We visited a place in the hills below Minas, Uruguay, whose owner had taken on two brother capybaras (called carpinchos locally) from the local zoo. Apparently when they get to be too many in too small a place, they fight, and it’s ugly. The one who runs away in the first clip decided to go swimming rather than deal with the handful of humans watching at feeding time.
Category: Nature
General observations, generally during dog walks
Hornero feeding chick
I heard a repeated chirping in the front yard, and saw it was an Hornero and chick, then realized they were in the back yard, and quickly closed the sliding glass door before the dogs figured it out.
Nothing to see here….
(That’s a dog, not a tree top, in the center dune.)
Bigfoot seagull
I guess I’ve never thought about how big gulls are. My hand from pinkie to thumb tip is around 23 cm / 9 inches. Yikes!
Colorful seeds
Spotted on the dog walk today.
Garden visitor
I went to cut some tarragon for some chicken going into the oven, and this guy popped up and just sat there, unfazed.
Flowers
Just because. A delightful little plant among several I traded for some cacti a month or so ago in the weekly street fair.
Epiphyte blooms – nice!
A flowering epiphyte in a little shrub I transplanted from the backyard years ago, which has turned out to be quite the tree.
Foaming tree
I’ve had this photo a couple months; never got around to trying to find out why a fire-damaged pine tree was foaming one day.
“…what you were looking at is a common bacterial disease among deciduous trees called slime flux. Now, if that is not a disgustingly descriptive name I do not know what is. Another name is wetwood because of the water-soaked marks on the trunk of infected trees.
“There are several bacteria that are associated with this disease and no one single organism has been identified as the main culprit. As the bacteria grow inside the tree (usually in damaged areas of the wood), carbon dioxide gas is released as fermentation occurs.
“This release of gas increases the pressure in the tree and forces sap to the outside, resulting in wet areas on the trunk. This is called fluxing and results in large, dark regions on the trunk once the flux is exposed to air. These wet areas become breeding grounds for other microorganisms – as alcohols are produced in this mess, bubbles or foam form as well as foul smells.
“I am surprised you did not see many insects feeding on the “brew” because this alcohol mixture attracts many bees, beetles and other larval forms to the concoction. Fortunately, the insects do not do any harm and there has not been any indication that the insects can act as a vector for the disease and spread it to other healthy trees in the area.”
source
Pruning the palta tree
Aggressive pruning or butchery? I guess the avocado tree will decide. Yesterday, looking at this angle, you would see virtually no sky.
Second and final load. Even though taking them less than a block, using the vehicle made more sense than endless trips on foot.
Though I had removed the only three smallish avocados I could find before, I did find one more on the ground as I cleaned up, and one on the ground behind the car—885 grams.