could be as high as 6 million frogs a year are used in classrooms. So lets look at that number, and to be conservative, take half that number, 3 million. If a frog can lay between 500 and 1000 eggs a year, lets take the number 500.

If each year 3 million frogs are taken from the wild and pickled for the classroom, and 3 million frogs do no produce eggs, we could potentially lose
1,800 000 000 frogs each year.(1 billion 800 million).

Leopard frogs are very sensitive to air and water pollutants and are considered a valuable ecosystem indicator. It is said that the decline of frogs increases the use of pesticides, and if you figure a frog eats many hundreds, if not thousands of insects each year, and we take 1,800.000.000 frogs out of the wild, and multiply that by the thousands of insects not eaten by frogs, "Forget it, I can't count that high." And don't forget all the critters that feed on frogs, the entire food chain is put in peril.

Connecticut is about to pass a law allowing students choice concerning the dissection of animals.

H.B. No. 5423
AN ACT CONCERNING DISSECTION CHOICE.
To allow students to opt out of classroom experiments or dissections on animals upon raising a conscientious objection.

"HURRAY FOR THE FROG"

Stopping By For Lunch

Deer are a very common occurrence here.
Bucks with velvet covered antlers are not.

Spread Your Wings

The time has come to let our babies spread their wings.

Our spring babies are growing fast and it is time to start letting them free range during the day. This is always entertaining when the youngsters run free and start to explore the area for the first time.

It is also a very dangerous time. While the youngsters explore their environment, the boy and I keep watch, This may sound a bit paranoid, but I think I can feel the eyes of a thousand predators, drooling, licking their chops, and staring through the thick forest cover, just waiting for us to let our guard down.
So the boy and I will plant our chairs out by the hen house, and we will stay on guard until the last chick goes into for the night.

And Tommy and Jordan should be very excited, you only have approximately 26 more years before you can spread your wings and run free.

Look out Uncle Will

"It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"
Could this be the year we take the Great Pumpkin trophy away from Uncle Willie?

Milkweed & Monarchs

Several times over the past few years a note would come home from school asking for any Monarch caterpillars for a school project. I would spend time searching for stands of Milkweed with little luck. This year I left a small stand of Milkweed plants growing in our weed choked garden and "Shazam", A Monarch Caterpillar.

Milkweed is the only plant the caterpillar of the Monarch Butterfly will eat. Milkweed is a toxic plant for many creatures including goats, but the Monarch Butterfly uses those toxins to its advantage. Most Monarch Butterflies are toxic and animals that prey on them know it, or soon learn the hard way.

The Monarch has a very unique and amazing life span. Depending on what generation, a Monarch may live 6-8 weeks, or 5-6 months. It is the 4th generation of Monarchs that migrate the 1000-3000 miles to Mexico where it hibernates until Feb/March. The Monarchs that hibernate in Mexico do not make the journey back. You could say they had a one way ticket.

This is how I understand the Monarch Migration and life cycle.

After the Monarch comes out of hibernation in Mexico, they find a mate and head north. They soon mate and deposit the eggs for generation 1, and soon after they die off.

Generation 1 monarchs are the offspring of the Monarchs who overwintered in Mexico. They will continue the migration north and only live 6-8 weeks.

Generation 2 are the offspring of generation 1. They continue the journey north and lay the eggs for generation 3 along the way and then die off.

Generation 3 starts to reach the northern reaches of their territory, and like generation 1 and 2, they live 6-8 weeks and die. The 6-8 weeks includes the Egg, Caterpillar, Cocoon, and finally the Butterfly.

Generation 4 starts life in Sept/Oct, and it is this generation that will fly the entire migration route south for the winter, and hibernate in the same trees as earlier generations. Generation 4 live a long 5-6 months instead of the 6-8 weeks like the previous 3 generations.

I think I will try to maintain a patch of Milkweed for this phenomenon called, The Monarch Butterfly.

Homeless Snails

I was thinking. (that's usually not a good thing) Anyway I was thinking about the Slug. We have lots of them. Every time you turn over a rock or board you will find Slugs. Often I will scoop them up and feed them to Simon our 3 Toed Box Turtle. So I was thinking if the Slug grew in the ocean, it would probably be considered a delicacy. I was thinking a little butter and garlic in a fry pan. The Slug is a Mollusk like a Clam, and I love Clams.

I would think as long as you cook them,you could avoid contracting a parasite-induced meningitis from eating them raw.

Now I am thinking, if I keep thinking, Jeanne will start thinking, and I will be eating supper in the basement.