Be very, very quiet, I'm hunting rabbits

Well I've tried everything. I have a fence around my greens (actually two fences, one large another chicken wire). I triend wolf urine, fox urine, pin wheels, decoy snakes, liquid fence (guarenteed it says). Still the bunnies keep attacking. They have been moving on to eating the cucumbers, the pumpkins, and the eggplants.

I had to buy a pellet gun last night to do some rabbit hunting.

When I can go out in my backyard and see 8-10 rabbits, it's not wildlife, it's an infiltration. I did not spend hours after work everyday tilling land by hand, spend hundreds of dollars on fertilizer, plants and materials, just so rabbits can eat it. It wouldn't be bad if they just stuck to one or two plants, but they will strip plants clean and keep going.

The same is true with woodchucks. My major concern with chucks is that they will eventually dig and bite the liner of the pool (where they like to dig) causing me to spend another 5-6 grand on a pool liner.

The whole issue is not fences, its not organic deterrence, its not guns. It that I don't have a dog. there is something to say for a large meat eating predator roaming your property that keeps the rodents away. However, dogs are expensive. It may be the way to go. I can't fence in the entire yard with chicken wire hoping to keep the woodchucks and rabbits out. So I need to control the population.

Perhaps I'll get a dog, I haven't decided yet. I remember as a kid we had problems with chucks and my dog Shena took care of it. Lynne mentioned other people that have gardens but didn't have problems with rabbits (they all had big dogs).

I really don't want a dog though.

A great Anti-Obama Video

Below is a link to a great Anti-Obama Video. It shows how he doesn't want to put his hand on his heart during the National Anthem, how he refuses to wear the American Flag, Rev. White, etc, etc, etc.

What a SCUM bag!!!

How is it that someone whom voted 76% of the time as 'present' can run and be in any public office?


http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?RsrcID=2036

More dead birds

I while ago I wrote and posted pictures and videos of a beautiful male blue barn swallow. This male built a home in a ceramic bird house that was by the pond. Everyday his woman and him would greet me. When I would mow the lawn they would dive bomb me telling me to stay away from their nest.

We counted five eggs in their nest.

Yesterday, after noticing the flies around their nest, we pulled out 4 dead baby birds.

I don't know what happened. Perhaps the ceramic bird house got too hot for them in the summer. Perhaps there is some kind of bird flu going around and affecting the birds. Perhaps there was too much traffic for the parents by the pond. I don't know but the birds are acting strange to me.

WOW!

From Fox News:

"When Capt. Ivan Castro joined the Army, he set goals: to jump out of planes, kick in doors and lead soldiers into combat. He achieved them all. Then the mortar round landed five feet away, blasting away his sight.

"Once you're blind, you have to set new goals," Castro said.
He set them higher.

Not content with just staying in the Army, he is the only blind officer serving in the Special Forces — the small, elite units famed for dropping behind enemy lines on combat missions.
"I am going to push the limits," said the 40-year-old executive officer at the 7th Special Forces Group's headquarters company in Fort Bragg. "I don't want to go to Fort Bragg and show up and sit in an office. I want to work every day and have a mission.""

What a great man!

Semi-retirement

During my 20 years in the military it was difficult to visualize what normal life was like. Even when I was on shore duty, the hectic work schedule of the military made a 60-80 hour work week the norm. Many people don't realize what the average person goes through just to be in the military. People only hear about military members being deployed, that's it. But the military life is so much different than civilian life there is no comparison.

For instance on a submarine (my experience) the majority of the crew stands 3 or if you're lucky 4 section duty. What this means is that on top of your normal work day, every 3-4 days you have to stay overnight and man watches on the submarine. So a 'normal' day on an in-port submarine is 0600-to about 1600 (a 10 hour day) then every 3-4 days a 24 hour (including weekends). this is normal peace time, in port work days. It equates to about an 80 hour week. I know there are people that will say 'but you sleep during a duty day'. - sometimes you can get a few hours. When I first joined the navy in the 1980's we used to be able to grant 'day after duty' meaning that if you had the duty and your worked hard during that time, you could leave after you got relieved by the next duty section. Those days are gone. There is so much work to do that no one leaves early.

At sea the submarine crew is in a three section rotation. The crew stands 6 hours of watch, 6 hours of off watch training, maintenance, cleaning, and then 6 hours of rest. Not necessarily in that order. Myself as a Sonar Supervisor had to spend many hours in 'reconstruct' analysing all of the information gathered from my watch.

Looking back I am amazed that I made it through and I am even more amazed at the young men that continue to make it happen. I see these young men that are in submarine school and here is their schedule: PT at 0600 in the ball field, class 0800-1600, dinner at 1700. If they are on extra study then study hall is 1800-2000. if they are still behind they are required to be at study hall 1800-2200. I can't think of anyone that wants to be at work 0600-2200. Oh yeah, these students also have watch standing duties on top of that. I can't think of any college student that does that.

I think that is why many veterans have trouble adjusting to civilian life, I know I am. It is really hard for a military guy to understand the importance of things like 'don't mix whites into the laundry.' It is not that we can't follow instructions, we are very good at that, it is just that it seems so mundane, ridiculous, meaningless, it is that it doesn't fit a mission.

I find that I just have to continuously keep myself busy with school, garden, the yard and the family. If not I become idle and nothing good comes of that.

Renee

Renee was in town from MO for the weekend. It was a great time to see her after 10 years and finally meet her boyfriend Frank. This is the first time Jaiden and Hailee met Renee. Afterwards we went to Capron Park Zoo.

The Birds are acting strange?

I'm getting a little concerned.

First there were the baby grackles that we were able to catch. Then there was a dead chickadee I found with no signs of attack. Yesterday I found a large Grackle dead with no signs of attack.

Last year there was allot of press about bird flu. I am getting concerned that I may be seeing signs in nature of it. Birds will kick their off spring out of the nest if they believe they are sick (was this why we caught the baby birds?). Now there are the dead birds? Next time I find a dead bird, I'm calling animal control.

Just another sign of end! oh yeah Obama is the Anti-Christ check it out http://www.barackobamaantichrist.blogspot.com/