Did You know - outdoor edition

[HemlockKing]

Yes, deer stands everywhere, for the last 2 year, I been going down my trail with someone's unauthorized deer stand right 250meter through the bush, 20 meter or so into my land, with my trees cut and litter everywhere. The kill zone/bait area was pointing directly through the bushes where I normally walk. Found this deer stand trimming the old property lines. 

[PoginyHill]

  Did you know that a pound of fresh cut softwood sawdust (any species) at 28% moisture content weighs 16 ounces while a pound of kiln dried hardwood sawdust (any species) dried to 4% moisture content weighs the same. ???

 A graduating class of UGA foresters were presented with this question on an exam but the professor had to throw it out as the dean told him it was a trick question. I understand a Texas A&M student has taken this on as his doctoral project and his thesis is expected within 12-14 months if all his experiments proceed as planned and he is granted the computer access he needs from his department. ;)

And a 1,000 cubic centimeters takes up almost a full liter of space.

[Hilltop366]

Did you know that otters shake like a dog after getting out of the water?

I never really thought about it until I watched one climb on to a rock on the river bank this past weekend.



 

[HemlockKing]

Did you know that otters shake like a dog after getting out of the water?

I never really thought about it until I watched one climb on to a rock on the river bank this past weekend.

Otters seem to have a lot of energy! 

[WV Sawmiller]

  I never watched an otter shake the water off his coat but if they do like a dog when they shake they start at the front then move down their body shaking the water down their body to their tail until they finally wag their tail to shake the last of the water off. Did you ever notice how a bob-tailed dog ends up shaking his butt with his hind feet off the ground.

   BTW - while it is well known a cat will always land on his feet but did you ever watch his technique to do so? If you drop a cat upside down he first twists his upper body till his front feet are pointed down then he twists his back end until it is in line and all 4 feet are pointed down. 

[Tacotodd]

I KNEW that our dog (and most dogs) aren't nearly as skilled and careful as our cat, or near as graceful. Of course, cats in general are very independent where as our dog is very "pack oriented" (and most dogs that are raised like my wife raised ours (another issue for another time) wants to be RIGHT UP YOUR BACKSIDE to the point of being annoying. I personally like "some" independence but our cat stays within 50yds of our house and we don't have fenced property. Our dog wants it's people because we're it's "pack"). Enough of MY rambling on the subject, NEXT!

[WV Sawmiller]

  My old vet had a sign in her office "Dogs come when called. Cats say 'Take a message.' " That pretty well describes their personality.

[HemlockKing]

You're not calling a cat right, they only respond to "SPSSS SPSSS SPSSSS SPSS SPSS"
Then they'll come trotting like a dog , helps if you sprinkle your fingers to indicate a pet to the head lol

[doc henderson]

If a plane crashes on the US/Canadian border.  where do they bury the survivors?

[WV Sawmiller]

  On the same side the egg landed on that the rooster laid on ridgeline of the barn centered on the border.

[Old Greenhorn]

If a plane crashes on the US/Canadian border.  where do they bury the survivors?

I would think they survivors would complain about being buried anywhere.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know if you shine a light on a spider at night it's eyes will shine? Some are a greenish tint and some are red or orange.

[btulloh]

I really noticed the spider eyes a lot more when I started using a head lamp or cap with led lights when coming back from hunting after dark. It's amazing how many eyeballs are looking back at you from the leaf litter. Seems like they're a lot more visible when the light souce is at my eye level. 

[WV Sawmiller]

If a plane crashes on the US/Canadian border.  where do they bury the survivors?

I would think they survivors would complain about being buried anywhere.

After last weeks defeat of Auburn a van load of happy UGA fans were headed north along a rural Alabama highway and due to their over-exuberance, the driver missed a turn and crashed into a a big pine tree. A few minutes later Bubba rounded the turn in his Auburn themed county road maintenance truck with a big front end loader in tow. When he saw the terrible crash and bodies everywhere in their Red and Black UGA attire he stopped and considered the situation. Since he knew the county was going to have to foot the expense for all the burials and being a conscientious and diligent county employee, as is to be expected from a die-hard Auburn fan, he decided it was his duty to help cut costs and save the county money where he could. He parked his truck, set up the safety cones and unloaded the big front loader, dug a big hole in the side of the clay bank, pushed the wrecked van and all the bodies into the hole and filled it back in and tamped the fill dirt tightly. He returned to the office and put away his equipment. Monday morning he went to see LeRoy, his boss/fishing buddy/fellow Auburn fan and reported the incident and actions taken. LeRoy concluded this was the proper course of action and no doubt had saved the county thousands of dollars. He did ask Bubba one question: "Are you sure they were all killed in the wreck?" Bubba replied "Oh yeah they were all killed in the wreck. Nobody could survive that. A couple said were not dead but you know you can't trust a bunch of UGA Dawgs like that."

[WDH]

Well, at least I have been properly insulted.  

In many Native American cultures, the might of a man was dependent on the mite of his enemies.   You Sir, are a mighty man.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   I knew that was a trait common with the mountain men. Maybe they picked it from the Indians they lived with. It was a point of honor to have the meanest horse, ugliest wife, laziest dog, most contrary mule, etc. I have come across several members here who think we need to preserve this heritage and I am glad to help in any way I can.

   Did you know that catfish, especially channel catfish, when hooked will twist repeatedly in the same direction on the line? In some cases they actually succeed in twisting the line so much the hook pulls free. An eel is another fish that will often do the same thing. It is common to lift a set  hook and find the line completely twisted around the, now, bare hook. If there is a big patch of slime on the line around the hook you know it was an eel.

  Use of a swivel will prevent this kind of escape. I personally don't use a swivel due the extra cost, time involved in making up my lines and mostly because the twisty escapees are usually the smaller fish anyway.

[Don P]

Well, the first time I saw her a couple of deer were crossing the road, it was dusky early light and I wasn't positive of what I saw. By the time I got up there all I could see was movement in the brush. But yesterday in full light within a couple of hundred yards of that spot she crossed the road in front of me with her mates and proceeded to put her head down and graze, oblivious enough that I just stopped and watched for a minute. From the head through the shoulders and down her front legs she is a normal colored deer. From there back she is white with brown spots, a paint doe. I imagine its not that uncommon but I've never seen one before.

[WV Sawmiller]

   They are pretty rare. I hope you can get and post some pictures of it. I saw a pied yearling with a normal doe 5-6 years ago near Lewisberg WV while riding with my son. We first thought it was a pair of goats. He even stopped and tried to get a picture or two on his phone but I think it was too far away to get any detail.

   I'd have to think about it if one came out while I was hunting. I'd probably pass on it as we have plenty of normal deer and I'm not into trophies or saving skins or such so no real value to me other than the meat which is readily available on normal deer around here.

[btulloh]

I'd be curious what percentage of the herd is like that. Must be pretty small, but not rare. They're called piebald deer. Saw my first one a couple years ago. One sighting only. It was a good size buck and even the antlers were partly white. No opportunity for pictures. Haven't seen him since that one time. 

Piebald deer

Well it says "less than 2%" so that could be any percentage greater than zero. Hmmmm.  I don't know how many deer I've seen in my life but it's a pretty big number and only one piebald. I've actually seen albino deer more often, but pretty sure it was the same deer on multiple occasions. 

Nature is pretty entertaining if you just keep your eyes open!

[WV Sawmiller]

   I've only seen the one pied/piebald deer among all the ones I've seen. I saw a mount of one somewhere but can't remember when or where. I have never seen an albino deer. I did see and have posted pictures here of an albino coon several years ago. I saw a white squirrel several times one week several years ago in a local state park but it was never close enough for me to see if it was a fox or cat(gray) squirrel or to tell if it was a true albino or a white color phased squirrel. We also had a white robin here at a neighbors and my photographer wife got and provided the neighbor who reported it a picture of it. It came back for 2-3 years which amazed me it even lived that long. We had 2 piebald turkey hens one time on our place for a couple of years but I don't know if that was normal or they just got crossed with a white domestic turkey.

[Don P]

The term sure is bumping the rust on an old gear but if I've seen one its been a long time ago. I have seen it in turkeys here, I've been told it is domestic crosses. There used to be sheep and turkey drives to the little rail stations, bound for points north, and escapees. I don't know for sure but it made sense.

[Hilltop366]

I used to see a piebald doe in my yard quite regularly 10 - 15 years ago then it moved up the road a bit.



 


 I did see a young small deer last fall with a bit of extra white on it.



 

[WV Sawmiller]

Hilltop,

   Boy is that a fat doe! I first thought it was cow. I assume she was pregnant with triplets at the time.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did you know that while most fish are silent, catfish make a croaking, grunting sound when you pull them out of the water? I assume that is one of the reasons Sampson likes to bark at them so much. Either that or he just doesn't like their whiskers. :D

[Hilltop366]

Hilltop,

  Boy is that a fat doe! I first thought it was cow. I assume she was pregnant with triplets at the time.

She does look rather plump, the doe was also stockier looking than the rest and it's coat is more furry as well (if that makes sense).