Reptile & Amphibian Forums

we started in Korea, moved to Taiwan, slid down to Malaysia, bounced to Massachusetts, zipped back to Michigan, jumped over the Atlantic to England and richocetted back and forth from there (I'm being vague on that last part because I only know approximately where Chris and Peach are located).

All we need now are an Aussie, an Hawaiian and an Indian and we can start an evenly spaced relay race (well kind of).

Very nice thread (and I don't even work with oxycephala).

Regards
John

John, your mind must be constantly moving. ¤¡¤¡ It is good to see some more people visiting though (not that the fab 4 were not entertaining and educational enough).

thanks, Don

surprised by the activity. Usually in the dead of winter the conversation can lag and these boards can get pretty dead. It's like an early spring (although we finally got some noticeable snow here last night). I'll be driving through it to Rhode Island in a few minutes to pick up my weekly ration of live pinky mice.

But I do like to talk. Even over the message board you can probably tell that I do like to hear the sound of my own voice. And also there has been more real substance to the discussion in the last couple of weeks than in quite a while. I like it when the different sides of the hobby come together. Field observations, captive observations and discussions of the latest taxonomic papers is alot of fun. And if the people on the board are interesting and good company (and believe me that second quality is not a given on some of these boards) then it takes on the aspect of a pleasant club.

Well enough of that.
Best regards
John

John, get ready for some nasty weather to head your way next week. I was out cutting in the woods and mending the trails, etc, today, but when the temp got down to 10*F, and the wind started to pick up, I had to come indoors. It's supposed to get lots worse starting tomorrow.

Later...TC

Thanks for the warning. The last two weeks have been very cold (and not just comparatively). We've had single digits many nights and even a few days. Luckily we got some snow last night so the ground and the plants will be protected from any more bitter cold for a while. I'll bet a bunch of trees will die this winter and alot will be late blooming.

Regards
John

Yeah, I hear ya. We've hit 0*F. several times. At first we didn't have much snow cover either, but have gotten several inches the past week, or so. That's good because it helps insulate the vegetation, soil, and our water pipes coming into the house. My nature trail down in the woods is about six inches below the snow level. I usually do maintenance in winter, and cut firewood, while the water is frozen and there aren't any black flies or mosquitoes active.

We are headed for some very disagreeable weather this coming week, however. It's supposed to get down to 0*F. by morning and maybe (-30*F.) with the wind chill. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 7*F, and that's going to last for several days. Guess I'll have to stay in and play on the computer...LOL!

Here's my herp buggy parked at the head of the trail...

This is part of the trail that goes around the large willow swale on the Back Ten...

Cheers...TC

Ouch, that IS harsh weather! I'd have to take up ice-fishing for mudpuppies to get me through a winter like that TC, do you find many mudpups up your way? Off topic, but oh well......

Shane
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Lifelist

Shane, there are some mudpuppies in our lakes, but I hardly ever go there, so never see them.

We're having a power outage this morning and it's (-2*F.) It went out at 5 am and I had to get up and build a fire...no heat. Hope the pipes don't freeze. It's been four hrs. already. Wish us luck....

TC

>>Ouch, that IS harsh weather! I'd have to take up ice-fishing for mudpuppies to get me through a winter like that TC, do you find many mudpups up your way? Off topic, but oh well......
>>
>>Shane
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>>Lifelist

I hope this post finds you in warmth, and your PVC safe and uncracked! I can only imagine how quickly -2 eff would freeze a comfortably warmed home without power. At least you have a generator and some firewood. Hurry up Spring!

Shane
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Lifelist

Shane, power was restored at 5:30 pm. We managed to keep the cold at bay for over 12 hrs and my snakes are fine. We couldn't get heat to the well, however, and the pipes coming into the house froze. I just hope none of them have split. We'll see by morning. I'm staying home tomorrow to work on things. I sure know a lot about keeping fires going now...haha!

PS: With high winds and wind chill it's gotten as low as (-30*F). Nobody's looking forward to Spring more than me.

Terry

>>I hope this post finds you in warmth, and your PVC safe and uncracked! I can only imagine how quickly -2 eff would freeze a comfortably warmed home without power. At least you have a generator and some firewood. Hurry up Spring!
>>
>>Shane
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>>Lifelist

unfrozen during this time? I have a few handwarmer packs I keep handy, but that would not work for such a cold spell.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

Well, we opened the doors to the Herp Room and Brumation Room. Then we built a fire in the fireplace. We managed to keep the Living Room around 60*F. all day and we put the baby snakes in the Living Room. The Herp Room only got down to 55*F, and most of those snakes were ready to be cooled anyway, so we let them be. The Brumation Room got down to 45*F, and that was fine for the brumating snakes.

The hard part was that I had to keep the fire going all day, two hrs. in the dark, and I was starting to run low on fuel when the power came back on. I was amazed though how well the fireplace heated the house, especially when the weather outside was so cold. We have a pit the pipes bring the water into and where it enters the hot water heater and other pipes leading into the house. It's this pit that got the freezing temps, because the space heater is electric. Everything in our house runs on electicity. I really need to get a generator...duhhh!

TC

>>unfrozen during this time? I have a few handwarmer packs I keep handy, but that would not work for such a cold spell.
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>>phflame
>>kingsnake.com host