grass and critters

Here we are, Friday night. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in the neighborhood. The wind was light; the temperature was pleasant; the dogs did what they do with gusto.

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Today I went to Walmart and bought St. Augustine grass for the yard. At $1.25 per square, compared to the competition, this is a good deal. Maybe if I could buy it by the pallet a financial savings could be had. I cannot fathom installing a full pallet of grass by myself - correction: my wife and I cannot fathom installing a full pallet of grass by ourselves. That would be so tough.

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Here at the Mansion we have bout .88 acres mostly a slope towards the water. I just am not rich enough to put down grass on the whole yard - or have someone do it for me. Then there is the problem of watering all that grass. No automatic sprinkler here. I have an idea, one of you readers start a sprinkler fund and buy me the system. Based upon neighbors talking, that should only be near $6,000. Yeah, you do that.

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So I buy 100 or so pieces each year and plant them. Part of the yard is doing a fine job, some is not. So today, I drove to Wal*Mart and bought my grass, loading it inside the little Explorer Sport.

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Learning: if you do your entire yard, you can just lay the squares down on top of the yard and water it. But in my case, checkerboarding around the yard sporatically, I dig down an inch or so to keep the grass from protruding above the ground and being destroyed by the lawn mower. Digging muddy ground is tiresome.

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So there I was digging. Little Liesl and Greta help me dig. They are looking for grub worms which must taste really good. Dodging dogs makes it a bit more complicated. And, I was digging by this landscape timber, Liesl trying to dig under the timber. As I started to tell her to stop, there it was right on top of the timber, coiled - a 12 to 16 inch cottonmouth snake. Neither Liesl nor Greta had spotted the snake.

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My shovel went to work and - to quote the Queen - OFF WITH HIS HEAD!! Scooped up the head with the shovel, its mouth still wide open - grabbed the remainder by the tail and showed it to Liesl - she jumped back 3 feet. Smart Dog. Taking it over to Greta, she lunged for the remains. If you have never read the "snake dog" blug entry, you might not understand. She is the smallest one I have, and she hates snakes. I do too; but, I have a shovel. The last time she was bit by a copperhead, it was on the side of her tongue - it bled and bled. Dumb dogs should learn something after this many years. Nope.

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We went back to looking for grubs. And I started thinking about the wild critters we have out here. Personally, I have seen snakes, a bobcat, deer, coyote, armadillo, squirrels, and some fabulous birds. Surprisingly, I have not seen raccoons or possums. I cannot spell possum. It should be O'possum. That is what we have in Texas. A true possum lives somewhere else like Antarctica or the North Pole or somewhere else - look it up.

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My biggest kick right now is that we have a roadrunner. Those are big birds. He stands in our front yard, frozen in time - then, all of a sudden he takes off running. I understand they eat snakes. Good Bird. I wish we had 10 or 15 of them - really fun to watch.

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I close in two more bits: Water birds are plentiful. We have stokes and ducks and you name it - No Eagles. Hawks, yes....An Owl or two (hear them every night), red headed woodpeckers, soaring overhead big hungry birds, looking, searching, swooping, you fill in the blank, and a few Purple Martins. Purple Martins are a fun critter to watch.

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Skunk: There is one living in the wooded area to the south. We know because we small it. My wife was cleaning mud off her shoes near that area and she got a strong whiff. Time passes - a 2nd whiff. On the 3rd whiff, she moved inside. I think we are being watched by the skunk who is just sending warnings - sorta a Don't Tread On Me - kind of thing. And I agree. He can stay over there, and I will stay over here. He can just save his Spray for later as far as I am concerned.

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Wait, I forgot the wildest critters out here - my 5 dogs. You come up to the front of the house, you will experience wild and uncontrollable behavior. Aren't they sweet?

later,

m