Along the back driveway one summer noon.
Maypop, Pea, Pokeberry, Dogs 2023-07-09
Calling herpetologists.
It’s definitely not a rattlesnake. Doesn’t seem to be any sort of venemous serpent. Probably just a rat snake. Continue reading
What kind of snake is this?
Probably not a moccasin, because it doesn’t have any stripes, and I’ve never seen one leave its tail sticking out like that. Usually a cottonmouth will face you and hiss.
The dogs found another snake earlier that probably was a moccasin, so we made them come along.
We also saw an anhinga on the surface. Usually we see them perched in a tree or flying. It did eventually fly off and perch.
Arrow, Blondie, Honeybun, Gretchen
Arrow won’t admit she can swim
-jsq
We came home after a day on the river and had to dig out the dog.
Honeybun, Blondie, and Arrow stuck under a storage shed
You can hardly see the little pooch, but you can sure hear her complaining about being stuck under a storage shed.
I got a shovel and dug the opening out more.
She’s fine.
No dogs were harmed in the making of this video.
How she got under there is still a mystery.
-jsq
Turns out dogs like water.
Arrow, Honeybun, Blondie, at water spigot 2023-06-18
Especially Arrow.
Here is a YouTube video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk2OxkA4UvwDyXxn-2JbD8yV5vrShmCK
Facebook video version:
https://www.facebook.com/OkraParadiseFarms/posts/pfbid0LsEEoXSKQfFEztWjQcorn3g7d1nUPhGgiHmYBifQZhXmRMdQ52SNX5jzkEhVXHg5l
And some still pictures. Continue reading
The maypop Gretchen staked three weeks ago has climbed up the stake.
Maypop, fruit, dogs 2023-05-29
Gretchen tied it on some more. Continue reading
This canebrake rattlesnake was too close to the farm workshop at Okra Paradise Farms, so I used a hoe to put it in a cardboard box and took it far away.
How? I show the snake a hoe. It either gets in the box with a nudge from the hoe, or it gets in the box in two pieces.
Here’s a
video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk2OxkA4UvxPbeykZkfos36dRbcvIIeu Continue reading
Another successful prescribed burn at the end of 2022.
This was actually the burn of the area in which the Treat’s Rain Lilies have since come up, six weeks later.
There’s more to do if we ever get good conditions again, as in dry for enough days after a rain.
For those who are not familiar with prescribed burns, they are necessary to the health of pine forests. Pine trees, especially longleaf pine trees, are more resistant to fire than other trees. So burns favor pines, and without burning, oaks, sweetgums, etc. take over. And burning temporarily cuts back the gallberry, blackberry, and Smilax vine thickets that get too thick for wildlife. Quail and other birds have already moved into areas of previous burns.
Here’s
a video playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLk2OxkA4UvyyTZYEfjLstI_3DK0QDieb
The cypress swamp is finally almost full at Okra Paradise Farms, with swamp rainbows.
Dogs, rainbows in the cypress swamp 2023-02-17