Did You know - outdoor edition

[Don P]

And PLEASE teach little ones not to hide from equipment working in those fields. Make sure they understand they have to be seen. There was a tragedy in my family before I was born. Really it goes for any of us on equipment. A shy young special needs boy ducked behind my skidsteer the other week and was walking right behind me, luckily I caught him out of the corner of my eye. We had a friendly conversation and I made sure he understood that he has to see me seeing him. PSA for the day, back to our program  

[Magicman]

We had a tragedy here a few years ago.  A good friend of mine backed over his young grandson that was "helping" him with the farm chores.  The grandfather never recovered and was an "empty man" for the rest of his life.  :'(

[KEC]

Just a thought. If you want to see a bird or animal skeedadle, just get after them with compressed air with the nozzle like you use to blow dirt out of something. So what are the odds that you could have a compressor on the tractor with a line running to a long wand sticking out in front of the mower. And a gadget like on a water sprinkler so that the hissing sound goes off and on. Much might depend on how fast the tractor and mower are moving forward. What do you think?

[WV Sawmiller]

KEC,

  Nice thought. I'm no engineer. How big a compressor would it take to blow a path 10-12 ft wide which is pretty common for these tractors and mowers and haying equipment around here? As to the speed they are moving pretty fast. A deer would have time to jump up and run away of the air were projected 10' in front of the tractor I would think.

[Don P]

I saw a black bear this week down in the bottom below the sawmill, pretty rare to see one in that area. Then it dawned on me how many times I've spooked fawns down there, i'd bet he was looking for dinner.

Several years ago I was running the tractor and bush hog around to a new neighbors place about this time of year. I had it in road gear and running close to wide open on the blacktop when I startled a bear. It hopped up into the road with a fawn in its last twitches. The healthy sized bear dropped the fawn and skeedaddled up the road in front of me. I had an unopened can of Mt Dew for defense and I'm gaining on the bear but also not wanting to change the tone of the tractor for fear it might just turn around. So up the road we go with me right on its heels and he's running flat out  :D. After a few hundred feet of that there was a break in the roadbank and he hightailed it up the bank. On my way home that evening the fawn was gone so I assume he circled back. I think that was the same ill fated mowing session where I found an antique cast iron intake manifold that I failed to cut but it sure tore up some parts and deck.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that skunks have very poor eyesight? If you are very careful you can sneak up behind them and grab them by the tail and lift them quick enough they cannot spray. Warning - when you grab for the tail, don't miss!

[WV Sawmiller]

  Our daughter and SIL and their 2 kids came up this weekend. As the left and I walked back to the house I spotted this fawn in the pasture right behind the yard fence about 35-40 yards from the house. I have seen the doe near there several times over the last couple of weeks and figured she had a fawn nearby but this is the first I have seen of it. I watched it several minutes then my wife and walked down and got a couple of pictures before it ran off.


I hate the grandkids missed seeing it. I took them fishing and on a boat ride on Bluestone Lake yesterday.


My grandson caught his first fish, a real monster as you can see. (Now if I can just get that line free from that tree top before we stir up the wasps nest beside it!)


His 28 month old sister was pretty full of herself then she had to try and caught a couple about the same size.


Then we took a ride up the lake which she said was "Amazing". Sampson is resting in the background. It was a great trip and I hope for many happy returns.

[HemlockKing]

Beautiful lake!! Looks like a fun time, good memories.

[WDH]

Good on you, Sir. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know when cleaning a catfish there is a nice little fillet or at least a nice catfish nugget on each cheek? When you clean the fish go ahead and split the skin down the center of his head then pull the skin down over his eyes and peel off the meat with a fillet knife or pocketknife. On a large catfish, say 20 lbs or so, it is nice thick fillet. Even on a 3-4 lb fish you can get a chunk of meat off each side the size of a couple of fingers. It is not hard to recover and there is no reason to waste it.

[tmarch]

Antelope; the horn that you normally see is a sheath. The male certainly sheds the sheath once yearly but I know nothing concerning the female. They also don't have definition horns or antlers in the strictest definition sense, but they do deserve the nickname "speedgoat". They do have some sort of permanent underlying structure that the new horn-like sheath covers yearly, but I'd still like to know exactly what to call these particular animals. I wonder what qualifies them for whatever and exactly what they are. Anybody know?

Our "antelope" in the USA are not a true antelope, but a whole other species.  Where I live they are common, and I've taken a few with my archery equipment.  They have bone core that the "horn" sheath made of hair and a glue like substance to hold it together grows around.  Many times we've found their "sheds" in early November after the September rut.

[Don P]

@tmarch Well that got me looking where you were from. Crawford, NE, man that sounded familiar... Ft Robinson, Toadstool, The buffalo jump. You've got a few "did you knows" 

[tmarch]

Yep, not much for typing so not much for responding.  Kinda a hobby sawmill operator, but I have learned a few things in my 72 years of hunting and wildlife experiences. ;)  Interesting things the experts have brought up here, and I appreciate that.

[WV Sawmiller]

tmarch,

  By all means share that wealth of knowledge with us. We'd all love to hear from you on the unusual things you've encountered. One thing I can share again is unless you have always wondered how you'd look with an earring - be sure to put down that skinning or fillet knife before swatting when cleaning fish and game and buzzing and biting insects are in the area. :

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know they have barbel runs in the Okavango Delta in Botswana when huge schools of barbels (African name for catfish) hunt in packs? Apparently they surround schools of bait fish and demolish them. Lots of tourists come over to fish for them and the locals get out and catch them. I remember one episode of Monster Fish Jeremy Wade went over to try to determine the cause of death for a boatload of local tribesmen and they discussed the barbel run and even showed a bunch of them attacking bait fish. Jeremy was wondering if the barbels turned the boat over and killed the people. I think they finally decided it was more likely hippos than barbels at fault. I was fishing with ultra-light tackle and a small jig spinner catching baby tiger fish till a mother hippo and her calf drifted into the area and we had to leave. I never got another bite after I left that spot.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that a flathead catfish will normally only bite a live bait? If fishing for them do not use cut bait although they will bite a worm and you will sometimes catch them on an artificial bait that mimics a live bait. Channel and blue catfish will bite a live bait but they will also bite cut bait and we used to even catch them on Camay, Ivory or Octogon bar soap. I guess they are attracted to the oil/fats used in making the soap. My dad used to mostly use shrimp for bait on his bush hooks and sometimes cut mullet till he learned they would bite soap. After that that was all he would use because he did not catch any turtles, eels, gars, bowfins, etc that he considered trash and a nuisance. I used to bait with mullet then I would use the "trash" fish I caught and cut them up for bait so it was a self sustaining project. After the first night I'd catch enough bait to keep running my lines as long as I wanted to do so. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you ever encounter a Mayfly hatch on your local lake? Where they are common they hatch by the millions and land in clusters on the bushes over the water. Many fall in the lake where they are consumed by waiting fish. Around here during a big hatch it will look like every square foot of the waters surface will have either a dead mayfly or a mayfly shell.

When the hatch is at its peak a really exciting and fun way to catch bluegills and such feeding on the mayflies is to run your boat next to a bush covered with mayflies and give it a sharp rap with a paddle or long cane pole. The air will be filled with flying mayflies and many fall in the water causing an absolute feeding frenzy on and near the surface. Back off a few feet and toss a topwater fly or cork popping bug on a fly rod under the bush and stand by! Or toss a piece of a worm or cricket on a long shanKed wire #6-10 cricket hook under a float with a bb shot set from 1-2 ft deep. Another option is to toss a jig spinner on ultralite tackle into the mix. I prefer to use a piece of crawfish tail, cut chunk of a minnow, cricket or worm on the jig hook instead of the plastic twisty tail. I find the spinner attracts the fish then the "meat" seals the deal. Good luck and good fishing.

[barbender]

WV, that whole sneak up and catch the blind skunk by the tail bit sounds like, well a tale😂 Can you share with us when you've actually tried the technique? If you're talking about bush hooks I can tell you know plenty about them to be giving advice, however not many stories related about catching skunks by the tail...

[WV Sawmiller]

Barbender,

I had showed and described the skunk catching to my son and when he was in his teens he was driving home with his buddy and spotted one about a mile from home. There was a high bank there it was having trouble climbing so he jumped out and caught it by the tail and hung it out the passenger window of of our old Pontiac Catalina and let Josh drive home. When he got home he rushed in to show to Ruth a former Norwegian exchange student who was back for a visit. Ruth was less than thrilled and told him to get rid of it. He went back out along the walkway with the dog fences on both sides and the dogs were barking and the skunk started to climb up its tail so he put it down for a better grip. In the process it sprayed the walk and stunk up the whole yard and it bit him on the R index finger then escaped into the pasture. Because it escaped he had to get the Rabies shots in the finger then one a week in each quadrant for 4 weeks. (R arm, L arm, L hip, R hip). After insurance our medical co-pay was $800 so my wife was less than thrilled again.

About a year later he caught 3 baby coons on his way back from fishing and they got loose in the house as soon as he walked in. I grabbed one, he grabbed one and Josh grabbed one. My wife yelled at him "Sean, you're going to mess around and we will all get rabies!" He immediately replied "Not me, I've had my shots." Not the smartest reply he ever made!

The last time I personally caught one was on a field exercise at Camp LeJeune NC near Jacksonville in 1989 not long before I left the USMC. We had several in my supply dump and in the camp and I caught one next to the G-1 tent (A WM LtCol) who wanted it gone. My son caught a baby one here after they had killed the mother. We tried to get it de-musked but the vets would not do it without a permit and DNR would not give us one. They did give Sean one for his pet coon.

EDIT: BTW - it distresses me greatly that you would challenge the veracity of my recollections in such a fashion. :( >:( :D

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know whitetail deer have different colored coats in the summer and winter? This time of year they have a very red colored coat. In early Fall their color changes to brownish grey which makes them very hard to see in the winter foliage background colors. I understand the darker color being a good defense mechanism but do not know any advantage of the bright red colors which make them very easy to see this time of year.

[barbender]

WV, that's more like it. Details. I was just looking for details😊 That response of your son's😂😂 My Grandpa had a friend that had a de-musked skunk. He said it kind of acted like a cat, and was quite friendly. Also that the older it got, the wider it got in the hind end and got to be a pretty good wedge shape from nose to butt, it would always get itself wedged in and stuck between stuff in the house and require assistance😂

[WV Sawmiller]

  My dad said he he had a co-worker who offered to sell a de-musked skunk to one of the foremen for a pet. The foreman bought it and put it in his car at work and came back and found it had sprayed  his car. They said he tried to get the smell out but never could and finally sold the car because of it. He said they all joked with him about it but said he'd get mad every time somebody mentioned it.

[HemlockKing]

 My dad said he he had a co-worker who offered to sell a de-musked skunk to one of the foremen for a pet. The foreman bought it and put it in his car at work and came back and found it had sprayed  his car. They said he tried to get the smell out but never could and finally sold the car because of it. He said they all joked with him about it but said he'd get mad every time somebody mentioned it.

I’m not sure why anyone would want a pet skunk lol hilarious
Raccoons I sort of understand but they are still horrible as pets imo

[WV Sawmiller]

   From everyone I ever talked to who had a pet skunk they said they make great pets. I think a boiled egg is their favorite treat. We've had coons and squirrels, flying squirrels, possums, rabbits, a red-bellied woodpecker, a screech owl, and a pet deer which was free to come and go. The coons had about the most personality but the deer was the sweetest pet. Possums smile a lot but they drool too much and are really dumb pets. 

[HemlockKing]

  From everyone I ever talked to who had a pet skunk they said they make great pets. I think a boiled egg is their favorite treat. We've had coons and squirrels, flying squirrels, possums, rabbits, a red-bellied woodpecker, a screech owl, and a pet deer which was free to come and go. The coons had about the most personality but the deer was the sweetest pet. Possums smile a lot but they drool too much and are really dumb pets.

The woodpecker and screech owl sound like cool pets, I'm not a fan of red squirrels, gray squirrels are alright because they are quiet lol 
There was a guy not far from me who "went viral" on YouTube for feeding about 30 coons at once with a couple pounds of hot dogs. They sounds fierce and savage but they didn't kill him for them lol