I agree Doug. There’s just too many people living in cities these days, desensitized to nature. Lots of them are even afraid of it. I was volunteering to help some highschool kids class to remove shrub honeysuckle, and the teacher told me that some of these kids have never been in the wilderness before. We were not in the wilderness. Lol. Just a bike trail in town that is being taken over by some invasives. But man,these kids were like, “ewww. Kill it”! I heard that more than once. Hopefully me informing them that it’s just a milkweed beetle, or jumping spider that is harmless to them would over time help them to love nature and leave their a/c room with a computer in it.
Anyway,
Here’s a beautiful female box turtle we got to hang out with in the prairie today.
Summer of 2019 I was driving down the road, 2 lanes both ways. Seen a big snapper like that in the middle, put on my hazard lights and stopped right in front of it. Once I was able to get ahold of him, I looked around and noticed everyone stopped, both ways. He started spraying everywhere, shot out like a rocket! Everybody was laughing their asses off. Then a guy in a pick-up yelled over at me to throw him in the bed and he would bring him somewhere safe close by. Thankfully everyone realized the situation and stopped.
Very cool bud. I don’t want to clutter up OleReynards thread but here are a few pics of what I get every year. I drag out limbs and block off the turtles whenever I see them.
Love that! Snappers nearly always piss all over when I pester them.
Fyi. My herpetologist friend would say not to move them from the area, but get them across the road out of harms way, in the direction they were headed.
Sad that the land tortoise is endangered. They are wonderful creatures and deserve some respect. Some of those guys have been around longer than automobiles, I bet.
@DougDawson -That’s a great nest. Sucks it’s on a gravel drive, but at least it’s probably your drive. We had a nest of snapper eggs by our pond, but we only found it because something got into it and destroyed them all.
Sorry @OleReynard I’m done with the turtle talk. I wish it was okay to treat people the way they treat wildlife. The world would be a much better place.
Man that’s sad. I see some big snappers crossing the road here once in a while and it’s a great site. Get to see them less often popping their head up by the dock. Those and the sturgeon have been here long before we have. Great creatures.
Don’t have any turtles here but lot lizards at the truck stops but I don’t think they need help crossing the street. And I don’t think there endangered!
Must be the time of year for finding turtles. I saw one in the neighbours ditch at the front of the house when I was walking up to the post boxes 4 days ago. Looked like he had been struggling to get out of the ditch as it was all raked up except for the last 6 inches, where it was almost vertical. He wasn’t big, about a foot long but surprisingly heavy.
I picked him up and moved him 50 yds to where a water spring comes out the ground and its marshy, when I came past 20 minutes later it was still sitting in the same spot sunning its self, looking happy. I didn’t even know we had snapping turtles here.
See right there,
“Back then we respected all lives”, now it’s not that way with the younger folks no more. There were no mass shootings but then there wasn’t internet either. Way too much information, the wrong kind.
It’s been bred out of them, after generation and generation of our folks always wanting better than they had.
And look whats come of it.
It’s become too extreme and much too liberal.
Alot like this site.
I checked, got the MM F2s and the MM x NT, along w a bunch of other old school gems you’ve sent me. So far only ran the pre 95 AK, which I liked but only got the 1 female and she wasn’t a keeper in my book.
Anyways, on my priority list are a handful of things I got from you (I know you didn’t breed all of these), but no real time/space to get to all of this. Will just have to knock them off 1 x 1.
MM
Flo
HB x The White
MM x NT
AK & AK crosses…
Just too much good stuff. I’ve got a handful of others getting started but I’m wary of bringing clones from others into the house, and most everyone else wants to stick w the 5 plant limit which isn’t very useful to me…
Wish I could pack it up and go head for the farm to play around but I’m still a few years from being able to make that happen…
Saturday morning musings over a cup of coffee, hope you have a good one Motz!
My Mother’s Milk is smelling more like rotting or over ripe fruit. One of them is really putting some meat into the buds. The other one’s buds are half the size.
I take them outside during the day to save electricity but Im pretty sure they know it’s not fall, lol. Yesterday was perfect at about 78, but the 3 days before that it was 95 every day.
I think I found a big enough shade cloth for my new space I’m creating next to the barn. I hope to be able to get it in around 2 weeks. They’ll be much happier with a little less sun.
They are wonderful creatures and deserve some respect. Some of those guys have been around longer than automobiles, I bet.
