Bunnies are lucky

[btmc]

Up in the northern part of jersey, we had some thunder, but no rain. Had a great time at the NJ state fair, but it was soooo hot and humid. This time last yr, hurricane Irene was coming to town and left alot of the state in the dark and flooded for days. Really hoping never to experience that again. And hoping JCP&L has learned their lesson from last yr's fiasco.

[no longer a ridger]

Up in the northern part of jersey, we had some thunder, but no rain. Had a great time at the NJ state fair, but it was soooo hot and humid. This time last yr, hurricane Irene was coming to town and left alot of the state in the dark and flooded for days. Really hoping never to experience that again. And hoping JCP&L has learned their lesson from last yr's fiasco.

I am guessing "no" to that.

This storm was really fierce though. They cancelled tonight's part of the Somerset 4H fair.

[no longer a ridger]

Power came back on a little after 10pm, so we had A.C. to sleep (yay). Cable has been out since before 5pm yesterday though. What's weird is we have Internet through Comcast as well as Cable TV and the Internet connection has been fine.

[no longer a ridger]

I glanced out the window this afternoon and saw this in our backyard. Not uncommon to see deer but it is strange to see them this close to the house!


I ran and got the zoom and got some better shots of mama and baby. Yes, she is sticking her tongue out at me.


Another head closeup.


And the baby, complete with Bambiesque spots.



Meanwhile Fern got out to a local dog park today and got some doggy play in.

[observ]

How does Fern react to the deer? Or did I miss that?

[no longer a ridger]

She wants to chase them, not realizing that their top speed is not only 3x what hers is, but that they can jump over 6 foot fences while Fern has issues walking up stairs.

[no longer a ridger]

20% chance of rain = "prepare for the monsoon".

No, our gutters are not clogged. There's just too much rain to get it all out fast enough. This is happening 2-3 times a week now. Madness!

[observ]

She wants to chase them, not realizing that their top speed is not only 3x what hers is, but that they can jump over 6 foot fences while Fern has issues walking up stairs.

Thanks; just curious. I've had sporty dogs who (like Fern) thought that wildlife-chasing was great fun -- and others (like my current dog) who equated wildlife with space aliens. One terrier was routinely chased by little toads.

[observ]

20% chance of rain = "prepare for the monsoon".

No, our gutters are not clogged. There's just too much rain to get it all out fast enough. This is happening 2-3 times a week now. Madness!

Well, it IS monsoon season -- somewhere in Uttar Pradesh.

We're still waiting for the T-storms that were predicted for Wed-Thu, then were supposed to hit in a big way on Fri afternoon, then at different Fri pm times (thus canceling the Stroll), then for 2-4-7 am and all day Sat, then noon, then blahblah... all of it stolen by NJ.

[no longer a ridger]

The sump pump issue seems to finally have been fixed once and for all.

On the driveway we'll have to wait and see. Three storms now have carved deep channels into the "hump" on the driveway. I've now filled the last of them with heavy stones in the bottom and heavy gravel on top, replacing the very light gravel that was used before. This is apparently a common trouble around here when a flash storm pops up. But paving the sucker would cost something northwards of $10,000, and I don't really feel like spending that kind of money on tar right now.

It turns out the peacocks down the road are not the pets of someone but are in fact wild, they just like that one house for some reason. No one seems to know precisely how you end up with wild peacocks to begin with.

They don't have speed bumps in the area. They have speed humps, a source of endless amusement and giggles and double entendres when driving.

We have a lot of bats. If you walk around at dusk and casually look up a lot, you'll see the critter flying around with that distinctive bat outline. This is a very good thing - bats eat bugs like mosquitoes and might explain why we seem to be comparatively free of annoying flying insects.

We also have many spiders, from the usual variety we're all acquainted to up to horrors that look like they escaped from the Harry Potter set. These guys also eat annoying bugs but it's harder to feel good about them because I get the creeping willies every time I see one with a body the size of a nickel.

We have discovered a form of ant trap that is highly effective, which is why I am not typing this covered in ants at the moment.

The centipedes and millipedes and whatever-pedes have either discovered that our house is cat country and fled for safer ground, or else Poncey and Xavier have simply eaten them all. I don't care which, I just know finding a millipede in your tub with you is not a way any sensible person wants to start their day.

The birds continue to duke it out for rights on the various bird feeders. The squirrel who gets in the food should try out for the US Olympic gymnastics team.

Fern is double jointed and can get out of her harness the same way Mel Gibson could get out of a straight jacket, sans dislocating her shoulder to do it. A wiggle here, a squirm there, a heave of doggy muscles and *pop* - there she is naked and free. sigh.

[btmc]

Spiders-don't remind me. Happened to hang my clothes out on a beautiful day last yr, something I don't usually do, and found what would pass as a tarantula, to my untrained eyes, all hairy and more than a few inches in size, hiding in a pair of undies.That would have hurt someone. And usually every year we seem to have an explosion in biblical size of some ungodly insect, etc. coming into house. One yr, armies of ants, another yr, inch worms. Just waiting for the locusts to come next.

[no longer a ridger]

I check my water glass at night when I get up for a drink of water to make sure I'm not ingesting millipede surprise - just in case one gets past the cats.

The recent driveway washout:


Our neighbor's alligators, including the new baby in diapers. They're at the end of their driveway.


One of the local farms at dusk. In the distance is a dilapidated old chicken coup. For Dan: "dilapidated" means run down.

[gildedageinnewyork]

no longer a ridger wrote:
"...Our neighbor's alligators including the new baby in diapers..."

Wait. That statement, and pic, were presented so casually, somewhat as an aside.....are they real? Is the larger one being trained to push that stroller? People actually affix a diaper to something, although relatively small, w/those sharp teeth? Are alligators trainable, not that I'd want one. What happens when they achieve adulthood - are they let loose in the neighborhood swimming hole? Give us the backstory, please.

[observ]

Fern is double jointed and can get out of her harness the same way Mel Gibson could get out of a straight jacket, sans dislocating her shoulder to do it. A wiggle here, a squirm there, a heave of doggy muscles and *pop* - there she is naked and free. sigh.

I empathize. I've gone through harness heck with a few dogs.

Dogs learn to back out of some harnesses -- especially step-ins and others that rely on leash tension to keep them in. They can wriggle out if the leash is slack, if they're tugged from the front or if the harness is a bit loose. If it's a real safety issue and harness-tightening doesn't work, look for another type of harness -- say, one where the neck is buckled in (like a collar) or something securely vestlike from a hunting/police-dog supply place.

[no longer a ridger]

no longer a ridger wrote:
"...Our neighbor's alligators including the new baby in diapers..."

Wait. That statement, and pic, were presented so casually, somewhat as an aside.....are they real? Is the larger one being trained to push that stroller? People actually affix a diaper to something, although relatively small, w/those sharp teeth? Are alligators trainable, not that I'd want one. What happens when they achieve adulthood - are they let loose in the neighborhood swimming hole? Give us the backstory, please.

One of our neighbors, Barbara, is a retired veterinarian technician, she and her husband own a beautiful house one street over from us. This is the same street where I get shots of our "ridge". They also have one of the few paved driveways in the area. We met her on one of our Fern walks several weeks ago. She absolutely fell in love with Fern and wanted to know all about her, she gave us lots of tips on how to train her and people we could go to in the area for help, and had some interesting speculation on Fern's possible lineage (we'll have to look some more into that). She is very charming but a bit mischievous, and eccentric (in a fun way), which is a trait she shares with many people who live in this area.

She's had many cats and dogs and rabbits and goats and what-have-you over the years, currently she is mostly a cat person.

I don't know the background behind most of the alligators, they've just been there at the head of their driveway for quite some time.

The baby I do know about. She mysteriously just appeared on the edge of the driveway one day, and that was the day we met Barbara. She was down there fashioning some home made diapers for her to make her feel more welcome and to fit in with the others, but had no clue where she came from.

A couple of weeks later we had the big storm and power and cable were knocked out, and we went out for a long walk with Fern. With the power out lots of people were outside socializing, and when we got down to Barbara's house there was a car pulled over at her driveway and a gaggle of people were talking to her. It was Barbara's neighbors down the street, they had seen the 'gator had been washed off the driveway down the storm and was holding onto a branch by its teeth several hundred yards down the hill. If it hadn't been holding on by its teeth it would have been swept away into the nearby creek and lost forever. But by fate and a need to go buy pizza down in town, they spotted her and rescued her and returned her.

And there the story came out where the baby gator originated from - why, it was from Barbara's neighbors themselves who were now returning it to her!

As it turned out they had admired the gator's on Barbara's driveway for some time. And while doing a routine house cleaning they came across an old baby gator that one of their boys had had when very young and decided to give her a new home. They didn't know Barbara so they just quietly dropped her off at the end of the driveway and hoped the baby would be accepted. The rest of the story you now know - baby was accepted and diapered, was swept away in a torrent, and now was being returned for the second time by the same family.

From this story you can see the power of community, and how adversity like a power outage and a burning need for pizza and a clean house can bring people together.

Oh, and the gators are plastic. Who ever heard of a live gator pushing a shopping cart?!

[no longer a ridger]

Fern is double jointed and can get out of her harness the same way Mel Gibson could get out of a straight jacket, sans dislocating her shoulder to do it. A wiggle here, a squirm there, a heave of doggy muscles and *pop* - there she is naked and free. sigh.

I empathize. I've gone through harness heck with a few dogs.

Dogs learn to back out of some harnesses -- especially step-ins and others that rely on leash tension to keep them in. They can wriggle out if the leash is slack, if they're tugged from the front or if the harness is a bit loose. If it's a real safety issue and harness-tightening doesn't work, look for another type of harness -- say, one where the neck is buckled in (like a collar) or something securely vestlike from a hunting/police-dog supply place.

Yeah, we figured we'll have to go the more vest-like type. With Halloween coming on this has gotten my wife very excited about doggy fashion opportunities. sigh. The dog is likely to have a bigger wardrobe than I do over time.

On a positive note I hear Halloween in nearby Lambertville is really awesome.

[no longer a ridger]

Despite everything that's happened in the last few months, some things just never change. Cat sleeping positions is one of them. You can also see here that Ponce has bulked up a bit since the move. Given the lack of bugs in the house we suspect he's been supplementing his diet with some extra protein.


Fern on one of her night walks. We have no street lights and houses are generally set way off the road, so yes it really does get this dark. This is why we have about 15 LED torches from Tractor Supply so we have them for walks or in case of power outages.

[btmc]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

[observ]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Aagh. How do you deal with a rambling bear?

[Purple Nurple]

tell it that you gave at the office.

[no longer a ridger]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Bears are the only thing that might attack people and they are quite scarce here., so I'm not too worried. Plus we have the lights so we're very obvious.

[Purple Nurple]

and they usually do their best to avoid people and dogs so you got that going for you.

[btmc]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Aagh. How do you deal with a rambling bear?

Just whistle and smile.

[observ]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Aagh. How do you deal with a rambling bear?

Just whistle and smile.

What SHOULDN'T you do (outside of looking like a sandwich)?

[btmc]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Bears are the only thing that might attack people and they are quite scarce here., so I'm not too worried. Plus we have the lights so we're very obvious.

Only takes one to cause a problem. And from what I've read, growing nos. of bears are a problem all over jersey. We have a golf course in middle of town. One time as I was driving by, I saw a group of golfers playing on one side of a hill oblivious to the bear running up the other side of the hil towards them. Don't know how that turned out. And many times as my kids are practicing sports on the school field, there'll be a rambling bear go by.

[Gus Aspara]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Aagh. How do you deal with a rambling bear?

Offer him a pic-a-nic basket, off course.

[no longer a ridger]

Just be careful on night time walks, that you don't run into any NJ wildlife, like the occasional black bear.

Bears are the only thing that might attack people and they are quite scarce here., so I'm not too worried. Plus we have the lights so we're very obvious.

Only takes one to cause a problem. And from what I've read, growing nos. of bears are a problem all over jersey. We have a golf course in middle of town. One time as I was driving by, I saw a group of golfers playing on one side of a hill oblivious to the bear running up the other side of the hil towards them. Don't know how that turned out. And many times as my kids are practicing sports on the school field, there'll be a rambling bear go by.

Um, OK. So you've...seen bears. What am I supposed to be worrying about again?

Bears will only attack people if they are surprised by them, as protecting their cubs, or if they are ravenously hungry. None of those apply to me walking my dog on the streets at night with a light.

[Ida Knownbetta]

[Purple Nurple]

it's obvious you need to buy an ar-15 to defend yourself against da bears. Also make sure you get the armor piercing bullets because you might run into one of them wearing body armor.

[no longer a ridger]

it's obvious you need to buy an ar-15 to defend yourself against da bears. Also make sure you get the armor piercing bullets because you might run into one of them wearing body armor.

I take no chances - I always carry a clip with a mix of ammunition on it. They alternate armor piercing, hallow point, tracer, silver, repeat. That takes care of most threats in the woods here.

Does nothing against the zombies though, so I keep a machete strapped on my back as a backup. Handy against the snakes, too.

[Purple Nurple]

With zombies you just gotta worry about the head shot, any of the three rounds should cover that however if you were attacked by a vampiric bear in body armor that could be a tricky one to deal with.

[no longer a ridger]

With zombies you just gotta worry about the head shot, any of the three rounds should cover that however if you were attacked by a vampiric bear in body armor that could be a tricky one to deal with.

I'm not sure what the tracer rounds and silver ones would do to a Zombie.

[observ]

With zombies you just gotta worry about the head shot, any of the three rounds should cover that however if you were attacked by a vampiric bear in body armor that could be a tricky one to deal with.

On the bright side, a vampiric bear wouldn't zombie-eat your brains or snap off and snack on your head and limbs (as bears tend to do).

[no longer a ridger]

With zombies you just gotta worry about the head shot, any of the three rounds should cover that however if you were attacked by a vampiric bear in body armor that could be a tricky one to deal with.

On the bright side, a vampiric bear wouldn't zombie-eat your brains or snap off and snack on your head and limbs (as bears tend to do).

Black bears aren't all that big, so it's unlikely they'd use your head as a convenient bowl for eating.

[no longer a ridger]

In case any of you do come to NJ and find yourself surrounded by Ninja black bears or a similar threat:

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearfacts_safetytips.htm

[no longer a ridger]

Cardinals seem to love the bird seed blend we've been getting from Tractor supply, we must have a dozen pairs of them. Not sure if they're mated pairs or not but it does look like an even distribution and guys and dolls.

Here was a cute female I caught this morning by the big feeder.

[no longer a ridger]

The temperatures plummeted last night and it's stayed cool today, so everybody's out having a good time while not baking. Including all the animals in the neighborhood. We had at least 6 deer on the property a short while ago. Here's a baby and her mom up in our front yard area next to the garage.

[observ]

That's beautiful and all but you cannot hide the fact that Jerseyites have bears hopping around to "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" and hunting for human canapes. NJ's depressed wildlife hurl themselves at your moving vehicles. Wilfully jobless bunnies flood your property with their nonmarital children. In February the Great Saddle River Glacier pops out, sees its shadow and heads for your 35,000-foot driveway, where you're shoveling six feet of snow with a spork. If you were in BR you could gather with neighbors around the ol' sinkhole and share tales about Extreme Parking, the latest 27 Italian eateries and the DOT's plan to replace intersections with flume rides.

[no longer a ridger]

Some more quick pics from today.

The Poncinator chilling on the cabinets:


A male:


The usual plain vanilla birds


Caught in the act!





Poncey is not amused.

[no longer a ridger]

That's beautiful and all but you cannot hide the fact that Jerseyites have bears hopping around to "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" and hunting for human canapes. NJ's depressed wildlife hurl themselves at your moving vehicles. Wilfully jobless bunnies flood your property with their nonmarital children. In February the Great Saddle River Glacier pops out, sees its shadow and heads for your 35,000-foot driveway, where you're shoveling six feet of snow with a spork. If you were in BR you could gather with neighbors around the ol' sinkhole and share tales about Extreme Parking, the latest 27 Italian eateries and the DOT's plan to replace intersections with flume rides.

Sadly it's all true.

You also forgot the six metric tons of deer and bear crap in my back yard. I may need to buy a backhoe to deal with all that. Anyone in BR need any fertilizer?

[no longer a ridger]

Two of our local foxes, these are the guys that were only a few months old when we moved in. Now they're somewhere between dog and cat sized. Of course they're never around when I have my DSLR with the zoom, so the long range iPhone pic will have to suffice for now. I might just keep my DSLR in my truck from now on...

[no longer a ridger]

Saw two snakes out tonight for Fern's walk. Only little guys fortunately. Let's hope it stays that way!

[lucy6643]

That's beautiful and all but you cannot hide the fact that Jerseyites have bears hopping around to "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy" and hunting for human canapes. NJ's depressed wildlife hurl themselves at your moving vehicles. Wilfully jobless bunnies flood your property with their nonmarital children. In February the Great Saddle River Glacier pops out, sees its shadow and heads for your 35,000-foot driveway, where you're shoveling six feet of snow with a spork. If you were in BR you could gather with neighbors around the ol' sinkhole and share tales about Extreme Parking, the latest 27 Italian eateries and the DOT's plan to replace intersections with flume rides.

I don't care who you are; that's funny. And mostly accurate.

[Purple Nurple]

Two of our local foxes, these are the guys that were only a few months old when we moved in. Now they're somewhere between dog and cat sized. Of course they're never around when I have my DSLR with the zoom, so the long range iPhone pic will have to suffice for now. I might just keep my DSLR in my truck from now on...

it's rather interesting how the critters don't seem to be bothered with coming close to people. Not sure if it's a sign that wild food sources are tough forcing them to come close or if they've developed an almost non fear of humans. it's odd because you have a dog and her pissing in the yard should have been enough to keep them away.

[btmc]

Two of our local foxes, these are the guys that were only a few months old when we moved in. Now they're somewhere between dog and cat sized. Of course they're never around when I have my DSLR with the zoom, so the long range iPhone pic will have to suffice for now. I might just keep my DSLR in my truck from now on...

it's rather interesting how the critters don't seem to be bothered with coming close to people. Not sure if it's a sign that wild food sources are tough forcing them to come close or if they've developed an almost non fear of humans. it's odd because you have a dog and her pissing in the yard should have been enough to keep them away.

I thought foxes were usually nocturnal. That's when I usually see them running across the roads. Otherwise, there's a fear of rabies. A few yrs ago, a fox came running towards me, the kids, and our large dog, so we went inside and called the po po. He came with his shotgun, but foxie had long gone.

Speaking of snakes, of which we have a few, saw a huge one yesterday gobbling down a frog at our garage door. Saw just the frog legs in his mouth as the snake rambled down a hole near the garage. We always have to be careful when weeding the yard and rock wall because of all the snakes. But this one was no little garden variety. too bad they don't go after the next door roosters that never shut up.

[no longer a ridger]

Two of our local foxes, these are the guys that were only a few months old when we moved in. Now they're somewhere between dog and cat sized. Of course they're never around when I have my DSLR with the zoom, so the long range iPhone pic will have to suffice for now. I might just keep my DSLR in my truck from now on...

it's rather interesting how the critters don't seem to be bothered with coming close to people. Not sure if it's a sign that wild food sources are tough forcing them to come close or if they've developed an almost non fear of humans. it's odd because you have a dog and her pissing in the yard should have been enough to keep them away.

It was a mild winter so food is plentiful. This is a neighbor's house on another road but there are many, many dogs around (most everyone has at least two dogs). But these two specific foxes don't seem to care, and I see them out in the day time all the time. When in my truck I've gotten within 10 feet of them, and they'd be just chilling out and not concerned.

They do tend to stay very close to this one house. I think there's something about the house that's very attractive to them for some reason.

[no longer a ridger]

Two of our local foxes, these are the guys that were only a few months old when we moved in. Now they're somewhere between dog and cat sized. Of course they're never around when I have my DSLR with the zoom, so the long range iPhone pic will have to suffice for now. I might just keep my DSLR in my truck from now on...

it's rather interesting how the critters don't seem to be bothered with coming close to people. Not sure if it's a sign that wild food sources are tough forcing them to come close or if they've developed an almost non fear of humans. it's odd because you have a dog and her pissing in the yard should have been enough to keep them away.

I thought foxes were usually nocturnal. That's when I usually see them running across the roads. Otherwise, there's a fear of rabies. A few yrs ago, a fox came running towards me, the kids, and our large dog, so we went inside and called the po po. He came with his shotgun, but foxie had long gone.

Speaking of snakes, of which we have a few, saw a huge one yesterday gobbling down a frog at our garage door. Saw just the frog legs in his mouth as the snake rambled down a hole near the garage. We always have to be careful when weeding the yard and rock wall because of all the snakes. But this one was no little garden variety. too bad they don't go after the next door roosters that never shut up. :evil:

I thought they'd be more skittish and nocturnal as well, but research has shown that it varies with their comfort level in the area they're at. If they feel very secure they can and do go out in the day light. These two seem quite at home in this one yard and it's a very, very quiet street with little car or foot traffic to speak of. If they have a good food source they might not worry about anything too much. It's possible this home is just a vacation house that isn't occupied very often, I've never actually seen anybody living there although they have night lights on at night.

Rabies is a concern with any animal, if one was coming at me for no reason I'd skedaddle.

[no longer a ridger]

I saw three foxes in the exact same spot tonight, there must really be something about it. Two buddies and a third interloper who wanted to join the feast or whatever but was waved off.

Here the interloper is in the foreground, and you can just see the other two in the background.


The interloper running toward the road and the safety of a culvert if need be.


I thought he was going to disappear in the pipe here...


...but no, he was actually going across the road.


My best shot of him (alas from behind)


I really, really, really need to travel with the DSLR in the truck!!!

[Purple Nurple]

They do tend to stay very close to this one house. I think there's something about the house that's very attractive to them for some reason.

do they have a cat or dog that they leave a food bowl out for? compost pile?

[no longer a ridger]

They do tend to stay very close to this one house. I think there's something about the house that's very attractive to them for some reason.

do they have a cat or dog that they leave a food bowl out for? compost pile?

Not that I can see but it must be something constant. They've been around this house since at least May when they were pups.