09-18-2016, 02:00 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
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Native plants, native soil, native mouse
Replaced concrete with native soils a few years ago by moving dirt around my yard to fill the hole left by concrete slab removal. Didn't want to pay for top soil and a lawn, didn't want to water a lawn or treat any ground with herbicides and pesticides. So I put native plants in the native soil. I selected grasses and sage and a live oak species specific to my coastal zone of SoCal. Did it all myself to save a little cash.
Then this little guy (guys?) showed up. It is a mouse who lives nocturnally, feeds on native plant seeds, and at dawn digs holes like this one for a home.
I caught this one digging its hole last week. (It's not in the pic, obviously.) Turns out it is an endangered Pacific Pocket Mouse native to my immediate micro-climate. It was thought extinct until 15 or 20 years ago. Now a university in San Diego has a program of reviving the species. They have been releasing lab-bred mice into the wild.
One of 'em found my native yard this summer. Way damned cool.
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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09-18-2016, 07:56 PM
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#2 (permalink)
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EcoModding Lurker
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I had to stare at that picture for a good several minutes before deciding you weren't actually showing us a picture of the mouse.
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09-18-2016, 10:06 PM
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#3 (permalink)
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Growin a stash
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I find my lawn doing better since i stopped mowing and picking up leaves. It looks a bit ugly during the fall, but I'm okay with that. Much better than the dry state it was in before.
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09-18-2016, 11:02 PM
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#4 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ME_Andy
I find my lawn doing better since i stopped mowing and picking up leaves. It looks a bit ugly during the fall, but I'm okay with that. Much better than the dry state it was in before.
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Yeah. I never water this ground. The plants find what they need and are adapted to the climate. Simple. Excellent.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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09-19-2016, 01:32 AM
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#5 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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Time to get an endangered cat from your local animal shelter.
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09-19-2016, 02:38 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MobilOne
Time to get an endangered cat from your local animal shelter.
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 ... nah, it is an outdoor species that feeds on seeds of particular native plants. There are cats in the neighborhood and raptor birds. I am sure these are prey to them and snakes too. That must be part of why they are nocturnal. And why they barricade the entrances to their holes in the morning.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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09-19-2016, 07:08 PM
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#7 (permalink)
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Permanent Lurker
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Cool. Today you told us using internet. Tomorrow, your yard is full of university people eager to see the mice.
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09-19-2016, 07:21 PM
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#8 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seifrob
Cool. Today you told us using internet. Tomorrow, your yard is full of university people eager to see the mice.
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That's cool by me. We actually emailed a grad student identified online as part of the reintroduction program. I'd love to talk with them. I'll make 'em some OJ from the tree out back...
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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09-25-2016, 05:57 PM
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#9 (permalink)
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Master EcoModder
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"endangered cat" LOL
I think that's great, maybe you'll be one of the ones that survive the Hopi prophesy.
I just hope they reuse the hole, instead of making a new one every morning. |
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09-26-2016, 12:34 AM
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#10 (permalink)
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Cyborg ECU
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
"endangered cat" LOL
I think that's great, maybe you'll be one of the ones that survive the Hopi prophesy.
I just hope they reuse the hole, instead of making a new one every morning. |
I think there might be several, because there are several holes. I have not counted but there must be at least four. Hahaha! I have a night vision, recording security camera I have been thinking of trying to train on that area. The mice are nocturnal. Would be cool for my daughter to see, I think. Hell, I'd love to see 'em moving around. And the neighborhood cats and maybe occasionally a coyote wandering down the street... maybe see them stop by too.
__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.
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