We're temporarily back into the 'May/June gloom' scenario caused by a local weather phenomenon called the 'Catalina eddy'. Typically, in May and June each year, the normal northwesterly winds are funneled inland by the channel islands, of which Catalina Island is one, which can be blocked by the local mountains causing a reverse vortex which creates a thick marine layer. This marine layer is rarely ever more than 100 miles in diameter, but can extend as far inland as the Mojave desert on some mornings, and can be as much as 6,000' thick. I look forward to a healthy 'May/June gloom' cycle when I am in SoCal during the summer as it means lower temperatures for as long as it lasts. Some years it has extended far into July making for a cooler than normal summer. Never fear, however, by Tuesday it will be gone for a while and we will have temps as far as the 'eye can see' (well, about 10 days, anyway) in the 80's.
We began our work day Friday at 12:30 pm, which will be our norm for the summer months. TLE had a very busy day in the office taking one reservation after another, and checking a small group into the park for the weekend. I spent the first half of my work day doing a lot of small tasks (install a new door handle assembly, glue some vinyl flooring back down, assembling new new shelving for housekeeping, blow the leaves off the mini golf course, spray weed poison on a bunch of weeds, blow dirt and rocks off of one of the interior roads), and in the afternoon got to learn how to operate our Kubota front loader tractor, as well as the Craftsman riding lawn mower. I took the riding lawn mower up on the road to the water tower to mow down the weeds on the dirt road, and along each side of it.....that was fun....😉......that was pretty much my day.
I picked up TLE from the office around 7: 15 pm, and drove with her up to the water tower to check the water level. It was about 1,500 gallons down so I ran one pump for an hour to add a 1,000 gallons for overnight. Around 9:30 pm we headed back out to 'close' the park (lock the storage yard, Red Barn, and pool, as well as check the two bathroom facilities to be sure there were no clogged toilets and plenty of paper (towels, and TP).
On the domestic front our mouse traps have collected 4 mice in the last four days. I think the most we have ever caught was 2 over the course of two days, and then nothing, but the local mice seem to be quite active, and successful in entering our home. We have 7 traps deployed in the basement compartments, and I am hoping the plague is over.....(not.....just checked and caught another in the water bay! 5 days in a row now!). We were in bed a little after 10 pm.
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When we volunteered in Olympic National Park a few years ago we had a similar problem with mice. The rangers recommended using a 5 gallon bucket, and a piece of 1 X 2 going up the bucket at an angle with peanut butter on a wire across the middle of the bucket. They would jump towards the peanut butter fall into the water. Better than traps and more effective as the went to the peanut butter before they got into the coach. We also used steel wool to close up any gaps they used to get into the coach. Good luck trying to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is quite an elaborate setup to catch mice!
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