Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[talkinboutchickens]

Chocolate is the fifth food group, and it would have eggs also, so it's health food. So there!
Mary

So much left!
I have gained weight just eating Mackinaw fudge. We bought the box of five slices.

Ahhhh fudge...I get it every time I go to Frankenmuth! Which is about twice a year. So not often enough.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Just winding down the garden and off-roading out here, and winding up the canning/pickling/dehydrating. Also preparing to have our septic system rehauled in a couple of weeks........

And I signed my offer letter with Beacon Health yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's our off-road picnic from Monday, my artichoke I let go to bloom and a cute lil frog that I removed a pine needle from.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Just winding down the garden and off-roading out here, and winding up the canning/pickling/dehydrating. Also preparing to have our septic system rehauled in a couple of weeks........

And I signed my offer letter with Beacon Health yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's our off-road picnic from Monday, my artichoke I let go to bloom and a cute lil frog that I removed a pine needle from.

Your picnic looks so peaceful...My gosh that poor frog! He was completely impaled

 

[Folly's place]

Good work for that tree frog! There are so few here now, it's really sad.
Our three unplanned cockerels are now about 17 weeks old, and one of the two Australorps needs to leave. he's so far not at all human aggressive or nasty to flockmates, but all three can't stay, and he's got to go.

Mary

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Good work for that tree frog! There are so few here now, it's really sad.
Our three unplanned cockerels are now about 17 weeks old, and one of the two Australorps needs to leave. he's so far not at all human aggressive or nasty to flockmates, but all three can't stay, and he's got to go.
View attachment 4210769
Mary

Wow he sure is a beauty though! If you can't find a home for him, I suggest Geyer Auction in Williamston.
I haven't seen a tree frog in years! Apparently toads have been very common at our house, I've been rescuing them from where the dogs walk because they go crazy about them. My pointer had one in her mouth but the toad put this stuff in her mouth from his poison glands or something or other, and she immediately spat him out and was coughing

 

[Folly's place]

We have very very few tree frogs and toads, a huge change from two years ago. And this year, very few insects of any sort, necessary food for the frogs, toads, and bats, also missing. And the normal swarms of mosquitoes also totally missing. We don't miss the mosquitoes or deer flies, but again, no food for their predators. And several people in Michigan still managed to get West Nile disease, not good for them, for sure.
Mary

 

[talkinboutchickens]

We have very very few tree frogs and toads, a huge change from two years ago. And this year, very few insects of any sort, necessary food for the frogs, toads, and bats, also missing. And the normal swarms of mosquitoes also totally missing. We don't miss the mosquitoes or deer flies, but again, no food for their predators. And several people in Michigan still managed to get West Nile disease, not good for them, for sure.
Mary

West Nile disease?! That's awful! That's so sad about the disappearance of frogs and toads and bats and their food source. The mosquitos sure didn't disappear from our house though. This year they're at their worst here. With the tiniest bit of shade, their out and biting. And we still have bats flying around. The wasps and hornets are really bad here- we have been dealing with like 4 different nests on the house. My dad had to spray one nest 2-3 times because they kept coming back...ugh. My mom got stung outside (she was just standing) and my sister stepped on a wasp in the kitchen..

 

[1muttsfan]

We have been living in harmony with a wasp nest that's about 2 ft from my outdoor hose faucet. They know who we are, and we leave them alone.

I can tell you a big reason for the lack of insects, amphibians, and birds is because people continue to think that spraying poison to kill bugs they object to will not kill everything else as well

 

[Chickin Fairy]

Definitely learning about that here as well. 4 years ago when we moved in, we had wasps and hornets covering the front of our house in the spring. I did, at the time, use spray to kill them. The next year, I made sure to knock down any nests that were too close (not with chemicals, but by hand and when they were only a couple cells large), but had a bald-faced hornet nest outside my office window and they never bothered me. Last year, the yellow jackets swarmed above my garage door and I let them be (it was a dying colony in the fall). Again, they never bothered me, and my car is parked in the garage along with the chicken food, so I'm in and out of that door constantly.

This year, there has been hardly anything. I have left a few pieces of ripe peaches out for the yellow jackets. They seek out sweetness in the fall and drawing them away from where people are is pretty easy. We are surrounded by fruit orchards. They spray pesticides this time of year. We have seen 2 bats in total all year. The flycatchers population is way down. We have a handful of frogs and toads in the garden. Barely any Orioles.

Just a few days ago, someone posted on Nextdoor about a wasp nest that is close to where they live. The overwhelming consensus from the general population is to either use chemicals or gasoline/torch to destroy the nest. The older I get, the more I see.

 

[Chickin Fairy]

West Nile disease?! That's awful! That's so sad about the disappearance of frogs and toads and bats and their food source. The mosquitos sure didn't disappear from our house though. This year they're at their worst here. With the tiniest bit of shade, their out and biting. And we still have bats flying around. The wasps and hornets are really bad here- we have been dealing with like 4 different nests on the house. My dad had to spray one nest 2-3 times because they kept coming back...ugh. My mom got stung outside (she was just standing) and my sister stepped on a wasp in the kitchen..

Next spring, hang fake wasp nests around your property. It will deter wasps and hornets, because they are Territorial creatures.