What Did You Do Today?

[osage outlaw]

Eric, check out dog proof traps.  That's what I have started using after Greg Sulfridge suggested them.  Its a small cup shape trap.  The coon reaches in to get the bait and it catches its hand.  I use nutter butters for the bait.  For some reason we are over ran with raccoon and possum.  They are destructive critters.  They cause a lot of problems with our kids 4-H animals and stuff.  I set the traps in the yard.  I've taken out 5 in the last week or so.  I'm up to at least 10 so far this year.  Last year I quit counting in the upper teens.  I don't think we have enough natural predators to keep them under control.  We are over ran with wild rabbits to.  I get trail camera pictures of bobcats, coyotes, and fox.  We don't kill any of them.  I'm not sure why they aren't keeping the smaller animals under control. 

Here is the dog proof trap that I'm using

[mullet]

They are pretty tasty BBQ'ed.

[osage outlaw]

I found this little guy in the back yard today.  I've never seen a black toad before. 

[Eric Krewson]

I have seen the dog proof traps. I would rather deter the critters than have to dispose of all the carcasses. I don't skin them or eat them so I have to carry them way away from the house down in the hollow near the lake. Sometimes the coyotes with dispose of them in a day or so, sometimes they don't and a shifting wind lets me know they are still there weeks later.

[NimRand]

My Son's friend uses those kind of traps and he kept having trouble with mice getting into them instead of coons. He solve the issue by putting a golf ball over the mouth which the mice weren't able to move.

[chamookman]

One or two large marshmellows jammed in the mouth of the trap (over the bait), will keep Mice from getting to the bait. Coons have no trouble getting them out. Bob

[NimRand]

I will have to tell him about the marshmallow trick.

[YosemiteBen]

I got up at 2 am this morning in response to a phone call from my son. He had just crashed his car and was calling for help.  Wasn't too sure what to expect when my wife and I got there. He says someone was in his lane and he swerved and overcorrected (plus he was going way too fast) he slid through a ditch hit the berm on the outside which turned his car on its side - flew down the hill and t-boned the top of his car on a 24 in dbh oak tree. He managed to get more scratches climbing up to the road than he endured during the crash! He is fine, car is totaled.

[JW_Halverson]

Ben, your kids are now banned from all driving.  If they are good, and I mean they better be dang good, buy 'em roller skates for Christmas.


(Thanks for catching my typo, Scott.  The above statement has corrected spelling!)

[Stringman]

(*now)

[DC]

The Merlins that nested across the street have fledged and are flying around the neighborhood.  I'll be in the shop and hear their call and try as I might I can't ignore them. I spend half the day standing in the driveway staring up. I know they are bathing in our pond but I haven't been able to get any pictures. I thought bow making was addictive but boy oh boy. My wife was trying to explain a chore and the Merlins started up and I just zoned out. She waited patiently until I came back to earth. Love those little creatures

[Eric Krewson]

This is going to sound odd for sure; I was picking corn a couple of weeks ago, wearing shorts like a dummy when a packsaddle nailed me on the leg. No big deal as I have been stung a bunch of times before by the rascals but this time it was different. For one I am now taking Plavix blood thinner so my body isn't resilient  like it once was and two, this one kept stinging me or at least it felt like it was long after I left the garden.

After being restung for a couple of days I decided the beast had left a spine or two in me, I scraped the area with my pocket knife, the stinging continued.

Yesterday I read that one is supposed to blot the area with scotch tape to remove any spines,I did and the stinging continued. Now my leg is going numb from the knee down.

Today I stopped by Walmart and picked up one of those bikini wax kits and used it on the affected area. After the first pass, which made a bare spot on my leg, I looked closely at the area and saw a tiny black hair like thing, not more than 1/64" long, sticking out of my skin. Another pass with the wax strip got it. I sure hope that was the offending spine, the leg still feels abnormal but Plavix makes one heal at a snails pace.

[JW_Halverson]

I got into hunting after turning 40 and antelope was one of the first big game animals to get my attention.  Along with antelope comes cactus.

Part of my kit includes and small bottle of school glue and some buttwipe (ultra multipurpose stuff!).  When you get the big spines out, the little hairy ones get a little squirt of blue and a square of tissue.  5 minutes cure time, and lift it off!  Can't guess how many Brazillian knee waxes I have done this way!

[chamookman]

Have never heard the term " Pack Saddle" before. I'm guessing that's some sort of "picker/stick tight" or Cockle Burr ? Thanks - Bob.

[Eric Krewson]

There are a bunch of varieties, I use the term packsaddle to describe them all even if it is only one of the many varieties.

I am pretty sure this is the one that got me.

http://newinnola.com/2013/04/21/beware-of-stinging-caterpillars-in-new-orleans/