Pig 04/10 +11 183; amps 183

Yesterday's

What I know. The spikes into the yellow come with a good BM. His bladder will get larger at these times as well, meaning he is passing a good bit of poo.

I also know that he is really starting to enjoy life again and I can see it all over him. He did that funny midnight kitten thing last night and he came and yelled at me all morning until I got out of bed so that he could show me that his food bowl was under attack (the ants, man... ). He laid on his perch this morning actually looking out the window and not with his back towards it. He is up and about, watching and silently judging. He is standing up to Tail more and more... In general, he is being his piggy little self again!

SRT is really creeping up. I look for dispersal notification within the next week. At that point it will be all about scheduling. We are ready and super anxious and excited! But, have a YouTube channel all set up so we can document and share with the group the whole way! We are armed with @JeffJ travel guide and the wisdom of @Wendy&Neko and many, many others! We are blessed beyond compare the army that is behind us in this journey and we could not be more grateful!!

 

Oh... I am going to try some R experimenting with his lower numbers. I am thinking to start with a 2u dose if # fall between 125-175. Most likely this will not do much, but I would rather start small and work up. I may even reduce the starting dose as I do not know what it will do in the lower blues...

 

Ants - I used to feed outside until I saw that flies laid their eggs in the food. To combat ants I put a shallow tray of water under the bowl. It works.

SRT coming up. That is very exciting.

 

Precisely what I do with my outside cats. Not an ant gets in the food. Not one!

 

Kathy's right. In central Texas we have fireants, and they make the food unusable in short order. We don't feed outside anymore because the flies very quickly land on the food and lay eggs on it. Just nasty.

 

The flies haven't gotten into the outside food. I think it might be because, 1. it's dried food, and 2. I clean the plates of water and the food dishes daily. I don't think wet food would work, If it rains, I put out huge umbrellas -I swear they're more like small tents.

The fire ants aren't native to Texas, and so they have NO predators. They're absolutely vile. In the spring they get into bird's nest and rabbits nests and devour the babies alive. Hideous.

 

This is a great idea! I will absolutely try it! I will have to figure out how to manage that with the auto-feeder. That is like setting out a buffet for them! We are lucky that they are only the small black little ants (the picnic type). I have yet to see a red one, thank god! I have baited and trapped and followed trails to seal off the entry points.. But, I have an older home so when it rains... Well, they just come right on in. I almost decided to play some monopoly with them the other night because it is obvious we are now roommates.

Yes! I cannot wait!! I am beyond ready and I know Pig is as well!

 

This is awful! I have heard some horror stories about ants, but really!?!? We have those really big loner ants here, I believe they are called cow ants. They roam alone and are not much of a threat unless you get stung and OMG. That will bring you to your knees it is that awful! They hurt terribly. Way worse than a wasp or hornet sting. And they pack a tremendous amount of power behind the sting as well. Very creepy to deal with.

 

I never heard about the cow killer ant so I went to read about it. It is a wasp that looks like an ant. I hope I never see one in Austin.

https://www.desertusa.com/insects/velvet-ants.html

 

Oh yes! This is the thing! I remember now reading that.. They are wingless wasps. Well, I can say, they freaking hurt! Such a powerful sting. But, they are not aggressive unless you mess with them and then they can run so flipping fast!

But, it is much easier to deal with one than it is thousands!!! Fire ants scare me...

 

Ugh. Fire ants have a poison as well, and it's very painful - raises blisters. Hurts like fire, thus the name. They attack in swarms, and can sting numerous times. Anchoring themselves by chomping down on skin, they ready themselves. Then , describing a circle, they sting and sting creating a tiny circle of stings. I got stung once by a swarm. They gathered on my feet, and then obeying some sort of signal, they all started stinging at the same time. Happens to a lot to people down here.