Bolt Hole Report, Saturday evening edition

I awoke this morning to the sound of rain and thought my grass cutting would have to be postponed. The birds didn't seem to mind and they forced me to get out of bed at 7 AM to have breakfast and that magic elixir called coffee. By the time I was through the rain had stopped and in an hour or so I was able to get outside and start mowing. The first task was to cut the area around the barn and around the cabin which I had not done the last day I was here. The grass had grown quite tall in the two plus weeks since it was last done and there were lots of tiny little wild strawberries that I was tempted to pick. If I had stopped to do the picking I would never get the grass cut however so I ignored the tasty treat beneath my feet and got on with the cutting.

About three hours into the chore and when I was nearly finished, one of the predicted scattered showers caught up with me. The mower ran out of fuel at the same time so I parked it in the garage and took a break for lunch. By one o'clock the rain had stopped and I was refueled myself so it was back to mowing. The backyard got finished and I started in on the 50-yard shooting lane and the apple orchard area known as phase one. I normally use the brush hog on the trails and woodland areas but the lane and phase one area are pretty much all grass now after several years of being brush hogged. I kept at it until the second tank of fuel ran out. All tolled I spent over six hours pushing the mower around and there's still some of the apple orchard that needs mowing and phase two and three require some brush hog work. At least the brush hog is self-propelled.

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While mowing the yard I avoided mincing two very large toads, one small wood frog and two garter snakes. The toads were tea-cup sized critters that had enough sense to get out of the way while I moved through the tall grass. One of them ducked into a hole in the foundation of the cabin that I thought was being used by mice and such. It seemed to know that hole was there as it traveled across three yards of grass to get to it and did so iin a direct line. One of the garter snakes measured around 18 inches and was as big and round as a broom handle. That puts it near the top of the measurements for such a snake. Clearly an old timer.

You see stories about the garter snake dens in Canada that house thousands of snakes over the winter. I wonder where my snakes go when the snow starts flying?

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I've got at least one ground hog on the premises. I saw it last time I was here and took several shots at it using the .22 only to miss. I discovered then that the rifle scope was way off and my shots were going a foot wide to the left at a mere 25 yards. I fixed that and felt confident that The whistle pig's days were numbered. Saw it heading down the alley between the garage and barn this morning when I was going out the door to start mowing and grabbed the rifle. I snuck up on it and snapped off one 20-yard shot that I thought connected but the darn woodchuck dove under the back end of the garage instead of having the decency of dying out in the open. Now I'm hoping I actually missed since the smell of a rotting, fat ground hog under the floor of the workshop that forms the back of the garage is not a pleasant thought.

This evening I spotted another (possibly the same) ground hog behind the shed on the opposite side of the yard. Unfortunately it spotted me before I could get a shot off and ducked under the floor of the shed! There are also signs of something digging under the wall of the cabin and into the crawl space beneath the living room.

In the past we've had foxes living under the garage and under the house. While their toilet manners could have been better--they left their scat all over the gravel floor of the garage and it had to be shoveled out regularly--at least they ate mice.

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One thing that is obvious so far is that the temperatures here at the Bolt Hole have not been very high. If they had been int he 80s for several days to a week then the black flies would not be nearly as active as they are. And, oh boy! are they active! The Cutters I've been using (25% DEET) seems to be doing its job, however, and I've not got one bite...yet. Of course, the frequent rain up here may also have something to do with the black flies being so active. The deer flies haven't been as abundant as they were the beginning of the month. Still, I don't go outside without first donning a longsleeve shirt, tucking my pants into my boots and spraying myself with repelent. A hat and neckerchief are also a must as well as long gloves that cover the wrist.

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I arrived at the Bolt Hole at 1 PM on Friday. Since then I've seen and heard all manner of bird life despite having the mower running for nearly nine hours. Wild turkey, woodcock, robins, catbirds, ruby-throated hummingbirds, flicker, phoebe, mourning doves, common yellowthroat, blue jays, ravens, crows, wood thrush, dark-eyed juncos, and cedar waxwings have all been around the place. I haven't seen any deer but there are lots of tracks in the mud in the wet spots out in the woods. No bear either.

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Terry has reported that she will now be bringing in the hummingbird feeder from the deck at the Aerie because a bear got up there last night and destroyed the one we had hanging right in front of the door. She didn't see it in action but found the feeder on the ground this morning. Seems like every time I leave Terry alone at the Aerie and head for the Bolt Hole, she gets company.

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9-1 last night and currently 5-0 in the sixth inning tonight. I really do not wish to talk about the Mets vs. Yankees.