environment
jstemwedel | June 4, 2009Unlike Tuesday and Wednesday, today there was no early-morning rainfall.
As such, the slugs and snails decided, apparently, that there was no compelling reason to be out munching on my garden.
There were, however, a good many potato bugs.
So, last night, Uncle Fishy and I were talking about potato bugs (the grayish oblate bugs that roll into balls when they feel threatened). Neither of us does anything about potato bugs in the garden because, as near as we can tell, they don't do any appreciable damage to our plants. (Uncle Fishy's impression was that they only eat dead plant matter --…
jstemwedel | June 3, 2009We had another early-morning downpour (today at about 3 AM).
Thus, the half-hour of gastropod hunting was productive.
The damp weather definitely seemed to make the slugs and snails feel more comfortable being out and about (rather than hunkered down wherever it is they hunker down on the dry mornings). And, like yesterday, the main gastropod action seemed to be on the periphery, where our yard borders with the neighboring yards.
This does make me consider getting enough copper tape, as per JohnV's suggestion, to fortify our border. I just need first to measure how great a length I'll need…
jstemwedel | June 2, 2009"It's never going to rain again."
-- Dr. Free-Ride's better half, contemplating cloudy skies over the last month or so
"Oh yeah?"
-- The weather in the vicinity of Casa Free-Ride, at approximately 4:45 AM today
It was not a torrential downpour, but there was a good, hard rain for 15 to 20 minutes early this morning, and from the looks of things there might have been a drizzle for some time after that.
You can guess what this did for this morning's gastropod foray.
Strikingly, the serious slug and snail action was not in the garden beds where the initial infestation was so horrific. Rather…
grrlscientist | June 2, 2009tags: feral cats, housecats, feral cat colonies, unwanted pet cats, alien species, invasive alien species, wild birds, disease transmission, conservation, streaming video
This video documents the fact that "feral cat colonies" are a disaster for wild birds. Each year free-roaming and feral cats kill hundreds of million of birds in the United States. One controversial solution to deal with the feral cat problem is trap, neuter and release. However, evidence is growing that this method is not eliminating the cat colonies or the predation of birds and other wildlife. There are other problems…
jstemwedel | June 1, 2009On Saturday, the Free-Ride family went to the Maker Faire.
The place was abuzz with things to do and see and hear (and taste and feel), so we'll just give you the snapshot.
There were fabulous arty and tech-y (and arty/tech-y) items on display, including a giant assembly of 2 liter soda bottles, spinning bike wheels onto which our drawings were projected in lights, and the obligatory giant Lego castle/cake thingy:
We also saw and heard a beautiful automated music-playing dealie created by Ranjit Bhatnagar, a friend of mine from geek camp years ago.
And, there was a cool Wimshurst machine (…
jstemwedel | June 1, 2009This morning's conditions were more of the same -- overcast and dry.
There were no gastropods in evidence.
Maybe this speaks to the success of our weed-clearing and morning snail- and slug-picking. Maybe there's a pocket of them I haven't located yet, busily breeding and plotting their revenge.
Or maybe the other yards suddenly look more attractive to the gastropods than mine does. Although given the free exchange of birds, squirrels, cats, and ants across property lines, I can't imagine that gastropods would be respectful of such boundaries.
Today's take: no slugs or snails. However, I…
jstemwedel | May 31, 2009Another overcast, cool, and dry morning today.
The pickings were extremely slim. However, it also bears mentioning that the amount of visible gastropod damage to my plants -- especially my food crops -- is greatly reduced since I began my snail eradication campaign less then a month ago.
I'm going to count that as a victory.
The last few weeks has also seen a significant clearing of weeds and tall grass. In part this is because we were trying specifically to reduce slug and snail hiding places. But part of it is just that if you're out every morning poking around in search of gastropods,…
grrlscientist | May 31, 2009tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
jstemwedel | May 30, 2009This morning was overcast, cool, and dry.
But, as it wasn't a school day, I was determined to get some gastropod action.
This wasn't easy, as the snails and slugs didn't seem to be in any of their reliable hang-outs. Not even a single slug on the watering can.
My strawberries have still been nibbled, so I thought I should have a closer look at their immediate environment. The ground right around the strawberry plants was visibly more moist than the surrounding ground (because I watered the strawberry plants yesterday evening). I got down on my hands and knees and probed the soil just below…
jstemwedel | May 29, 2009This morning was dry and cool and overcast, so the pickings were slim.
I went right to the places where gastropods have been found hiding on mornings like this and came up empty.
Actually, since I cleared some weeds (and some piles of previously whacked weeds and tall grass) yesterday, I figured that maybe there were just fewer hiding places left. It's even possible that when the piles of weeds and tall grass went into the green bin to go to the municipal composting, some slugs and snails went with their hiding places to be composted.
So, despite the lack of snails and slugs to pick, I felt…
jstemwedel | May 28, 2009Another morning, another gastropod foray.
Conditions in the yard were a little odd this morning, owing to the fact that our wee patch of lawn was watered last night. This means that conditions were moist in the vicinity of the lawn but fairly dry otherwise.
Strangely, the lawn itself was not hosting many slugs or snails, unlike yesterday morning. Maybe the amount of water put out by the sprinklers was too much for them. Right on the edges of the lawn area, though, there were plenty of slugs.
So, I could feel that my time was well spent.
In the regions of the yard farther from the wee patch…
jstemwedel | May 27, 2009This morning, like yesterday morning, was sunny and dewy, and just a little bit chilly.
Good snailing weather.
Actually, though, given recent gastropod ratios during my morning forays, it might be more accurate to call it slugging rather than snailing. Except that slugging already has a meaning.
Anyway, in the 30 minutes I had to clear gastropods from the back yard, I formed the impressing that slightly damp blades of grass on even a very small lawn can host indefinitely many slugs. Some of those blades of grass had two or three slugs each.
I'm pretty ambivalent about lawns. I suppose it's…
esiegel | May 26, 2009There are very few sources of truly clean energy out there. Coal, oil, natural gas, etc. all expel tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, something we know we need to stop doing very soon if we want our planet to be habitable to humans for very much longer. Biofuels, while not as harmful as fossil fuels, still emit tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide, and are not a long-term solution. Modern nuclear power produces low amounts of carbon dioxide, but significant amounts of radioactive waste, which isn't good for anybody! Even hydroelectric power has disastrous environmental…
jstemwedel | May 26, 2009Finally, a morning that dawned clear, cool, and moist.
Tired of being holed up wherever it is they hole up during the dry weather, the gastropods came out to play.
They were not, as it turns out, waiting in the new gastropod shelters we put up Sunday. Instead, they seemed quite content frolicking among our "ground cover" plants -- the lemon thyme, the violets, and the edges of our wee patch of lawn.
It's actually somewhat frustrating, living in the land of perpetual drought (and yeah, I know it's not so much that there's less water than normal as that there are too many people using too much…
edyong | May 25, 2009
In 2005, corals in the large reef off the coast of Florida were saved by four hurricanes. Tropical storms seem to be unlikely heroes for any living thing. Indeed, coral reefs directly in the way of a hurricane, or even up to 90km from its centre, suffer serious physical damage. But Derek Manzello from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administation has found that corals just outside the storm's path reap an unexpected benefit.
Hurricanes can significantly cool large stretches of ocean as they pass overhead, by drawing up cooler water from the sea floor. And this cooling effect,…
jstemwedel | May 25, 2009This morning, once again, was dry and overcast, although not as cold as it has been.
Because I know this is low-yield gastropod-picking weather, I went right to the most likely locations: the bottom of the watering can and the new snail and slug shelters.
Nothing.
I thought about watering near the shelters, going inside for a cup of tea, and coming back out to check for gastropods. But instead, I decided to use the snailing time to clear more weeds, especially from between the raised garden beds.
This means, long pants, long sleeves, and socks notwithstanding, I'm covered with angry welts…
jstemwedel | May 24, 2009Another slow morning for snail picking.
It was cold and dry, so most of the gastropods were probably hunkered down wherever it is they hunker down.
I'm hopeful, however, that after yesterday's significant weed-clearing operation there are fewer slug and snail safe-houses.
While I wasn't picking handfuls of gastropods, I was clearing a few more weeds and setting up some "safe"-houses of my own. The hardware store didn't have unglazed tiles, so we ended up getting unglazed terra cotta saucers to balance on bricks as nice, moist shelters from the sun and wind. At the moment, there are six of…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
jstemwedel | May 23, 2009This morning I slept in. But once I woke up, I had to patrol for gastropods.
It was chilly, dry, and overcast. By now, you know what that means: hardly any snails or slugs in evidence. While I was hunting for them, I did some weeding. (After all, the weeds give them shelter without actually being their preferred food source.) Thus, I'm counting the snailing time as productively spent.
Since we need to hit the hardware store today for tomato cages, bamboo U-hoops, and pegboard, I'm adding unglazed tiles and bricks to the list so I can build the gastropod "shelters" Art describes. It…
ddobbs | May 22, 2009
Having lived with fire ants, stepped in fire ants, laid down with fire ants, and been bit just about everywhere by fire ants, the news that parasitic flies turn fire ants them into zombies by eating their brains pleases me immensely.
Speaking of pleasure: Vaughn whacks the dopamine = pleasure meme.
Sharon Begley says Obama may get a lot done, but he can't erase stereotype threat (so far).
We may be dozing, but Europe is ordering its swine flu vaccine. D'oh! Update: We're getting a start too.
"Good night, sleep tight, I love you." Why consistent bedtime routines work.
Why the best…