Safety Topic, Environmental Hazard - The Booby Trap

This week at work, Ray had to move the bluebells from 288s to 128s. The trouble was, the bluebells didn’t want to go. They were actually too little to leave home so early in life. For Ray that meant lots of tedium, poking the bluebells out from the underside of the flats with a stick. And we’re not talking just a few bluebells. We are now discussing industrial quantities of bluebells. So that’s how Ray wound up with a terrible pain in his shoulder area between his scapula and spine.

Then Ray returns to the Cow Barn in great pain and Ray says, One of you need to rub this here Tiger Balm on my back because I can not reach that particular area of my back that is afflicted. But of course, Ray’s girl friends didn’t want to. Ray had to beg and cajole to get the analgesic rubbed on his back. Afterwards, the responsible party put the tube of Tiger Balm analgesic on the Boy’s Room counter top next to the toothpaste where Ray could easily find it again when he needed it.

Alas, when an average person like Ray first gets up at 5:30, then heads for the Boy’s Room for a tooth brushing ablution, he may not be at his most alert. That’s how Ray brushed with the Tiger Balm which was right next to the toothpaste as depicted here. According to Ray, at first you don’t notice much difference because the analgesic cream and the toothpaste are both white and minty fresh. And it’s not really the taste. It’s the consistency that may alert a person, eventually.

Another difference is that the dern Tiger Balm is water insoluble. Ray had to wipe it out of his mouth with a paper towel, toilet paper and Kleenex. Even so, it was hours before Ray felt like all the Tiger Balm was out of his oral cavity. Mercy!

Fortunately, the Tiger Balm analgesic product is apparently not an instant killer when ingested in small quantities. What the effect is, long term, probably only lab mice or bunnies know. Mercy!

Anyway ladies. Booby traps are lots of fun. But also consider how you would feel if you brushed your teeth with Tiger Balm. Think about that before you set up that next booby trap.

Wet Year, Dry Years (An Ovation)

Weary of the drought palaver, Crumby proposes that the few remaining sensible humans or humanoids in these parts use the phrases, wet year, dry year, dropping the silly noun, drought from our vocabularies. Praise the WG!

Yes it’s true. The WG periodically eschews these parts these days. Anon, She shall most likely abandon these parts forever, so that then a terrible desert shall ensue in these parts. But until that dread forecast arrives, we can have a wet year or a dry year. This year is a dry year.

Over time, we shall have more and more dry years versus wet years. Mercy! But it’s OK. The responsible parties are fixing to construct more lakes to trap less water.

More importantly, should Crumby acquire the important Canon MPE 65 macro lens. Turns out, as he secretly ovated before he got them, Crumby can't find much use for his wide angle lenses. He could sell them to fund a MPE 65. Then, Crumby could take pictures, not only of the tiny, but the subatomic.

These twain fornicating vermin, broad-nose weevils maybe, or maybe leaf beetles are really little. Like they are maybe 2.5mm. So even with the Raynox 150 and plenty of cropping, they are still plenty little. But with the MPE 65, they might appear bigger. Much bigger. Course of course taking their pictures with the MPE 65 might be a little tricky. Course of course.

A Druid Easter (rerun)

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin’ down the bunny trail.
Hippity, hoppity Easter’s on its wa-ay.

What a great song!

I fondly recall my first Easter at the orphanage. There we little orphan bastards labored one early morning, chained to our little desks, each with an onerous task to perform. I was sorting through onion specimens I was supposed to identify and mount before bedtime. Yet suddenly a Great Rabbit appeared before us.

All righty then!, proclaimed the Great Rabbit. I am fixing to release you from your chains. Once I do that, you shall all proceed outdoors in tandem, that is, two by two. The fact is, you are fixing to get to go outside. Yet you all have buddies you are responsible for, especially you Rayetta. You Rayetta, must make sure that Ray, ventures not astray.

Excitement gripped all us child laborers. What the heck was going on? It must be an unscheduled fire drill, many surmised.

As soon as the Giant Rabbit freed us, we all buddied up. Rayetta gripped my hand tightly. Then off we marched in tandem through the dusty, near stygian corridors. The journey was long and arduous.

Yuck Ray! You sure have a sweaty hand.

I can’t hep it Rayetta. I’m nervous.

Suddenly, as we marched forward, making fair progress, I looked up. There, up ahead, was the Great Rabbit silhouetted by Ogma’s fickle gaze. We were almost outside!

All righty then!, proclaimed the Great Rabbit. You children each require a basket. All of you pick up a basket. Do not squabble over a basket. All those baskets are the same difference.

Anon, we were outside, clutching our baskets in one hand, holding on to our buddy with the other hand, squinting in the unaccustomed light of day. As my eyes gradually accustomed to the unaccustomed light of day, I espied that besides the Great Rabbit, there was also a Great Chicken, a Great Serpent and a Great Sea Urchin variously disposed about the pasture facing the porch upon which we all now assembled.

All righty then!, proclaimed the Great Chicken. You are all fixing to enjoy an Easter egg hunt. All of us Great Animals have laid eggs out in the pasture as a special treat for you little orphan bastards, I mean children. All you have to do is run around and find all the eggs. Then, once you find those eggs or ovums, you get to keep them. They are your eggs. Won’t that be fun! Are there any questions?

I had a question. Great Chicken or Hen, please maam, I am afeared that if I venture off the porch that Great Serpent yonder shall certainly get me. Is that Great Serpent a good snake or a bad snake? Ow! Whut did ye pinch me fer, Rayetta?

The Great Chicken answered up for Rayetta. Ray, we are all kindly Great Animals here. We have, all of us, including the Great Serpent, gone to a lot of trouble, ovapositing all over the pasture so you may go find some delicious eggs. Your very smart sister pinched you Ray, because you asked a stupid question. Are there any more questions? No. Good. Then let the hunt begin.

I had some more questions. But all the other children tore off the porch at a great pace. Even Rayetta tore off the porch. Yes. My sweaty hand betrayed me. There I was, all alone on the porch with the Great Rabbit.

Run along Ray. You need to go find some eggs before they are all gone.

Reluctantly I warily departed from the relative safety of the porch. Keeping one eye peeled for the Great Serpent, I ventured on out into the pasture. OK. I need to find an egg. Suddenly I espied an egg. Yet my sweaty hand betrayed me. I could not get a proper grip on that particular egg. Lo and behold, it slipped away and another child stole my egg. Then, seemingly before it began, the hunt was over. All the eggs were found, ensconced in the baskets of the other children, my basket empty, except for a little hay in the bottom.

Yet my torment had only begun.

All righty then!, proclaimed the Great Sea Urchin. Now we shall count the eggs in the baskets to see which child found the most eggs. The child with the most eggs, shall receive a special egg.

Naturally, the results followed a normal curve with Rayetta on one end and me on the tail end.

All righty then! proclaimed the Great Serpent. Rayetta wins the special egg. Everyone give up a great many coyote yips for Rayetta. The children and all the Great Animals yipped for my sister.

What are we to do about Ray!, proclaimed the Great Serpent. Ray found no eggs. His basket is empty. I know, I shall have to eat Ray. Ha! Just kidding Ray.

But it all worked out OK, anon. Rayetta explained it all. All the Great Animals were just faculty members shape-shifted into those particular animals. Plus, Rayetta shared her eggs.

A Washer for the Nelson Nozzle

The Nelson Nozzle, shown in an ealier post, came without a washer. Crumby neglected to check for the washer when he purchased the Nozzle. So today, when Crumby went back to Home Depot to get some buckets, Crumby checked on the other Nelson Nozzles to see if they all had washers. Then, while Crumby was going through the box of Nelson Nozzles, checking for washers, a Home Depot employee came along.

My Nozzle came without a washer, Crumby infomed the Home Depot employee, as if it was the employee's fault.

Well. Just take one of those washers.

You mean I can just have one. Ha!

Now Crumby actually has an official Nelson Nozzle washer. Yet guess what? It still leaks.

Consequently, Crumby can not unreservedly recommend the Nelson Nozzle to average home gardeners. However, in its favor, the Nelson Nozzle does look exactly like a dick or weenie.

Baby Great Horned Owls?

Man alive! Why would owls want to live here? Crumby would have figured they would have had more self-respect. Well. Maybe it's the rats. There are plenty of Sigmodons in these parts sometimes. Maybe that explains the owls. Sigmodon hispidus.


Mercy! Crumby could see the smoke from the great Oak Hill fire. Goodness! But it wasn't teenagers set the fire. Thank the Goddess for that. Once teenagers start setting the fires, there's no stopping those dern teenage firebugs. "Mao, Mao, Mao Tse Tung, Revolution for the Young." But the revolution has passed the homeless by already.

Well. Not homeless anymore. It's 2-20 for the homeless in the penitentiary. But our jefe wants more. Yea verily. Much more. Maybe the death penalty.

Man alive! Our precious Tejas Jefe of the Repubico is sure on the job. "We need some federal aid. Ooooh! Federal aid for these fires!" Jeez Louise! Aren't fires acts of God?

Moths Infest Porch!

You may know that these parts are not just fixing to get hot, they are already hot. Not as hot as they are fixing to get (hellacious), but hot. Because these parts are already plenty hot, Crumby likes to open the door that allows transgression from the utility to room to the side porch when the clothes dryer is running. Yet when Crumby opened the side porch door he was greeted by a plague of moths (muths). There were so many moths that Crumby could not see out the door for the moths. Well. Maybe there were not that many moths, but there were at least 10 moths. And Crumby only had eyes for the moths. So, in a way, Crumby could not see past the moths.


The moths we are now discussing are little; maybe 10mm from snout to anus. Yet they sport impressive antennae and, are black or nearly black. These should be easy to figure out Crumby surmised, due to these various characters. And they were.

Turns out, these are theoretically males of the species Crytothelea nigrita. They must have all emerged on the porch, or flew to the porch because they figured that there were females on the porch. Like they smelled the pheromones. Either way, there they were, the moths, on the porch.

The females, none shown, never leave their cocoons. What they do instead is, leave one hole of the cocoon open so the males can come along and stick their weenies in. How goofy is that?

Raynox to the Rescue

For a day or two after purchasing his Canon 100mm macro, Crumby felt sorry for himself. That's because he lost working distance when compared to the bigger macros like the Sigma 150mm and didn't gain any magnification. So Crumby decided to tack the Raynox 150 to the macro lens. Here's an example of how that works. Actually just an excuse to show Parapediasia teterella in a funny pose.

Here, for good measure, is Archips argyrospila.

Spring has Sprung

If you can have spring without any rain in these parts, spring has arrived. Yes. No rain in March. No rain in April. Nevertheless, many are making a feeble attempt at flowering. Be fruitful, multiply, is not just for Christians, Muslims and Jews, oh my.

So this is the first male of this species to appear at the CB ever, so far as Crumby knows. Dozens, maybe hundreds of ladies, but this is our solitary documented male. Click on the photo to find out how many points he has.

Meskea dyspteria Infests Cow Barn

Once in a while. Dr. Holland’s (deceased) book, The Moth Book, can come in really handy. Like Crumby was fixing to espy all the moth (muth) images on Bugguide in a vain attempt to identify this curious vermin. But that was too much even for the frenetic Ovate. No sir. I shall not go through all these dang guide pages. I shall resort to Dr. Holland.


Sure enough, the only moth with wings like this one is this one. All the enormous rest look way different. And Dr. Holland knew that. Which is why the picture in his book looks, in general, with regard to the shape of the wings, like this here picture.

Jungle Jim

Flower scarabs of the genus Euphoria like bananas. But they also like to play on the hanging basket frame which, hung from the clothesline, and holding a tin pie plate, is the new strategy for keeping mammals out of the banana feeder. This is Euphoria sepulcralis. Too cute!

Nelson Industrial Hose Nozzle Review

Crumby’s did not come with a washer. Without a washer it leaks. It also leaked after Crumby put in a generic washer. Maybe, if it had its own custom washer, it wouldn’t leak.

But who cares anyway. Not the ladies for sure.

A hose nozzle just like this one may be purchased at Home Depot for eight bucks. It works pretty well, going from a nice round mist to a hard jet with a slight twist on the head. Course it leaks, but that’s really the only negative. And who cares about negatives like leaks when it looks like a ****.

Crumby was a little uneasy going through the checkout line with his Nelson Nozzle. He told the pretty and efficient young lady operating the register that it was for Rayetta.

Nelson Industrial Nozzles are manufactured in Ontario Canada, almost in the USA.

They're Everywhere (Errata Alert)

Once you espy your first sawfly larva, after that, they're everywhere. Nature's like that. Yet here we espy an ashy-gray lady beetle. The beetle is fixing to hide out under a leaf because it's camera shy. So here it is, encountering these larvae. Now what's interesting is, some lady beetles, Harmonia axyridis comes to mind, eat sawfly larvae. But these look a little big for Olla v-nigrum.

Yikes. Just this minute, Crumby figured out that these may not be sawfly larvae. They may be leaf beetle larvae. Merciful goodness gracious sakes alive!

Little Beetle Bullies Littler Beetle

Sometimes as Crumby follows the antics of the insects he witnesses outright interspecific aggression. In this example this tiny flower Bupestrid (Acmaeodera neglecta), perhaps the littlest of all the many flower Bupestrids that occur at the CB, is picking on a tinier tumbling flower beetle (Mordellistena cervaicalis), fixing to push it off the flower petal. Yes. Once Crumby also espied two of the Moderllistena fornicating. Then along came a Buprestid and bumped them, interrupting their joy and chasing them off their flowery perch or bed. Mercy!

Carpenter Bee on Eve’s Necklace

The official CB Sophora affinis is blooming like crazy this year, perhaps in anticipation of no rain, like forever. Seriously though, Crumby has noticed that when a plant is fixing to get super stressed or die, it goes crazy, fixing to compensate. That may be what’s happening here.

At least two species of carpenter bee go to the flowering Eve’s necklace. Crumby has tentatively identified this one as Xylocopa micans. The other one is, of course, the lively yet goofy Xylocopa tabaniformis parkinsoniae.