Finally, Spring is here.

Spring seems to have finally arrived. While we have had a pretty mild winter, with little problems other than a relentless wind. It still seemed to take forever to arrive. Perhaps it only seemed that way because I have been looking forward to this year with a bit more than my usual impatience.

The first event that seemed to never get here was the arrival of one of my childhood friends. My father was a minister in Sandlick, W.Va. for four years. Bill Lynch was my main friend and mentor the four years that we lived there. We moved away and lost track of each other until a few years ago. He had gone to Michigan and I to the West.

I began to think of him more and more, and finally decided to contact him. I found his email address and after a few telephone calls, invited him to visit. Karen and I just returned him to the airport yesterday. We had a great visit, and it was as though 57 years had not passed since we had last "run" together. Our relationship to me at least, was as comfortable as it had ever been. However the contrast between what I remembered and reality was pretty funny. Two old codgers trying our best to even wade a creek without falling down, and all the time the pictures in our minds were of two graceful fleet footed rascals jumping from rock to rock at a full run in the creeks of rural W.Va.

 Somehow the weather got better and the wind stopped for a while, just as Bill arrived. All of a sudden sunburn was more of a threat than frost bite. We took advantage of the change by visiting one of my favorite fishing holes. The water year here is down from what is perceived as normal, so the River was low enough to fish.

                                            15 inch trout

We caught Trout, Bass and Catfish all in the same hole. The trout are a bit thin, but the Catfish and Bass were fat.

                                Bill's first Western Channel Catfish.

                                This one measured 24 inches exactly.

Bill has a bad back, so I got to clean the fish. Actually that is normal. I always clean the fish. We had enough for a nice fish fry and enough left over for five additional meals.

We had a great visit, and hopefully we can do it again. It would however be nice if those two sun browned boys that my mind sees were a little closer to reality.
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Each year here in the high Desert is an adventure. I guess that is one of the attractions for me. It is never boring! This year it is Mice.

Every thing seemed to be "normal" at the beginning of August last year. We had Jack Rabbits all over the place. The Quail were plentiful. Then it was as though we had stepped into another dimension where there was no wild life at all. The Rabbits and Quail disappeared. All wildlife seemed to have died. There was little water, so few of the Ducks even stopped here. It was bad enough that I fed the hawks up and did not hunt them for fear of killing the few critters left that might eventually bring forth the next generation. Well I did not need  to worry about the base layer of the food chain. The Mice are booming.

We have two house cats that spent most of the winter with little in the way of distractions. Well that has changed. I first noticed the increase in Mice during our trip in the fifth wheel, and set a few traps. We changed the mattresses around from the Motor home to the Fifth Wheel, and I spent a night in the Motor home to check the comfort level. The Mice had discovered a roll of toilet paper and unraveled most of a roll on the floor for various new beds and nests. It was still in the holder on the wall too. I bought some poison and some traps to try to get them under control.

It soon became clear that the poison wasn't working all that well, so I bought traps where ever I could find them. The full reality of the situation finally became clear the morning that I found a pile of shredded papers from the side pocket in the car. Then I found mouse crap on the seat of my plane. That was the final insult. The war is on.

I began an all out assault on the rascals. So I set traps in the car, Motor home, Fifth wheel, and the plane. I caught 8 in the car, five in the plane, and about 14 or more a day in my various traps.

                                                The nights catch.

                                          Some of the trap line.

                                                The water trap.

I use ultra sonic devices in all the places I can, such as the attic and behind all the refrigerators and freezers, and while they don't nest there they do traverse those areas. The water trap works quite well, and I caught five Mice in it last night. I have to remember to replace the Peanut butter trail to the jump off point each night. The dogs like Peanut butter as well as the mice.

I had been feeding the Mice to Yogi, the Harris Hawk, just to get rid of them. Plus they are a natural food item for all hawks. Since I was not really serious at that time, I only had enough to supplement Yogi's normal food. Jessie being a bit of a Princess, was only getting Quail. I noticed that she was acting as though she wouldn't mind a Mouse or two as well. So when I got serious about the Mouse problem, I had more than Yogi could eat. I offered one to Jessie and she thought it was great, so Mice are now on her menu as well. I am saving about $2 a day by feeding Mice to the birds. Its not quite lemon aid, but one does what he must.