Trash Panda Bandits

Every Saturday I fill the birdfeeders.  The main feeder holds six pounds of bird seed that I mix by hand to attract the biggest variety of birds.  The feeder is attached to a cord that I can raise or lower for easy filling.  I did it this way to prevent squirrels from eating the seed.

Despite my efforts, inevitably the feeder is empty by Monday morning.  I have always thought this was weird since the small birds in our yard could not possibly eat that much food in two days.  The only time this would be believable would be in the Spring when the blackbirds migrate through and swarm the feeders.  Another strange fact was that the feeders were being emptied out at night … hmmmm.

Birds visiting the feeder.

So I decided to solve the mystery once and for all and I purchased a hunting camera.  The camera is made to be attached to a tree or post and is triggered by motion.  It works at day or night.  I filled up the feeder, placed the camera where it had a good view of the feeder, and waited a week.

Two racoons burgling the feeder.

It really didn't take long.  I was expecting to see a racoon, sometimes referred to a trash panda since they like trash and they are related to pandas, but I was a bit surprised to see two.  I also learned it takes two visits to totally empty the feeder (Note the top picture with the birds - the feeder is half full after the racoon's first visit).

A Trash Panda taking a selfie.

I am considering adding another section of pipe to raise the feed out of the racoon's reach.  I would rather feed the birds instead of the racoons and the food would last a lot longer if only the birds are visiting.

Another Batch

Last year we had four batches of Mourning Doves chicks (that's what Google Lens identified them as).  Those four batches resulted in five surviving doves (the sixth left the nest prematurely, or was abandoned by it's mother, and Iago got to it before I could).

A few weeks ago a new nest appeared (in the same location as last year's nest) and another baby dove appeared.

Mother with the first Mourning Dove chick of 2018.

The chick left the nest earlier this week making way, I assume, for the next batch.

This year I'm seeing more types of birds than ever before.  Cardinals, chickadees, goldfinches, downy woodpeckers, mourning doves, robins, red wing blackbirds among others.  We even had a turkey walking down the street in front of our house.  I guess the new mix of food in the bird feeder is doing its job.

Get Out Of My Way Please

The past few nights a pesky spider has decided that a great place to spin its' web would be in front of the basement sliding glass door (the opening part, naturally).  Now if this was a tiny web it wouldn't be much of an issue but the web is huge!

The web stretches from the top of the slider down to about mid way down my chest.  This places the actual spider at about nose level to me and, I tell you, I nearly wet myself the first night when I just missed walking through it.  The actual spider is over an inch tip toe to tip toe which I categorize as scary huge.

I've destroyed the web three times so far, even swatting at the actual spider with a stick a couple times, but it keeps coming back.

*Shiver*

Connecting The Dots

The week is half over and I can feel things not going anywhere.  This week was going to be a rather busy one but it's turning into anything but.

The first thing that was going to happen was the ripping up of the crappy linoleum and the installation of tile in our hall bathroom and kitchen.  Due to scheduling conflicts the installation won't be done until after I return from the Camino at the end of October.

There were a few things I was going to do in the backyard - gardening stuff and mowing - but the temperatures have been close to 100°F (37.8°C) most of the week (and will last the rest of this week).  Add in the humidity creating horrendous heat indexes and working outside has been scratched of the list.

The high temps have also reduced Iago's exercise from daily walks to chasing the ball up and down the basement stairs.  Black dogs don't do well in this heat and humidity.  Neither does it do any good for fair skinned fifty year old dog walkers.

Now, you would think with the cancellation of the installers, the reduction of working and walking due to heat, and the halt to my training hikes, I could fill the whole week with total Camino preparation immersion.  You would be partially right except for one thing.  My chigger bites have been really itchy so I've been taking Benadryl which means it's lights out for me.  I've spent a lot of today and all day yesterday virtually in a coma on the couch without an ounce of get-up-and-go.

Chigger Bites on my lower calf and ankle.  Makes you want to itch, doesn't it?

I have no idea how long the itching will last or how long I will be on Benadryl but I hope it ends soon.  I have no idea when the heat wave will give way to more fall like weather.  I hope it's soon.  There are things for me to do and preparations to be prepared.  I'm tired of playing connect the dots on my legs.

Oh, and the idea of sitting on a transatlantic flight with a major case of the itchies is not very appealing right now.

The Itch Of A Chigger

Those bugs I mentioned  in my last post - the ones I guessed were probably harmless - yeah.  For every one I saw, and I saw dozens, maybe hundreds, there were two I didn't see.  And they all bit me.  All up and down my legs I've got little red bumps that itch ... no, I mean they ITCH!.

I'm guessing they were chiggers.  I haven't had chigger bites since I was a little kid living on the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks.  I haven't missed them.  And now, I'm making up for lost time apparently.

I hope they go away by the time I start walking the Camino.  Tomorrow I'm going to treat my bag liner, pack, and pack liner with permethrin.  The last thing I need following all these chigger bites are bedbug bites.