Oh well, I had a few things to mull over this Sunday.
Fences
I worked outside all day yesterday in the cold and damp. I had fencing to fix and posts that were bent a bit. I had an idea to make a goat pen behind one of the sheds that is too hard to mow.
Below is a junction of our fences inside our hard wire fence. I have rotational sections. This old tree fell on the one fence and blasted off the insulators but just stretched the hot wire. Since I can't run a chain saw my solution is simple. Replace the insulators and splice the hotwire after cutting it and pulling it out from under the rotten log.
The 'pasture' here may not look like much but it will green up with things the mules think are tasty. The Dexter cattle ate all weeds as did the Donkeys when I had them. The donkeys stripped all the briers and ate the leaves off from the burdock.
So the critters alternate through six fenced pastures. 3 heavily wooded pastures and 3 grassy pastures.
Ok. I walked and walked with my insulators and replaced all the ones busted up by deer and whatnot. Not bad for the winter. Only 5 needed replacing. No broken hotwire. I reset several posts and of course got sidetracked by cool little things.
I was curious about a plant I found that was in a few spots that are used as 'lanes' for the skid steer and the 4 wheeler.
It is called Shephard's Purse and is only around for about 3 to 4 weeks and spreads seeds like crazy. It is part of the mustard family and can make can be a livestock diarrheic if consumed.
Ticks.
Baskets
A blog I read asked 'What is in your Basket?' from equine expressions... and I had to actually smile because I have the same basket she took a photo of. I mean how on earth could that be? Mine was given to me by my cousin and it was full of 'stuff' from my Aunt's house that no one wanted.
I repurposed it. Um. With toys. The dragons are missing from this basket as they were in a backpack from a past excursion. Don't laugh. These toys have come in handy when my little Grands visited. I'm going to sort through them and package them up for them now that they have moved to Montana.
I guess we could call it a Charlie Basket!
You are a woman of many talents. I am sure your goat will enjoy munching down the new area. I have helped with fencing, but not knowledgeable enough to string/fix fence on my own. I imagine I would figure it out after getting zapped a time or two. Love your baskets & contents, and thanks for the link. You know if you empty your toy basket, you can fill 'er up again ;) Sorry about the tick, ugh! There are just some places that require help. I've been thinking about doing a better de-ticking routine. I know some woodland lovers strip down in garage after hiking and those clothes go directly in laundry. Then they head to the shower. For someone who is in the woods daily, that sounds like sooo much laundry and extra hair washing. Better than getting lyme's disease tho. I am more concerned with our grand dogs bringing them inside...no way am I washing 3 dogs every time. For now I am brushing off their coats and wiping legs and under bellies with towels outside. Two of them are on tick preventive, one is not. I hound my kid every year about it. This year I said she will either have to stay on a leash, or not come with. It would make me feel so mean (and break her heart) she loves our walks. Pretty sure it is the only walks she gets. I am hopeful, this will be the year they listen to me!
ReplyDeleteI used to put a tick/flea collar on my JRT when we hiked and that helped greatly. Charlie is on the once a month chewable for ticks and it works great.
DeleteI don't strip down and shower until I am done for the day. When I DO come for an extended period I a take off the work clothes and then hang them on the porch. I have outside clothes and indoor.
My outdoor work clothes are exactly that grubby clothes for grubby stuff. But I reuse them for fencing and doing dirty work ... well, until I see them march over to the washer and jump in. :)
Ticks will drop off the clothes when they have no warm body to be with. In 30 yrs I've had to pull 3 ticks and one was the one I had the neighbor do yesterday.
Maybe get a collar for her?
I did that for years until I got Mr. Low Rider Tick Collector Charlie.
:)
Our labs are on Simparica monthly tick/flea preventive, and yes it works well. Ticks still hitch a ride on their coats tho. I recently saw ads Simparica just came out with a trio preventive (added heart worm) I am going to ask our vet about it. One less chew to give sounds good to me. We used the less effective tick collars years ago. My son told me last night they (he shares custody of Remi with his ex-girlfriend) agreed to either go to Petsmart (nooo!!) or the vets (yeees!!) Yay, anything is better than nothing. Well your tick routine must work, because I have pulled a ton of ticks off me starting back in my Girl Scout days. Including last night :( I had to wake Brad up to pull a tick off my back. I must of squished/irritated the tick/area. I remember being itchy and rubbing my back. MUst have really had a grip cuz it hurt like hell. I am going to be pretty sad if I have to stay out of the woods again this year.
DeleteAnd then again... I might have sour blood as far as ticks are concerned. Have you ever tried Buggins Products? I use the Gnat & Mosquitoes and the Tick/Mosquitoes stuff. I spray my pants with Off sometimes too. Those pants come off on the porch as well as the sprayed workshirt during the summer.
DeleteI think the tick I got the other day probably was from snoozing with Charlie on the couch. I can blame him right?
But truthfully I have friends and my brother who seem to be tick magnets. I don't know why.
Here are the things I do:
https://mulewings.blogspot.com/2020/06/welcome-june-with-bugs.html
Thanks so much for the link with your tips!! I read your post and booked marked for ref. I am sure I will be increasing my efforts as we head into summer. I do think dogs unknowingly share their ticks, sorry Charlie! I love Buggins spray, the gnat one works like a charm and smells great. I have a few bottles of it. One lives in my truck along with a can of Deep Woods Off (I know, nasty stuff). I use it sparingly. Pretty sure I have both a blue & a green Buggin's in the barn for us humans. I get mine at Farm & Fleet.
DeleteWe hang Mosquito Eradicators around the house/barn/pasture perimeter, they work great - but no help in the woods. Also, we each have a personal Theramcell unit we bought years ago. Great if not moving around, much. We used to take them up north horse glamping for around a campfire etc. We tried them out on the trail horseback riding, and even at a walk they are not effective.
Ticks are just the worst little creatures. We have lots of the tiny itty bitty ones. Good thing your neighbor helped you out! I had untreated Lymes...and from time to time it rears it's ugly head... I have a prescription for daily doxycycline...but it is hard on my stomach so I just take it when I get a flare.
ReplyDeleteYou have interesting stuff in your baskets!
Yes I had Lyme Disease also and the doctors told me to have doxy on demand whenever I get bit. And then when I did, I called and they said NO, they wouldn't prescribe the med unless the tick had been in 36 hours or was causing symptoms.
DeleteDoxycycline is just plain nasty on my stomach.
I imagine my Aunt or Grandmother had their basket filled with rolls of yarn or rolls of strips of cloth for making rugs.