Wow Scott, sounds like you have been busy as a beaver lately.

Jim

 

Thanks guys!

Love the new place. I've been here 9 months now. But, it's not all ****z and gigglez... Walked RIGHT NEXT to this bad boy yesterday. I need to step up my situational awareness big time!



Here's some pics from the house(s). There's a 820 sq/ft cottage that I rent to my friend.

From the top of the hill. Watched a Bald Eagle fly over the other day!




Turkeys everywhere in the fall. Counted 33 at once.




Smokie being the firewood inspector. I've got about 75 "Blue" Oaks, so plenty of firewood.




An aerial view of both houses. Have about an 84k sq/ft lot.

 

Wholly smokes Andy , that's a big snake , yea gota keep close eye on the little ones and Smoky .

 

This came across my desk today. Caltrans - News Flash

Thinking about you guys and hoping that it is a better contractor than we had on the bridge up here.

 

If I saw a snake like that I would probably die of a heart attack.

Jim

 

I used to kill the heck out of rattlesnakes, going out at night in my pickup truck with a shovel to search for them stretched out on the warm pavement of less traveled roads at night. At the peak of the season, I'd kill 5-10 snakes on a typical evening in about an hour, eating the meat and making hat bands with the skins... Eventually, I became aware of how important they are to keep in our environment.

The biggest deterrent to killing them, for me, is the fact that a major staple in their diet is mice, which are known to spread deceases that are deadly to humans. Decease infested rodents are much more consequential than the very remote chance of being bitten by a rattlesnake.

Nowadays I will tend to just leave "buzzworms" alone and avoid getting too close to them, or if necessary I've even gone as far as to catch and relocate them using a trash can to transport them to a more remote area. If left alone, they usually tend to just slither away on their own. If you're worried about them hanging out too close to the house, try raising chickens as they tend to keep snakes away. They give you fresh eggs too!

Rattlers are actually very important to the ecosystem as well, an integral part of the delicate balance in the food chain in wild areas. Since I choose to live in a wild area, I try to avoid upsetting the food chain any more than necessary. The only exception, for me, is that I will kill the hell out of mice that come in to live in my house. THey're disgusting little creatures and as I see it the deceases that mice carry are the biggest threat to me and my family. Snakes are cool. As long as you don't mess with them and just leave them alone, they're relatively harmless.

 

That reminds me of cleaning out and replacing some overgrowth with some new plants in my yard. Grabbed what I thought was a big pile of brush to put in the green bin, big ol garter snake was in there, scared the heck out of me. I threw the pile of brush and snake across the yard and ran away like a scared kid. My friends were laughing the butts off at me.

 

We had a big old rattler living in our pump shed for a few years. He was only there during the warm/hot months, and I haven't seen him in a couple of years. he was close to 2" in diameter; don't know how long he was because he never uncoiled.

However... he never rattled, and he never moved when we were in the shed. Just minded his business, and we knew he was eating the mice, so live and let live. I know he couldn't have gotten that big if he threatened people.

We had a plumber working on the plumbing for the pressure pump once. I mentioned to him (Terry was his name) that there was a rattlesnake in the corner. He answered "Yep, I saw him. He's not bothering anyone."

 

To me, a rattler is a nuisance. Right up at the top of the list that also includes ground squirrels, rats, mice, and frogs LOL. With all the rain, and all the mice that will come with it, my guess is there won't be much of a shortage of rattlers around here. I do let all the King, Gopher, Garter, Racer, Ring-Neck, and any other snake live so they can take care of the rodents.

The little frogs are OUT OF CONTROL around here...

 

Yup, exactly what I was gonna say.

Stewart

 

That was on the news for days here on the Peninsula. Every night, KSBW (the local Monterey News station) would have an update on the 6000lb wrecking ball that Cal Trans couldn't get to work right, so all it did was bounce off the cement.

Three days of this bouncing ball on concrete....and they presented the story without a single snicker or guffaw, LOL! Dunno how they did it.

Day two of demolition work on Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge

Cal Trans finally switched to the jack hammer attachment and got it taken down pretty quick.

Stewart

 

Hey all. Hope everyone is enjoying today and looking forward to a nice easter weekend. For me, today is a fresh start. My now ex finally moved out and it was really hard. Trying to stay positive and focus on me for a while. Gotta do some rehab to the green demon and figure what better way to focus on me and heal than enjoying it with my truck starting to aquire parts for it, planning a budget etc. want to do some interior and exterior cosmetic work, as well as track down the slop in my front end again and the famous 7.3 up pipes. Got beer and tools...

 

Good luck with the truck upgrades Nick.

Jim

 

Welp, picked up a new truck yesterday.....couldnt pass it up, even being a blue mopar. Does this mean I am out?!

 

No, we are Ford Truck Enthusiasts, doesn't say anything about being Ford truck owners.

If it did, I would be out too as the only vehicle I currently own is a Thunderbird.

Jim