Did You know - outdoor edition

[HemlockKing]

Deer flies here are opposite, avoiding shade, sticking to the sunlight, as soon as you get sun on you, they're on you. 

[wisconsitom]

Same here, Hemlock.  Get down by the swamp, but still in sunshine, they get fierce.  We had a different name for deer flies when we were kids, one which I can't spell out here!

[HemlockKing]

Same here, Hemlock.  Get down by the swamp, but still in sunshine, they get fierce.  We had a different name for deer flies when we were kids, one which I can't spell out here!

Pick your battle
I guess lol . Skeeters like that shade, deer flies in the sun. Deer flie bites sting a little. They can cut right through shirts with their mouth cutters

[WV Sawmiller]

   I remember the good old days on the rifle range (or anywhere else) on Parris Island at the recruit depot. The skeeters would tote you off till daylight. Then they would clock out at sunrise shift change and the sandflies would clock in but there was always something chewing on you.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know if you get bit by a tick you should pull him out as carefully as possible trying not to squeeze him to much and not to break the head off in the bite? Old timers used to say put a lighter or lit match next to him to make him back out but in fact what that does is most often cause him to regurgitate his stomach contents into the bite just causing more risk of infection. Be alert to the bulls-eye appearance afterward as a possible indicator of Lyme's disease. 

[HemlockKing]

  I remember the good old days on the rifle range (or anywhere else) on Parris Island at the recruit depot. The skeeters would tote you off till daylight. Then they would clock out at sunrise shift change and the sandflies would clock in but there was always something chewing on you.

Yeah they can clock out for sure. That's why I wear a bug net these days. Be whatever bug you wanna be(it's 2021) but you ain't bothering me fella. Off onto the next poor victim, if any? I'm the only one around? Good then tire out and die.

[HemlockKing]

Actually I encourage it,if I got a net on, come on there deer
Flies! Tire yer selves out, waste that energy, drop and die. 

[HemlockKing]

Another insect that can die is ticks, so they have their place in nature? Not in my
Perfect world. I'll burn and de limb every single one I find on me. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Just don't burn him till you have pulled him out. ;)

[HemlockKing]

  Just don't burn him till you have pulled him out. ;)

I don't know who I've been over this with here but yes they are out of my skin by then lol . To be honest they don't ever make it that far,
I feel them as soon as they "latch" 
Good lord I could work
Up a fuss right now. I hate those things so much, I don't care what anyone or any bioloigist says they are USELESS to the food chain. DIE
(Also chipmunks can DIE)

[doc henderson]

well you know they probably feel the same way about you!  :D :D :D

[WV Sawmiller]

  No! When the bugs and ticks see me all they can think of is "yuum" and in the case of chipmunks they say "Whoopie, he's building us some more new homes."

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that snakes and, I think, some lizards such as Gila Monsters and such, smell by tasting the air? That is why you see them flicking their tongue out all the time. They have an organ called a Jacobson's organ that interprets what they "taste/smell".

[Tacotodd]

They also have some really awesome heat receptors, kinda makes me think of infrared. Natures FLIR!

[WV Sawmiller]

Todd,

   I knew that pit vipers had good heat receptors but is that true of other reptiles too?

[HemlockKing]

Here’s one. Did you know woodpeckers tongue wraps around the back of their skull?, cushioning their brain from the blows to trees they do all day

[WV Sawmiller]

   That's pretty cool and I had never heard that. We used to always joke about feeling like a woodpecker with a headache. :D

[KEC]

That brain cushion would be helpful for a proffessional boxer.

[btulloh]

Did you know that geese like to eat two-stroke primer bulbs?

(There's no end to what can be learned on the FF.)

[HemlockKing]

Did you know that geese like to eat two-stroke primer bulbs?

(There’s no end to what can be learned on the FF.)

Never back down from one of those, once they think they run the place they will keep chasing you or anyone lol you’d end up with a lot of missing primer bulbs, poop everywhere etc 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I knew Canada geese would chase you if they had a nest or young nearby but the most aggressive bird I ever saw was a male swan in Norway who swam completely across a lake to chase me and my wife away. He was on the other side of the lake probably 400 yards away and the female and cygnets were on our side of the lake. We stopped for my wife to take pictures and the drake saw us, raised his wings about half way up and was paddling at ramming speed with his neck outstretched the whole way till we beat a hasty retreat. I have no doubt in my military mind we were about to be attacked! I still don't know why he did not just fly over as I am sure it would have been faster.

[HemlockKing]

I've had those experiences with swans. I believe it was a mute swan, anyway, same thing as you, drake saw us, it was nesting on the other side of a pond at a wild life park, it came at us fast, and we
Walked back to the feeders threw some corn it's way and got out of there lol 
When I had visited St. John NFLD they had a pond in the city that always had geese and swan, I stirred up some confidence and tried to feed the biggest swan there, it seemed real interested so I gave it a try and fed it right out of my hand lol didnt hurt at all even though he would bite your fingers. This swan was a big guy too probably a 6 foot wing span 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that wild grapes are a dependable and preferred mast item for many animals and birds? The grapes typically get ripe in late summer to early Fall but because of their high sugar content they will not spoil and the fresh grapes not eaten off the vine will dry into raisins and remain a viable food source up into late winter.

   Many birds, squirrels, coons, possums, deer, bears, etc will readily eat the fresh or dried grapes. Here in WV almost any wild turkey killed during our Fall turkey hunting seasons will have a crop full of grape seeds. Clusters of dried grapes will fall off the vine in winter and deer will readily eat the whole cluster. I'll munch on them along myself when I find them although many are very tart. 

    Wild grapes have many local names including fox grapes, possum grapes, etc and most are about the size of a buckshot when ripe.

[KEC]

I think I told this on the FF a while ago. I knew someone who made some jelly with wild grapes. A lot of sugar fixed the tartness, but it was runny. He gave me some and it was very good on pancakes.

[WV Sawmiller]

KEC,

   It sounds like it just needed more cooking to remove more of the water in the juice. I think you are supposed to have a certain amount of acid to help make it set so most recipes I remember call for 1/4 unripe fruit to be used. We use lemon juice or orange juice instead on most of our jelly and jam. I made some peach marmalade a couple years ago and evidently did not cook it down enough and it did not set. My MIL used to do that a lot with blackberry jam which was runny but still very good on a big hot old cathead biscuit. It was perfect on pancakes or French toast.

   Some wild grapes are large and make good jelly. Muscadine grapes are just wild scuppernongs and they can be very large and, while the hulls are too tough to eat raw, they are an epicurean delight when cooked into Mucsadine Hull Preserves. When I make mine I squeeze the inside out and boil them several minutes till they break away from the seeds, I strain the cooked insides through a colander to separate the seeds, add the insides back to the hulls, add sugar and lemon/orange juice then cook stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the preserves start to jell on the spoon or spoon rest then pour it up into jars, seal tightly and let cool. digin_2