Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I have a ‘do’ at my place on Saturday. About 50 people.
Today I find:
- Wasp nest underneath the deck where we will serve food. No way to get spray there. Going to try Sevin powder. I hate to do it but there won’t be many other beneficial insects in that corner. Anyone know if it is toxic to chickens?
- Another wasp nest right above the door in to the kitchen. Not a big deal for me but there are hundreds of them buzzing around the door so I know people will freak out.
- An abandoned bird’s nest above the grill. No big deal and now dealt with but wow what an industrious bird - they had collected ‘stuff’ from everywhere for that nest!
- Last but not least a huge mouse nest inside the grill. This is disgusting! I have already fed three baby mice to Maggie and have cleared most of the nest out. I think I will burn the rest off.

Ugh - I really feel inundated with pests!

The lesson is that you need to have more shindigs and invite people from PA. That way you don't let these creatures move in like this.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I have a ‘do’ at my place on Saturday. About 50 people.
Today I find:
- Wasp nest underneath the deck where we will serve food. No way to get spray there. Going to try Sevin powder. I hate to do it but there won’t be many other beneficial insects in that corner. Anyone know if it is toxic to chickens?
- Another wasp nest right above the door in to the kitchen. Not a big deal for me but there are hundreds of them buzzing around the door so I know people will freak out.
- An abandoned bird’s nest above the grill. No big deal and now dealt with but wow what an industrious bird - they had collected ‘stuff’ from everywhere for that nest!
- Last but not least a huge mouse nest inside the grill. This is disgusting! I have already fed three baby mice to Maggie and have cleared most of the nest out. I think I will burn the rest off.

Ugh - I really feel inundated with pests!

Gaaah, wasps under the deck, that's tricky.

1. This is a ground-level deck, like right on the ground? No access at all? Otherwise, at dead of night, light it from above with a flashlight and squeeze a long rake under there and pull it off the underdecking, raking it toward you.

2. I don't know about Sevin powder but would be concerned for it moving once it rained, which way does drainage go?

3. Over the door, again after dark, spray it, wait until morning and bag it and take it down. Some people could be injured....a friend got stung on his lip as he was trying to eat a hamburger, that hurts! Otherwise he had no allergic reaction. Hmmm...that's a reminder to

4. Check that you're up to date on your homeowners

5. Grill -- I'd hose out the grill, then scrub using dishsoap, rinse with the hose, drain, and THEN put it on high to get the rest. I'd be worried that merely having it on high will not necessarily get all of the smell gone. But it might be sufficient.

6. Check your gas supplies after (4) above and have a fresh tank ready to go.

 

[BY Bob]

If we're to believe the CDC, they said August of 2020 that the cloth masks don't help against wildfire smoke. That's what I'm stuck with as the commercially made masks use textiles I'm allergic to.

I hate going down this road but they also said masking did not help against COVID until suddenly they magically did and then they mandated them.

I wish you could use a commercially made mask. Some of them would help quite a bit.

 

[featherhead007]

Ha! Probably or plotting how to give the boys a hard time. I have been pouring over the breed/gender posts and I do suspect I ended up with 11 girls and two boys. If so those boys are gonna have their work cut out for them!!

And so much fun for you to watch!

 

[BY Bob]

How awful.
Does a wet cloth work? Aren’t you supposed to cover your head in a wet towluif you are in a house fire.

Yes a wet cloth will help with smoke. The water filters the smoke out. Otherwise a cloth mask will not work very well against smoke. Walking a round with a wet cloth on your face does not seem very practical though.or comfortable.

 

[featherhead007]

The lesson is that you need to have more shindigs and invite people from PA. That way you don't let these creatures move in like this.

True!

 

[featherhead007]

Yes a wet cloth will help with smoke. The water filters the smoke out. Otherwise a cloth mask will not work very well against smoke. Walking a round with a wet cloth on your face does not seem very practical though.or comfortable.

I had told my “favorite uncle” that I had a headache one day. He said “all you need is a tourniquet around your neck and the headache will pass” yah, favorite uncle!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I hate going down this road but they also said masking did not help against COVID until suddenly they magically did and then they mandated them.

I wish you could use a commercially made mask. Some of them would help quite a bit.

It wasn't magic, part of it was it turned out to be primarily airborne in transmission versus the more common flu and colds surface contact/hands/nose, wasn't it?
Or is it all, even way back before Covid, having to do with weighing the consequences of asking folks to wear masks?
Mask tax

 

[featherhead007]

That same uncle, said (as I was having car trouble) that the problem is,…. that short between the seat and the steering wheel . Took me a while to get that joke. I was new to driving back then.

 

[BY Bob]

But sometimes people test too early in the course of the disease, isn't that right?

Every test kit will tell you not to test without the presence of symptoms. You must combine symptoms with the result in order to arrive at a correct diagnosis. That is the only way the sensitivity and specificity of the test can be relied upon.

One should have serious symptoms that align with Covid before testing. Testing at any sniffle is counterproductive.

You are not really testing too early. The problem is still based upon not getting a good sample. Testing later results in a much higher amount of virus being present. That allows for a lower quality sample to still test positive because of the higher likelihood of gathering the virus despite poor technique.

Does that make sense?

Sample tax