Watching a rat

On By CarynIn chickens, Coop

I scroll through camera footage to check on my chickens between visits to the coop. Mainly the scrolling is to count them (three) and see where they sleep (separately). I saw a dark blip on the floor as I time jumped, and went back to find a rat.

Photo description: rat on the floor of the coop, circled in purple. There is a hen on the roost, one in a nesting box (middle, behind curtains), and the third hen on a bench on the right.
Photo description: the rat is now climbing the back screen porch. It tried that a couple times. The screen is made of two layers of wire mesh.
Photo description: the rat is now underneath Wing Ding the hen, who can hear it and moves her head to listen, which spooks the rat and it leaves her alone.
Photo description: now the rat is near the nesting boxes where Seashell is sitting, it also leaves her alone.
Photo description: the rat also investigated the work table, peeking out from under the cover.
Photo description: the rat climbed up on the bench with Schmoo, who could also hear the rat and made it think twice about bothering her.

Rats will eat chicken given the opportunity, but not these hens today. Chickens will eat mice and rats, but not this rat today.

How the rat got in is no mystery, I keep the coop door open in the summer for the breeze. There is enough hardware cloth to keep the larger predators out, but not rats. I keep the food stored in a locked metal can, and the feed for the chickens is in a hanging feeder outside the coop area. I have no doubt the rat is able to get to the food outside the coop, rats are clever and dexterous. I think it was curiosity that brought it into the coop, looking for snacks.

Terra cotta wetness guage

On By CarynIn Garden

I’m trying something. I buried a terra cotta pot in my garden because I’ve noticed that the baked clay changes color when it is wet, and it is porous, so if it is wet on one side, it looks wet on the other side. I’m using this feature to tell if the ground is wet in my garden. I tend to overwater, and this might convince me to give the watering a rest.

Photo description: Terra cotta pot buried in soil, but left empty to show the darkened clay at soil level, indicating that the soil still has moisture

I’m testing it this summer, and have witnessed the terra cotta indicator as pictured above and all the plant leaves in fully hydrated form, not wilted. I did refrain from watering.

Harvest

On By CarynIn Cats, eggs, Garden

I’m glad I found the harvest apron when I went out to the cucumber patch and coop. I hadn’t been out in a couple days and I found 5 cucumbers and three eggs!

Photo description: looking down into a handmade harvest apron loaded with three eggs and five cucumbers, muck boots just visible past the apron

Turks cap

On By CarynIn Garden

We planted a Turks cap shrub, which is another Texas native, in our front flower bed this Spring. So far it is thriving and just started producing flowers.

Photo description: Turks cap bloom, with waiting grasshopper

Depending on how much the shrub loves the corner we’ve given it, it could fill the space. We’ll see. I’ve read that they usually are 2-3 feet wide and tall, but can reach 10 feet.

Bee butt

On By CarynIn Garden, Insects

I witnessed the pollinators doing their good work on my cucumber plants: Honey bees!

Photo description: Western Honey Bee visiting a cucumber bloom

I looked up how far honey bees will fly to forage, and the general consensus seems to be upwards of four miles, with some going farther. That is a rather large circle around our area, so I don’t know if they are wild or a neighbor is keeping bees. We live in an area where either is possible.