Three Generations

Daughter and one of the grand kids paid a visit over the weekend.

Short and sweet - but well worth it.

Did lunch, the Manitowoc Zoo, the beach and ice cream.

 

Spiritual Sweet Tooth

Ice cream yesterday at a three generations-old Manitowoc business fixture.

Beerntsen's Confectionary, Sandwich and Ice Cream Parlor.

If you're look to indulge your spiritual sweet tooth - I highly recommend the chocolate Last Supper.

Western Night Sky

From a moment ago.

Jupiter and Venus rising in the western night sky...

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We Got Choppers!

Sometimes I feel like I have a little bit of Walter "Radar" O'Reilly's blood running through my veins.  In the television series M*A*S*H he had an uncanny ability to hear the choppers coming before anybody else.

I've posted about this before. 

I could sense it coming and almost instantaneously Eagle III thundered over the house just a few minutes ago.

click on the helicopter to enlarge

Big hurry and heading directly for Green Bay.

Hope things turn out OK for whoever it was they had to fetch.

Antler Update

Of the male deer that are showing-up on the trail cameras they're sporting velvet antlers that are getting larger by the week.

This guy is showing some potential...

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Talking Turkey

There is not a week that goes by without pictures of turkeys on the trail cameras.

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But no little ones.  You'd think that some of the hens have hatched a brood by now.

Where are the cute, fuzzy, little poults?

Where's Waldo?

Can you find the deer in this photo?

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They're Back

I knew it was too good to be true.  A considerable passage of time has elapsed since they've made their presence known but now they're back.

Who's back? you're thinking.

The aliens.  They're back.  As evidence of this I present the following:

Picture of the thrusters from their lander...

And their laser death ray.  The green one...

And the pink one...

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The Cult

Last weekend a bunch of us got together to do some bike riding and engage in some serious eating and imbibing.

My buddy Braumeister is trolling for members to join his new commune and cult...

 click on the Dear Leader to enlarge

Peninsula Century Spring Classic

Bike riding weekend here at The Platz.

Had a house-full of guests, great food, adult beverages, plenty of yucks and some decent bike-riding.

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Saturday's ride was cool and finished with plummeting temperatures and rain.  Everyone beat it back to the ranch after the ride for hot showers and gathering around the wood burner.  Yes, had to stoke-up the wood burner to chase the dank chill out of the house on the third week of June.

Everyone was in bed by 10:30 PM on Saturday.  Bunch of short-hitters.

You can learn more about the Peninsula Century Spring Classic here.

Once Upon a Time

click on the blonde dog to enlarge

Once upon a time this was a farm field with nothing on it but crops.

Deer hunting was easy because you could see clear across the field and have an unobstructed view of anything trying to sneak across or along the edge.

Then it was planted into trees and in the following fifteen years a forest grew up.  Now you cannot see into the forest beyond fifteen yards.

Deer hunting is a little more difficult nowadays.  

Splish Splash...

...dogs are taking a bath.

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What with all of the rain we've had lately the creek is still running at full bore.  And there are puddles everywhere.

I swear that if there is a puddle of standing water a Labrador retriever will make a detour for it and deliberately hit the puddle of water in such a way with their paws that they make the largest splash possible.

It's not quite as bad as mud season because the turf has greened-up but it's reasonably close.

Even though the dogs get to wade in the creek they get a hosing-off on the driveway after our daily walk.

What a life...

NEWFO

Northeast Wisconsin Forest Owners - a Chapter that belongs to WWOA - Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association.

Acronyms aside most of Wisconsin's forested land is owned by individuals and families.  Counties are next and state, federal and industrial (paper companies) fall to the bottom of the list.

It's good to have an advocate if you're a private forest owner.  And the local chapters periodically hold events known as Field Days - providing an opportunity to learn more about sustainable forestry with your peers.

Last weekend the NEWFO Chapter held a field day that included a consulting forester and a DNR forester.  The takeaway was what we're all going to do when the emerald ash borer shows-up in our woodlands.  It's already here on the peninsula and it's on the move. 

Talking Turkey

I was talking turkey with my buddies the other day and shared with them that I don't recall ever capturing so many trail camera photos as I have so far this year.

Especially the hens.

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I expect that just about any time I should expect to see mama turkey with a brood flock of poults in tow.

Mothra

This has got to be the singularly most gross and disgusting thing I have seen in awhile.

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Gypsy moth caterpillars clustered on the base of a trail camera.

Blech!

I flicked the disgusting little invaders into the mud and squashed them to death with my boot.

Snaky Panky

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I am neither a snake charmer nor peddler of snake oil.  Snake wrangler maybe.  The reptile in the picture above is more than four feet in length - and he was a squirming, twisting, handful of fun.

Allow me to introduce you to Elaphe vulpina – the Western fox snake.  This is a valuable animal to have around your yard as they dine principally upon rodents.  If you are a gardener they are your ally.  Belonging to the family of snakes that are constrictors - upon seizing their prey they coil around it to suffocate the animal.  After which they swallow it whole.  Their lower jaw is unhinged allowing this critter to swallow a rodent or bird five times the diameter of their head. Yum!

These are nonvenomous snakes and generally avoid people.  If handled they will frequently express a skunky, foxlike scent from a musk gland near their tail.  Hence the name fox snake.  If you pick one up use both hands as they’re truthfully quite strong.  Wear gloves in case you get a dose of that musky discharge.  As a general rule they won’t bite.  Remember - they’re not poisonous - just in case a feisty one gives you a nip.

They’re quite common at the other house and they’ve been hanging around in Jill’s flower garden situated at the base of the porch.  They’ve also been giving our dogs fits as they enjoy basking in the sun as much as a Labrador retriever does.

In any event I want to share with you what might possibly be a once in a lifetime experience.  We witnessed a couple of fox snakes doing it.  You know – it – the snaky panky.  If your delicate sensibilities are alarmed by images and video of outdoor sex then you need to close your browser immediately and read no further.  If you like biology and all things scientific then it would be OK to plunge and surge ahead.

Fox snakes only engage in this activity once a year which is why this is a particularly cool and very rare opportunity - at least to this outdoor enthusiast.

Heretofore, we’ve observed fox snakes doing this...

Coiling around one another and rolling across the ground.  We thought that this twisted behavior was the amorous part of snake relationships.  Wrong.  After we observed the real deal we have learned that this is what male snakes do to establish dominance over one another.  After he gets his head pinned the loser of this wrestling match is going to slink away and skulk while the winner advances to the big show.  Courting the ladies and the opportunity to perform this one-time-a-year event.  If she allows.

This all began with the interruption of the blonde Lab at barking at something in the flower bed.  It appeared to be a snake doing what snakes do – hanging around, looking for a mouse and giving the dog the hairy eyeball.

I took some pictures and returned to whatever it was I was doing before the interruption.  As it turned out it was a breeding female in a receptive mood because in short order Jill called – Come quick, bring your camera (the phone), there’s another snake and I think they’re doing it.

Sure enough - they were doing it.  And it was all over in reasonably short order - twenty to thirty minutes  tops.  What follows are a still shot and one of the short video clips.  

Male approaches and begins to wrap his tail around the female

 Tails are at top of screen - heads off screen at bottom right

The female was still hanging around at the time I tapped-out this post and we’re wondering if she’s going to lay her eggs somewhere near the sunny side of the porch.  Who knows?  Nevertheless, it's a novel concept to consider we’re going to be grandparents again.  This time to a dozen or so foot-long reptiles.

Cheers!

You can learn more about this fascinating reptile here and it's mating rituals here. 

^{*Special thanks to the staff here at The Platz for the sharp snake eye and research...}

Half and Half

Raising a toast at Kitty O'Reilly's last Saturday evening in Sturgeon Bay.

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That's Lawyer and Sid enjoying a traditional 'arf and 'arf - Harp Lager topped by Guinness.

Everyone - including The Fraus - had a good time.

Steel Bridge Songfest weekend.

The Garden Chronicles

First harvest of the season.

Radishes and spinach.  

I've sown these two veggies three times at two-week intervals.  Should be able to enjoy the harvest for awhile.

Day is Done

Another peninsula sunset...

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Rusty Deer

The resident whitetails have completed their moult of their winter coat and they're now sporting the handsome, ruddy, rusty-red of summer.

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Looking nice and healthy.

Got some pics of fawns but nothing of decent quality.  I'll post some pics when they're available and pass quality control...

Talking Turkey

Been keeping the dogs on a lead lately for walks in the woods.  They don't like it much but those are the rules until such time as the ground-nesting birds have werapped-up the nesting season.

It's not that the dogs are malicious or anything - they're just dogs and if their nose leads them in a given direct there's a good possibility they trample a nest or dine on eggs or nestlings.

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Plenty of hens showing-up on the cameras.  I expect to see turkey poults just about any time...

Logging Project In The Works

click on the guy in the orange shirt to enlarge

Had a forester out for a visit to discuss management of the trees here on The Platz.  There are a few spots where The Frau and I can wag the chainsaw out next winter to release selected handfuls of valuable trees by dropping the conifers that are crowding their canopies.

There is even a location on the east border of the middle field that would lend itself to an aspen patch cut - a timber stand improvement (TSI) project.  More on that another day.

It's the northern-most field that needs help.

Yup, it is in need of pre-commercial thinning.  Something I'm not capable of doing anymore giving the scale of the project.  So I guess it's time to interview loggers.

Deer Warts

This is a fibroma.

click on the wart to enlarge

Specifically, a type of skin tumor.known as a papilloma, fibroma, or papillofibroma depending upon the predominate type of tissue making up the tumor.

According to Wisconsin's DNR these fibromas are:  firm, nodular, fleshy masses attached to the skin. They are commonly described as warts. Fibromas vary in size from less than one inch to more than four inches in diameter, and they can be found anywhere on the deer's body, but are most common on the face, neck and forelegs. Fibromas are caused by a virus which is transmitted by insects. Infected deer usually mount an immune response, and the fibromas eventually disappear. Occasionally, a deer will be severely infected with multiple fibromas which interfere with the eyes or normal use of the legs, causing health problems for the deer. Fibromas cause no damage to the meat, which is safe to consume.

Either way you slice it (pun intended) they still look gross.

Birds of a Feather...

...flock together.  The hen turkeys are laying and setting on their nests by now and it won't be long before we see some of those new-born poults stumbling-about.

For now - a collection of hem photos.  Including a light phase of coloration in the plumage.  Very cool...

 click on images to enlarge

Meatball Surgery

By the time this is published and you read it I will either have recovered, developed a raging tetanus infection or have had to visit the Urgent Care.

I like to run around in bare feet during the summer and bare footedness is associated with all sorts of inherent risks and hazards.

I began my Friday by venturing out on the porch and managed to  impale the sole of my foot with a championship sliver of Douglas Fir.

Managing to pull most of it out I limped around for the balance of the day completing my chores and working around the yard and in the garden.

By Saturday morning I was a red, angry, festering wound.

On Saturday morning The Frau managed to dig most, if not all, of it out with a tweezers, a red-hot needle and plenty of rubbing alcohol to sterilize the surgical site.

Looking a bit better by Saturday night.  My shots are current...

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Edit to add-

I finished my day today at the Walk In Clinic. After some lidocaine the PA dug out the remaining quarter inch of Douglas fir. Five days of cephalexin 500 mg and I should be dancing.

Tractor Parade

Trip to the dump yesterday included a special treat.

It's not every day that a visit to the Brussels' Waste Disposal Facility yields a surprise.

On my way home I was stopped for a spell by a vintage tractor parade.  In retrospect I regret not having the presence of mind to video tape the parade.

click on the old Massey to enlarge

Seriously, at least a couple-three dozen old tractors chugging east on County Highway DK.  Going where I do not know.  Couldn't find anything in the paper or on the web yielding a clue as to what was behind this.

It remains a mystery...

Road Kill

I spend a considerable amount of time on the road and in the last week or so I've noticed a larger number of whitetails splattered on the highway or crumpled on the shoulder.  Dead.  

That's because it's fawning season and mama is literally kicking last year's fawns out of the house as the new batch is born into this world.

That means there are more yearling deer - like this doe - out searching for their own territory.

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Which makes them vulnerable as they cross roadways.  This process of spring break-up and the fall rut contribute to the 20,000 or so Wisconsin whitetails that end up as road kill every year.

Drive safely and keep a sharp eye out.

Mr. Jake

Adolescent male turkeys are called jakes.

This youngster is mugging it-up for one of the trail cameras.

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If he survives to next year he will have matured into a gobbler - a tom turkey.

Ditch Tiger

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This is absolutely not good.  Not at all.  Not the least bit.  Nothing good will come from this marauding predator - the feral cat.

This is not a fuzzy, cuddly, purring house pet.  This is a lean, mean killing machine.  Number one predator of birds - particularly the most vulnerable of birds - the ground-nesting species.

This is Public Enemy #1 and if I catch it in my sights....

Trail Camera Experimentation - Ghost Deer

Another ethereal study in B&W from one of the trail cameras.  The IR (infrared) mode really shows-off when the light is just right at dusk.  And you can get a white tail to pose too...

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Furmination

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the dog needed a furmination as she was going through her spring molt.  Well, the deer are beginning to transition from their coarse, gray winter coats to the ruddy red coats of summer.

They look like they need a furmination too...

click on the shaggy deer to enlarge

Eagle III

The air ambulance out of Green Bay is called Eagle III.  And when called to respond on the peninsula  the flight plan almost always brings the chopper right over the house.

click on the helicopter to enlarge

Being almost smack-dab in the middle of the peninsula I suppose that makes some sense. From the website:

County Rescue also has a network of over 80 medical staff functioning in our contracted, rural municipalities.  These personnel are licensed at all levels from medical first responder through paramedics.  These "first responders" are volunteers who respond from their homes to assist members of their communities in their time of need.  Responders are trained, supported, and medically equipped by County Rescue.  This system allows us to put advanced medical care at the patient's side within minutes, yet helps contain taxpayer costs.

Click on this link to learn more about the chopper.