MaryE's blog: 2021 #53 It's true!

Squash bugs do not like it wet. I had heard this before but hadn't remembered until this morning. I checked the plants and found no squash bugs. Then I turned on the water (weepy hose under the plastic) and went to do something elsewhere in the garden. After about 20 minutes I checked the plants again. Bugs! I picked them off and left again, returned and picked a few more. When I go back to the garden I will check again. So far this morning I found at least 15 and added them to my jug of soapy water. Just think, they have their own bubble bath!

Our second heat wave has arrived. Yesterday it was 104 on our porch. We are getting smoke drifting in from distant fires. Yesterday the north wind had cleared out the smoke and today it is back, hiding all of the mountains and most of the hills, and we can smell it. We'll be having 95-100 degree days for most of the week with a couple of cooler days near the end. Rain is not likely although we might get more lightning. Summer rain is limited. Very limited. Sometimes we can see showers hanging like sheer curtains from clouds and can see it just evaporate as it gets closer to the ground.

I have a live catch trap set for the marmot I watched snooping around 4 days ago. In the daylight! It came right up on the back porch and I got pictures. Close pictures because it has poor eyesight and the breeze was carrying my scent away. He came within about 6 feet of me. Since he showed up in the daylight I only leave the trap set during the day because I sure don't want to catch a skunk in it. Been there, done that, no need to repeat it. That time I was trying to catch a raccoon that was raiding the corn patch. For those who are not familiar with marmots, they are relatives of the ground hogs. The ones we have are also known as rock chucks because they often have burrows in rocky places. Adults weigh 3 1/2 to around 5 pounds, have short legs, long claws (for digging) and round bodies with short ears. They hibernate underground from late fall until spring so when they are above ground they are eating and eating to put on fat for the next long sleep. I have never seen babies so am guessing they are born during the winter and are pretty much full grown by the time the weather warms enough to bring them up from their burrows.

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