What did you do in the shop today?

[Deimos]

I neither have the space or the time for such a hobby, houses over here in the Netherlands are a lot smaller then the ones in the USA 

[Chimaera]

Ok. I will suggest a tree frog, though. Mine has a space about 2' by 1' by 1', and he's happy as can be. I have him trained to eat from my hand, so any time I put my hand in he tries to nibble my fingers with his adorable little gums. And one of the perks is that with the soil he has, I never have to clean his tank. That's right, never.

Hey hey, I'm a senior member!

And you, too, Deimos

  (The use of the @ Name tag is discouraged)

Edited December 2, 2020 by Mod30
Remove @name tag

[Deimos]

Tree frogs are also very pretty, but with 2 dachshunds, room for my training, my wife's reflexology/treatment room and the standard things like sleeping and stuff, the house is already pretty full. Maybe when we either move to the USA, or get very lucky with finding a bigger place some years in the future.

Gratz dude, on our way to become Curmudgeon's

[pre6422hornet]

On 11/28/2020 at 6:10 PM, ThomasPowers said:

Just because I'm not in Australia I can't know what a Ute or a Roo Guard or a Tinnie is?   

Come over and visit some time and I will explain the Official State Question of New Mexico: Red or Green?  (Or Christmas!)

IronDragon; why were they chasing a deer at 110 mph?  A 30-06 does just as well and probably is more controllable.

Christmas all the way for me!  Man I miss the red and green. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

1 hour ago, Chimaera said:

experience with "rapid tongs"? They're waterjet cut or plasma cut tong blanks that you finish up... only about $10 a pair, seem nice and simple but fun... I could use some tongs. Right now I'm trying to use farrier's nippers, and those just aren't right.

Farriers nippers make good tongs, you just have to reshape the bits. As far as Ken's rapid tongs they are good tongs. I bought my wife several pair for her birthday several years ago and she had no problem forging them to what she wanted.  I think Ken's Custom has a Youtube video on making them.

[Steve Sells]

17 minutes ago, pre6422hornet said:

Christmas all the way for me!  Man I miss the red and green. 

in NM the red and green question is about Chilies, (Red of course)

[JHCC]

In Ohio, it's about tractors.

[Frosty]

Congrats on the new family member Billy! Bummer about the other one breaking herself. I think I'd look for a different kind of balance of good and bad. Eh?

Other than spiders there aren't any venomous arthropods here abouts. The only serious ones come in on shipments of produce so it's possible to get stung by a brown recluse. Mosquitos don't creep up on you they just pick a spot, land, saw a hole through your hide and dine. Sure you can see them, they cast a heck of a shadow and buzz is a grand understatement. The FAA has been trying to make them get tail numbers and lights for decades but the skeeters are scofflaws par exellence.  

It's not just mollusks that have chromataphores a number of lizards do as well. Chameleons aren't as flashy but for the colorful characters they are.

No lizards and snakes in the wild here either.

For the most part critters that can do you a mischief are large and don't need to sneak up on you. Bears tend to smell pretty rank but if one decides to sneak you might as well cover your eyes and get right with the deity of your choice. 

I've told this story but it fits here. I was taking a dump in the tag alder and willows on Crab Bay. I had a nice tag alder bent just right to use as a seat and am enjoying a pleasant movement. I hear snuffling, turn my head and there's a good sized black bear within touching distance. It has it's head thrown back and snuffling the yummy smell of fresh poo. To a predator the smell of dung is an "open for dinner" sign. The old paintings etc. of the guy with his pants down, a roll of toilet paper and running from a bear isn't a fiction. You're more likely to encounter a bear relieving yourself than almost any other time.

Anyway, I'm sitting (sort of) there with a probably 400lb.+ bear close enough to touch and I don't have anything to scare out of me now. I reached down for a handful of leaves and stuff off the ground, screamed at it and when it looked at me in near terminal surprise I hit it in the face with my deadly leaves weapon. We both jumped up waving our arms and screaming, and in a split second it was gone. I got hit back by a rooster tail of forest floor but that's the limit of my damages. 

It wasn't dense undergrowth, you could see quite a distance 100' easy, not clear but not so dense you could hide a moving object larger than a recliner. I remember it spinning around and doing a major burn out leaving but then it was gone and not a sound after the scream. Not really a scream but definitely a startled screamy bear shout sound.

Just gone. It wasn't trying to sneak it was running for it's life and it was invisible and silent. Oh yeah, I can imagine a bear sneaking, it could get in bed with you and you wouldn't notice.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Welshj]

3 hours ago, Chimaera said:

Now, what about scorpions? I'm guessing those fall under insect, but they're pretty cool. 

but anyone had experience with "rapid tongs"? 

In iraq- I used to catch scorpions and keep them as pets for a bit. There were two general types- the big, dark brown or black ones... and the smaller light tan ones. The little ones were the dangerous ones, more poisonous. I'd keep them for awhile in a plastic bucket. Feed em crickets. Then or if dead- pin them to cardboard with sewing pins and dry them out in a pose.

Rapid tongs- theres much more investment in pride, and accomplishment in making your own tools... sure.

But my mindset has always been that the best tool for the job- is the one that works. If thats how you get going and do better work, if that's how you save time... and have more options to do it. So what? Go for it man, it's your time, your forge, and your tools.

I have yet to make a pair of tongs. Not for lack of research or ability... I probably could easily. But my little brother gave me four to ten sets so far that have done what I need to do.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Frosty, you're supposed to yell, "Hey bear!" real loud. That's what they do on tv.

We have copperheads here at the new place. And tons of oak leaves that are perfect cover for them. I hardly ever saw a snake at the old place. Let alone poisonous ones like that. I was mowing trying to clean up the wild overgrowth. Came back and parked the mower. Next day, I was walking up to the mower and about had heart failure. There lay about a 14" long copperhead. Then realized it was dead and cut up. I guess it got caught up in the mower. I hope we can get this all maintained enough to cut down on those suckers come spring. 

[Frosty]

Every time I go to the bathroom? It approached me I was minding to my own business. I'm thinking we were both lucky I didn't have my 12 ga. with me. We all carried it to do our business after that. 

Does yelling, "HEY BEAR!" really loud work on snakes? Were it me I'd prefer the mower treatment. Do you have high boots? 

I usually don't yell bear alerts in the woods, I make a lot of noise. The idea is to not surprise one or come between a sow and cubs. 

I'd be thinking of a riding mower if I had to deal with venomous snakes. I've been away from rattlesnake country too long, I no longer have the automatic moves for it.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Chimaera]

Snakes are tough suckers. When I was a kid, my dad was mowing with our big ole riding mower and hit something. I'm playing in the yard the next day and I see a black snake. I go to pick it up, and I kid you not, it was cut 60% of the way through by that mower, just one day before. Thing was still perfectly alive and most docile snake I've ever caught. And not in a half dead, delirious way.

4 hours ago, Deimos said:

Tree frogs are also very pretty

Mine is a grey tree frog. They aren't exactly amazonian dart frogs, but they are still really cool. They change colors, from a brown to gray to green.

While I kinda wish he was like the one on the left, mine looks a lot like the one on the right, just 10X fatter and with a blind left eye.

Not the greatest, but I got what I could. This is Napoleon.

[CrazyGoatLady]

7 hours ago, Frosty said:

Does yelling, "HEY BEAR!" real loud work on snakes? Were it me I'd prefer the mower treatment. Do you have high boots? 

I don't know. Probably not much better than the expletives that came out of my mouth when I started seeing them! I ran one over with my truck and I thought it probably didn't kill it. But I found it a couple days later. That thing was about 2 ft. long. From what I read, that's pretty big for a copperhead. And yes sir. I have high boots. I wear them more often now than I ever have. 

Chimaera, I found a frog in the conex box where we keep the feed at this morning. Looked like the frogs in your picture. Sort of greenish gray. I saw what I thought was chicken poop. Weird since no chickens have been in there. I looked closer and it was a frog. I picked him up and he was pretty slow moving. I put him outside in the sun to maybe warm up. He didn't move much. But later on I checked on him and he was gone. I hope he's ok. No telling how long he'd been in there   

[Chimaera]

1 hour ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

I ran one over with my truck and I thought it probably didn't kill it. But I found it a couple days later. That thing was about 2 ft. long

I forgot you were talking about copperheads... Was thinking you casually ran over a baby bear cup with your truck. By gosh was I concerned/confused/angry

[Frosty]

Yelling at snakes won't work, they don't hear sounds though they sense vibrations in the air. Don't ask me, I don't know how the experts distinguish the two. A sharp garden hoe makes a good snake whacker. A draw file does a nice job of sharpening shovels and hoes. You aren't going for a knife edge, you want more like a cold chisel so they have some durability. Makes a hoe weed better too. 

I don't know much about copper heads. What's their strike range? A rattle snake can cover about 3/4 it's length. I believe the longest strike range in N. America. I've seen a water moccasin a couple times. They're surprisingly fast in the water and they just wanted away from me. We agreed on that point. 

Be careful and remember adventures are supposed to happen to other people.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Deimos]

Crazy as it may sound, I sort of envy the wildlife you guys have over there. All we have is cows... And maybe one wolf, and if the farmers get their way, that puppy is dead for sure.

[Frosty]

Cows can hurt you a LOT. Get one mad enough and it'll stomp you to pieces and it'll really hurt the whole time you're dying. Ask a rodeo bull rider sometime. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[BillyBones]

Around here we got timber rattlers and copperheads. My dad had a job mowing the flight line at WPAFB back in the 80's and that place was infested with rattle snakes. 

Copperheads can get much, much bigger than 2'. When we were living in KY me and my uncle was out one day moving some old shed pieces down by the creek. I was using a hoe to flip the pieces over while he stood with a shotgun. I flipped one piece and about jumped out of my skin when he fired the gun. The next day the local paper was there for pics. I cannot remember the exact size but my uncle is in  the pic holding the snake over his head and it hangs to almost his knee. Granted my uncle was only about 5' tall but that is still a huge snake. I think it was some kind of state record. Looking for something on the interweb thing i did find this out. The largest copperhead recorded in TX was 52". 

We had a few bears roaming about but you were more likely to run into a wildcat than a bear. Those cats can send a shiver down your spine when they call out in the middle of the night. But about bears, we had black bear but i have always been told that a black bear is more dangerous than a grizzly becuase they are more likely to attack you. Regardless, i tend to give carnivores that are much bigger than me plenty of leeway. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by BillyBones
Getting real tired of my "m" not working.

[Deimos]

There have been some problems with cows indeed, since some genius thought it be cool to have cows roaming free in some woods. People can walk trough those woods, but people don't understand that cows are A: very big B: very protective of their delicious baby's C: pack animals. Short story: people try to pet baby cow, mama cows get very very angry -> people break bones.

Or people walking trough herds of cows with their dogs, cows don't like dogs, almost kill both woman and their dogs.

[pnut]

There were some cows on the highway yesterday in Cincinnati. Shut the highway down for a while. 

Anymore the only place you find copperheads in KY is down towards the Jackson Purchase area in western ky. There's cottonmouths all over ky though. Rattlesnakes and black widows too. 

My neighbor caught a bobcat on his surveillance camera the other day. 

[Paul TIKI]

Not a lot of predators out here in KS that will give a human any real problems.  Occasional black widows, but they are kept in check by wolf spiders.  Brown Recluse spiders can turn up in your shed or basement from time to time, but those are kept in check by exterminators.  

The worst things we seem to have in any quantity here are coyotes and birds of prey.  They don't trouble humans too much, but they have been known to find small dogs and cats to be a fine snack.

When I lived in GA the mosquitos, though not as bad as Alaskan ones, wore gang colors and would not only bite you, but hit you in the head and try to take your wallet.  Or maybe that was more to do with living in the middle of the state.

[ThomasPowers]

I have black widow spiders in my smithy; I don't usually see them but their webs are distinctive in sound when they break.  Don't put your hands places you can't see---and keep your gloves and hearing protectors in a sealed container! 

[Paul TIKI]

Excellent advice.  Hadn't thought about keeping gloves in a sealed container.  Hearing protection, yes, because those foam buds just sitting out...er yuck!

[Deimos]

To get back On topic ^^

Since I ripped my vice clean of my table (8x50 woodscrews are worthless) I got myself a 3mm thick steel plate to put on top of the wood, and made myself a little stand to get the vice up to my elbow height. 

[Chimaera]

Ohio we have a pretty happy median. We got the deer, possums, birds, raccoons, bunnies, sometimes a bobcat etc. but not the rattlers, black widows, scorpions, or copperheads. A couple things I do wish we had more of were big deer (elk, moose) furry snakes (ferrets and weasels) bears and nonvenomous reptiles.

And big fish. We used to have gator gar in the OH river, but that's done...