About the time the scurs were becoming disillusioned, the Weather Eye pulled warmer temperatures out its bag of tricks. Are we in for the January or will it be broken promises? Starting Thursday, cloudy with a good chance of rain. Highs in the mid-30’s with lows around 30. Mostly cloudy Friday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the upper 20’s. Mostly cloudy on Saturday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Sunday, partly sunny with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. Sunny on Monday with highs in the low 40’s and lows in the mid-20’s. Tuesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the upper teens. Sunny on Wednesday with highs in the mid-30’s and lows in the low 20’s. On January 25th, we witness our next Full Moon. The normal high for January 25th is 22 and the normal low is 4 above. Our average daily temperature will be starting to warm after bottoming out. The scurs will be eying their patio furniture once again.
The Full Moon occurs on the 25th and goes by several names. The most common name is the Full Wolf Moon, so named as the wolves were frequently heard howling during the month close to Native American encampments. It is sometimes referred to as the Old Moon and when closer to the winter solstice, the Moon after the Yule. The Ojibwe called it the Great Spirit Moon and the Sioux knew it as the Frost in the Teepee or Wolves run Together Moon. At the ranch, we’re on the threshold of lambing season, so it’s The Full Lamb Moon. At least we hope their mothers milk well and the lambs are full. Otherwise, it can be called the Full Bottle Lamb Moon.
Some are giddy about the recent warmer temps and while no one can blame them, the last cold snap wasn’t exactly a record setter. One graphic I saw didn’t even put it in the top 100. Still, one has to remember that we really weren’t hardened in preparation for it. El Niño saw to that as advertised. There are some starting to express concern that we may see that fade as we get into the spring months with a change to a La Niña pattern. Whether that will be gradual, abrupt or at all remains to be seen. If and when it appears, it will take time to transition out of the impact from the El Niño in place. This may cause some concern for March as we’ve alluded to in previous editions. Also bear in mind our coldest portion of the winter last year was in late February. May want to hold off on that patio furniture just yet.
Did the recent cold snap have any effect on the insect population? Probably few consequences. It brought the boxelder bugs congregating on the south sides of buildings to a screeching halt. Both the multi-colored Asian lady beetles and boxelder beetles slowed down annoying people inside the house. However, as it warms up, don’t be surprised if they become mobile again. As far as insect pests outside, it didn’t get cold enough long enough to have much impact. Air temperatures need to get to -29 to affect soybean aphid eggs and for western corn rootworms, soil temps need to reach 14 degrees or colder to impact the overwintering population. Does that guarantee we’ll have problems this next year? While it slants the playing field in their favor, there are a lot of things that can affect their populations once the season begins. As we’ve seen in the past decade or so, the beneficial insect population has risen to the occasion with soybean aphids. When corn planting is delayed due to wet weather until late May, it tends to starve a portion of the rootworm population. Not necessarily a good idea but neither is mudding corn in.
I don’t write very often about our barn cats. We learned long ago not to become too attached to them. The traffic on the road by the ranch moves at such a breakneck pace that it’s a deathtrap for creatures of all kinds. Cats tend to roam about so it’s not unusual to have one disappear. Sometimes it’s permanent and other times you wish it was when one returns. We have a large white tomcat that’s been with us probably 4 or 5 years. He’s a large model, probably tipping the scales around 15 lbs. As one might expect, he’s ugly too after tangling with other tomcats or whatever else might be lurking in these parts. I suspect he’s been hanging out at one of the other neighbors, maybe in their shop. Why would I think that? The past year or so after he’s been gone for an extended period, he frequently comes back looking like he’s cleaned up a spill. I recall Auntie Mar Mar and Unkie Gregory had a barn cat named Chore Glove. I think Grease Rag or Floor Dry would be a fitting name for this one.
Poppy tends to get plenty of people time on the weekends but during the week it becomes sparser. Anytime we’re around and she’s not playing with five dog’s worth of toys, she’s into watching the birds. She’s also ready to launch when the squirrels show up. The cold weather put a damper on that when the sliding glass door froze shut. Monday when it warmed up and thawed the door out it was game on. Recently we’ve had a Cooper’s hawk appearing to nosh on birds hanging around the birdfeeders. When that happens, activity at the feeders ceases and the songbirds scatter. The intruder doesn’t bother the squirrels much. As a side benefit to Poppy chasing them, the Cooper’s hawk is scared off to the neighbors where it hopefully dines on house sparrows. Poppy doesn’t know it sometimes but there’s method to her madness.
See you next week…real good then.