Recent content by Fishman

Do you have any idea on the size of the bird? There is nothing really there to judge its size so if the bird is close to the background trees it looks fairly large, but if it is closer to the camera it looks songbird size. To me, it looks like a mockingbird. Mockingbirds don't usually have the...

Over the past four years, the earliest I have seen them fall is October 14. I have seen a few acorns still hanging on the tree through mid November. I am encouraged to see that the deer are eating them.

I look at trees all the time when I am driving or just out and about. You really have to get up close and look at a tree to tell if it is a hybrid or something unusual. Compton oaks (live x overcup cross) are probably the most common hybrid around me, but the trees look just like a live oak...

Since sawtooths around me tend to drop in mid August, they are one of the first oaks to flower every year. The hard freeze in March 2023 after a very warm February 2023 nuked pretty much all of the sawtooth crop in south Mississippi and south Louisiana this year. The sawtooths I have looked at...

Definitely check again when they drop. They won't be dropping for a couple of more months, so the acorn might grow out of the cap. The photo below illustrates the difference in shell thickness between the apartment overcup acorns on the right and the swamp overcup acorns on the left. It is my...

That is a horrible way to go. I have heard old wives' tales about raccoons chewing their foot off to get out of traps. I guess this one could not reach his tail to chew it off.

Are you going to butcher all of them? That makes my knife dull just thinking about butchering that many.

I have planted about 25 Chestnut Hill trees that consisted of 3 and 7 gallon chestnuts, Dr Deer and Thanksgiving pears, mulberries, crabapples, and persimmons. They have done okay, but I have lost a few. The first chestnuts were planted in 2017. Three of the four survived, but only one has...

They jacked the prices up another $5 for each size tree since last year. Back in my day, I remember when you could buy a 3-gallon chestnut for $29 and a 7-gallon for $35. You could then get them for $4.50 on clearance. Those were the good old days.

Try both. You really don't have anything to lose. Graft two moon glow scions and one Kieffer. Note where you graft them and see which one or ones take. You can always prune back later. If none of them take, you can prepare earlier and try again next year or just go ahead and kill the callery...

You can go to their web site and type in your zip code and find out if Walmarts near you will be receiving a shipment. If you scroll a little further down, you can click on the Walmart Spring 2024 Location link and it will pull up what stock the stores near you will receive. They also ship to...

Is the otter population that high or do they just really like your place?

How are you setting up the traps for the otter? Are you setting them where they routinely enter the pond? We have two ponds. The neighbor to the north has a pond. The neighbor to the south has two ponds also. I have seen otter in both my ponds, but never on a consistent (thank goodness) basis...

I am kind of impressed that he was able to break a Vanguard although the last half inch of the Vanguard does narrow at the tip. I imagine he didn't break much off the end. If the knife has sentimental value to him, he can reprofile the blade on a coarse sharpening stone. He can also send it back...

I would recommend a Buck 192, 692, or 113 for skinning and a Buck 105 for quartering and deboning. All of these are 420HC steel that will keep an edge for a long time and are fairly easy to sharpen.