Archive for 'Habitat' Category
Saw Ringtail eating sunflower seeds in feeding area near house 8am
- Planted 3 Rosemary at porch posts to provide planting place for vines to protect from deer browse
- Flung seed balls in cages throughout "Spring Fling Mix" from Native Plant-Its
- 1 pound Caliche Mix (from Native American Seed) scattered and raked into ground in septic area, behind house and in field
- 1/4 pound Lemon mint seed scattered in front yard
- Red kayak and oars stolen from steps to river
- Posted "No Trespassing" signs along river trail
- Studied road water run-off below road
Posted in
2007 Journal, Census, Habitat, Erosion
Began cutting and trenching Oak Wilt corner
Caretaker's note: Suggested remedies to reduce the spread of the Oak Wilt fungal disease are to treat individual trees with a fungicide and in larger areas, trenching 5 feet deep, is recommended. The trenching cuts the roots of the infected trees, and prevents the fungus from spreading through the intertangled root system.
Standard trenching plan: 100 feet from visibly affected area in an arc, with 2 lateral extensions on each edge out another 100 feet, which happened to be along a fence line in the southeast corner. Continue to observe this edge to catch any new infections. Leave standing snags for wildlife
- Large mulch piles created from brush clearing from trenching to use in driveway and on trails
- Slowed erosion by moving rocks into gully shaped areas
Posted in
2007 Journal, Habitat, Erosion
No freeze. Temperature was 70 degrees today
- Saw one large and one smaller fox at feeding station
- Many sparrows at feeding station
- Cardinals very active
- Boise d'arc tree at bobcat draw
- Cleaned up fallen and broken branches lost from ice storm damage.
- Found first invasive Ligustrum tree along river trail. It was removed by pulling up.
Posted in
2007 Journal, Census, Habitat, Food
Maintenance to prepare for predicted arctic blast. Extended hard freeze next week.
- Charged batteries and added water to 2 6 volt solar batteries.
- All 3 well outlets were wrapped and left dripping
- Wrapped outside faucets and left lil' guzzler
- Replaced water pump at rain barn for lil' guzzler
Washed raccoon droppings from steps and chlorinated area to disinfect and reduce the spread of distemper disease.
Walked the land and sprayed all raccoon droppings throughout with chlorine and water solution.
Posted in
2007 Journal, Census, Habitat
Ice storm!
Caretaker's note: Texas is known for its unpredictable weather. The ice storm hit central Texas for three days between January 13th and 16th. This was one of the most severe ice storms recorded in Texas weather history. Reports of power outages were widespread. The storm affected a huge area in North America, from the Rio Grande valley to New England and Canada. watersto_jennystone damage consisted of broken limbs on large oak and juniper trees. The pretty winter wonderland melted on day 3. Walking through the woods was risky as huge ice chunks fell and tree limbs cracked under the weight of the ice. See more photos.
Found sick raccoon
Caretaker's note: A raccoon was seen listless in the road in the afternoon. Raccoons are normally nocturnal. It was picked up in a thick blanket with caretaker wearing thick gloves. There was no struggle indicating its illness. It was kept in a box in the house during the extreme cold weather and given food and water. The box was cleaned out daily until travel was possible after the ice storm.
It was taken to Wildlife Rescue where it was diagnosed with distemper. Raccoons can contract both feline and canine distemper. It had evidence of blindness and a limp. The eyes had a greenish color instead of black. It was given a distemper vaccine, which arrests the progress of the disease. It was left at Wildlife Rescue. Caretakers were advised to redesign the feeding area so that raccoons would not share feeding in close proximity to one another. Instead of one large pile of black oil sunflower seeds, the seed is scattered in a broad area.
Posted in
2007 Journal, Census, Habitat
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