clerical workers lurk in the long grass

[the_siobhan]

Work on the railpath has been off-and-on since the concrete fence was installed. They did come back and put a transparent barrier on the top six feet of the fence, I imagine so that the path wouldn't be completely in shade.

As of two days ago the city has also dug a massive hold in the street directly outside our front door to do some work on the water or sewage pipes or something So it's been heavy machine noises from both directions this week.

***

Other people may talk about robins and crocuses, but here in the Gin Palace we have two events that denote the start of spring:

1. The smaller non-carpenter ants that live in the kitchen climb up the back wall and into the shower.
2. The wild coyote sex parties being thrown in our backyard.

The first one I deal with by setting out ant traps and washing the occasional body down the drain. There isn't much I can do about the second thing, but it is one of the reasons our cats don't go outside except on a leash.

Anyway, spring started yesterday. So that's looking up.

Comments

[jo]

I don't know what brand of ant traps you use, but we had a weird ant problem in our previous apartment (started only after they dug the tunnel on Eglinton for the LRT -- never had one before that) and tried Terro Liquid Ant Baits (available at Canadian Tire). They completely eliminated the ants. Can't recommend those enough.

[greylock]

The first one I deal with by setting out ant traps and washing the occasional body down the drain.

I am not an ant expert (I am not even sure we have Carpenter ants here), but it seems like they are akin to termites (which we do) in the damage they do.

Have you tried Amdro? (hydramethylnon). It is the only thing that deals with coastal brown ants here, and they swarm over it like no-one's business, and take it back to the nests (and, if I understand, like carpenter ants they have multiple nests). Expensive, but effective.

wild coyote sex parties

I laughed. I can't believe you have coyotes in your yard sometimes. I thought they were big wolfy things.

[the_siobhan]

Coyotes are maybe a third the size of a wolf? Wolves here are fucking huge mind you, much bigger than people usually expect.

A coyote otoh, falls on the lower weight range of what would be called a medium-sized dog - smaller than a lab. But bigger than a fox. (Foxes here are about the size of a house cat.)

[the_siobhan]

In theory most of the problem will go away if we're ripping out the kitchen. But I'll keep your recommendation in mind if they come back.

[greylock]

I am shook.
First I learn the road runner isn't emu sized, and now this?

And coyotes are akin to possums? Huh.

[the_siobhan]

Our possums are also cat-sized, so much smaller than a coyote.

[cincinnatus_c]

> Wolves here are fucking huge

Depends what's meant by "wolf" ... this is true of grey wolves proper (Canis lupus), which you get from around Lake Superior northward, but "Algonquin" or "eastern" wolves (Canis lupus lycaon or Canis lycaon), which are the kind of wolves you get in south-central Ontario (and which may or may not be a subspecies of grey wolves, and may or may not be a product of hybridization between grey wolves and coyotes), are closer in size to coyotes. The last time I was looking into this kind of stuff (prompted by the fact that a lot of people around here call the local coyote-like-canines "wolves") I came to the conclusion that the distinction between "wolf" and "coyote", at least in south-central Ontario, is actually pretty arbitrary, given how freely they interbreed.

[this is my third attempt at putting this comment in the right place, gah EDIT: and I have failed again, bad brain, give up, sorry! EDIT2: oh, actually it is in the right place, bad bad brain, don't mind me]

[the_siobhan]

Everything I've read agrees with you. I have to admit I'm also going in large part by the colouring and body language. They look like coyotes.

If I've ever seen a wolf in Southern Ontario outside of the zoo I must have assumed it was a dog or a coyote. Because I've only ever actually identified ones I've seen way up north or way out west.