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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 23, 2021 14:19:16 GMT -6
Yup, I turn 62 tomorrow. 😎 Thank you! 😊 It kind of crept up on me, like, I knew it was coming, but it just hit me last night when I used the Tractor Supply coupon that it was only 2 days away. This is the birthday I don't mind having...I start getting some of the money I've paid to to government back! 😂
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Post by feather on Oct 23, 2021 14:34:07 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore, Woo Hoo, and Happiest Birthday to you again. You and I will be the same age in February.
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 23, 2021 21:21:35 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore, Woo Hoo, and Happiest Birthday to you again. You and I will be the same age in February. So we are the same age until midnight tonight? 😉
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Post by feather on Oct 23, 2021 21:26:26 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore , Woo Hoo, and Happiest Birthday to you again. You and I will be the same age in February. So we are the same age until midnight tonight? 😉 On Feb 25th you and I will be 62 at the same time. Now I guess you are my older sis. I've never had an older sis. It will be an adventure.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 25, 2021 10:23:19 GMT -6
Happy Birthday manygoatsnomore , Yesterday was a day full of mess-up....but it ended ok. Picked up our farmer friend's log splitter on Saturday night (90 min each way). It was out of gas and he had just put the last of his gas in the tractor, so we didn't get to start it up. No problem, we have gas and it always starts on the first pull. Went to Rural King and got 500# of feed....it's on sale which is why we went. Home and to bed....it's been a long few months! Got up Sunday and got splitter off the trailer. Added gas. Test pull...no go. Insert lots of head-scratching and a few not-so-family-friendly words. More pulls....no go. No spark....more not so family-friendly-words. We are sure it's not the spark plug but pull it anyways. 15 min to find a socket to pull it out! Looks ok...no spark. We are sure it's not the plug, but go get a new one anyway (they are relatively cheap....and we are not opening up the engine of someone else's splitter). Obviously, that made no difference. Gave up....after 2 years of doe eyes (mine) Hubby gave in and we went and bought a splitter. His hold-up has been no place to store it. All the way there he is audible trying to convince himself this is a good idea. Got to the farm store....nice size splitter (couldn't tell online). The price on the ticket is $100 less the big sign and online price. They came out and pulled a ticket....rang up for the higher price. Kid calls the manager over because the ticket with the barcode says a lower price. They gave us the lower price (and someone was called to start printing correct tickets, lol). Finally, something went our way!! Got it home, gassed it up....works great! Told him to put the manual in a box, wrap it and toss it under the tree for me....he's done, lol. Worked for an hour. Came in for lunch....hubby grumbles, grumbles, grumbles. I ask what the heck is wrong now!!! Our splitter works great....but in turning it on he realized he never turned the electric system on in Bob's splitter. After lunch he turns it "on" and it fired perfectly, LOL. So we hauled it to the back and ran 2 splitters for a few hours. This morning I went out and cleaned up the garage. In 20 min of work, I think I have space for the splitter to live. But with all the things that I keep running into today, looks like I'll not be splitting any wood. Was about to go and do that when I "re-discovered" the 500# of feed I need to deal with. I needed to deliver 200# of it. Rain will be here in an hour or less. Going to be a very wet week here. Wednesday I will get back to splitting, they claim it will be dry....I'm hoping for tomorrow afternoon if I'm very lucky. The weatherman didn't imply I'd have any luck with that dream...
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 26, 2021 21:31:48 GMT -6
feather, so we were both 61 until October 24th, and now I get to be the older sister and boss you around until we are the same age again on Feb 25th....hmm, I think I like this but sister gig, lol. I'm the baby of the family by almost 9 years, so it's a new experience for me, too. My next older brother's birthday is February 22, so nearly the same interval as us. Ohio Dreamer, I had to laugh at the log-splitter story. As you told it, I kept wondering if you had turned the fuel on...hey, I was close! 😂. All's well that ends well, and now you can split wood into your old age. Hope your feed is all taken care of and that you are staying dry. Are you getting the same system that passed through here? We lost internet sometime between Sunday and Monday, so I have some catching up to do. Need to take this post from my tablet to my phone, so I'll post what I have and make a new post when I get another minute. Have to call the pharmacy first.
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Post by feather on Oct 26, 2021 22:06:49 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore,yes please just boss me around. I've never been bossed around by an older sister. I wouldn't know what to do with it. I welcome it. My fondest memories are of my littlest brother, and he'd say "you are not my mother" true and true and true, I wasn't his mother.I'm not going to argue with the truth.
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 27, 2021 7:31:08 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore ,Yes, feed is "put away". We keep it in the house in the winter... the shed has too much other stuff (small shed) like straw. I'd rather keep nice bags of feeding the mudroom verses "hairy" straw, lol. Rain system, I think it is the same system....but it was about "squeezed out" when it got here. Over 2 days we got less then an inch of rain. Today and tomorrow are dry, then the second rain system comes in, I think it's the same second bomb cyclone you all got/are getting out West. But...if I work today and tomorrow I should have the wood done (I think). Today is cold and cloudy...so hard to get motivated. I'll head out in a half-hour or so. Should take a Naproxen before I go....my hips are feeling all the twisting, turning, picking up, and walking on less then level/stable ground. I do keep a rake out there and keep cleaning up the debris so I have more solid ground to walk on....I miss being 20! Also manygoatsnomore , and feather , feel free to big sister me around, I'm 10 years younger than you all and have no siblings....so you have no competition, lol.
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Post by feather on Oct 27, 2021 7:56:35 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore ,Yes, feed is "put away". We keep it in the house in the winter... the shed has too much other stuff (small shed) like straw. I'd rather keep nice bags of feeding the mudroom verses "hairy" straw, lol. Rain system, I think it is the same system....but it was about "squeezed out" when it got here. Over 2 days we got less then an inch of rain. Today and tomorrow are dry, then the second rain system comes in, I think it's the same second bomb cyclone you all got/are getting out West. But...if I work today and tomorrow I should have the wood done (I think). Today is cold and cloudy...so hard to get motivated. I'll head out in a half-hour or so. Should take a Naproxen before I go....my hips are feeling all the twisting, turning, picking up, and walking on less then level/stable ground. I do keep a rake out there and keep cleaning up the debris so I have more solid ground to walk on....I miss being 20! Also manygoatsnomore , and feather , feel free to big sister me around, I'm 10 years younger than you all and have no siblings....so you have no competition, lol. I wake up and see that manygoatsnomore, and I are now in charge of bossing Ohio Dreamer, around. The responsibility is just too much for this early in the morning. I might have to throw up my hands and take a nap, it's too much responsibility.
The yearning to have a responsible older sibling is real. I yearn for an older brother or older sister. I remember asking people in my 30's would you be my mother, would you be a mother to me. Do you remember the book "Are you my mother?"
Okay I'll man up for this, Sure I'll be your older sister Ohio Dreamer, what shall I do if I do take on this honorable place? You seem to be handling everything just fine, so, what do I need to do to boss you properly? lol
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Post by Ohio Dreamer on Oct 27, 2021 13:01:45 GMT -6
feather , honestly...I doubt you want the job, lol. I know me....RUN!! I think we all have days when we really would rather have someone older and wiser do our thinking for us. I've longed for an older or younger sibling for years. Now that I'm at the age I am, and am watching my husband have to deal with his father's estate...I think being an only child could be a blessing. DH and his brother are NOT at odds on anything estate related. But still needing to remember to tell his brother we are doing this or that with the house....or asking his brother his opinion get's tedious (they both own the house, now)
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Post by feather on Oct 27, 2021 13:26:23 GMT -6
feather , honestly...I doubt you want the job, lol. I know me....RUN!! I think we all have days when we really would rather have someone older and wiser do our thinking for us. I've longed for an older or younger sibling for years. Now that I'm at the age I am, and am watching my husband have to deal with his father's estate...I think being an only child could be a blessing. DH and his brother are NOT at odds on anything estate related. But still needing to remember to tell his brother we are doing this or that with the house....or asking his brother his opinion get's tedious (they both own the house, now) Yes exactly. I yearn for the older brother or sister issue myself. I also get the 'taking care of siblings' issue and my mom never did the full parenting job so I was confided in and put into service FOR her in regards to the siblings. Heck my parents often asked me adult decisions and THEY were the adults and I was the child, it was confusing and hard at that time.
I was the oldest of 4 so I was put into a place of adult decisions well before I should have been. Now I still yearn for the older brother or sister to fill that place. So that place of the parent or the older sibling gets blurred, one into another. And I think friends will also counsel and care as we are adults now. That's why friends are so great and so important and they are wonderful for bouncing ideas off of or asking for wise counsel.
You are a remarkable only child. Really remarkable. You are accomplished and even your words are filled with grace. I've seen "only" children go to hell in a handbasket, then take down their families too, but you do your onliness with such grace.
I can't tell you being 1 of 4 is pleasant when the field is competitive (for no reason), envious, jealous, angry, selfish. I don't have those things going on in my friendships, that is what my childhood family looks like. It's some kind of a living hell in the family. I don't think most families do this.
If you husband's brother and him find a middle ground, that's something important.
I won't run, but I can offer friendship. I hope it can be reciprocal too.
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 27, 2021 16:11:30 GMT -6
feather and Ohio Dreamer, I've had such a good chuckle reading through your posts, but also a bit of sadness for you, feather, for being forced into an adult role long before you were ready for it, and for the conflicts with your siblings. I'm feeling very fortunate that I have a brother I'm very close to, even when I don't see him often, and a sister I'm close to as long as politics are left out of the conversation. I have one brother I avoid like the plague, though. I think I'm gonna enjoy being the bossypants big sister. 😂 I meant to post more last night, but I got sidetracked, and then I was too tired and fell asleep! Cleaning the pantry wasn't on my list for the month, but that's what I did yesterday, since it was cold, blustery and rainy outside. I found some canned food that had spoiled, commercially canned, that went straight into the trash. I just hate finding stuff like that...such a waste. It seems to me that commercial canned goods just don't last like they used to, especially if the food in them is acidic. I did a lot of straightening and organizing as I went along, and I found enough cat hair and cobwebs to corner the market, if there was a market. I washed the window, windowsill and walls, as well as mopping the floor and washing the curtain. I still have one small area to finish today, but the vast majority of the job is done, unless you include inventorying. Today, I got outside and cut more firewood, got it moved to the woodshed, split and stacked. It was still cold, but there was a break in the wind and rain, so I took advantage of it. Slowly, but surely, that 3rd woodshed is filling. It's 3 rows deep, and the back row is stacked to the rafters, while the other 2 rows are each less than halfway filled. So the shed is probably about half full, overall.
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 27, 2021 16:49:48 GMT -6
Oh, I forgot to tell you how I spent my birthday! I needed to go get round bales that day, Sunday, even though the weather was horrendous - horses still gotta eat. It was pouring rain as I ran from the house to the truck, but I out-drove it on the way to pick up the hay. It caught up with me about the time I had to get out to close the tailgate and pay for the bales, and then the last 10+ miles were some of the hairiest driving I've had in years.
The rain was torrential, to the point where I could barely see the road ahead, and oncoming traffic couldn't be seen until there were almost even with me. Thank goodness, I know the road very well. The rain was accompanied by high winds, thunder and lightning, and patches of hail. There was a lot of debris on the road, leaves and branches, but thankfully, no trees.
It was easing up a bit by the time I drove into my neighborhood. One of the neighbors lost a huge cottonwood tree, which luckily fell away from both the road and their house, but that was the only tree I saw down. I'm glad I didn't lose any - I still have lots to deal with from last winter's storms.
One of those downed trees was what I was cutting on today. It came down on the fence and across our driveway at the time. I'd cut it off the fence then, but today, I chose to get it cut up back to the point where the trunk was thick enough to turn into logs. It was handy being able to drop the rounds over the fence and just pull the truck around and load it up to move to the woodsheds. I still feel like I worked, but it beats bringing it out of the woods one wheelbarrow load at a time.
I thought I would be adding more meds to my supply Monday, but after making a special trip to town to go to the pharmacy, my ADHD med prescription hadn't been received from my doctor's office, even though I requested it a week before. I did get groceries and bought more 4' LED shop lights on sale at Harbor Freight, as well as more small, but extremely bright LED lights to put up in various dark areas, like the woodsheds, but the whole reason for that day's trip was to get my meds filled. I even called my doctor's office to have it posted high priority, hoping to get it filled before I left town, but it still wasn't received.
I called the pharmacy yesterday - still hadn't received the prescription. Called the doctor's office AGAIN, they promised to put it in front of my doctor and have her send it. Tried to call the pharmacy last evening and couldn't even get an answer to my call. The store phone was answered, but after pushing 3 for pharmacy, no one answered and I just got cycled back to the original minute plus of info I'd already heard and the same "push 3 to speak to someone in pharmacy" automated voice. Today, I just get a busy signal, can't even get the store! 🙄😤 And on that note, I'm off to try again.
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Post by feather on Oct 27, 2021 17:33:27 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore,"I think I'm gonna enjoy being the bossypants big sister. 😂" Oh man o man, more laughter here than I'm used to having. Just remember Ohio Dreamer, has every right to honestly say, YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER. I'm glad you have some relationships with your siblings either with or not with politics. Mr feather is also able to have a relationship with some of the siblings but the politics get in the way a little. Him and I sometimes disagree on politics, so he votes his way and I vote mine and we're not far away from the responsibility factor. The sadness doesn't ever end, it is an ongoing thing with family. It will always be ongoing since my siblings are alive and I miss them. I miss the 'them' they were as children. I miss the youngest the most when he still had some empathy. The other two siblings were favorites and the empathy was groomed out of them. They are ice cold. The last time I called them each, they actually dismissed me and my concerns and then insulted me. It's a family mess. The little brother went from the ignored child to the second slave and scapegoat when I left. He's still in service as the second slave and second scapegoat and his anger is directed at me for not taking the weight off. The lazy second and third children want him to continue or they'll all get angry at him and throw him out of the cult (if you will family=cult). Then the lazy children will have to do 'the work'. Relationships take work, it's a normal reciprocal thing. He will choose his time, if ever to take his life back when he is ready. I'll probably not stop adoring him for his kindness in childhood. HAPPY BIRTHDAY manygoatsnomore, You were busy busy and hard working.
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Post by feather on Oct 27, 2021 17:52:37 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore, you actually had commercially canned food that went bad? I don't think we ever saw that, ever, in my life. And sadly I had old commercial food on the shelf for years. Wow. What kind was it? Mr feather also has never seen commercially canned food go bad unless the sides/welds, or tops, were damaged physically. Do you know what it was that happened? What was the product?
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 27, 2021 23:36:29 GMT -6
feather, it was canned pumpkin, cranberry jellied sauce, pineapple bits, sliced peaches and applesauce. The last 3 were #10 cans that I meant to open and process into smaller portions. I lost 4 of those. 3 of them were actually swollen up at both ends, while 1 sprung a leak. The pumpkin and cranberry sauce were leaking. You know me...if a can is old, I will examine it carefully, and as long as it is well sealed, I'll still use it. It may have fewer vitamins, but I take a daily multivitamin with minerals, so I figure I'm covering that. These cans weren't even all that old!
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Post by feather on Oct 28, 2021 3:56:33 GMT -6
feather , it was canned pumpkin, cranberry jellied sauce, pineapple bits, sliced peaches and applesauce. The last 3 were #10 cans that I meant to open and process into smaller portions. I lost 4 of those. 3 of them were actually swollen up at both ends, while 1 sprung a leak. The pumpkin and cranberry sauce were leaking. You know me...if a can is old, I will examine it carefully, and as long as it is well sealed, I'll still use it. It may have fewer vitamins, but I take a daily multivitamin with minerals, so I figure I'm covering that. These cans weren't even all that old! I trust you and I'm going to challenge you now. The isolated vitamins in multivitamins aren't going to fill your need to have enough vitamins. You actually eating food will give you vitamins. Go ahead and push me back on this, I'm pretty sure you are strong and I like that about you. I used to feel the same way about multi, and other vitamins as insurance.
BUT anyways, back to the canned food again. Oh wow. I've never, and I mean never had that happen. Thank you for telling me about them, the kinds and the size too. Sounds like no physical damage either. That is pretty amazing.
I think I need to go downstairs now and there MAY be some 20 year old campbell's chicken noodle soup with so much salt it could provide sodium to the country of INDIA. I might have to clear that out.
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Post by midtnmama on Oct 28, 2021 6:31:54 GMT -6
I have had canned foods lately leak. I check my pantry regularly. Still picking the garden and now pulling weeds with seed heads for the chickens, mulching the rest. I'm putting wood chips around the hoop house for next spring. Need to fashion some mini chicken wire protection for my pea and bean seedlings that were eaten by rabbits last spring. (Note to self: research trapping ala Mr. feather) Checked the winter squash collection on the basement floor and found one pumpkin needed to be used. I will be making pumpkin curry today. Changed linens and washed blankets yesterday. Cut down obedient plant and lay the seed heads in the garden next to the vegetable garden for pollinators. Put up another two quart bags of green peppers for the freezer. Cut seedheads on garlic chives and placed them in the front garden (trying to make a semi forest garden there with edibles). Tied up grapes to the posts and will try to tie up the blackberry canes to make it easier to weedeat. Last weekend I helped with a yard clean up mission and, as with every one that I do, I found some Fiskars hedge clippers I must have! Boy did that work faster than what I was doing. Getting a load ready for goodwill. Found a few gifted items I want to bless someone else with. One is a pretty teapot that I have never used (probably holds about one good mug worth of tea, so why bother?) We have a large pond and I have been researching how to float a tiny raft (and moor it) to grow edibles. I'm thinking of a plastic bin lid with holes cut for plastic pots filled with gravel. Pipe insulation fit around the sides for floatation. Thoughts? manygoatsnomore, You cut so much wood...do you heat 100% with wood?
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Post by feather on Oct 28, 2021 12:56:11 GMT -6
I have had canned foods lately leak. I check my pantry regularly. And: (Note to self: research trapping ala Mr. feather) If you ask him a trapping question he will get back to you here if you like. Or by email is okay too. I would bet Tim Horton, also has interesting knowledge in the trapping area.
I'll give mr feather your questions. He taught trapping for years and was involved in trapper education in legislation and hands-on. He's now half prepared the area out in the garage to do the skinning part, um, he is waiting on more cold weather, the season is open, he has his licensing but until we are cold enough the skins won't be thick enough so we wait now. Could be any day. Maybe there is a shiver factor? Shiver for 20 days and the skins are better? I don't know, I'll ask.
Sheesh, there is an answer. Why is he licensed and not hunting. How does he know when to trap them for the purpose of fur? It is not a shiver factor. It is a length of day factor. This is when the fur becomes prime, based on the length of day. Raccoons maybe Nov 10th, but muskrats will be Nov 1st. He may go trapping tomorrow.
The canned food leaked?
I am really surprised, so I went down to look at the pantry. I even got out the lamp magnifier. It's embarrassing that 1/20th of the volume of the pantry is canned commercially and this old. 2004 (before I met mr feather), and 2018. We'll be getting rid of most of that. Carnation evaporated, sweetened condensed, campbell's chicken noodle ...salt.
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 28, 2021 13:11:48 GMT -6
midtnmama, yes, although we have an electric furnace, we do heat all winter with wood. It's just so much cozier than forced air, which always feels drafty to me. I will say that Abby tries to sneak an electric heater into her room off and on throughout the heating season. 🙄 She likes it a LOT warmer than I do. I like the main body of the house warm, but when I want to sleep, I close my bedroom door and open my window. I like to be toasty under the covers with my nose sticking out and turning blue, lol! I don't cut a great deal of wood at any one time, usually running just one or two tanks of gas through my saw before quitting. That's mainly because that's about the point at which my back cramps up. I'm working on increasing my tolerance for being bent over a saw, slowly, slowly. Switching from sawing to moving wood, splitting it and stacking it, plus sharpening the saw chain, all give my back a chance to unknot and do some different moves. What's that the English say? "A change is as good as a rest." I do find that to be somewhat the case. 😊 We had a bit of excitement last night. I put out Russell, the Muttley Wonder's food bowl on the front porch steps each night after dark, when the chickens go to bed. Otherwise, they eat his food. Well, last night, I heard thumping on the door. I opened it to find 2 huge coons eating his food! If I'd been thinking, I would have quietly closed the door and gone for either the shotgun or the .22, but I yelled at them instead, and they scarpered. I got the .22 and waited...one coon came back, but he was so wary that he run the second I turned the door knob, before I could get a bead on him. I popped off a shot in his direction anyway, and took in the half eaten food. From now on, Mutt will have to come home from TL's, where he's been hanging out most days, to get his supper. No more leaving it out for whenever he happens to wander home. I'm particularly concerned about having coons show up because they've already killed all the ducks, a goose and half the chickens at one of my neighbors houses, and I don't want them moving on to mine! They've already trapped and killed 4 of them, and yet I had 2 adults eating dog food and egg last night. I need to find my live trap (I think my son borrowed it) and/or borrow the neighbor's so I can nip this in the bud. Between coyotes, hawks and stray dogs (and my own pup), I've lost too many birds already this year.
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Post by manygoatsnomore on Oct 28, 2021 13:26:48 GMT -6
feather, do you or mr feather have any recipes for raccoon, lol? I know you don't eat meat anymore, but it seems like a shame not to at least try coon once...those things probably weighed 40+ pounds! I know I won't get all the vitamins I need from a pill...it helps fill in things like vit D3, if I'm not eating enough of any one thing that I need. I take 5000 units of D3 daily, just to maintain a therapeutic level. 2 gel caps of 2000 units each, plus 1000 in the MVM. That's just an example. I figure that occasionally eating an expired food won't have much of an impact on my overall diet. In the case of fruit, at least I'm still getting fiber! 😉 Well, it's supposed to start raining sometime this afternoon, so I need to sharpen my saw and get busy while I can. Then when it rains, I can go back to working on my pantry cleaning and organizing. I worked on it for a while yesterday, but still have more to do. I did discover where I stashed my 10 cans of iodized salt - I can take that one off my shopping list, lol. I know, I know, salt isn't good for me....but I LIKE a bit of it. I'm cutting down, bit by bit, but you're talking to the kid who used to steal the salt shaker or take a pocketful of rock salt from the barn. This is going to be a process! 😂
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Post by Tim Horton on Oct 28, 2021 14:54:15 GMT -6
I need to find my live trap (I think my son borrowed it) and/or borrow the neighbor's so I can nip this in the bud. <<< >>> Best advise I have for raccoon trapping is to ....stake down or tie up the trap so they can not turn it on its side or upside down.... If they do that they have a better chance of escaping... They will reach through the wire and can move themselves and trap a long way.. I also used to wire a wrap around piece of 1/4" mesh hardware cloth across the front and along the sides of the trap up to or past the trip plate.. This kept them from reaching in from outside and stealing bait or tripping the empty trap.. I don't play fair at any of this.. I play to win..
We do not have raccoon here, but when I was where they were, I baited with can cat food on a paper place, with the trap set on top of the plate, and staked down.. You have them coming to get dog food, so that is the thing to use..
When it is time to dispatch your trap contents.. A good pellet rifle from 6" will do the job.. It will do it with a lot less over penetration and noise that a 22 would create..
I don't play fair at any of this.. I play to win.. My 5 cents of experience..
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Post by feather on Oct 28, 2021 14:59:42 GMT -6
manygoatsnomore , that's funny that you asked that question. Back in 2007ish, an attorney couple we know, he came from the south and had cooked coon and beaver in his family growing up. He wondered, why aren't these northerners eating these things? So mr feather was in trapping season and had one of each he cleaned for them. Then I took a cooler of the meat to them for them to cook. They took the time and effort to look at the carcasses, decided to cook the beaver. So they invited about 10 people (relatives and work people) including my son and myself for dinner and have a dinner party. (I think beaver and coon and probably muskrat too, is going to be similar. Though the garbage eating coons, I'd be more wary of.) He slow cooked it very flavor-fully marinated. Set it on the table. (like making a beef bourguignon, salt pepper garlic mushroom onion burgundy wine anchovy paste tomato paste, lots of umami flavor added) I barely got done with 2 bites. Lots of polite conversation, lots of side dishes, very nice evening. I haven't cooked one myself, so can't say. It tasted good, a little sweeter than beef. Bear is also sweeter than beef. I prefer bear over all the other native species but that is because it is so fatty, oily, along the lines of bacon or beef rib eye. We used to eat a lot of deer-venison in place of beef. It is much leaner. We've been trading away all our canned venison/chicken/pork and beans for other things. One way to have a sure fire tender meat is to pressure cook or can it. I like salt but can see my taste buds were burned out with salt and potato chips, so once I gave those up, I've been able to use much less. Now I'm very sensitive to salt. It's not a pleasant taste when it drowns out everything else. If someone said, come over here and eat this campbell's chicken noodle soup, I'd rather go hungry, it's just packed with it. I'd prefer a baked unseasoned potato. So life did change, and slowly I know. Very slowly! So you stole salt? I used to steal the dog food and then munch on that in the 60's...it was delicious lol. I was about 10 years old. I grew out of it. (thank God right?)
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Post by feather on Oct 28, 2021 15:15:56 GMT -6
I need to find my live trap (I think my son borrowed it) and/or borrow the neighbor's so I can nip this in the bud. <<< >>> Best advise I have for raccoon trapping is to ....stake down or tie up the trap so they can not turn it on its side or upside down.... If they do that they have a better chance of escaping... They will reach through the wire and can move themselves and trap a long way.. I also used to wire a wrap around piece of 1/4" mesh hardware cloth across the front and along the sides of the trap up to or past the trip plate.. This kept them from reaching in from outside and stealing bait or tripping the empty trap.. I don't play fair at any of this.. I play to win.. We do not have raccoon here, but when I was where they were, I baited with can cat food on a paper place, with the trap set on top of the plate, and staked down.. You have them coming to get dog food, so that is the thing to use.. When it is time to dispatch your trap contents.. A good pellet rifle from 6" will do the job.. It will do it with a lot less over penetration and noise that a 22 would create.. I don't play fair at any of this.. I play to win.. My 5 cents of experience.. So good to hear your experience Tim Horton. Yes they turned over traps and ripped up the corner/side of landscape fabric doing it. Big patches of grass wrecked. We buy marshmallows but don't eat them ourselves, they are part of the bait.
6" will do, but if it is a skunk, you might not want to do 6". I mean, if you still want your wife to love you that day.
Air gun too if you can get that close. It's more quiet. Mr feather: if you have a live trap with a slant, the skunk will back their tails/butt in the slant, then can't raise their tail, then a hypodermic needle on a 4 foot pole. As you talk in a monotone place the injection in the opposite end of the trap and it looks like a window in the cage (small 2x2 inch square).
I've never seen him do that. I saw him walk into the yard, to the live trap w/skunk, wearing a very inexpensive plastic tarp carrying his 22.
Mr feather will take a couple pictures of the trap and I'll post it here. We use this same one for raccoons.
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Post by feather on Oct 28, 2021 16:09:52 GMT -6
this is the design for the slanted live trap.
And this is the 2x2 inch window in the door so the skunk is backing away, if you talk in a monotone and can't and doesn't lift its tail. He said: the little ones don't even need to lift their tails they go spray just walking and have no control over it.
The garbage bag is in there for contrast to see the 2x2 inch window.
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Post by feather on Oct 28, 2021 16:51:49 GMT -6
All the trapping talk is not very easy for me. I see a real need for it, I understand the predation and wildlife, but I have no heart for killing them. I can't watch the whole thing. I'm a wimp I admit it. I can't do it. Don't ask me to process chickens I can see that I couldn't do it well. I'd rather burrow my head in a bale of hay infested with bugs and worms than watch it. I could probably shoot a bear that was about to invade our home. Edit: Then I'd cry like a baby.
One day a dog, some stray, jumped at me through the patio window and hit the window hard. It was right in my face. It was no small animal, it was a large yellow lab probably as big as I am. I thought the patio window would break on the spot it was hit so hard. I probably would have killed it if it came back, it put the fear into me enough to shake me out of the soft feelings I have for animals. I have a real fear of animals that do that kind of thing. It only happened once and I've never seen that again. I wondered for a long time if it was rabid or something to do that kind of thing. (?) Tim Horton , when it's us or them, I hear you. Thank you men and boys and women and girls that can do that. We're not all cut out of the same cloth.
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Post by nbc3mom on Oct 29, 2021 8:28:26 GMT -6
Yesterday was wet and chilly, a good day to be out at the stores. We went to Costco during senior hours and stocked up on coffee pods, my once a year Starbucks Winter blend, softener salt, peanut butter, vitamins C, calcium, and vegetable broth. Then we went to Lowe’s to look for a lamp for the living room. DH tried to fix the one that stopped working, but it didn’t want to be repaired. The size lamp and shade that I need cost about $75. I found a 3 piece set on clearance, 2 lamps with shades plus a matching floor lamp with a shade for $84.00. This doesn’t seem like a prep, but it won’t hurt to have a spare, nothing lasts nowadays. Next we went to Meijer and stocked up using coupons that they sent to me. I now have half and half good through December and January to go with all of my coffee. DH carried 2 dozen just picked oranges home from CA and I have apples my son picked for me. We are going to DD’s for Thanksgiving. I shouldn’t have to grocery shop for the month of November.
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Post by midtnmama on Oct 29, 2021 10:52:42 GMT -6
All the trapping talk is not very easy for me. I see a real need for it, I understand the predation and wildlife, but I have no heart for killing them. I can't watch the whole thing. I'm a wimp I admit it. I can't do it. Don't ask me to process chickens I can see that I couldn't do it well. I'd rather burrow my head in a bale of hay infested with bugs and worms than watch it. I could probably shoot a bear that was about to invade our home. Edit: Then I'd cry like a baby.
One day a dog, some stray, jumped at me through the patio window and hit the window hard. It was right in my face. It was no small animal, it was a large yellow lab probably as big as I am. I thought the patio window would break on the spot it was hit so hard. I probably would have killed it if it came back, it put the fear into me enough to shake me out of the soft feelings I have for animals. I have a real fear of animals that do that kind of thing. It only happened once and I've never seen that again. I wondered for a long time if it was rabid or something to do that kind of thing. (?) Tim Horton , when it's us or them, I hear you. Thank you men and boys and women and girls that can do that. We're not all cut out of the same cloth. Wow! that is really wierd about the dog launching itself at you--and a yellow lab no less. Sounds aggressive, maybe rabies? Personally, I worry less about single dogs than I do a pack of 3+ that run together. I had a friend who was attacked by a pack and was killed (actually, it was a heart attack caused during the attack). So I take a dog or carry something to protect myself, if alone. Question: What do you use as ammunition when dispatching a wild critter in a trap? I know that a bullet, could have been a bb pellet, actually, and went through the animal and hit the metal cage on the other side and bounced back almost hit my dh's eye. Has that happened to anyone?
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Post by feather on Oct 29, 2021 11:31:19 GMT -6
midtnmama , Now thinking about it, when the yellow lab hit the window, there was another dog there in the background, so it wasn't running alone. Whow good point about the packs. I'm sorry for your friend that they died that way. That's horrible. I'm asking mr feather on the gun issue, I have a gun but I don't use one for dispatching small animals. I have it for personal protection, more large animal threats and protecting our home. An animal in a live trap or cage, right type of gun? ( Tim Horton , will you ring in on this?) Mr feather says: Yes a pellet gun, or a 22 short type, he's using a long 22 right now just because that is what he has on hand. Getting a ricochet that could hit you back, is really bad luck. He uses the 22 or the pellet gun and for years without a ricochet.
Edit: After thinking about it, wear safety glasses when using a gun, we usually do here.
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Post by feather on Oct 29, 2021 14:33:45 GMT -6
nbc3mom, "This doesn’t seem like a prep, but it won’t hurt to have a spare, nothing lasts nowadays." Yes, Nothing. Nothing lasts.Sometimes even when we spend the money to buy the quality it isn't quality. Then it is down right depression era feeling.
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