Snake Bite?

 Last week Thursday, while I was at two meetings which took most of the morning, my wife got involved in varied land girling activities. If there is not something in the yard or house for her to do, she invents something to do. Idle hands lead to no good in her minds. She is known for reorganizing what she had organized. This time, while land girling in a flower bed, which involved pulling out some weeds, looking at deer damage, or dead heading flowers she may have gotten a snake bite.

Snake in yard, May 2024 photo

We know we have had a garter snake in the yard, which you can read about here, but had not seen it for a month or more. Research shows that garter snakes can bite. The vegetation in the flower beds and garden is much thicker now, so perhaps it is better able to hide, and with warmer weather perhaps the long reptile does not need to sun itself on our slope in the yard, soaking up the rays so to speak. I doubt the snake uses sunscreen, so perhaps its need for vitamin D outdoes its risk of skin cancer. I am not sure if a snake can get skin cancer, but a garter snake will shed its skin two to three times a year, maybe in doing so it sheds those nasty cancer cells too.

Snake in yarad, May 2024 photo

Doing what brings her joy, playing in the dirt, Land Girl, aka "the Wife", was involved in the flower bed fresh up. She did not notice a bite until she was at the raspberry bed and saw blood on her forearm, which at first she thought maybe red raspberry juice. But, no it turned out to be blood. She cleaned her wound, as only a nurse can do, and found two small puncture marks, that could well fit that of snake bite. There are no plants with thorns that could make sure a wound. To date, she has not developed symptoms of a poison bite, which makes me think it was the garter snake and not some poisonous snake that found its way in the yard. Luckily, the punctures do not itch, did not swell, or turn a different color than her natural white of her under forearm.

Snake in yard, May 2024 photo

When anyone is working in the yard one has to expect the unexpected, bug bites, hitting an errant piece of metal, or a nasty thorn, coming across poison ivy, or now even a snake bite. Land Girl is alright for the wear, and she has not slowed down in her land girling activities. 

Wayward Women

When I do my bike ride I have noticed the presence of what I refer to as wayward women. During the week, I almost always travel from my home to the Lussier Center on the Lower Yahara River Trail. The trail, much off road, is located only 425 ft from my home. This route has me on a .9 mile bike bridge. When opened in 2017 was said to be the longest bike/walking only bridge in the nation. This is usually where the wayward women come in, as the section from McDaniel Park in McFarland and the bike bridge is popular with walkers, and bike bridge west is a popular route.

While "wayward" may not be the correct term, it could be disobedient, but I like the alliteration, I thought Disobedient Dames to be too condescending, and well, out of place in today's society. I would agree that biking during the day allows me to encounter more women than men, and hence my perceptions are somewhat clouded by sample, but nonetheless there is disobedience. Let me count the ways.

Bike Bridge, looking east 
signage south side

Two days last week I had several instances of the wayward women. My pet peeve is those that bicycle and do not follow common courtesies or rules of the trail. For example, say there is a walker coming toward me as I bike, and bikers behind the walker as I approach. The women bicyclist, behind the walker, more often than not, will just go around the walker, as if I am not there. I know I tend to blend in with the railing, but my suspender like blaze yellow garment should give some hint that I am coming toward them. This makes me have to stop so they can continue, when in fact they should have stopped.  I slow or stop to wait for the oncoming bicyclist in that situation. I feel like they are taking advantage of my good and cautious nature. What would they do if I did not slow down to let them pass the same direction walker? To be fair, over the three or more years of biking this route, a few men do the same, but for some reason, maybe simply numbers, women do it more often.

Bike Bridge, signs on north side
looking easterly

Yet, it gets worse, because the wayward women do it while riding next to each other. This is even more dangerous than a single rider, and I had this occur to me last week too. Maybe they were gabbing a bit too much to perhaps even notice my bright suspenders, but who knows. Fortunately, this occurred on the path, not on the bridge that is constrained by railings. The walker, had to move off the path, I slowed way down, but still had to move onto the shoulder or grass to make way for the two of them. I cannot imagine what thoughts would be going through a female mind if this were two men. They appeared to not have a care in the world, and they were the only thing in the world that mattered. Selfish and inconsiderate. It could easily lead to a crash. At least two men, perhaps their partners, following behind were single file, and were courteous. Although neither said anything to the women folk about their poor behavior.

When I first used the bike bridge, I would notice a significant number of people walking their dog on the bridge, even though their are signs, on each side of the abutment prohibiting dogs on the bridge, along with a third freestanding sign. Apparently, these women require more than three signs. I like to think if I notice the signs, everyone else will notice the signs. I have been told I am not very observant. For the last couple years the presence of dogs on the bridge has been minimal, or rather seldom do I come across this situation. I have, in a few instances over the years, seen a small dog that I am sure the handler has picked up when they see other people. Small ankle biter dogs can be more aggressive than a big dog. Last week, Tuesday when I was on approach to McDaniel Park, nearing the bike bridge, heading west to Lussier, that I saw a few women, and each had a dog. They seemed to be waiting for another woman that was coming over from the parking lot to join them. I stated "On your left" and passed them. The thought occurred to me, they were not going to follow the rules and I would see them and the dogs on the bridge or the path on the other side of the bridge.

Portion of Bike Bridge showing pull offs
to left of stream is viewing, to right is down for fishing
The women with the dog were on the left side, southeast corner

Well, that is what occurred. On the west end of the bridge, where the bridge crosses the channel between Upper Mud Lake and Lake Waubesa, there are a couple pull offs, one for fishing (east side of channel) and one for sight seeing (west side of channel) over the lake. In a pull off, I see the women gathered by the railing, and seemingly trying to hide the dogs, but one dog, not women, sticks its head out between the legs of two women. It was a nice day, a rarity for this summer, and many people were out, so I wondered why try to hide the dogs, you will be seen on your trek back. I felt like saying something, but did not wish to be that guy. As I think about it, I should have said something, like: "Oh, I thought pets were not allowed on the bridge." Or, perhaps, the nastier, "Can't you read?"

The bridge is a confined space and it makes perfect sense that dogs or pets are not allowed. These four women had medium to near large sized dogs, not some small one easy to carry.

Now, to expand the sample, I took the bike bridge on my last Saturday bike ride, riding about the same time as during the week. It was more crowded, which is why I tend to avoid it on weekends. However, I thought I would see more men. The two men I observed in a same situation as the women cyclists, they do what I do, slowed down or stopped to allow the oncoming bicyclist go by and then stated "on your left" and passed the walker. I did not see a man do what those women did. In fairness, a man passed me on his bike, and never said on your left. How many women do the right thing? I really don't know because I did not notice any Saturday, and the disobedient incidents are what usually stand out. 

Some relations think this is sexist, but my wife stuck up for me and said if they are in the wrong, they are in the wrong. 

If by chance, dear reader, you bike and come across some wayward women on the ride, perhaps you will think of this blog post. As for me, I am now attuned to wayward women and try to anticipate their disobedient actions.

Independence Day

In spring of 2007 the wife, kids and I made a trip to Washington DC.  As part of the trip we visited the National Archives to view the original copies of the US Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The worn, barely legible ink evinces the age of the documents. There is a strong resonance of history in that building, when you are among some of the most consequential documents in US and perhaps world history. With the Declaration of Independence the signers were committing treason against Britain, the home country to the thirteen colonies. The United States of America celebrates Independence Day on July 4, marking the date of the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence as the official day. Although, we all know, however, that the Revolutionary War was fought to obtain independence from Great Britain. 

US Archives

Other dates could have been used to mark the start of nationhood, such as the 19 October 1781 surrender of British forces at Yorktown, or even the 3 Sept 1783 signing of the Treaty of Paris. Of course neither of these would fall within the vacation and outdoor months of the summer. Say what you will about the founding fathers, they knew when to sign the document to effect the beginning, according to the movie "Jaws" of the beginning of the Martha Vineyard vacation season. The fledgling country was then and is today very British centric. So much so that the pivotal role played by the one key ally to the Continentals is often downplayed in history and today.

The French were the main ally of the fledgling nation, or from a Brit point of view colonies in rebellion. The new nation, abhorrent to taxing its citizens (think 1765 stamp act, which ironically was used to help pay for the predominantly Western European power Seven Year War (Brits on one side with Prussia, and with France on the other with varied allies)), depended on the French for a substantial contribution of monetary resources to fight the war. The French provided 1.3 billion livres to the US cause, which would have a substantial impact to France down the road. Their king would literally pay for this with his head. This blog will focus on the one critical battle in the Revolutionary War, but one downplayed in current history and our knowledge base. The reason it is downplayed is our penchant for praising ourselves, combined with a national British-centric mindset. The nation fought two wars against the Brits, one for the nation's founding, and the penchant of many in the US for British Royalty makes it seem like they wish we were 50 colonies. The most critical battle was at sea between French and British naval forces.

French General deGrasse
He deserves credit for the Yorktown engagement
and US Victory in the Revolutionary War
Battlefields.org

More than a month prior to the surrender at Yorktown, this critical battle was a faceoff between 24 French and 19 British warships. While not a clear cut victory for France, France gained both a tactical and strategic victory by sending the British warships back to New York for repair. This allowed the French navy to cut off a sea escape route for Cornwallis who became trapped on a peninsula at Yorktown. Ground forces, first led by the Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette ,and later joined by General Washington, over several weeks pressured the Cornwallis, but the key was the French sea engagement, which allowed the continued pressure, and cut off the viable escape route. Cornwallis was running out of food, and as a result killed many of their horses, as they lacked forage, which they dumped in Chesapeake Bay. I don't think one would want to drink water out of that body of water.

The French contribution is significant, because they stuck with the Continental army even after patriots in Massachusetts killed a French sailor for no reason other than being French and Catholic. His burial in the then Protestant state occurred under cover of darkness so as to not further inflame the bigotry of the residents. With friends like that one wonders what the enemy would be like. France and Britain were coming off the costly seven year war, and the Revolutionary War was taxing to both sides, although a greater burden for the French who had lost that prior engagement to Britain. The French could easily have cut bait after that sailors death in America, but stuck it out. 

Battlefields.org

The French stuck it out even counter to their own interests. For example, General de Grasse, leader of the French fleet at Chesapeake Bay was eager to get some ships to the Caribbean to protect French merchant fleets from piracy, not to mention the cost, but he kept his forces combined. It was de Grasse who came up with the idea for meeting the Brits at Chesapeake Bay, not Washington, who preferred an attack on New York, which posed much more peril to the French fleet. This bit of advice and quite frankly, cajoling to get a stubborn Washington to move off his attack New York position, led to the end of this already long conflict. Yes, the leader of the French fleet was not an Admiral, but a man tuned to land combat, a General, yet he led his forces to a key victory over the Brits, one of their admirals of their highly regarded navy.

At Yorktown, the French provided 10,800 troops to the continental army's (including local militias) of 8,000. The French also provided up to 29 warships that October to block any escape by Cornwallis. In the US we give a great deal of credit to the American forces, but the key was really the French, as the French provided the overwhelming troops against the 8,000 of Cornwallis, and the most critical piece--the navy. 

Marquis de Lafayette
18 Yrs old when came to US to fight for the Colonies
Wikipedia

The pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War was in fact the Battle of Chesapeake Bay, fought on the water with a strategic and tactical victory by a land general leading a French fleet over a British Admiral. With George and the Continental Army out of the picture for this crucial engagement, it is no wonder it is downplayed in US history. We write our own history, or we allow the Brits to write it for us. John Adams claimed that the revolution was "effected before the war" in the hearts and minds of many of the residents of the colonies. 

France lost 2,112 men and incurred a great expense in supporting the American colonies in the war. The debt France wracked up, would in part lead to the Reign of Terror in which King Louis XVI would lose his head. With friends like the US, the French really did not need any enemies. At the conclusion of the Treaty of Paris, which was the end of the Revolutionary War, France essentially got a small island. Ben Franklin would admit to the French that the Americans had made a side deal with the British on the treaty cutting out the French. Downplaying French importance in the war started right away. Before losing his head, King Louis came to regret French involvement in the war, stating that all they got for helping America was a loss of young men. 

This Fourth of July, 248 years after the approval of the Declaration of Independence, we need to recognize the contribution of the French that allowed the colonists to win the war. The new nation was sure quick to turn on its main ally in the conflict and start to embrace its antagonist. Then came the war of 1812 when the US declared war on Britain. I am not sure if  John Adams is right that the revolution was effected before the war, but I do think that if Britain had won the war, the Declaration of Independence would be lost to history, with little meaning for us today. And it would mean there would not be a National Archives in Washington DC that would contain the Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution that families, like ours in 2007, could visit. 

Relating to Critters

It is said that the three most important words in real estate are: location, location, location. Geography matters, and no more so than in my spouse's love or hate relationship with chipmunks. As people who read this blog know, we have been having our fair share of critter trials in our yard this year. It is now not limited to small critters, but big ones, like deer. While the wife rails against the critters and their damage in the yard, they become some of her best buddies when they are not in the yard. She well knows the damage caused by the critters, dug out plants, flower buds nipped, plants denuded of foliage.  Land Girl and her relationship with critters, is like love-hate relationship with the animals, with the love or the hate relationship simply explained by geography, or place.

If they are in our yard and doing damage, they are pests (a weed is simply a plant in the wrong desired location), while if they are not in our yard they are cute, and adorable. With a great deal of rain recently the deer have migrated into our yard from the nearby wetland area. They like eating the flowers, and some vegetables. We know they are deer since the succulent flower buds or young growth have been mowed off at near  my waist height, or below (depending on the plant). This just adds to the plant destruction. The deer have cut off anemone, lilies, Maltese cross and other plants, which will now not bloom. I wonder why they cannot eat weeds, or the foliage of volunteer trees popping up. I have to say they are lazy bending over when they only succulent foliage or flower buds are too good to pass up.

lily with flower buds and foliage mowed
off by deer

After complaining about the deer in our backyard, a day or two later we are heading on a camping trip and traveling on highway 8 west of Pembine, but east of Dunbar when she says be careful as there were deer ahead in the road. I too had seen the deer, which turned out to be a doe and fawn, oh so cute. The mother deer saw us and moved the fawn and herself off the road. Deer are way too prevalent. Going to southeast WI about six weeks ago, we must have counted over 12 dead deer lying at the edge of the road. I wonder how many dead deer will be on the roadside once fall arrives.

Anemone with flower and foliage mowed
off by deer

Once we got the campground and set up, and did some other chores, Land Girl noticed a chipmunk or two around the campsite. We have seen them there before. She then proceeded to lecture them to not eat our propane line like they had done a few years ago. After the propane line was replaced, we placed a copper netting over the line to help prevent those cute little critters from gnawing on the line. She had heard the gnawing on the propane line at night and I did not believer her. Not unlike the noises she said she hears in the fireplace. At another campground we heard and saw them jump up onto the camper's frame. They were not lovable at that time. Land Girl cannot sleep at those times, as she wonders what the critters are up to. 

During the few days we were at the campground, Land Girl developed quite a nice relationship with the small chipmunks. They would run over her feet, and once jumped up on to me, hitting my hip, but apparently wanting to land in my lap so I could pet it. I was rather startled at how bold it was. It occurred to me that the fur of the chipmunk, in some parts, was like the hair color of my wife's hair, and we all know redheads stick together. A hummingbird was even attracted to her hair at the campsite. Late it migrated to the red white gas cylinder on our camp stove. If my wife were a bird it would be a hummingbird, because neither know how to much relax, they are almost always on the move. 

Land Girl got to feeding the chipmunk, hunks of carrot, strawberry, and even melon. It appears it did not like the strawberry as much as the other food since it took a few times for it to decide to retrieve it and smuggle some away. I bet they would have liked some peanuts. 

Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan once wrote that space becomes place when we endow it with value. Well, my wife endows our home, a place, with dislike for the critters when they eat or dig up the flowers and vegetables, but has a different set of values when in the wild, like at the campground. In that sense, critters are like a dandelion, they produce a yellow flower, but are often detested in a suburban yard. It is all a matter of geography which plays a role in how we endow a space with value. 

Very Hungry Caterpillars

When we were camping at Mirror Lake State Park during the first week of June we came across an unusual occurrence. Caterpillars were everywhere. They were on the trees at the campsite, at the beach, on short hikes. They were all over. Also, all over were hunks of leaves which resulted from the very hungry caterpillars. This is a story some very hungry caterpillars. And, it is not the children's story by Eric Carle. 

The very hungry caterpillars I am talking about are now referred to as sponge moth caterpillars, and used to be known as gypsy moth caterpillars. One can guess why the name was changed. Sponge moths, then known as gypsy moths, first appeared in the state of Wisconsin in 1969. They can bare a trees vegetation, and from what I noticed they seemed to like oaks, but also were on other varieties as our campsite had few oaks. We were wondering why we kept seeing shards of leaves all over, even more prevalent than the caterpillars, and my wife made the connection.

Part of an eaten leaf on our chuck box

We were at the beach after a noon rainstorm, and a park worker was assessing condition of the picnic area and beach. My brother, using his phone, and AI, found the connection as gypsy moths, and I think that is the term that was used, not Sponge moths. We inquired of the park worker, and she said, yes they are gypsy moth caterpillars and we should kill them. My brother commented that it would take a high number of people to kill them there are so many. She noted that the prior week they had sprayed the park. 

Sponge moth caterpillar on a dish towel

The common spray for this caterpillar is a natural compound called Bacillus thuringiensis, commonly called Bt. It is found in the soil, and degrades within a week when exposed to sunlight. Now, I am not sure where all of these caterpillars were in the spray cycle, if they survived it, or were busy eating leaves coated with it that they would then perish. Essentially doing the task we were assigned by the park worker. 

They were so common, we found them crawling up the screen tent, between the tent window screens and the outer window (rain/wind) panel. I killed a few using my fingers, than thought the better of it, and resorted to placing them in the campfire, or smothering them with my shoe in the gravel/dirt surface of the campsite. A female sponge moth can lay one mass of eggs that can produce 1,000 offspring. We have a scientist to thank for the infestation, as the gypsy moth was introduced to North America by "Professor L. Trouvelot in a misguided attempt to breed a hardy silkworm." Some got out and destroyed vegetation in the area of his home in Massachusetts. You can read about him here. 

The caterpillars were so prevalent, they got on our utility and linen tubs, the car, camper, water jug, and pretty much everything. They left excrement on the car, and probably the camper. Washing the car the day after we got home, I found their excrement hard to clean off. A hose would not simply wash it off. I double and triple checked everything before heading home to assure we were not bringing home any stragglers, but I did find one after setting up the screen tent to let it dry. Scoundrels, they are.

I wrote this before going camping in northeast WI, and low and behold what did we discover for the first time at this campground, the very hungry Gypsy moth. As careful was we were to clean all our gear of the caterpillars, it is possible some dropped on the camper or car as we pulled out or even loaded. When I first saw one at the NE WI campground I wondered if it was a stow-away. They became too numerous, and while not as prevalent, or as large as those at Mirror Lake, they were still destroying tree canopies as I could tell by the leaf detritus on the ground and camper. Here again, we cleaned our gear before loading up. Yes, they are scoundrels, and it shows the damage and expense of introducing new species to the continent on which they were never before located. 

* When looking up a bit of information on Eric Carle's children's book, I was surprised to read that it had been affected by cancel culture's thought police, as it was banned in some libraries for not being sufficiently "inclusive and equitable. "  It is in good company, as other banned books included notable works such as the Harry Potter series and the Diary of Anne Frank.

Rolling Fives

For much of the first week of June, the wife and I were on our first camping trip of the season. It was a nice trip, regardless of all rain, but at least for a couple days the rain was either in evening/night, or night/morning. During rain events we are in the screen tent or the camper. We read, and play some games to pass the time. One game we often play is Yahtzee. Yahtzee involves rolling dice and choosing what you wish your role to count toward. My wife is a Yahtzee master.

The second Yahtzee game we played, my wife seemed to roll the same combination of numbers on the dice, which included two fives. She took her fives and a few other categories. She then started to complain when she once again shook two fives, and as she is shaking three other dice, having once set aside two fives, she shakes three fives giving her Yahtzee. It sure shut her complaining up quick.  I said "What were you going to say about always shaking fives?" I think the world's smallest violins played as she shook her Yahtzee of fives after having complained about getting only fives, and until that last shake, about to complain again.

 In Yahtzee you get three rolls of the dice, or die, to get a desired requisite combination. Showing that statistics is about as scientific as medicine, a search on the internet turned up varied probabilities of shaking Yahtzee on first, second and third try. It seems that most of the sources I quickly examined had the probability at .08% on one try, 1.23% on the second, and 3.43% on the third try. Since, they are all independent of one another, they are added up which yields a 4.64% probability of shaking Yahtzee in one turn. I have to think the odds are worse, because I cannot recall the last time I got a Yahtzee.

Even as she complained about shaking fives, she tends to master Yahtzee. Although, as this game showed, getting a Yahtzee does not guarantee a win. For, in the end, I won the game by an unlike Tom masterful performance on the top where I garnered more points than necessary to win the top and earn bonus points. It may have been the first time in years I won the top. Even though on the bottom I had two big 0's, to Yahtzee Girl's one 0, the bonus points were sufficient for me to earn a rare victory. My ability to win at Yahtzee is lower than the probability of throwing a Yahtzee. One should get a Yahtzee in every 21 or 22 turns, but if that was the case, one should earn a Yahtzee every two games. The Yahtzee card has thirteen categories, six on the top, and seven on the bottom (including Yahtzee). Meaning a person gets thirteen turns a game. If you take a zero on Yahtzee and then get a Yahtzee, you are out of luck you are stuck with a zero if on  later roll you rolled five of the same number. I suppose there is a rare instance where this happens. 

I always thought Yahtzee was a game of chance, but after this game, I realized there is some skill in deciding where on the score card to place your throw of the dice. During the game in which Yahtzee Girl got that Yahtzee with fives, I had a high throw of four of a kind, which I took on the top, rather than in the lower half of the score sheet under four-of-a-kind. On the top, you need three of each kind of die number, from one to six to "make" the top. Yet, an extra four helps, as it can, for example, make up for the loss of two two's (total four) if I only got one two to place on the twos. That critical decision, recommended by Yahtzee Girl, helped me make the top and thereby earn the 35 bonus points, for a rare probability of besting Yahtzee Girl in a game. 

Yahtzee is still primarily, I believe, a game of luck and chance, but those critical decisions as to where to place your score can make a difference. A survey of US residents by Statista in 2020 (I have to register to get additional information such as number of respondents) showed that 49% of those surveyed believe Yahtzee is a game of luck compared to 22% as a game of skill. The difference is divided among people that did not know, or thought it no applicable. 

Yahtzee Girl may have rolled five fives, but doing so failed to allow her to win yet another game of Yahtzee. Since, she beats me so often, I have to go with the 49% who think it is a game of luck. Who knows what will occur the next time we play, perhaps I will roll a series of fives for Yahtzee. 

Critter Trials, part 2

Our critter trials continue. I first posted about them a few weeks ago which you can read here. To date we have tried different methods. I placed a small piece of chicken wire over a pot with tuberous begonias to keep them from digging the bulbs out. Last year they kept digging the bulbs out which caused them to not perform well. For about a week they attacked a different pot, and it was always the same pot. Concerned with the continued damage to the plants in that pot, I took another piece of chicken wire and placed it around the pot. I was successful in keeping them away from that pot, but within two hours they had dug in a planter box on the front porch that so far this year they have not tackled. 

Chicken wire around pot critters 
continually had dug in

My wife asked on McFarland Community what people do. We have tried many of the methods pepper flakes, hot pepper spray, blood meal, and a few other sprays. This past Friday evening Land Girl concocted a mix of peppermint oil, Dawn dish soap and something else. to spray on the edge of the planter or pots. Other suggestions have been human hair and insert plastic forks into the dirt, with the tine side up. Although someone says they often dig up the forks. Friday night I also applied blood meal, kind of a double effect. Saturday morning all looked good with the blood meal and the peppermint spray applied the prior evening. A hour or two later on Saturday morning after the first check, the critters got to the planter box, or rectangle, again. We decided to try the fork method, so I found some plastic forks and put several in the planter. 

As of early evening Saturday, after placing the plastic forks everything looked good.  However, by Sunday the critters had been at it once again. I added more forks.  When we got back from our camping trip Thursday afternoon, I saw damage, but not as much as expected. They had not dug out any plants, but had destroyed some of the foliage and flowers on the impatiens plant in the planter box.

Growing flowers and forks,
in front porch planter

       

After my next hair cut, which may be tonight, I will put some of my hair into the planter box. With my thinning head of hair, I don't produce the hair like I used to. Critter trials seem to be an ongoing way of life in suburbia. My problems could be worse.