critters
jstemwedel | September 25, 2009Owing to the fact that I had to focus my attention on getting healthy in a hurry so I could catch a plane yesterday evening, I asked the elder Free-Ride offspring to write something for this week's Friday Sprog Blogging entry. Owing, I think, to my apparent fragility, the elder Free-Ride offspring assented to this request without argument, and without demanding a cash payment.
I really do have wonderful kids.
In any event, the elder Free-Ride offspring offers a summary of an interesting article from a magazine that is a favorite at Casa Free-Ride, National Geographic Kids, and then pitches…
jstemwedel | September 11, 2009This school year, the elder Free-Ride offspring has a classroom teacher who used to be one of the elementary school's science teachers. (Owing to budget cuts, both the science teachers have "retreated" to be general purpose classroom teachers, and all the classroom teachers have to teach their own science lessons.)
I'm happy about this because it means the science instruction the elder Free-Ride offspring gets in the classroom is going to be good. The elder Free-Ride offspring is happy about this because it means there's a snake in the classroom.
The snake in question shares a name with a…
jstemwedel | August 28, 2009This week, while I hunkered down for the start of classes, Dr. Free-Ride's better half took the Free-Ride offspring camping.
They camped near Big Sur, which provided ample opportunities to hike near the ocean (and to swim in it). Indeed, on one of these hikes the first day out, they spotted some otters:
The Free-Ride offspring describe these as a mother and baby otter. I'm not sure that I'm ready to rule out the possibility that the parental otter here might be the father.
At one point, coming back to the campsite, they noticed some avian company:
The elder Free-Ride offspring thinks it…
jstemwedel | August 1, 2009Yes, it's a day late. Dr. Free-Ride and Dr. Free-Ride's better half are currently engaged in sprog retrieval maneuvers at the home of the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment. What follows is this morning's attempt to get the Free-Ride offspring to tell us something science-y.
Dr. Free-Ride: Were there any things you noticed while you were away from us that you think might have to do with science?
Younger offspring: I noticed that when I go in the ocean, the salt water makes my eyes red, and I wanted to know why.
Dr. Free-Ride: That sounds like a reasonable matter for scientific…
jstemwedel | July 16, 2009As I thrash my way through composing my last anticipated post on Unscientific America, I reckoned it was time to give you some more pictures to go with all the words. Thank goodness for the Free-Ride offspring!
From the younger Free-Ride offspring:
I am fairly sure the blue squiggles in the background are actually just background squiggles rather than stink-lines coming off of that bird. If anything smells in this composition, you'd expect it would be the flowers.
From the elder Free-Ride offspring:
The elder Free-Ride offspring calls this drawing "Quality versus Quantity." Originally,…
jstemwedel | July 14, 2009Not that the art has anything to do with Bastille Day, but it seemed like as good an occasion as any to share some more of their work.
And, for the record, if art classes somehow lead the Free-Ride offspring to adopt an all-black wardrobe, they are bloody well going to find themselves reading Sartre. In our house, moody black-clad young people are philosophers!
From the younger Free-Ride offspring:
I'm told this is a water buffalo striding to the water hole by moonlight. My sense, from the drawing, is that a water buffalo could sneak up on you on a dark night.
From the elder Free-Ride…
jstemwedel | July 10, 2009Actually, the Free-Ride offspring are just taking a few art classes this summer. We haven't packed them off to live in a garrett somewhere. (Not that we haven't given the matter thought.)
Here are some drawings from their first week.
By the younger Free-Ride offspring:
The light brown lop-eared rabbit in the picture is, apparently, an homage to the rabbit I had in grad school (long gone by the time either of the sprogs was on the scene).
By the elder Free-Ride offspring:
I'm especially fond of the cacti and the bug in the foreground.
jstemwedel | July 8, 2009In case you're interested, Paw-talk, a website aimed at humans with pets, invited me over to chat about philosophy, ethics, science, and the use of animals in research. You can find that interview here.
It's also worth noting that the site features a number of interviews with science bloggers you may recognize ... perhaps because the Paw-talk team has a hunch that people surfing the web for pet-related information may also have a latent curiosity about matters scientific. Good on Paw-talk for feeding that curiosity!
jstemwedel | June 18, 2009... from a secret location. Because, in light of fluctuations in the slug and snail population when I go away, I think they may read my blog.
Tuesday (day 39 of the snail eradication project) and Wednesday (day 40 of the snail eradication project) I found ten slugs each. No snails to speak of.
Both mornings were dry and overcast. All the slugs were located underneath the bags of compost and potting soil by the side of the house.
I didn't go snailing today on account of being in the aforementioned secret location. Where it is both hot and humid. I haven't seen any gastropods here, but…
jstemwedel | June 15, 2009When the snail hunter is away, the gastropods will play.
It should be noted, though, that the slugs and snails I found today were not playing in my vegetable garden. That's progress.
Conditions this morning were dry and overcast. However, it rained a little over the weekend, and our wee lawn was watered once with the sprinklers. Most of what I found today was on the lawn or in easy gliding distance from it.
Another observation: I found some slugs clustered around wee, shriveled fallen lemons on the lawn. These slugs were much less responsive to touch than were the gastropods who hadn't…
jstemwedel | June 13, 2009
A highlight of reunion at my alma mater, as far as I'm concerned, it that they open up the boat house and let alumnae paddle (or sail, or crew, depending on their druthers) around the lake.
I've missed the lake.
I was also missing the rest of the Free-Ride family, so I took advantage of the excellent cell phone reception from the middle of the lake and called home.
Among other things, I learned that the younger Free-Ride offspring went snailing in the yard this morning. The yard was reportedly wet in the aftermath of a light rain. The younger Free-Ride offspring took 18 slugs and five…
jstemwedel | June 12, 2009Overheard at Casa Free-Ride:
Dr. Free-Ride's better half: Hey, some of the silkmoths are mating already!
Elder offspring: With each other?
Savor that moment of stunned silence!
A bunch of the pupating silkworms are still in the cocoons, but as of Thursday, about ten had emerged as moths. I was actually lucky enough to be in the room with my camera as this one emerged.
Judging by the size of her abdomen (largish), we're guessing it's a female. She still hasn't "inflated" her wings yet.
And, we got to watch this female lay eggs:
The eggs are the little yellow spheres. In addition to…
jstemwedel | June 11, 2009Dry and overcast again this morning. I've never been a big fan of humidity, but I was really hoping for some today.
Close inspection of the garden beds indicated that they were gastropod free. The bag of compost and the bag of potting soil on the ground by the side of the house each had only a couple small slugs underneath them. The only other action was on the side of the house, where a snail had attached itself.
Wherever these gastropods are hiding, they seem ready to sit tight ... until they see an opportunity.
Like, if the snail hunter is going to be missing three consecutive mornings…
jstemwedel | June 10, 2009Well, it was another dry morning in the back yard. And I was sufficiently busy with other stuff yesterday afternoon that I did not have a chance to set up any beery gastropod watering holes.
So the pickings today were predictably slim.
Not only were most of the plants and planting areas free of visible gastropods, but most of the places where I can count on finding at least one slug on any given morning were slugless.
The big bag of potting soil on the ground near the house had a few slugs under it. There are always at least a few slugs under that bag, even when there are none under the…
jstemwedel | June 9, 2009The pattern of dry, overcast mornings continues.
Not very satisfying weather for a gastropod hunter.
The only gastropod action this morning was under bags of compost and potting soil, plus one slug hiding on the side of a raised garden bed.
There weren't even that many weeds to pull while I was looking for snails and slugs to pick.
So ... I'm revisiting the beer idea as a way to lure slugs and snails out of hiding (because they have to be hiding somewhere if they appear in relatively large numbers on dewy mornings) and make my morning gastropod forays more productive.
As I've mentioned…
jstemwedel | June 8, 2009Three weeks after the first cocoon was built, the first of the intrepid Free-Ride silk moths have emerged.
They are big. The Free-Ride offspring judge them cute. I haven't been fully convinced. But in time, I may come around.
Dr. Free-Ride's better half thinks the moth pictured directly above is male, while the two in the first picture are probably female (owing to their gigantic abdomens, which we presume are full of eggs awaiting fertilization).
Speaking of fertilization, we haven't seen any attempts at it yet. But it's quite likely the moths are tired out from their efforts to get…
jstemwedel | June 8, 2009Yet another dry, overcast morning. Not the kind of weather when one feels like sliding on one's foot across scratchy leaves or stems.
At least if one is a snail or slug.
I went right to the instant-gratification spots for slug capture. Only two out of the six locations yielded slugs today. One of them also had a wee snail.
Then, as yesterday, I peeked at the sides of the raised garden beds that are up against the fence with the neighboring yard. Today there was just one snail clinging tenaciously to a bed. I dislodged it with my garden stake, rolled it to within my reach, and tossed it…
jstemwedel | June 7, 2009Despite the threatening skies yesterday morning, it did not rain. And, it was pretty dry this morning.
Accordingly, the gastropods seemed to have better things to do than sliding along the dry surfaces of my plants, meal or no meal.
Luckily, I've identified a few instant-gratification spots for the slug portion of my patrol. These include the sides of a bucket under the lemon tree, the watering can near the raised beds, the underside of the composter lid, and a bag of mulch, a bag of compost, and a bag of potting soil (the portions of the bags in contact with the ground). Four out of six…
jstemwedel | June 6, 2009I found this bug in the garden today, on my rainbow chard:
I couldn't find it on my laminated chart of common bugs in my area (harmful or beneficial). Any idea what it might be?
Also, if anyone can recommend a good way to deal with hundreds of ants near a vegetable garden (where "good" involves not poisoning the people who will be eating the vegetables or the beneficial bugs, not setting things on fire, etc.), I would be thrilled to hear it.
jstemwedel | June 6, 2009This morning it was dewy and clear as I went on patrol for gastropods. By the time I was done patrolling, clouds had rolled in and there was no sun at all.
Tut, tut. It looks like rain.
Needless to say, the dew had awakened the slumbering slugs, sending them out for a constitutional before the (presumptive) heat of the day. but seeing as how I was out on my constitutional with a fresh Soapy Bucket of Merciful Deliverance, these slugs need never fear hot and dry conditions again.
The slugs today were a full range of sizes, from teeny tiny to pinky-finger sized. Like yesterday the snails…