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pharyngula | June 11, 2009We have two cats, and one of them, Merle, is a shaggy long-haired black beast. And I mean, really shaggy, and shedding constantly. Our first defense against burglary, I think, is the thick clouds of cat fur floating through the atmosphere in our house.
Well, last week, I had enough. I opened the freezer in our kitchen and discovered that all the ice cubes were matted with black hairy clumps. It was disgusting. I've told Merle over and over that if she's going to sneak into the good Scotch behind my back, fine, but she's going to drink it neat, like a civilized person. So now I've taken care…
jstemwedel | June 11, 2009I have a quick question for the hive-mind:
Where are good places with free wifi in Boston, Cambridge, and Wellesley?
I'm heading off to my 20th college reunion and I am hopeful that an area as student-centered as the Boston metropolitan area will be brimming with free wifi. But, seeing as how I lived long enough to have my hopes dashed before, I figured it was worth asking for specific recommendations.
Anything close to a T-stop or stocked with pastries is a plus.
Thanks for helping keep me connected!
jdupuis | June 11, 2009It's with great pleasure that I welcome Walt Crawford and his blog, Walt at Random, to the ScienceBlogs family.
I've been following Walt's writings on the library world for a long time, probably at least seven years, and his Cites &Insights ejournal is a terrific source of links and commentary. Interestingly, it was Walt that inspired me to blog. Interesting, you say, because I've actually been blogging longer than Walt. How is this possible?
Well, it's those early days of Cites & Insights that inspired me to start expressing myself on professional topics. At the time, I was…
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…
drorzel | June 11, 2009You get Baby Blogging early today, because I have a ton of grading to finish today, and don't have time for bloggy things. This week, SteelyKid shows off two new-ish skills:
She can stand up, and she's strong enough to lift a bison! Look out, world...
If you're clicking through to warn us that allowing her to stand up in the Pack and Play is a sure route to Instant Death!!!!1!, please don't.
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…
pharyngula | June 8, 2009Arrr, 'twas a fine weekend of pillage and carouse, and now we have returned to our lair, where we can gloat over our treasure. Here it be, a small portion of the swag we've won.
I would like to thank the producers of Expelled and Bill Donohue for inspiring the American Humanists to toss me that shiny silver bauble, and me maties all around the world for the vast pile of cephalopodic geegaws growin' in me hold.
Arrr.
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…
pharyngula | June 6, 2009Here I am, receiving the Humanist of the Year award from Jennifer Bardi, of the Humanist magazine.
The picture is a bit murky, but trust me, it's very pretty and sniny.
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…
drorzel | June 6, 2009SteelyKid attempts to show off her street cred:
Of course, her attempt at looking tough is kind of undermined by the Princess Tutu type duck on her hoodie...
That's ok, though, because it's all fun:
Getting pictures taken for the blog is funny...
jstemwedel | June 5, 2009The morning was dry, but the skies were not overcast, and I think the air temperature was a bit warmer than yesterday morning.
That, plus the two rainfalls earlier this week, seems to have changed things up.
Because today, there were babies.
Most of them were very well hidden -- almost undetectable unless your eye has been trained by twenty-odd days of patrolling for gastropods. But there they were near the base of the rosemary, on the tiny stems of the lemon thyme, on the slender leaves on the society garlic, looking almost like grains of sand or tiny blobs of animal poo: tiny snails and…
drorzel | June 4, 2009My mom was in Saratoga Springs for a meeting, and stopped by tonight to make a guest appearance in this week's Baby Blogging. Here, SteelyKid shows off how she can haul herself into a standing position on the big tub of outgrown baby clothes sitting in the living room:
"How do we know she did that herself?" you ask, you skeptical baby-doubter, you. "Her grandmother is holding her up!" Well, this picture should remove any doubt:
"Look, Internet people! No adult support needed!"
This, like most developmental milestones, is both exciting and terrifying. She's crawling all over now, and hauling…
jstemwedel | June 4, 2009Twenty years ago this spring, after finishing my last round of final exams as a college student, I was enjoying a civilized custom called "senior week," a break of approximately seven days in length between finals and commencement. The campus had largely cleared of students who were not seniors, and suddenly we had time to relax and enjoy our beautiful campus before it was time to move on and become adults (or some close approximation).
One of those afternoons during senior week, I was out on the deck on the roof of my dorm, sunbathing (because 21-year-olds care not about incremental…
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 --…
clock | June 4, 2009You may have noticed a couple of days ago that Caryn Shechtman posted an interview with me on the New York blog on Nature Network. Then, Caryn and Erin and I thought it might be a good idea to have the entire interview reposted here, for those who missed it. So, proceed under the fold:
1. What is your professional background?
Even as a little kid I always loved animals and thought that whatever I do when I grow up would have something to do with animals: perhaps work at a zoo or in a circus!. When I was in 6th grade or so, I read the entire series of books by James Herriot and decided to…
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, 2009It's been a long time since I posted a garden update. As we're on the cusp of summer, there's a lot to update you on.
And I will, soon.
But today, I wanted to share two reasons carrots are sometimes hard to pull up.
Reason #1: The carrot you're trying to pull up is wrapped around another carrot that you aren't trying to harvest.
Reason #2: The carrot you're trying to harvest has grown a barb.
I think I'm only a few weeks away from being able to discover features that make it hard to harvest potatoes.