Morning

Better news this morning.

I have the same number of ducks as I did when I went to bed. Maybe the raccoons have finally found somewhere else to get their dinner.

We've been doing several things to help deter these pests, including cleaning up the brush in the yard. But was really two acts yesterday that I think made the difference.

First we captured the ducks.

Have you ever tried capturing a Muscovy duck? I can't say I recommend it.

If a person does manage to contain one or two of these aloof Quackers, then said person will be covered in mud, duck poo and scratches (right through the gloves and any other protective clothing). These guys don't have claws, they have talons and serrated beaks. They also cannot stand to be closed in. Not to mention the drakes are as big as a goose and bloody strong.

I don't know how a raccoon manages it.

The other thing we did was to visit Evil Box Shop and bought some holiday decorations.

We wanted to get things that simulated predator eyes. We securely hung pairs of small, red Christmas balls near the main raccoon pathways. The balls reflect the light and once the solar powered motion sensor light is installed then it will work even better.

Also, being that time of year again, we were able to get some Halloween decorations. The best thing about this: blinking red LED eyes.

We bought two types. One motion and sound triggered, blinking red eye, moving jaw, talking skull (shown here) that went right next to their favourite kill zone and a couple of skulls with red eyes that flash all night.

I tell you they startled me more than once when I was out on monster patrol last night.

Today is a day for cleaning up the house and catching up on some chores. And also...

I had a craving to spin up some crazy yarn. There are silk noils and angora fibre carded in a base of blue and red Ashford Corriedale. I was going to sell the yarn, but the more I work with it, the more I want to knit with it myself.