The goldfish tank mystery

But first, here we are, February! We had rain last year in February. We'll see how this goes.

We are expecting a polar vortex, with really cold temperatures. These are, of course, in Celsius.

To give some more information: 

Divers & Sundry asked, and no, there is no way to find the antlers now. I think they must be under a foot of snow, at least. Walking in the snow, even with snowshoes, is really difficult. I think they aren't on our property, either!

DrumMajor said, One deer looks like it has some tumors on it's back "knees." 

The deer have glands at the joints, and during mating season, especially, the fur puffs up. Here is an example of the puffed out tarsal gland. The females have their own glands, letting the bucks know when they are in the mood for love! This from the Whitetail Savvy book!  The puffy fur allows more scent to get into the air.

The cats have always loved fishtanks. There is warmth coming out of the light hood. When a feline is stuck indoors, and there is nothing to do in winter, it is good fun! Daisy was a wee cat, but Cinnamon – I am afraid he'll bust the topper. Oliver liked the smaller aquarium. 

 

You can see Hooper on top of the tank, while Isabelle makes us sandwiches. He didn't fish. He just sat. This was February, 2019.

Back to the present.

I'm having trouble with Cinnamon and the goldfish tank. Here in 2021:  He is trouble!. We've gone back to using the spray bottle of water to encourage him to jump down. I can hear him messing around with the styrofoam from the other room. 

I cleaned the tank, as I do at the end of the month. I stuck some styrofoam in the opening up top last year, or the year before. It worked then. He began to pull it out with his claws this week. I covered it up with a thick knapkin. Next day, stuck a long ruler across all this. In this photo, you can see the piece of heavy cardboard I put on the back of the tank on top of the styrofoam. 

When our grandies were here in the fall, Isabelle sketched and named them. Clownfish and Tigerfish aren't there anymore.

Sadly, yes, some fish are missing. I don't know if they died, or if Cinnamon is to blame. Nutmeg seldom sits here. Cinnamon isn't the fierce hunter that she is. Cinnamon ran when the vole chased him. He just likes the motion. I don't know. 

The little ones that bred with the alewives. I remember one with black fins. Gone! 

I've had baby goldfish, but they don't seem to thrive in the tank.

I am going to have to try and find more fishies this year. Due to supply chain issues and COVID restraints, they've been scarce in stores. Percy came from Brockville in 2018, from Ritchie's. Perhaps will have to do some research in spring. 

Those were the days! 

Woodland Vole & Deermice

 🦌We had 11 deer on Tuesday. It was cold and snowy. Cinnamon and I went walkies Tuesday morning. He was atop the caterpillar upstairs, and I asked him if he wanted walkies. His eyes got big and wide and he maintained eye contact – staring intently at me, then he jumped down eyeing my coat with anticipation. 

First, some back up. This is a vole. They are fatter than deermice, with a shorter tail and big teeth. I've always called them field mice, but they are voles. And they bite for defense. 

 

This is our mouse hole. 

This is a great spot. The bird feeder above drops seed. Now, if you feed birds, you know you draw other critters. Thankfully the bears and raccoons are sleeping. 

 

tree sparrow from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The deer mice likes this spot. 

 

deermice from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

I am afraid to fill it up, as we'd have dead mice in the walls. We certainly don't get many mice in the house. Just the odd one, which the cats take care of. Dorah would sit and watch for mice friends. I saw one scamper up here once.

I'd put the trailcam out on the deck, I assumed they were deermice. Not so! They are voles. They worked for hours: 8:20 p.m. => 10:30 p.m.! This is just a snippet. 

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Funny story, Dorah was bitten by a Woodland Vole back in the day. She had a mark on her nose for weeks. Last week JB was watching Cinnamon out back in the ditch. Cinnamon drew back quickly, and we think he was bitten. He was pretty leery Tuesday.  I think that explains this.

Back to my story, out we went. I spotted something dark in the snow. A Woodland Vole. This is one I took away from the cats once upon a time.

We call them 'mice friends,' a family joke relating to the cats! Turns out they are voles. I don't know how they fit into the hole. 

mice friends from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Remember we were doing walkies?

Cinnamon and the vole from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

This is a woodland vole. Cinn didn't know what to make of it. The vole ended up under some fallen pine tree branches. Some call them field mice.

I've done some research, after this video. Shorter tails, teeny ears, fatter than deermice. Woodland Voles (some call them field mice) are of special concern. No one has assessed the population in Ontario. I would say they are thriving here at their northern range limit. I am surprised to see them going in the mouse hole. I am really surprised they fit! 

"The woodland vole is protected as a species of special concern provincially under Ontario's Endangered Species Act and nationally under the Species at Risk Act."

Daisy found a vole under the snow. They tunnel only as deep as 10 cm, no more.

Daisy hunted a field mouse
out in the snow, in winter.
She sat and listened, then pounced!
It was tunneling under the snow.

Catapillar repairs!

 When I bought this, it was called a catapillar. You can see why! Pillars for the cats. I've had this caterpillar since 2002. One year I dressed it up as our Christmas tree. This was in our home on Hobart.

JB bought the new catapillar in town around 2009. It used to be in the living room, and had a ladder. The ladder was broken, and it was removed. 

Eventually, I made the top tier larger, screwing a piece of wood and wrapping it with material, and then we bought a cat bed as a topper.

We've two caterpillars. This older one is now upstairs. It, too, is the worse for wear. I shall have to do some work on that.

 The one under repair has been in the basement, where cats like to watch the backyard, or me, during my morning workouts. I switched it up with the smaller one when we needed more space upstairs. We are a little more casual and this is set up for us and the pets! We don't entertain, aside from family, and have never been to anyone's house nearby. 

Note all the toys inside the box. 

 It was in a bad way. The sisal has been ripped off, good cats for using it as a scratching post, and they are now attacking the cardboard underneath. First, I looked for repair materials. The most difficult thing is finding the correct terminology. I began with 'twine' and found that sisal was a better term.  You can Google it, and you will realize that I'm not the only one needing to do repairs! It autofills it for you. 

Step 1 – find sisal

I searched for sisal nearby, and found it at Crappy Tire. I usually print off the item, than give the sheet of paper to JB. More often than not, I forget to tell him which store has the prize! Such was the case. He wisely asked, I wrote it on the paper for him!

Mission accomplished. I should have asked him to buy more than this, but hindsight... 👀  There was one this size↑, and another, much larger one. I had asked for the small one. I tell you it is a crapshoot! 🧊

After this, I found a couple of 'How To' YouTube videos. Some were better than others.  Some suggested staple guns, others hot glue. I went for both. The upper post is fine, and I was able to ignore it. I thought about using it to replace a more used post, but it was easier to simply removed the four lower posts.

Step 2 – Friday 

Undo the bolts with the little hex key. Remove the posts. 

Step 3 

Remove the sisal from the posts. I shall have to think about a recycling for this. Some of it is in awful condition, the rest, not so much. I used to do macrame, but I don't think so!

Materials were ready to go. Upstairs. Back up I go. Cats kept checking out my work. Cinnamon likes the ladder, and usually sits here when I work out. It just didn't look right to him.

Step 4 – figure out equipment

I gathered my tools: glue gun, pliers, hammer, staple gun, scissors. Not in one go, though. It was good exercise up and down the basement stairs for the equipment I had forgotten, or gathered upstairs!

Step 5 – staple, glue and wrap

One post wasn't too bad, and I stapled it at the half-way point, cutting off the frayed sisal. I would get back to it. 

I did my work on the base, happy I didn't follow my first plan to vacuum the base first! 

Step 6 – Monday

Sent hubby, AKA Personal Assistant, back to the store, since the post (above) took up the entire 50 feet! Hubby came back with two packages, as requested.

Step 7 – Tuesday

I thought it's be a perfect project as we had snow, then ice pellets, then rain. Yuck. I went back at it. Cinnamon was on the caterpillar upstairs, and I invited him downstairs to help. He took his position.

Unfortunately, he didn't last. He and I had big walkies in the snow in the morning, and he seemed tired!

All four posts were done. Time to reassemble it. First thing, though, was to vacuum the base. Back upstairs for the vacuum. I remembered that there is a clog in the hose, as I tried to use the hose. No good. The base I vacuumed up with the regular beater, and it looks better. I screwed it all back together. All was well with the world. 

Upstairs again, I looked up how to unclog the vacuum. Video One, and Video two. Dysons are a little tricky, but I love mine and it has lasted me a good while. If you can afford it – it is worth it. 

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