When I got down to the very last bag of feed in the shed I noticed a tiny hole in the corner of KC's sweet feed. The hole was so small, my little finger tip would not fit. Some grain had fallen beneath the pallet the bags are stored on. I put a block of 'Mouse Bait' under the slats.
When I got back after feeding everybody the bait was missing! I put another block there. In the morning that bait block had moved.
The next evening we went to the feed store, piling up ten bags of feed for the gang. He swept up the spilled grain. In the morning I discovered the body. A dead mouse is the best mouse!
I am a true animal lover. We talked about 'Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.' Some of you will remember it, others won't have known about it. 'Disney's World of Color' was another program that showcased animals, horses being my favorite. I learned lots from Marlin Perkins, set me on a lifetime thirst for animal knowledge, all animals.
The hantaviruses are a relatively newly discovered genus of viruses. Several thousand United Nations soldiers became ill with "Korean haemorrhagic fever" (now called HFRS) during the Korean War. This outbreak sparked a 25-year search for the etiologic agent. The isolation of Hantaan virus, or HTNV, was reported in South Korea in 1978. It is caused by airborne evaporating mice urine.
We live out in the country, a corn field is our neighbor. Mice have plenty of room elsewhere to reside, don't have to do it in my house, my shed, or the barn.
Sunday evening, at sunset, he decided that would be the best time to cut the three lower limbs of the dying Maple at the edge of the parking lot. We like to park the LQ trailer there and the Maple is failing. Fungus is growing at the root base, and I know from experience what that means! The tree is a goner. I am anxious about the dead, barkless limbs falling on the trailer, piercing the aluminum skin.
He cut three limbs, but he was counting one limb twice, cutting it beyond the 'Y.' The chain saw threw the dull chain so he finished up with the smaller extension cutter. I cut the smaller branches up with the loppers, carried armload after armload to the fire pit. A bonfire remains in my future.
I only pulled enough off the parking lot so he could re-park the trailer at the edge without running over sticks and branches. I had to move on to making dinner, feeding everybody and moving laundry along.
Monday was cold, Winter returned, and it flurried off and on, mostly on for the remainder of the day.
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