The Fat Lady is Oddly Quiet...

... in this war on voles.

War is the only game in which it doesn't pay to have the home-court advantage. ~Dick Motta

So... yesterday it actually cleared up. I went outside and worked in the yard a little (only a little, because in the way of the world it was miserably hot and humid). Obviously the endless rain had awakened all the toads and frogs and every time I moved, I'd scare one up.

I had a few plants to put in the ground (some lamb's ear and a bit of portulaca), and at one point I had to move a small batch of grape hyacinth bulbs. Later, as I was tossing some weeds into the woods, something moved at my feet again. I thought it was a toad and looked closer (DD likes to grab all the toads and pat them, lol). It wasn't a toad... it was a VOLE.

Now, as I'd been puttering, I noticed little "dig holes" all over the place -- in DD's garden in the lawn, in my front garden -- but they didn't go anywhere. Just little shallow bowls in the ground. Dakota has also been staring out the windows and growling and barking again -- she did this before when we had voles "mulch surfing" out front. But the clincher on whether we had voles came only an hour or two later, when I glanced out at my front garden where I'd planted lambs ear and moved the bulbs.

The place where I'd put the bulbs? Empty but for a big hole. They'd come and swiped them already!! I could NOT believe it. I stood and stared for the longest time, half-thinking I was seeing things.

*sigh*

So today? The poison goes out again. I HATE it, but these little devils will decimate a garden. They leave NOTHING behind when they get going and I'm not prepared to have a pile of earth left. I'll deal with the chipmunks and the squirrels and the deer and the moles. They don't lay waste to everything they touch. Voles are absolutely, and without a doubt the most destructive thing I have EVER come across.

I don't know if I can ever win this war, but I'm going to go down swinging.

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In Pillar Place:

We moved four pillars into a new box full of sticks. They are the big bubbas... the ones large enough to start on walkabout, and for the first 24 hours their little dangly bodies (pre-pupa) shouldn't be moved -- so if they'd been in the little box with the littler butterbabies, I wouldn't be able to lift the lid to feed the ones who weren't on walkabout.

I know I promised pictures, but forgot to take them yesterday and DH is sleeping so I can't get to the pillars. Tomorrow (and tomorrow, and tomorrow) I will get some. Swear.

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Your Hands Say That You Are Logical

You are logical, analytical, and rational. You have good verbal skills. Idealistic and dreamy, you tend toward the impractical. You have a knack for getting yourself in sticky situations. Consistent and reliable, you like to count on structure and routine in your life. Your emotions tend to be nervous and potent. Your energy - both positive and negative - deeply impacts your life.

What Do Your Hands Say About You?

That's about 80% right, lol...

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