Ever since the fires turned the nearby forest into a desert, I've been finding more spiders, seeing more coyotes, and smelling more rats. I guess the animals know when to leave the forest.
Charlie takes full advantage of this.
04 October 2009
2009 - CA - Rats are cute
Wild kingdom.
Ever since the fires turned the nearby forest into a desert, I've been finding more spiders, seeing more coyotes, and smelling more rats. I guess the animals know when to leave the forest.
Charlie takes full advantage of this.
Ever since the fires turned the nearby forest into a desert, I've been finding more spiders, seeing more coyotes, and smelling more rats. I guess the animals know when to leave the forest.
Charlie takes full advantage of this.
06 September 2009
2009 - CA - Station Fire - Post Apocalypse
DAY 11 - The Station fire is now the largest fire in Los Angeles County History.
The fire still burns out of control. But most of it has been contained deep in the San Gabriel Mountains, a steep and mostly inaccessible range spanning the Angeles National Forest.
Directly above my house, the danger is gone. Everything that could burn, burned. But because of the work of the crazy firefighters, a fortuitous lack of wind and improving weather, thousands of homes were saved.
To date:
155,000+ acres burned.
89 homes damaged or destroyed.
3 commercial properties destroyed.
104 outbuildings destroyed.
2 communications sites destroyed.
Last Wednesday, the morning following "the end of days," these firefighters gathered a couple blocks up from the house. They coordinated, planned and prepped for about two hours at the base of the hills.
(A fire fighter tells a local resident he can't go back to his house.)
Helicopter water drops bombarded the flames which were dangerously close to homes.
Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane
The synchropter Kaman K-MAX
.
Yesterday, I took a moto ride up to the mouth of the mountains to see what I could.
The CHiPs had the road closed to anyone except residents and the cop said he had no idea when it would re-open.
From what I could tell, the San Gabriel Mountains were destroyed. It looked like the moon.
(Looking North up Big Tujunga Canyon)
My preferred DEV - Disaster Escape Vehicle.
On my way to work on Thursday, I spotted this nonsense...
What are two guys dressed up like cops doing near a fire evacuation zone at 8am?
The fire still burns out of control. But most of it has been contained deep in the San Gabriel Mountains, a steep and mostly inaccessible range spanning the Angeles National Forest.
Directly above my house, the danger is gone. Everything that could burn, burned. But because of the work of the crazy firefighters, a fortuitous lack of wind and improving weather, thousands of homes were saved.
To date:
155,000+ acres burned.
89 homes damaged or destroyed.
3 commercial properties destroyed.
104 outbuildings destroyed.
2 communications sites destroyed.
Last Wednesday, the morning following "the end of days," these firefighters gathered a couple blocks up from the house. They coordinated, planned and prepped for about two hours at the base of the hills.
(A fire fighter tells a local resident he can't go back to his house.)
Helicopter water drops bombarded the flames which were dangerously close to homes.
Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane
The synchropter Kaman K-MAX
.
Yesterday, I took a moto ride up to the mouth of the mountains to see what I could.
The CHiPs had the road closed to anyone except residents and the cop said he had no idea when it would re-open.
From what I could tell, the San Gabriel Mountains were destroyed. It looked like the moon.
(Looking North up Big Tujunga Canyon)
My preferred DEV - Disaster Escape Vehicle.
On my way to work on Thursday, I spotted this nonsense...
What are two guys dressed up like cops doing near a fire evacuation zone at 8am?
01 September 2009
2009 - CA - Station Fire
August 32nd
It's now Tuesday...morning...early...like 3:45am early. Ash is falling like snow outside and the sky is glowing a nice orange. I can't sleep.
A peak out the blinds in my living room reveals...
Now in it's fifth day, the so called "Station Fire" in the Angeles National Forest (ANF) is raging completely out of control. Over 100,000 acres have already been torched. The official ANF site says fire danger is "very high." I'd say the danger is more like "ridiculously insane!"
And it's not even fire season yet! BWAAHAHAHAHHA!!!
It's been a real hectic couple of days, to say the least. With 100 foot flames and 20,000 foot clouds of smoke above my little town, it's hard to motivate and go to work, when you just want to sit on the back porch with a garden hose, drink a cold one and wait....
(Wes at his home in La Crescenta.)
But the wheels of commerce keep on rolling and I must do what I must to make a buck... to pay for a house that is made of wood...and in the shadow of 655,000 acres of tinderbox forest that has not burned in 50+ years.
The first day the "Station Fire" sprang to life, it seemed like no big deal. I didn't even take a picture. It was small and seemed like it would be contained quickly. It appeared to be a typical little fire with a simple name that made me think it was burning near a fire station. Aren't those the easiest to put out? The guys are right there.
But on day two, things had changed...
This is what I saw as I drove down HWY 2, into the city.
And, this is what i saw when i came home! DAY 3.
Wes, a comrade down the road from me, sent his wife and kids up to NorCal to get out of the smoke (only to find themselves evacuated from another fire, 8 hours away). Mandatory Evacuation Orders had begun just above Wes, and he had decided to hold down his fort, so i thought I'd join him for moral support.
Only a couple blocks up the hill from me, I drove passed the evacuation lines. Police cordoned every street heading toward the fire, taking names and info of any one going out, making sure no one goes back in, and more importantly, that no looters or lookie-lu's make it through to the empty neighborhoods above.
Soon after arrival, Michael showed up to gaze. So we circled some chairs, grabbed a couple cold Coors lights and watched the show.
There is really nothing funny or fun about any of this...
Day 4 - The fire doubled in size. 20+ structures burned. Two fire fighters died in a tragic accident near Mt. Gleason. Their truck rolled 700 feet off a fire-road.
DAY 5 - Estimates are saying they will have this fire contained by the 15th of September. Ouch.
LINK - MAP OF THE FIRE - LINK
I came home from work last night and had to make a stop at the Albertson's parking lot to stare in awe. A small crowd had gathered to chat and socialize about the impending doom. The flames spanned the entire mountain. Everything was glowing. Flames were raging. And it was coming down the mountian. WoW!
I was relieved and happy to see about 50 firefighters eating a healthy meal before heading back into the thick of it.
I thanked a couple of the burly, dirty FF's for their hard work. They looked at me and my camera and grunted, as if to say, "Hey panzy, do something useful. Can't you see the world is burning?"
Tax dollars in ACTION!
I love you "Governor's office of emergency services!"
From my front yard...
California dreaming.
It's now Tuesday...morning...early...like 3:45am early. Ash is falling like snow outside and the sky is glowing a nice orange. I can't sleep.
A peak out the blinds in my living room reveals...
Now in it's fifth day, the so called "Station Fire" in the Angeles National Forest (ANF) is raging completely out of control. Over 100,000 acres have already been torched. The official ANF site says fire danger is "very high." I'd say the danger is more like "ridiculously insane!"
And it's not even fire season yet! BWAAHAHAHAHHA!!!
It's been a real hectic couple of days, to say the least. With 100 foot flames and 20,000 foot clouds of smoke above my little town, it's hard to motivate and go to work, when you just want to sit on the back porch with a garden hose, drink a cold one and wait....
(Wes at his home in La Crescenta.)
But the wheels of commerce keep on rolling and I must do what I must to make a buck... to pay for a house that is made of wood...and in the shadow of 655,000 acres of tinderbox forest that has not burned in 50+ years.
The first day the "Station Fire" sprang to life, it seemed like no big deal. I didn't even take a picture. It was small and seemed like it would be contained quickly. It appeared to be a typical little fire with a simple name that made me think it was burning near a fire station. Aren't those the easiest to put out? The guys are right there.
But on day two, things had changed...
This is what I saw as I drove down HWY 2, into the city.
And, this is what i saw when i came home! DAY 3.
Wes, a comrade down the road from me, sent his wife and kids up to NorCal to get out of the smoke (only to find themselves evacuated from another fire, 8 hours away). Mandatory Evacuation Orders had begun just above Wes, and he had decided to hold down his fort, so i thought I'd join him for moral support.
Only a couple blocks up the hill from me, I drove passed the evacuation lines. Police cordoned every street heading toward the fire, taking names and info of any one going out, making sure no one goes back in, and more importantly, that no looters or lookie-lu's make it through to the empty neighborhoods above.
Soon after arrival, Michael showed up to gaze. So we circled some chairs, grabbed a couple cold Coors lights and watched the show.
There is really nothing funny or fun about any of this...
Day 4 - The fire doubled in size. 20+ structures burned. Two fire fighters died in a tragic accident near Mt. Gleason. Their truck rolled 700 feet off a fire-road.
DAY 5 - Estimates are saying they will have this fire contained by the 15th of September. Ouch.
LINK - MAP OF THE FIRE - LINK
I came home from work last night and had to make a stop at the Albertson's parking lot to stare in awe. A small crowd had gathered to chat and socialize about the impending doom. The flames spanned the entire mountain. Everything was glowing. Flames were raging. And it was coming down the mountian. WoW!
I was relieved and happy to see about 50 firefighters eating a healthy meal before heading back into the thick of it.
I thanked a couple of the burly, dirty FF's for their hard work. They looked at me and my camera and grunted, as if to say, "Hey panzy, do something useful. Can't you see the world is burning?"
Tax dollars in ACTION!
I love you "Governor's office of emergency services!"
From my front yard...
California dreaming.
25 August 2009
2009 - CA - THE GREAT BLACK WIDOW HUNT
Every so often, I find myself staring down a giant, female Black Widow spider.
For the most part, I don't mind bugs, insects, critters, spiders, etc.
I can say, however, that I am not a fan of the Potato Bug mini-aliens, mosquitors or ants.
Black Widows have a bad reputation because they've been seen killing their little, harmless, brown, male, counterpart after courtship...oh yeah, and they inject a toxic venom that attacks the nervous system and is one of the most potent venoms secreted by a living creature. Woohoo!
I hadn't seen a Black Widow around the house for a few months, until last night. I pulled into the driveway after a late movie and there she was, hanging fully spread out in the middle of a messy web. She was a big-old-beast and had threaded a couple of lines from the bumper of my perma-parked jeep to the ground. I could see her in the headlights from 20 feet away.
I learned a while back that where there is one BW, there are many BWs...and so the hunt is immediately on. The Black Widow Hunter in me comes alive!
BWH - JOIN my BLACK WIDOW HUNTER CLUB - It's EASY! Simply head on down to your local tattoo parlor and have them scratch this ugly BWH mark on your inner right forearm, take a pic and send me $100 bucks. and then BAM! YOU'RE IN! Happy hunting!
Anyway...
I went to the garage, put on a headlamp, grabbed my gloves and a shovel, and went straight for the Jeep. I found three new, smaller BW's immediately. BAM BAM BAM! I had already named the big one in front of the jeep Isabella and decided to capture her in a 5-gallon bucket for further study.
(ISABELLA IN A BUCKET)
This hunting/killing/squishing process may sound cruel, premeditated and unnecessary to the dedicated critter lover out there, but, If you own a small dog (like Charlie) and you like him alive (like I do), you need to hunt the females down. Charlie is a curious, furry little moron and he likes to bat bugs around, put them in his mouth, spit them out, pounce on them, lick them...you get the idea.
A Black Widow bite does have the potential to kill or severely cripple a small dog (or child!)
With Isabella in her bucket, I continued hunting around the house.
99.8% of the time, at night, the female will be hanging in the middle of her web, less than a foot from the ground. The good news with that fact is that you will rarely walk face first into one, the bad news, in California, we like to walk around in shorts and barefoot.
BW's love the garage and they love stuff on the ground, crates, cardboard boxes, wood piles, holes, bricks - generally, heaps of stuff..on the ground. The BW web looks very chaotic, there is no pattern, just loose, thin fibers.
Found one!
One here.
One here next to the cornhole boards...
When the hunt was done, I gathered the little toxic, squished spider carcasses, boiled them in vinegar and drank the mixture from an old boot. Not really, but I thought about the power that might have given me!
The HUNT was a success!! 7 BW's squished.
But, I will need to have another hunt soon. Tonight, I saw a new, gigantic BW in the garage that scurried away before I was able to gather my tools and wits to go into her dark corner.
She was as fat as i have ever seen, so I need to find her before she lays a billion eggs.
Remember to get your tattoo and send me $$$$!
THE GREAT ISABELLA (pre-squish)
For the most part, I don't mind bugs, insects, critters, spiders, etc.
I can say, however, that I am not a fan of the Potato Bug mini-aliens, mosquitors or ants.
(Potato bug)
As for Black Widows, my feelings are locked and unchangable...they gotta GO! I will admit they are fascinating to observe, and in my experience, BW's are reclusive and skittish and not aggressive. Statistically, the BW bites are very rarely fatal to human adults. Although painful, the bite usually heals...usually, you don't lose a limb or digit.
(Pic pulled from the Net - suspected BW bite - day 6)
Black Widows have a bad reputation because they've been seen killing their little, harmless, brown, male, counterpart after courtship...oh yeah, and they inject a toxic venom that attacks the nervous system and is one of the most potent venoms secreted by a living creature. Woohoo!
I hadn't seen a Black Widow around the house for a few months, until last night. I pulled into the driveway after a late movie and there she was, hanging fully spread out in the middle of a messy web. She was a big-old-beast and had threaded a couple of lines from the bumper of my perma-parked jeep to the ground. I could see her in the headlights from 20 feet away.
I learned a while back that where there is one BW, there are many BWs...and so the hunt is immediately on. The Black Widow Hunter in me comes alive!
BWH - JOIN my BLACK WIDOW HUNTER CLUB - It's EASY! Simply head on down to your local tattoo parlor and have them scratch this ugly BWH mark on your inner right forearm, take a pic and send me $100 bucks. and then BAM! YOU'RE IN! Happy hunting!
Anyway...
I went to the garage, put on a headlamp, grabbed my gloves and a shovel, and went straight for the Jeep. I found three new, smaller BW's immediately. BAM BAM BAM! I had already named the big one in front of the jeep Isabella and decided to capture her in a 5-gallon bucket for further study.
(ISABELLA IN A BUCKET)
This hunting/killing/squishing process may sound cruel, premeditated and unnecessary to the dedicated critter lover out there, but, If you own a small dog (like Charlie) and you like him alive (like I do), you need to hunt the females down. Charlie is a curious, furry little moron and he likes to bat bugs around, put them in his mouth, spit them out, pounce on them, lick them...you get the idea.
(Charlie is not afraid of Black Widows and that is not an evolutionary advantage!)
With Isabella in her bucket, I continued hunting around the house.
99.8% of the time, at night, the female will be hanging in the middle of her web, less than a foot from the ground. The good news with that fact is that you will rarely walk face first into one, the bad news, in California, we like to walk around in shorts and barefoot.
(The following BW pics were taken post-squish!)
Found one here.
BW's love the garage and they love stuff on the ground, crates, cardboard boxes, wood piles, holes, bricks - generally, heaps of stuff..on the ground. The BW web looks very chaotic, there is no pattern, just loose, thin fibers.
Found one!
One here.
One here next to the cornhole boards...
When the hunt was done, I gathered the little toxic, squished spider carcasses, boiled them in vinegar and drank the mixture from an old boot. Not really, but I thought about the power that might have given me!
The HUNT was a success!! 7 BW's squished.
But, I will need to have another hunt soon. Tonight, I saw a new, gigantic BW in the garage that scurried away before I was able to gather my tools and wits to go into her dark corner.
She was as fat as i have ever seen, so I need to find her before she lays a billion eggs.
Remember to get your tattoo and send me $$$$!
THE GREAT ISABELLA (pre-squish)
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