Toni
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Sandhill crane on a refuge near where I live:
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laughing dog
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If your luck is not good with that, try fox urine. (www.predatorpeestore.com/how-to-get-rid-of-skunks-with-predatorpee.html).
Arctish
Centimillionaire
You might also consider low level harassment like you've been doing for the next couple of weeks, and only step up the pressure in August. The young skunks might be too young for their mother to take them in search of a new den just yet, but you'll definitely want them out by mid-September.
Is there a place on your property where you wouldn't mind them living, like a deadfall in the woods? You might encourage them to consider it by leaving a few cat treats on it at night. Perhaps a small woodpile in front of it would make it more appealing.
The first plan failed. Cat litter and the light.
I'm waiting for my wife to head out for a trip to the house in Maine to prepare for the 5 of us and two cats to to go up later. She uses the porch as an office and she wants me to wait on plan B until she is away. Plan B is to spray all over the place with stinky ammonia and turn a portable radio on 24 hours a day. I may also set up flashy Xmas lights all around the wood pile.
I strongly doubt that the mother is still around. I think she took off long ago. Last time I saw an adult was back in April. I think the two kids moved in on their own.
I'm fine with the skunks living anywhere else outside around the yard other than inside the cat fence where they are now. The cats hate the cat flap being closed at night. There are wood piles out away from the house in the woods. I just don't know that the skunks would find any scraps before the squirrels and other critters get to them.
I say outside because we have a detached garage and I don't want them moving in there. I've been keeping it closed except to get things to be sure that they don't move in there.
Wiploc
Veteran Member
My instinct is to deploy a single moth ball.
Or more like 100. They have too huge an area to hide under this wood pile.
Mothballs may retain their stink longer though. I'll see how long the ammonia smell lasts.
Cheerful Charlie
Contributor
Get a portable radio, and set it up on an obnoxious station, and put it where they seem to be nesting. Disturb their daytime beauty rest and they will leave.
been a while. Apologies.
A zabulon skipper.
A snowberry clearwing.
A young spotted sandpiper.
A hummingbird clearwing.
A black swallowtail.
And an eastern bluebird.
Rob
A zabulon skipper.
A snowberry clearwing.
A young spotted sandpiper.
A hummingbird clearwing.
A black swallowtail.
And an eastern bluebird.
Rob
I have been bad at posting here for a while mainly because my photos are mostly the same-old same old.
I got something rarer for me a could days ago. A large spotted salamander was coming down the driveway. Though usually these guys are out at night.
This was perhaps 7-8 inches. Big for a salamander.
I guess he can't help looking pleased with himself.
I got something rarer for me a could days ago. A large spotted salamander was coming down the driveway. Though usually these guys are out at night.
This was perhaps 7-8 inches. Big for a salamander.
I guess he can't help looking pleased with himself.
A couple nights ago after dark there was a raccoon in the front yard. I took a photo while shining a flashlight on it. Not great but it's definitely a raccoon.
Found this guy walking across the road:
(While it technically is a road I was hiking on it as I don't have a car suitable to drive down it to the actual trail I was after.)
Vegas, beware, it's coming!!
(While it technically is a road I was hiking on it as I don't have a car suitable to drive down it to the actual trail I was after.)
Vegas, beware, it's coming!!
How big is it?
The raccoon has been back. I don't know why it likes my front lawn so much. It's a front lawn like any other front lawn. While at the edge of the lawn up by the road there are acorns and chestnuts on the ground it's not spending time there. I don't think I have more bugs/worms in my lawn than any other average lawn. There are no berries where it is. There are lots of berries on the other side of the house. So it's a puzzle. He's not interested in the trash bin.
But anyway, I got a much better photo last night. He was very very shy of me but didn't run like hell away but did keep trying to get away from me while still very interested in staying on the law. Here it is by a cedar tree. It's well after dark. Between my high intensity flashlight and the flash on the camera this came out pretty well.
But anyway, I got a much better photo last night. He was very very shy of me but didn't run like hell away but did keep trying to get away from me while still very interested in staying on the law. Here it is by a cedar tree. It's well after dark. Between my high intensity flashlight and the flash on the camera this came out pretty well.
spikepipsqueak
My Brane Hertz
How's your skunk problem?
We discourage determined wombats with 500g of ground black pepper. Might help.
Ah yes. When we went to Maine in August i set a radio out there on top of the wood pile and put it just not tuned right to a punk rock station. It sounded terrible. I set up a floodlight and dumped 5 half gallon bottles of ammonia through the wood pike onto the dirt. They appear to have moved out.
I'd say the body was about 1" across.
bilby
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You haven't seen a mad scientist with a striking resemblance to Leo G Carroll hanging around out there, have you?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula!
I didn't see much of anyone out there. Given all the idiots we have around here I have deliberately been hiking trails that don't see much use to minimize the amount of time I need to hike with a mask on.
It was heading straight for the city when I saw it.
Found a flock of Vice Presidents in the front yard:
Unfortunately, they promptly departed and this was the best shot I was able to get--if I had gone in for a real camera I would have gotten nothing at all. This is maybe 1/3 of the whole group.
Unfortunately, they promptly departed and this was the best shot I was able to get--if I had gone in for a real camera I would have gotten nothing at all. This is maybe 1/3 of the whole group.
Speaking of squirrels, three of the little buggers have been chasing each other like mad through our front and back yards, along the roof, through the trees, etc. Is it mating season? Is this a menage a trois?
Here's one of them in one of the rare moments it stopped to rest (outside my office window).
Here's one of them in one of the rare moments it stopped to rest (outside my office window).
Worldtraveller
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Took my mom for drive around Antelope Island on sunday. Lots of bison about, and one porcupine. 
Didn't see any antelope this time out. Not sure what part of the island they hang around in the winter.
Didn't see any antelope this time out. Not sure what part of the island they hang around in the winter.
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Treedbear
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Witch Hazel is blooming in CT.
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No photos but for about the last years I've marked the first day to hear spring peepers in this thread and the old one at Secular web.
TV and credit cards
Veteran Member
Where's Mitch?
What is Mitch?
This cute little thief showed up while I was eating. I'm not sure if his plan was to gnaw through my pack or climb up it and dash inside but I have little doubt that he associated backpacks with food and understood the low threat level posed by humans--this photo is at about 2.5' from my phone, maybe 4' from my body. My pack is against the log just below the frame. I didn't give him a chance to demonstrate what his plan was just in case it was gnaw. (There was a spot he could hide behind my pack out of my field of view. I ran him off each time he went there.)
Raintree, Mt. Charleston, 7/6/21.
funinspace
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The other morning a red tail decided our deck rail was a place to hang out. Much nicer view (for us), than its usual perches in the tops of big fir trees...but after a few pics it decided it had enough of our peering about.
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I don't know about bears, but deer definitely do shit in the woods:
Mt. Charleston, South Loop Trail, close to 10,000' up.
Mt. Charleston, South Loop Trail, close to 10,000' up.
Deer poop on my lawn all the time. They are spherical around the size of marbles in a nice pile.
bilby
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Weird
It sure has been a while since I posted any photos here. I've been a slacker. I've wanted to but it sometimes seems so much work to resize files.
But today I was just out enjoying the fall colors and brisk temps and was driving down the road and all of a sudden saw this along the lake. It was a surprise to see one here in my home town. I usually see them in Maine. It was very cooperative. Too bad bald eagles are thieves.
But today I was just out enjoying the fall colors and brisk temps and was driving down the road and all of a sudden saw this along the lake. It was a surprise to see one here in my home town. I usually see them in Maine. It was very cooperative. Too bad bald eagles are thieves.
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Hermit
Cantankerous grump
For some reason there are fewer birds than usual in my garden than in past years. I was therefore particularly happy to see a bird of a species I had not seen before. Curiously named Magpie-Lark (it is neither a magpie nor a lark) this male made himself comfortable in one of my cedars for a few minutes.
bilby
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They're absolutely endemic here in SEQ, where they are also called 'Pee-Wees'.For some reason there are fewer birds than usual in my garden than in past years. I was therefore particularly happy to see a bird of a species I had not seen before. Curiously named Magpie-Lark (it is neither a magpie nor a lark) this male made himself comfortable in one of my cedars for a few minutes.
They are highly territorial, and often spend hours attacking windows, car mirrors, and other reflective surfaces, where they can clearly see an intruder making exactly the same threat displays.
They are part of the clade 'black and white birds', which includes magpies and butcher birds; Not to be mistaken for the (also endemic) Rainbow Lorikeet, largely because they look completely different. (Can you tell I am not a real ornithologist?).
spikepipsqueak
My Brane Hertz
Something very like that (but not identical) used to be called a Mudlark around here, but was recently renamed the Magpie Lark.
I wonder if genetic studies caused the rename?
The same happened with the Plover, now the Lapwing.
I wish they would leave bird names alone, it takes me long enough to learn them.
Curses on scientific accuracy.
I wonder if genetic studies caused the rename?
The same happened with the Plover, now the Lapwing.
I wish they would leave bird names alone, it takes me long enough to learn them.
Curses on scientific accuracy.
bilby
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The difference between a Plover and a Lapwing is that you can't knit yourself a nice Lapwing.
Hermit
Cantankerous grump
Identical bird, actually, and it's been called the Magpie Lark since before the 1850s.
The Mudlark/Magpie-Lark's habitat
bilby
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On my tiny phone screen, I thought that a few of them were on holidays in the Central Highlands of TAS, but it turns out to be the Lakes District.Identical bird, actually, and it's been called the Magpie Lark since before the 1850s.
The Mudlark/Magpie-Lark's habitat
There were some "Chirp, chirps" and some rustling in the bushes. It started on the right hand side about 6 feet up. I could see the little branches move. Every now than then I saw something block the small specks of light shining through from the other side of the bush. In a few moments I could tell that there was a second bird following the first one.
They were going left in the row of bushes that probably extend at least 20 feet from the side of my house. The canopy 9 feet high and contiguous.
Once or twice I thought I saw some red. And the chirp chirps kept up. There as a pause where a gap below the high twigs covers the lower section in darkness. Something dark staggered across the gap. A moment later I saw a flash of bright red.
And then more rustling. I had my camera. At the end of the line, where the bushes meet the house, was the creature. My camera zoom was set to squeeze through the densest twigs.
And... A fledgling northern cardinal showed itself.
They were going left in the row of bushes that probably extend at least 20 feet from the side of my house. The canopy 9 feet high and contiguous.
Once or twice I thought I saw some red. And the chirp chirps kept up. There as a pause where a gap below the high twigs covers the lower section in darkness. Something dark staggered across the gap. A moment later I saw a flash of bright red.
And then more rustling. I had my camera. At the end of the line, where the bushes meet the house, was the creature. My camera zoom was set to squeeze through the densest twigs.
And... A fledgling northern cardinal showed itself.
Worldtraveller
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Saw this guy right by the bike path on my ride Sunday.
Jimmy Higgins
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Have this hawk eating a squirrel in my treelawn. Came back the following day. Usually we have hawks and eagles in the area, but they’ve scoping our neighborhood more often now.
Hermit
Cantankerous grump
Two years ago this huntsman spider was my housemate.
I named her Lisa del Giocondo on account of her alluring smile.
She roamed around in my study and kitchen for a few weeks, then disappeared. Not enough prey to jump at, I guess.
I named her Lisa del Giocondo on account of her alluring smile.
She roamed around in my study and kitchen for a few weeks, then disappeared. Not enough prey to jump at, I guess.
I like how it's not necessary to reduce the file size any more.
Baltimore Oriole in my yard
Wild turkey in my driveway
Bluebird with a snack
Phoebe I think
Yellow Warbler
Bunny in my yard
Baltimore Oriole in my yard
Wild turkey in my driveway
Bluebird with a snack
Phoebe I think
Yellow Warbler
Bunny in my yard
How big was that?Two years ago this huntsman spider was my housemate.
I named her Lisa del Giocondo on account of her alluring smile.
She roamed around in my study and kitchen for a few weeks, then disappeared. Not enough prey to jump at, I guess.
Hermit
Cantankerous grump
Quite small, really. She only looks big because I held the pocket camera really close to her.
Even smaller, but can be fatal, are the redbacks. There are dozens of them in my garden. This one shot out of the spout of the watering can while I was filling it up. Pretty thing, though it's a good idea not to back it into a corner. They can be fatal, but since antivenoms became available in 1956 only one death has been recorded.
Much rarer around here is the funnelweb spider. I have only seen one in the 17 years I lived here.
It looks nasty, but unlike its relatives, which are confined to some leafy suburbs north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, not deadly.
Even smaller, but can be fatal, are the redbacks. There are dozens of them in my garden. This one shot out of the spout of the watering can while I was filling it up. Pretty thing, though it's a good idea not to back it into a corner. They can be fatal, but since antivenoms became available in 1956 only one death has been recorded.
Much rarer around here is the funnelweb spider. I have only seen one in the 17 years I lived here.
It looks nasty, but unlike its relatives, which are confined to some leafy suburbs north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, not deadly.
Ik spiders. They are the monsters of the insect world. Fascinating but Ik.
I like birds most.
More animals this spring with some March.
Carolina Wren
Mallard
Painted turtles
Goldeneye
Ring neck duck
Can't tell if it's a Sharp-shin hawk or a Cooper's hawk. The two are hard to tell apart in the best of times.
Red tail hawk - I like how it shows what's feather and what's muscle and bone in the wings.
Chickadee
Eastern Towhee
Blue jay
I like birds most.
More animals this spring with some March.
Carolina Wren
Mallard
Painted turtles
Goldeneye
Ring neck duck
Can't tell if it's a Sharp-shin hawk or a Cooper's hawk. The two are hard to tell apart in the best of times.
Red tail hawk - I like how it shows what's feather and what's muscle and bone in the wings.
Chickadee
Eastern Towhee
Blue jay