Devonviolet Acres

Devonviolet

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YIKES! :ep look what we have hanging on the outside of our back porch!

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I was watching the animals & had my hand on the porch rail. I became aware that my fingers had touched spiderweb. So, I looked over the rail and saw this big girl! With the legs she is about 2-1/2 inches in diameter! :ep DH tells me there is another big spider on the other side of the house.

I've been told this is a "Banana Spider". They originally came to the US on banana boats. These big girls don't bother us, so we leave them be. Our philosophy is "Live & let live" - as long as they don't hurt us, we leave them alone.

Those nasty Red Wasps are another story . . . they attack, with very painful stings (out of the blue, with no provacation). :he So, we destroy nests & swat/kill every one we see. The black wasps (paper wasps) leave us alone, so we don't bother them.

Another "wasp" we have been seeing more of around here is called "Red Velvet Ant" or "Cow Killer", but really isn't an ant. Here is one we saw on our driveway this past Sunday:
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I looked it up last year, when I was seeing some running along the ground (always by themselves). They are a little less than an inch long.

Here is what I found online:

Dasymutilla aureola pacifica
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These colorful, fuzzy Red Velvet Ants (Dasymutilla aureola pacifica) aren’t really ants at all – they’re wasps! The females lack wings which makes them resemble ants… definitely had me fooled.Their name “velvet ant” does refer to the wasp’s dense hair which comes in a variety of colors, including white, blue, gold, black, silver, and red as show in this subspecies. The vivid coloration serves as a warning to other animals that these wasps aren’t exactly friendly. In fact, they’re also known as cow killers because their sting is said to be “strong enough to kill a cow,” although this isn’t actually the case… it just really hurts!

The earliest-known velvet ants are specimens from the Dominican Republic preserved in amber some 25 to 40 million years ago."
 
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Baymule

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Never knew that. I was always told not to mess with them, their bite/sting was BAD. I grew up calling them velvet ants. Wasps! Never knew.....
 

Devonviolet

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I mentioned on @Latestarter's journal, that we got new chickens & ducks last week.

Tomarrow it will be one week since they arrived from Ideal Poultry, down near Waco, Texas.

It sounds like we ordered a lot (total 41 birds). But actually it's not as bad as it sounds. We ordered 20 meat birds, which will be in our freezer before Winter comes.

We also ordered five female Pekin Ducks and one male Pekin Duck. Then, we ordered 5 Cuckoo Marans (chocolate egg layers), 5 Barred Plymouth Rocks and 5 Ameraucana (Easter Eggers).

We are now down to 39 birds. One meat bird died the first day, and one died the 3rd day.

The chicks and ducks are growing fast. It seems that the ducks have already doubled in size! They are just so cute!

Here are a photo of the little peeps the day we got them:

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babsbag

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Those little fuzzy butts are cute.

I have little peeps in my brooder right now and it is all the fault of the coyote that stole my ducks. I had 5 ducks, now I have two. I got 5 fertile duck eggs from a friend but couldn't put just 5 eggs in the incubator so I filled it. Of course the chickens hatch first so I now have chicks (which I don't need) and waiting on the duck eggs to hatch. Should be this weekend.

I also have another 6 or 7 eggs in the incubator because I found 1 guinea egg and I couldn't put just one egg in the incubator...

Do you see a pattern here? :lol:
 

Devonviolet

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Those little fuzzy butts are cute.

I have little peeps in my brooder right now and it is all the fault of the coyote that stole my ducks. I had 5 ducks, now I have two. I got 5 fertile duck eggs from a friend but couldn't put just 5 eggs in the incubator so I filled it. Of course the chickens hatch first so I now have chicks (which I don't need) and waiting on the duck eggs to hatch. Should be this weekend.

I also have another 6 or 7 eggs in the incubator because I found 1 guinea egg and I couldn't put just one egg in the incubator...

Do you see a pattern here? :lol:
Sounds a lot like goat math to me.
:lol: :celebrate :lol:
:gig
 

Mini Horses

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:cool: I do see the pattern! Get a smaller incubator! :hide:lol:

So, I have a big ole BO hen who has decided she needs to go broody!! I am thinking -- I have a broody nest/pen empty AND I have fertile eggs -- hmmmm. It must be contagious. We just can't help ourselves. :idunno:rolleyes:
 
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