Out And About.

[KRonn]

I had several wild turkeys in my back yard, milling around the bird feeder. They were probably trying to pick up seeds that other birds knock out of the feeder as they feed. This isn't the first time I've seen turkeys but it's been a while. They're huge birds too!

I've also seen deer and deer tracks in my yard. Last time the deer I saw were quite large, five of them. I see the deer at night - they trip my motion activated lights so I know they're roaming around. I'm not near large wooded areas but there are smaller wooded places not too far off, which is where some of these critters come from.

Truly, deer get everywhere ... we have a herd of them living in the local cemetery, a couple of blocks from my house - even though I'm living in a pretty major city.

Yeah, deer don't need too much space apparently, and seem to adapt to human places nearby. I and my neighbors also see occasional coyotes, but that's also not so unique anymore.

[mongers]

I had several wild turkeys in my back yard, milling around the bird feeder. They were probably trying to pick up seeds that other birds knock out of the feeder as they feed. This isn't the first time I've seen turkeys but it's been a while. They're huge birds too!

I've also seen deer and deer tracks in my yard. Last time the deer I saw were quite large, five of them. I see the deer at night - they trip my motion activated lights so I know they're roaming around. I'm not near large wooded areas but there are smaller wooded places not too far off, which is where some of these critters come from.

Truly, deer get everywhere ... we have a herd of them living in the local cemetery, a couple of blocks from my house - even though I'm living in a pretty major city.

Yeah, deer don't need too much space apparently, and seem to adapt to human places nearby. I and my neighbors also see occasional coyotes, but that's also not so unique anymore.

Many field seem to have invasive species of deer in them around these parts.

On my way home last night, came across a single fallow deer in the road, it wasn't so much startled as annoyed, and then it did this weird thing, it pranced off springing up and down on it's four hooves in unison, like you see depicted in kids cartoons. Never seen that behaviour before ever.

[garbon]

Walked home for the 2nd night in a row from work. Have seen now a fair bit of the UCL campus. Pretty large for how centrally located it is in the city.

[mongers]

Walked home for the 2nd night in a row from work. Have seen now a fair bit of the UCL campus. Pretty large for how centrally located it is in the city.

IIRC a bit of an organisational mess too; or at least that's my impression from an interview I had there.

[KRonn]

Many field seem to have invasive species of deer in them around these parts.

On my way home last night, came across a single fallow deer in the road, it wasn't so much startled as annoyed, and then it did this weird thing, it pranced off springing up and down on it's four hooves in unison, like you see depicted in kids cartoons. Never seen that behaviour before ever.

Each year I have a large garden in my back yard and a few other neighbors also have gardens. One year a woodchuck lived under my next door neighbor's shed and raised havoc with my garden and that of another neighbor. We finally trapped that chuck but it had caused a real hassle, ate a lot of my corn. I had a few years of good corn growing before and after that chuck, until the squirrels then discovered they liked corn. I was able to keep them under control for a couple years but finally gave up growing corn. And I loved growing corn! It was fun to grow and tasted so damn good fresh out of the garden.   In my garden I could fit over 100 corn plants, along with growing beans, squash and whatever else.

After the woodchuck episode I closed up any entry ways for a critter to get under my shed. Over the last few years though a couple neighbors have had skunks living under their sheds. They feared getting surprised and sprayed, which fortunately never happened. One guy works nights and would too often come home and be facing the skunk in his driveway or yard. They finally got rid of the skunks by closing up entry to the undersides of their sheds. I helped my 85 year old neighbor close off her shed and get rid of the skunk. Of course, while it was there it left the nasty smell around her shed all the time.

[garbon]

Walked home for the 2nd night in a row from work. Have seen now a fair bit of the UCL campus. Pretty large for how centrally located it is in the city.

IIRC a bit of an organisational mess too; or at least that's my impression from an interview I had there.

Yeah, I saw two very far apart divisions of the school of hygiene and tropical medicine which seemed a bit odd.

I'm thinking of taking a day trip to Cambridge on Saturday. While looking up the Cambridge bookshop, I saw they had this on as a special. Oh joy!

[mongers]

Walked home for the 2nd night in a row from work. Have seen now a fair bit of the UCL campus. Pretty large for how centrally located it is in the city.

IIRC a bit of an organisational mess too; or at least that's my impression from an interview I had there.

Yeah, I saw two very far apart divisions of the school of hygiene and tropical medicine which seemed a bit odd.

I'm thinking of taking a day trip to Cambridge on Saturday. While looking up the Cambridge bookshop, I saw they had this on as a special. Oh joy!

Nice idea, I should have a day trip to Oxford shortly.

Though it's going to be hard to find a bookshop specialising in bibles.   

[Malthus]

Many field seem to have invasive species of deer in them around these parts.

On my way home last night, came across a single fallow deer in the road, it wasn't so much startled as annoyed, and then it did this weird thing, it pranced off springing up and down on it's four hooves in unison, like you see depicted in kids cartoons. Never seen that behaviour before ever.

Each year I have a large garden in my back yard and a few other neighbors also have gardens. One year a woodchuck lived under my next door neighbor's shed and raised havoc with my garden and that of another neighbor. We finally trapped that chuck but it had caused a real hassle, ate a lot of my corn. I had a few years of good corn growing before and after that chuck, until the squirrels then discovered they liked corn. I was able to keep them under control for a couple years but finally gave up growing corn. And I loved growing corn! It was fun to grow and tasted so damn good fresh out of the garden.   In my garden I could fit over 100 corn plants, along with growing beans, squash and whatever else.

After the woodchuck episode I closed up any entry ways for a critter to get under my shed. Over the last few years though a couple neighbors have had skunks living under their sheds. They feared getting surprised and sprayed, which fortunately never happened. One guy works nights and would too often come home and be facing the skunk in his driveway or yard. They finally got rid of the skunks by closing up entry to the undersides of their sheds. I helped my 85 year old neighbor close off her shed and get rid of the skunk. Of course, while it was there it left the nasty smell around her shed all the time.

My dad had a skunk living under stuff problem.

The solution on how to get them out without risking being sprayed?

Play talk radio at their holes . Skunks can't stand the sound of the human voice always yammering, aren't smart enough to figure out how to disable a radio, and so will simply move on. Then you can seal up the hole.

My dad's pro tip: use American Conservative Talk Radio for this purpose (reason: lots of loud, abrasive, angry ranting).

[garbon]

Walked down to see the new art piece on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square: "The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist"

A lamassu made of date syrup cans.





Details here: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/arts-and-culture/current-culture-projects/fourth-plinth-trafalgar-square/invisible-enemy-should-not-exist-michael-rakowitz

[Malthus]

Walked down to see the new art piece on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square: "The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist"

A lamassu made of date syrup cans.

That's pretty awesome. 

[mongers]

Walked down to see the new art piece on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square: "The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist"

A lamassu made of date syrup cans.

That's pretty awesome. 

Indeed and much better than what I last saw there.

[KRonn]

My dad had a skunk living under stuff problem.

The solution on how to get them out without risking being sprayed?

Play talk radio at their holes . Skunks can't stand the sound of the human voice always yammering, aren't smart enough to figure out how to disable a radio, and so will simply move on. Then you can seal up the hole.

Hmm, next time someone has the problem I'll suggest that.   

[mongers]

My dad had a skunk living under stuff problem.

The solution on how to get them out without risking being sprayed?

Play talk radio at their holes . Skunks can't stand the sound of the human voice always yammering, aren't smart enough to figure out how to disable a radio, and so will simply move on. Then you can seal up the hole.

Hmm, next time someone has the problem I'll suggest that. 

Yeah that's a pretty good one.

But good grief don't you North Americans have some problematic wildlife, skunks for goodness sake, if we had those over here, the place would grind to a halt. 

[Eddie Teach]

I don't think they're all that common, I've never seen one in the wild.

[Admiral Yi]

I've smelled a few.