My Friend the Garter Snake

I was moving some old trash bags filled with old plastic seed tray flats from alongside my house today.  Some of the bags had holes and were weathered, having been there for quite awhile.

As I emptied the old bags and re-bagged the trash, I came across some Garter Snakes.  Lots of Garter Snakes.  Like 10 Garter Snakes, & mostly big ones, with some as big as 18-24 inches long.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen Garter Snakes living inside black trash bags, and they seem to love it in there.  I think it’s because the black trash bags tend to hold the heat of the day well into the night, while keeping out the cold evening dampness.  Snakes are cold-blooded and rely on their environment for body heat, which is why they like to bask in the sunlight to warm up in the mornings.

Garter Snakes are fantastic predators of insects and are especially useful to have out in the garden.  My garden has crickets, and small grasshoppers, and an over abundance of slugs roaming at night chewing on the leaves of my plants.  I really hate garden slugs.  Hate ‘em!

And that’s when it hit me, my “Eureka!” moment.  I need to trap me some of them there Garter Snakes and relocate them out to my garden where they can do the most good.  I spread out an empty black trash bag flat on the ground, & propped open the end so they can easily slither inside.  Then later all I need to do is pick up the bag and dump them out inside my garden.  I think it’s pure genius, but we’ll see if I can really outsmart a bunch of dumb snakes with a brain the size of a pencil eraser.  For now, it’s just too close to call.

I was reading how Garter Snakes were originally thought to be non-venomous, but were recently discovered to secrete a very mild neurotoxin.  Their venom is relatively harmless to humans, and at worst will only cause mild swelling and itching.  Apparently they don’t have fangs like a rattlesnake, and can only deliver their venom by chewing on their prey.

“Note to self . . . don’t let the Garter Snake chew on your finger.”  Hope I can remember that.

(Picture from Wikimedia)

Zucchini Italian Casserole

I’ve got three large Zucchini squash plants out in the garden, and it looks like I’ll have a bumper crop this year.  They grow so fast, I know that I’ll have a hard time trying to keep up with eating them all.

I went online to the excellent RecipeZaar website and downloaded several Zucchini recipes.  On Sunday I decided to try making Zucchini Casserole which turned out pretty good.  It’s surprising similar to Lasagna, but without pasta and all the hassle.

55 min | 15 min prep
SERVES 8

6 medium zucchini (thinly sliced)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 large fresh tomato (chopped)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)
1 teaspoon Italian spices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Heat oil in large skillet. Add zucchini, onion, tomato & garlic. Cover & cook until desired tenderness, about 10 minutes. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce & seasonings. In a 13x9-inch baking dish, place a layer of the zucchini mixture, then top with shredded cheese. Continue layers until pan is full, ending with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered, in a 350°F oven, for 25 minutes. Top with shredded parmesan or Romano cheese, if desired.

When I made this recipe, I used two medium onions, and substituted spaghetti sauce from a jar in place of the tomato sauce and Italian spices.  I also added a some fresh Basil from the garden.  I will make it again, but next time I think I might add a pound of cooked and drained ground beef, or some fat-free turkey sausage.  I may also layer in some well drained tomato slices once my garden tomatoes have ripened.

Stealth Bomber Flying Over My House

Yeah, you should be jealous . . . there’s a super awesome B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber flying all around my house!  I knew the Thunder Over Michigan air show was going on at Willow Run Airport all this weekend, but I wasn’t quite expecting to see an aircraft this unusual.

I was sitting inside my house when I heard the sound of jet engines, noticeably louder than the normal commercial jets that pass by high overhead.  I jumped up out of my chair and ran out into the backyard, and soon a very dark, angular, sinister looking airplane came into view, looking like a UFO or something that Darth Vader might fly.  I’m a big military aviation aficionado, and recognized the B-2 Spirit right away.

The B-2 is a four engine, nuclear capable heavy bomber operated by two crewmembers, with a 6000 mile range and a 50,000 foot ceiling.  The aircraft shape causes radar signals to be reflected away from their source, and special coatings absorb radar signals weakening their reflected strength.  However, the flying wing shape makes it inherently unstable; onboard computers must constantly make adjustments to the control surfaces just to keep the B-2 from literally falling out of the sky.

Production of the very expensive Spirit was stopped after 21 aircraft since the cold war was ending at the time.  The B-2 Spirit can carry many types of nuclear & conventional weapons including up to eighty 500lb bombs.  The Stealth Bomber has served in combat over Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

I saw the Stealth Bomber coming in from the southeast, the direction of the air show many miles away.  The sky was overcast with some nasty looking blue-gray storm clouds rolling by on high winds, & the B-2’s altitude was just beneath the cloud deck.  He made a very wide, sweeping, 360 degree turn around my house while in a very steep bank.  And then the B-2 Stealth Bomber made another wide 360 degree orbit around my house, before heading back in the direction of the air show.

My guess is that he flew up to the Hamburg/Whitmore Lake area to kill off some time, just to make sure he didn’t arrive too early for a scheduled flyover at Willow Run.  B-2 Spirit bomber crews are very highly trained to hit their Time-On-Target at the exact second.  The Stealth Bomber was just an awesome sight to behold, and the first one I’ve ever seen in person.

“Jet Noise . . . it’s the Sound of Freedom!”

(Picture from Bluedharma at Flickr Creative Commons)

The Weeds Have Eyes

I was out in the garden today, doing some weeding and minding my own business, when I heard some rustling behind me just outside the garden fence.  I thought it was a robin causing a fuss up in the lilac bushes, but when I turned around it wasn’t there. 

As I dropped my gaze, I saw a baby Fawn standing there only 12 feet away, just outside the garden fence, lookin’ right at me.  What a nice surprise!

My fenced garden is 25 feet away from my house, and in between are some seriously overgrown lilac bushes, wrapped in wild grapevines, and knee-high weeds.  He had been hiding out in the lilac bushes, spying on me the whole time.

The Fawn walked around my garden and went into the tree line just 25 feet from the opposite side of my garden.  I went back to weeding.  After a little while he came out of the tree line and walked into my backyard to eat a little grass.  I weeded some more.

Suddenly the Fawn raced around my garden fence at full speed & ran back into his hideout in the lilac bushes.  I kept pulling weeds, but every time I looked over I could see him in there watching my every move.  After a while he wandered out a little to chew on some nearby weeds wildflowers.  He was wary, but didn’t seem too afraid of me.  He probably thought the 7 ft. high garden fence was there to keep me locked up inside, rather than to keep him out.

Then one time I looked up from weeding, and the Fawn wasn’t there.  As I turned to my left I saw him standing out in the open, just outside my garden gate.  Luckily I had closed the garden gate earlier from the inside.  The Fawn looked at me like he was expecting me to come over and open the gate, so he could come inside to get something good to eat.

Then the Fawn wandered back over to the tree line again and disappeared into the thick brush.  It’s not uncommon for a Doe to leave her Fawn alone for several hours at a time and go feed.  The Fawn will lay up somewhere in the thick brush, and his white spots help to camouflage his position.

It’s funny . . . I just made a blog post a week ago about my several encounters with baby Fawns over the years.  Then this close encounter happens, and it was the best one yet!

(Picture from Wikimedia)

Early July Garden Update

Well it’s the first week of July and the garden is coming along rather nicely.  I’m trying to keep up with everything, pulling weeds by day, and spraying slugs by night.

I go out each night with a flashlight & a spray bottle of very diluted ammonia solution.  It’s a non-toxic way to deal with the slugs that only come out at night and chew on my plants.  The last few nights the mosquitoes have been just vicious.

Firstly the Tomatoes are really doing great.  The plants are dark green, and starting to fill out with yellow blossoms and some green tomatoes.  I’m growing seven varieties of tomatoes, including Red & Yellow Jellybean (grape size), red Early Girl (medium size), yellow Lemon Boy (medium size), red Big Beef (large size), and orange Sunny Goliath (large size).  I’m really starting to get hungry for some Tomatoes; I can’t wait.

My Onions are also looking really good.  I pulled one of the largest sweet onions; the bulb had grown to the size of a golf ball and the green tops were 2 feet long.  I have 200 Onions planted in five varieties; sweet white Walla-Walla, and white, yellow, & red long storage types.  I’m also growing a very strong flavored Italian cooking Onion called Cipolini.

The Leeks, Carrots, Beets are coming along slowly, but they take time to mature.  I had planted some Daikon Radishes that grow long like a white carrot.  They are starting to bolt because I planted them late, and the warm temperatures are also making them quote hot.

My Pole Beans are sending up runners and climbing the poles in my tee-pees, and my Green & Yellow Bush Beans are in full blossom.  My edible pod Peas are also blossoming now.  I have three hills of Zucchini Squash which have grown really huge, and the Cucumbers are starting to blossom while the vines spread out.

In my Cabbage row I have Broccoli starting to bud, Green Cabbage almost ready to head up, Red Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, & Bok Choy.  I lost a few Cabbage plants a few weeks ago when we got several inches of rain.  They are planted in a low area in the garden, combined with the mulch prevented the soil from drying out and caused root rot.  I’ve been using the Bok Choy leaves like Lettuce, & the stalks like Celery; it may be my new favorite vegetable.

Lastly, the Herbs are doing really good.  I have two kinds of Parsley growing, flat leaf, and moss curled, and my Basil plants are a foot tall.  I’m looking forward to making Italian Pesto for use on pasta later this summer, as well as making some home made spices by drying them in my dehydrator.

You can view the large pictures by clicking on any thumbnail image below.

So You Want to be a Catcher, Part 3

This blog post is a continuation of a previous post, So You Want to be a Catcher, Part 2.

OK, now we’re getting into the good stuff, the Fine and Glorious Art of Calling Pitches.  Every pitch is a chess move, every batter is a battle, and every inning is a separate campaign within The Game.  Your job is to mess with the batter’s head by disrupting his timing, & keeping him guessing about what pitch might be coming next.  You’ll love it!

Some batters are read-and-react hitters, while others will come up to the plate only looking for a certain pitch in a certain area to hit.  It’s important that you really mix up the pitches you call, changing between fastballs and breaking balls, changing the locations from inside to outside the plate, and adjusting the eye level of the pitches from armpits down to the knees.

When calling pitches you have to consider where the hitter is located in the batting order.  Number 1 thru 5 batters are typically the best hitters on the opposing team.  Number 1, 2, & 5 batters will be good contact hitters, while number 3 & 4 batters will be the power hitters.

Remember to check where the batter stands in the batters box for clues to his weaknesses & tendencies.  When hitters stand in the back of the box so they will have more time to catch up to a fastball, you exploit their vulnerability to breaking pitches.  When they stand in the front of the box to better hit breaking pitches, you call for the heater (fastball).  When hitters are afraid of the ball and stand away from the plate, you set up on the outside of the plate where they can’t reach it.  And when batters crowd the plate, you call an inside fastball that will jam them on the hands.  The batter will hit a weak ground ball and be an easy out.

You have to remember a batter’s previous at-bats earlier in the game.  If a batter hit a pitch hard or missed a pitch badly, file it away in your memory bank for use later in the game.  Sometimes you will come across a batter who just cannot hit a curveball.  Make sure that batter faces curveballs on every single pitch, in every single at-bat, for the rest of the game.  When you figure out a batter’s weakness, you must exploit it, be ruthless, & show no mercy.

You must also take into account the game situation when calling pitches.  If a batter has two strikes on him he tends to bear down, so don’t call an easy pitch to hit like a fastball right down the middle.  If there is a runner on base, call low pitches to force the batter into hitting a ground ball.  You’ll prevent the runner from scoring, and maybe induce a double play.

If you’re lucky, you will have a coach or a more experienced catcher that can teach you this stuff.  I didn’t have that luxury, so I just learned by doing and pretty much figured it all out on my own.  I was not a physically big or a strong catcher in high school, but I was able to compensate by mastering the mental part of calling pitches and catching a game.

Stay tuned sports fans, for the next and final installment of So You Want to be a Catcher, Part 4.

Almost Run’d Over by Baby Twin Fawns

Earlier this week I was out taking a little 3.4 mile stroll around the block just to get some exercise.  While walking down the dirt road, a deer popped out of the thick brush right into the road only 25 feet in front of me.  Neither of us saw or heard the other one coming, so we were both quite startled.

After the deer ran off across the road, I stopped and waited to see what would happen next.  Ten seconds later a little baby fawn popped out of the woods.  And suddenly a second baby fawn popped out into the road . . .  they were twins, and still had their spots.

They stopped in the road and took a good long look at me.  Then they circled in the road, and looked me over some more.  Finally they walked over to the edge of the road, and looked at me again.  They probably had never been this close to a human before.  After 25-30 seconds of checking me out, they finally decided they weren’t too impressed with me and chased after their momma.

I’ve had several encounters over the years with fawns around my backyard.  The picture above is a fawn hanging out under my backyard birdfeeder in August of 2003.  On another occasion I witnessed the rare sight of a doe nursing her baby fawn right in my backyard.

Later that same year I was sitting in my lawn chair out by my garden planning my next move (I was definitely not goofing off . . . no seriously).  All of a sudden there was some thrashing in the woods just behind me, and a fawn came tearing out of the tree line followed by the doe.  The fawn started running and frolicking all around my yard, having a good ole’ time and frisky as could be.

The absolute best encounter I ever had was the time when a doe and her fawn came out while I was sitting in my deck chair on my deck.  I had previously put out some dried whole kernel corn in some deer feed boxes at the edge of the deck.  (This happened years ago before the Michigan DNR banned putting out food for deer to reduce the spread of CWD - Chronic Wasting Disease.)

The doe and her fawn came right up to the deck, and started eating corn only 12 feet away from me.  They were so close that I could even hear the little fawn sneeze!  For the entire fifteen minutes that they were there I had to remain perfectly motionless, so they wouldn’t recognize me and run away.  Luckily the wind was blowing directly towards me that day, so the deer didn’t catch the scent of a human, get spooked, and run away.

I’ve really enjoyed living here in a semi-rural area, because I’ve had the chance to see and experience so much fantastic wildlife up close.

I Really Hate Garden Slugs

I hate garden slugs.  Hate ‘em.  Oh, did I mention I really hate them?  They’re basically snails without any shell, & they are slimy.  And they love to chew holes in my beans & cabbage plants in my garden.

I spread out grass clippings around my plants in the garden as mulch to prevent weeds.  However, that provides a perfect cool, moist place for slugs to hang out.  I might have to rethink that mulch idea.

Slugs only come out at night, so I’ve been going out every night with the flashlight to hunt for them.  I found a non-toxic way to kill slugs on the internet, which is a spray bottle with an ammonia solution of 1 part ammonia to 4 or 5 parts water.  The nitrogen in the ammonia also happens to be very good for the plants.

I’ve been going outside every night for 10 days spraying every slug I could find.  It’s really nice to be in the garden at night when it’s quiet.  The temperature is cool, & there is usually a gentle breeze, but I think I could do without the mosquitoes.

Some nights after a rain I’ll hear the frogs calling to each other in the marsh out behind my house.  It sounds like dozens and dozens of people twanging rubber bands.  One night I heard two groups of coyotes yippin’ and ki-yi’in’ off in the distance; one group would call and the other group would answer.

On another night it was very windy, with clouds blowing across the moon making everything seem extra creepy in the flickering moonlight.  Normally all the firefies would look like points of light, but the wind carried them across the yard turning them into long streaks of light.

Well anyway, I’ve used up the first spray bottle of ammonia solution, so time to whip up some more slug juice.  By the way, any idiot knows that ammonia smells really, really strong.  So don’t be a moron and sniff the jug of pure ammonia anyway, like I did.  (Big mistake.)

(Photo from Wikimedia)

B-58 Hustler, World’s First Supersonic Bomber

The B-58 Hustler was the world’s first operational supersonic bomber in 1960.  Sporting four J79 turbojet engines, the Hustler had a ceiling of 63,000 feet and a maximum speed of 1400 mph, which is just over twice the speed of sound (Mach 2).

The B-58 was nearly 100ft long with a wingspan of more than 50ft, and carried a crew of 3 including pilot, bombardier/navigator, & defensive systems operator.  The Hustler could be armed with a ventral pod carrying fuel and a nuclear weapon, as well as four additional nuclear bombs on tandem hard points under each wing.  The B-58 also carried a remote controlled, rear facing defensive 20mm cannon.

Created in the late 1950’s for the US Air Force Strategic Air Command, the B-58 Hustler was designed as a nuclear penetrator to evade Soviet fighters by flying very high & very fast.  However, highly accurate Soviet surface-to-air missiles were introduced at about the same time, forcing the B-58 to convert to a low-level penetrator which reduced it’s performance.

The B-58 Hustler was a very complex and relatively expensive aircraft to build, & it required intensive maintenance with specialized equipment.  Only 116 aircraft were built with over 20% lost in accidents, and the B-58 Hustler was retired from Air Force service in 1970.

(Photo from Wikimedia)