Garden chat & photos for torts and people ♫ ♫

Yvonne G

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We've had some nice weather this week so i got outside and raked leaves and started cutting the mulberry trees back.I put the leaves at the base of 2 large maple trees and let them decompose there.View attachment 264302 View attachment 264303 Here is the first tree that I cut backView attachment 264304 View attachment 264305When I got it to this point I looked at itView attachment 264306 and decided it would do better this summer with a little more cuttingView attachment 264307 Supposed to have 2 more days of nice weather and then back to our average winter temps.
I don't cut mine back. I only trim out a branch here and there to make the tree more symmetrical. It's the biggest shade tree for my rain forest tortoises.

A few years ago my tortoise partner planted a row of white mulberry trees all along the front of the Aldabran yard, and advised me how to trim them so they would grow horizontally instead of vertically. I did trim them the first couple years, but then last year I took my hedge trimmer to them. It's easier that way. The shade mulberry is fruitless, but the hedge mulberries produce fruit. So I'm hoping that by using the hedge trimmer on them it cuts back on the fruit.
 

Len B

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I set up a trail camera to see what visits the yard at night and had 3 visitors last night.IMG_0014 copy.jpg IMG_0019 copy.jpg IMG_0021 copy.jpg The information at the bottom of the pics is correct except the month, I screwed that up when setting the camera after putting new batteries in.
 

Yvonne G

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I set up a trail camera to see what visits the yard at night and had 3 visitors last night.View attachment 264465 View attachment 264466 View attachment 264467 The information at the bottom of the pics is correct except the month, I screwed that up when setting the camera after putting new batteries in.
Ah. . . a cat, a cat and an opossum! I would LOVE to have a camera like that for night time viewing, however, with six cats of my own that's probably all I'd ever get to see too.
 

Len B

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Ah. . . a cat, a cat and an opossum! I would LOVE to have a camera like that for night time viewing, however, with six cats of my own that's probably all I'd ever get to see too.
For months I've been leaving food out for the possum, i started increasing the amount of food left out nightly, (much more than one possum could eat) and everything was gone in the morning, So I wanted to see who and what was eating so much. I'm going to trap the cats and give one to someone who is looking for a cat,they can have which ever one they want. The possum is welcome here but the cats eat the baby rabbits, birds, and lizards so they can go. I already have 2 indoor cats that used to live outside in my yard.
 

jaizei

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Ah. . . a cat, a cat and an opossum! I would LOVE to have a camera like that for night time viewing, however, with six cats of my own that's probably all I'd ever get to see too.

I would've thought the same thing but there was a mountain lion filmed by someone's Ring camera not too far from my house.
 

Len B

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I had 2 adult Peking ducks that were carried off last year and haven't figured out what lives around here that is big enough to do that. Whatever it was took one one night and came back the next night for the other one.That's when I started setting a trap, but all i ever trapped was the possum. I could see the path of how the first duck was taken out of the yard and don't believe a dog is capable of doing what it took to get it out. I have dealt with foxes before and not sure a fox could carry a duck of that size through the maze that it took to leave the yard. Raccoons are agile enough to do it but they don't usually carry large things off and raccoons leave good foot prints. I could not find any identifiable foot prints. The lack of footprints left me to believe some type of larger cat could be the culprit. Coyotes have been found in the area and I know basically zero about them. Also i have ask around and no one has seen a wild rabbit in quite awhile and not to long ago they were every where. Today I picked up 2 more traps and have all 3 set. Maybe I'll get some good pics and something in the traps.
 

Len B

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I had 2 adult Peking ducks that were carried off last year and haven't figured out what lives around here that is big enough to do that. Whatever it was took one one night and came back the next night for the other one.That's when I started setting a trap, but all i ever trapped was the possum. I could see the path of how the first duck was taken out of the yard and don't believe a dog is capable of doing what it took to get it out. I have dealt with foxes before and not sure a fox could carry a duck of that size through the maze that it took to leave the yard. Raccoons are agile enough to do it but they don't usually carry large things off and raccoons leave good foot prints. I could not find any identifiable foot prints. The lack of footprints left me to believe some type of larger cat could be the culprit. Coyotes have been found in the area and I know basically zero about them. Also i have ask around and no one has seen a wild rabbit in quite awhile and not to long ago they were every where. Today I picked up 2 more traps and have all 3 set. Maybe I'll get some good pics and something in the traps.
Caught the black cat already, Picture 002.jpg The poor thing is very frightened and upset.
 

KarenSoCal

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I had 2 adult Peking ducks that were carried off last year and haven't figured out what lives around here that is big enough to do that. Whatever it was took one one night and came back the next night for the other one.That's when I started setting a trap, but all i ever trapped was the possum. I could see the path of how the first duck was taken out of the yard and don't believe a dog is capable of doing what it took to get it out. I have dealt with foxes before and not sure a fox could carry a duck of that size through the maze that it took to leave the yard. Raccoons are agile enough to do it but they don't usually carry large things off and raccoons leave good foot prints. I could not find any identifiable foot prints. The lack of footprints left me to believe some type of larger cat could be the culprit. Coyotes have been found in the area and I know basically zero about them. Also i have ask around and no one has seen a wild rabbit in quite awhile and not to long ago they were every where. Today I picked up 2 more traps and have all 3 set. Maybe I'll get some good pics and something in the traps.
It sure sounds like it could be a coyote. It doesn't happen often, but a healthy one can jump a 6 ft chain link fence.

Before you mentioned the rabbits, I was wondering if a human took the ducks. But not likely the rabbits.
 

Oxalis

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For months I've been leaving food out for the possum, i started increasing the amount of food left out nightly, (much more than one possum could eat) and everything was gone in the morning, So I wanted to see who and what was eating so much. I'm going to trap the cats and give one to someone who is looking for a cat,they can have which ever one they want. The possum is welcome here but the cats eat the baby rabbits, birds, and lizards so they can go. I already have 2 indoor cats that used to live outside in my yard.
Way to go. I really dislike seeing outdoor cats in our suburban neighborhood. It's hard enough attracting my native songbirds with all the noise from neighbors and cars with illegal mufflers... I think they chased away some of our backyard bunnies too. :( You may want to take them in to a local shelter though. They should at least spay/neuter them, which is a big help to the feral cat problem. The animal shelter where I volunteer has a "trap and release" program, which is better than nothing.

Steve's enclosure this morning, after our mighty ice storm. There was almost an inch of ice on our driveway when we shoveled.

DSC01639.jpg
 
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Yvonne G

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I'm starting to get the plant/seed catalogs. I'm holding strong, though. I'm trying to not spend $$ until I have enough saved up to pay off my solar loan. So no garden for me this year. We had a very mild winter and all my cacti that is in the ground out front made it through the winter just fine. Can't say the same for my banana trees though. I notice the rose bushes are all starting to leaf out. And I have a few narcissus that look like they may bloom soon.
 

Maro2Bear

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I'm starting to get the plant/seed catalogs. I'm holding strong, though. I'm trying to not spend $$ until I have enough saved up to pay off my solar loan. So no garden for me this year. We had a very mild winter and all my cacti that is in the ground out front made it through the winter just fine. Can't say the same for my banana trees though. I notice the rose bushes are all starting to leaf out. And I have a few narcissus that look like they may bloom soon.

You need to dish more out about your solar installation. What all is it powering up for you?

I too have started to cut back on plant seeds and seedlings, etc. Prices in general have really gotten out of hand. Seeds, transplants, potting soil...even water! Seems like even the Mom n Pop road side stands have their prices sky high. :-(
 

Yvonne G

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You need to dish more out about your solar installation. What all is it powering up for you?

I too have started to cut back on plant seeds and seedlings, etc. Prices in general have really gotten out of hand. Seeds, transplants, potting soil...even water! Seems like even the Mom n Pop road side stands have their prices sky high. :-(
My solar system is attached to the grid. This means that if my system is supplying all my electric usage for the day, whatever I'm not using is going back into the grid. If I don't have enough to power my electrical usage for the day, I get power from the grid, in our case, P.G.&E, the company that is going bankrupt due to being the cause of our forest fires earlier this year. My meter runs backwards all summer (I'm making my own electricity), but in the winter, I have so many pig blankets, tortoise heaters and lights that I use a LOT of electricity, more than my system can supply. Even with the solar power, I still end up paying about $2000 at the end of the year.
 
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