Bullwolf
10-21-2012, 11:14 PM
I was at my families coastal ranch on the California side over the weekend. The place is very rural, and quite a bit off the beaten path.
It has also always been lousy with poison oak.
(think poison ivy for all you folks on the other side of the Mississippi)
Both my Grandfather, and I never seemed to have any problem with poison oak.
We are both a part of that small percentage of people who can roll around in the stuff, and never seem to have any reaction to it what so ever.
I have been around poison oak all my life, especially through my childhood, and it just doesn't bother me. I have done all the stuff you are not supposed to do around it, I have burned it, cut it with a chainsaw, fallen off the horse into the poison oak patch, pulled it with my bare hands, etc.
I have heard a bunch of reasons why, from Native American blood, to being around it all the time, to just being a genetic freak.
Whatever the reason for me not getting it, the rest of my family pretty much avoids the place like the plague because of the poison oak infestation. The fairer skinned side of my family seems to get it really easy, and they almost always end up taking a trip to the doctor after being over there, no matter how careful they try to be.
I even gave a really nasty case of it to my Ex-wife a few years back. I got it all over the sofa, and she sat on the sofa while wearing a skirt. She had it all over the back of her legs, and did not speak to me for over a week, but I'm getting off the subject a bit.
My apparent immunity to poison oak has always meant that I get to be the one who pulls it off the well house, or who bush whacks it with the tractor, cuts it back from the road with the weed whacker, and so on.
Handy Tip: A generous squirt of Tecnu in the laundry will keep you from contaminating everything and everyone around you, including the clothes of She Who Must Be Obeyed.
For decontaminating poison oak oil off of yourself, oak covered tools, and clothes, that little bottle of Tecnu is your friend.
http://www.teclabsinc.com/store/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu
http://www.teclabsinc.com/media/7114/Tecnu_12oz_bottle_Main%20Product%20Image.jpg
Anyways, I really love being on the Ranch, mostly because its one of the few unincorporated places in the silly state of California where I can shoot without having to go to a public range. I value that quite a bit as am somewhat anti social I suppose. I am also neither tactical, nor cool, and I really can't stand it when others with poor muzzle control swing and point a fire arm at me.
I have a very small pool of friends who I let shoot on my place, and if they show poor firearm safety, they simply do not get invited back. While this may sound somewhat harsh, one of my neighbors who is also a Vietnam Vet who safely returned home, got shot for the first time recently while on his property shooting with a "friend," He took a 22 LR to the foot. He was most embarrassed about the whole situation, as well as the corresponding trip to the hospital.
So, there I was on the Ranch this weekend, clearing the poison oak from around the tractor shed, and the cabin. Walking with the dog, and just pretty much just enjoying the peace and quiet. I spent a couple nights there, and in the morning I pulled the SIMM card from the game cam on the road.
I like to see whats going on around the Ranch when I'm not there, and I have found that having a couple of game cameras strategically placed on the road, and in various other locations around the ranch is quite enlightening.
I found a picture from this Friday night scattered in with a bunch of my usual deer, fox, and coy dog pictures on the Infra Red game cam.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/187905084ab49d53b3.jpg
It sure looks like a mountain lion to me. Long time since I have seen anything bigger than a bob cat, or a large coyote over there for some time.
It's been more than 10 years since a mountain lion has came within even 500 yards of me on the Ranch. This one was less than 50 feet from the cabin while I was asleep. I would really hate to bump into it down by the creek, or when turning off the well late one night. If I needed another reason to walk around heeled, this one sure counts. Nothing like having an apex predator walking around at night to keep you from being lazy, and leaving the holster in the truck.
I heard through the grapevine (gotta love small towns) that one of my neighbors, *and I use the term neighbor very loosely because they are quite far from me* that raises Llama (llamas?) lost one to a cat this year. Most of the other folks somewhat near me raise cattle. Have heard of even more cat sightings around me as well.
So what do you folks think, is it a big cat, or something else entirely? I really wish that it's face wasn't in the Wild game Innovations logo, but it sure looks like a mountain lion to me.
- Bullwolf
It has also always been lousy with poison oak.
(think poison ivy for all you folks on the other side of the Mississippi)
Both my Grandfather, and I never seemed to have any problem with poison oak.
We are both a part of that small percentage of people who can roll around in the stuff, and never seem to have any reaction to it what so ever.
I have been around poison oak all my life, especially through my childhood, and it just doesn't bother me. I have done all the stuff you are not supposed to do around it, I have burned it, cut it with a chainsaw, fallen off the horse into the poison oak patch, pulled it with my bare hands, etc.
I have heard a bunch of reasons why, from Native American blood, to being around it all the time, to just being a genetic freak.
Whatever the reason for me not getting it, the rest of my family pretty much avoids the place like the plague because of the poison oak infestation. The fairer skinned side of my family seems to get it really easy, and they almost always end up taking a trip to the doctor after being over there, no matter how careful they try to be.
I even gave a really nasty case of it to my Ex-wife a few years back. I got it all over the sofa, and she sat on the sofa while wearing a skirt. She had it all over the back of her legs, and did not speak to me for over a week, but I'm getting off the subject a bit.
My apparent immunity to poison oak has always meant that I get to be the one who pulls it off the well house, or who bush whacks it with the tractor, cuts it back from the road with the weed whacker, and so on.
Handy Tip: A generous squirt of Tecnu in the laundry will keep you from contaminating everything and everyone around you, including the clothes of She Who Must Be Obeyed.
For decontaminating poison oak oil off of yourself, oak covered tools, and clothes, that little bottle of Tecnu is your friend.
http://www.teclabsinc.com/store/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu
http://www.teclabsinc.com/media/7114/Tecnu_12oz_bottle_Main%20Product%20Image.jpg
Anyways, I really love being on the Ranch, mostly because its one of the few unincorporated places in the silly state of California where I can shoot without having to go to a public range. I value that quite a bit as am somewhat anti social I suppose. I am also neither tactical, nor cool, and I really can't stand it when others with poor muzzle control swing and point a fire arm at me.
I have a very small pool of friends who I let shoot on my place, and if they show poor firearm safety, they simply do not get invited back. While this may sound somewhat harsh, one of my neighbors who is also a Vietnam Vet who safely returned home, got shot for the first time recently while on his property shooting with a "friend," He took a 22 LR to the foot. He was most embarrassed about the whole situation, as well as the corresponding trip to the hospital.
So, there I was on the Ranch this weekend, clearing the poison oak from around the tractor shed, and the cabin. Walking with the dog, and just pretty much just enjoying the peace and quiet. I spent a couple nights there, and in the morning I pulled the SIMM card from the game cam on the road.
I like to see whats going on around the Ranch when I'm not there, and I have found that having a couple of game cameras strategically placed on the road, and in various other locations around the ranch is quite enlightening.
I found a picture from this Friday night scattered in with a bunch of my usual deer, fox, and coy dog pictures on the Infra Red game cam.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/187905084ab49d53b3.jpg
It sure looks like a mountain lion to me. Long time since I have seen anything bigger than a bob cat, or a large coyote over there for some time.
It's been more than 10 years since a mountain lion has came within even 500 yards of me on the Ranch. This one was less than 50 feet from the cabin while I was asleep. I would really hate to bump into it down by the creek, or when turning off the well late one night. If I needed another reason to walk around heeled, this one sure counts. Nothing like having an apex predator walking around at night to keep you from being lazy, and leaving the holster in the truck.
I heard through the grapevine (gotta love small towns) that one of my neighbors, *and I use the term neighbor very loosely because they are quite far from me* that raises Llama (llamas?) lost one to a cat this year. Most of the other folks somewhat near me raise cattle. Have heard of even more cat sightings around me as well.
So what do you folks think, is it a big cat, or something else entirely? I really wish that it's face wasn't in the Wild game Innovations logo, but it sure looks like a mountain lion to me.
- Bullwolf