Box Elder down

[altivo]

Box Elder down
Originally uploaded by Altivo

This large box elder tree split down the middle in heavy winds yesterday, with the larger part falling to the east across our fence, and the smaller portion falling west onto the neighbors' fence. Not visible here, but the neighbors turned their horses out into the field either without noticing that their fence was down, or without thinking it mattered. All three were just beyond the shrubbery in the backdrop and could have crossed to our side easily.

If you click on the photo and follow the photostream to the right on the page that appears, you can follow four hours of progress as we got the tree off the fence .

When I went into Marengo for groceries this morning, I saw lots of heavy tree branches down all over town and on the roads leading in. Obviously there was some sort of very localized wind phenomenon yesterday, and it was quite intense.

Summer is here and so are the ^&*(%$ flies. I put Tess out while we were working on the tree, since her usual field is the next one over so we wouldn't interfere with each other. She was happy at first, but when I took the camera out to get the final photo of the liberated fence, she was in a frenzy to get to me. I went to the gate and saw that she was being tortured by little black flies. Not time for her to go in yet, but I ran back to the barn and got fly repellent and a fly mask for her. She seemed much relieved once that was taken care of. No more trips out without those necessities now.

Comments

[aerofox.livejournal.com]

Yeah, flies and mosquitoes are going to be in abundance again....

BTW, There used to be a Box Elder tree in my neighbors yard. I would find "Box Elder bugs" around quite often. I also discovered that when you squish them, they smell like "All" brand laundry detergent :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

They don't taste good, though. I know because we often get plagues of them in the fall here. As the weather cools off, both box elder and ladybugs try to come inside where it's warmer. They are attracted, it seams, by the steam from hot drinks like tea or coffee and will dive in and drown themselves... I'm sure you can imagine the consequences. ;p

[megadog.livejournal.com]

I've never liked tall trees near to boundaries/fences/roads: they always leave me with a gut-sense that bad things are about to happen. Which is why here in Witley Scrotum I've had all such trees removed [particularly the five 80+ foot tall conifers that could easily have fallen across the highway] and converted into logs for the stove!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I do rather like tall trees in those locations. In fact, I'm often delighted when a tree blocks the road, though I'm sorry to see the tree go. In our case, we have five acres of land closely surrounded by suburban developments and the people who inhabit such. I appreciate the sense of privacy that hedgerows and trees give. They also provide a good windbreak (under ordinary wind conditions) and shade for the horses and sheep.

We've lived here for ten years. As it happens, this spring we've had two large trees fall like this, but in the prior nine years nothing of the sort occurred. Those are decent enough odds for me.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Tess is lucky to have you keeping an eye out for her :) We haven't had a fly problem here for awhile now, they used to be quite bad but for some reason they don't seem to be about so much now.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Too dry. All the drought you've had has reduced the breeding population probably. But if you keep getting a little more rain, they'll be back. The same thing happens to mosquitoes here.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Do the mosquitos bother Tess too?

I swapped some weather with a guy in Seattle, it's been raining for 3 days.
This weather swapping thing seems to work O.O

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Mosquitoes like horse blood even better than human blood. I believe they are drawn by the amount of CO₂ in the horse's exhaled breath, and the higher body temperature. Under the right conditions, a horse may attract clouds of them. It's awful. I spray the horses with a blend of natural repellents like citronella and lavender, which seems to work pretty well as long as it's kept fresh.

I learned long ago that the easiest way to avoid mosquitoes is to stand near a horse. They all go to the horse. ;p

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*stands next to you with a flashing sign pointing at you*
They tend to come after me a lot for some reason.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Must mean you're too hot for your own good.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

I'm blushing!! XD