Tuesday, July 10, 2007
ER's 'vacation' pix!!
First: What the heck are these eyeball-looking pods that keep showing up in my yard? I don't recall seeing them before. They look like toy balls, but they have liquid centers. They're about as big as a quarter. Any clues?
The "ER still life" is real: James Michener's "Centennial," which I've since finished; Red Stripe in a coozie; one of the Zippos Bird got me; lighter fluid; my new fancy cell phone; and a shot of Elijah Craig. Oh, and a coffee mug there from the morning. I was sitting back down and glanced over and saw it -- and went to get the camera immediately. The only thing missing is the cigar I was smokin', which I kept in my hand as I took the shot.
The rest are various pix of our domestic livestock: my stepdog Riker, the regal Pembroke Welsh corgi, whose summertime undercoat shedding is an embarrassment, and our, um, biological dog Bailey, the semisweet wholly 'tarded weinie dog. :-) Oh, and a shot of just one of my projects, the torn-out-and-replanted flowerbed, turned over completely to periwinkle.
--ER
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Woah, I don't know what those are, but I want to know! They look like something natural (as opposed to man-made)? Or perhaps something that fell from the skies?
Ah, the wiener dog: natural enemy of the pug dog, which I'm learning to live with currently.
Now, since I kind of go in and out here: what exactly is the deal with Boulder? Are you moving there too? Did I miss something very, very big?
And I have confirmation that yes indeed C.W. McCall was mayor of Ouray once.
Now, since I kind of go in and out here: what exactly is the deal with Boulder? Are you moving there too? Did I miss something very, very big?
And I have confirmation that yes indeed C.W. McCall was mayor of Ouray once.
Dan and Kiki: They are natural pods of some kind. And I wonder if they didn't come from the sky; it has been raining in torrents here for weeks. I also wonder if they're not some kind of spore that only emerges around here when the rainfall reaches a certain level: We already have had as much rain here this year as we had in all of 2006. Major records are being broken.
Rich: Dr. ER started a job in Boulder on April 1. I have been working on getting our house ready to sell. I will look for a job in the Denver area, probably starting in earnest in late August or September. When I get one, I will put the house on the market.
Rich: Dr. ER started a job in Boulder on April 1. I have been working on getting our house ready to sell. I will look for a job in the Denver area, probably starting in earnest in late August or September. When I get one, I will put the house on the market.
Cut one of those things open and let us see the innards! Are there seeds? You said a liquid center? Perhaps this is a new fuel source!
But don't let any of that liquid stuff crawl up your arm, just in case...
And for God's sake, don't taunt them!
And for God's sake, don't taunt them!
Well, it turns out that they have a liquid center only when you stomp on 'em. I just brought a few in and cut into them and they are solid. Took pix but they all came out blurry. I think that is part of their extraterrestrial defense. See, they've already finagled their way inside the house, so now the mind games sta aaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAArrrrr
First, they are a kind of fungus, just really, really big.
Second, why do you insult your poor, special wiener dog?
I know people love corgis. My oldest sister adores them. Me - well, let's just say there are other breeds I prefer, to keep things on a friendly level.
Love the still life. Perhaps we can see landscape next?
Second, why do you insult your poor, special wiener dog?
I know people love corgis. My oldest sister adores them. Me - well, let's just say there are other breeds I prefer, to keep things on a friendly level.
Love the still life. Perhaps we can see landscape next?
Where's Drlobojo when you need him?
UFOs, extraterrestrials etc... The man can probably identify if allowed to disclose to the public.
UFOs, extraterrestrials etc... The man can probably identify if allowed to disclose to the public.
# posted by 
: 5:44 PM
: 5:44 PM
G: That's what *I* thought: a fungus. Dr. ER doubted it. ... Sometimes I surrender my farm upbringin' to her education too quick. I think they *are* fungusesesi of some kind.
Anon: I have been waitin' on Drlobo all day. It's summer. He's probably in a junque shop somewhere in Nowhere, New Mexico, buyin' petrified buffalo heads or something. :-)
Dan: Ya got me to bring 'em in the house and chop 'em up, thereby tauntin' 'em. I ain't gonna go causin' an intergalactal incident now by some inadvertant sexual aggression act involvin' my taste buds! :-)
Anon: I have been waitin' on Drlobo all day. It's summer. He's probably in a junque shop somewhere in Nowhere, New Mexico, buyin' petrified buffalo heads or something. :-)
Dan: Ya got me to bring 'em in the house and chop 'em up, thereby tauntin' 'em. I ain't gonna go causin' an intergalactal incident now by some inadvertant sexual aggression act involvin' my taste buds! :-)
Your erudite side has gotten the best of your redneck side if you didn't think of using your pocket knife outside your domicile to cut into 'em. Of course the erudite side would have thought of having a roof overhead would be best so their mother ship couldn't see you, but the wood shed would have worked. ;)
# posted by : 10:43 PM
: 10:43 PM
Ha! Funny. And I used my pocketknife more last week than since I can remember, cuttin' into bag after bag of topsoil and mulch. Maybe it's part of the aliens' plan to soften us up before movin' in for the kill.
Lord, Redneck, those are unripe Black Walnuts. Somebody has been having a black walnut ball fight in you neighborhood. I thought you were from down on the bottoms of the Arkansas River?
Let me see if I can find a reference for you.
Let me see if I can find a reference for you.
Can't find a picture with the molting color for you. How big are they? Put some juice on the back of your hand. If it turns yellow brown to black after an hour or so they are black walnuts. If it eats through the skin or your hand falls off they aren't black walnuts.
Size of a quarter huh? Change "green black walnuts" to "very immature black walnuts". What do they look like on the inside? Does the stuff inside move after opening? Does it make any sound while you are cutting it? If so call the zoo.
While respecting the great Dr L, I must respectfully say, "No way are those things walnuts!"
After a bit of research, I was wondering if you might have an animal vet in the neighborhood that may have lost a shipment of dog testicles - you know, like after a neutering?
After a bit of research, I was wondering if you might have an animal vet in the neighborhood that may have lost a shipment of dog testicles - you know, like after a neutering?
Well hell, with great respect to the great DT, them ain't no Dog Nuts either!
He's right, 'the size of quarter' is wrong for blackwalnuts. And they are usually green or yellow) (although I read that there is 400 sub species in America) They do look familiar though. Trouble with Oklahoma is that we can grow everything eastern western northern and southern here some of the time (guy down the street has bannana trees he puts out in the summer pulls up and keeps inthe garage during the winter.)
So what are they? Some kind of immature nut is my best guess.
He's right, 'the size of quarter' is wrong for blackwalnuts. And they are usually green or yellow) (although I read that there is 400 sub species in America) They do look familiar though. Trouble with Oklahoma is that we can grow everything eastern western northern and southern here some of the time (guy down the street has bannana trees he puts out in the summer pulls up and keeps inthe garage during the winter.)
So what are they? Some kind of immature nut is my best guess.
Not nuts. They have the tecture, kinda, of a kiwi inside. I mean, no visible seeds, really. I think the whole dang thing is a seed. Maybe I'll plant one and see what comes up.
DT, ya got balls. Hoot.
DT, ya got balls. Hoot.
Heading out to take a walk this morn, I glanced down and saw one of those doo-dads next to my mailbox. Ya think they're migrating south?
Yikes.
Yikes.
# posted by : 2:45 PM
: 2:45 PM
WHAT ARE THEY?????
I have an oak tree in my front yard. I keep meaning to look up and see if there is some kind of parasite spitting these things out.
I have an oak tree in my front yard. I keep meaning to look up and see if there is some kind of parasite spitting these things out.
"Ya think they're migrating south?"
Well, it was all fun and games as long as it was in ER's backyard, but if these things are migrating, I'm getting scared...
Well, it was all fun and games as long as it was in ER's backyard, but if these things are migrating, I'm getting scared...
OK... Look up... these things have got to be fallen out of/off of something. Let's find the source or call Mulder.
# posted by : 3:07 PM
: 3:07 PM
go to this page:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0504.htm
And look down to a fungus attractively called the "stinkhorn fungus (Phallus impudicus)"
Which is described rather disgustingly-yet-erotically:
An erect phallus-like stalk breaks through the "egg," forming a cuplike basal volva as the stalk rapidly elongates. The swollen "head" or cap is coated with a black, putrid, musilaginous mass of spore slime.
Is that it? If so, be careful if it starts elongating, cause that can't be good news.
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0504.htm
And look down to a fungus attractively called the "stinkhorn fungus (Phallus impudicus)"
Which is described rather disgustingly-yet-erotically:
An erect phallus-like stalk breaks through the "egg," forming a cuplike basal volva as the stalk rapidly elongates. The swollen "head" or cap is coated with a black, putrid, musilaginous mass of spore slime.
Is that it? If so, be careful if it starts elongating, cause that can't be good news.
Or, from that same source, try looking up this page:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljuly99.htm#destructive
And looking down at the oak apple gall or the bush chinquapin gall.
It sorta looks like some sorta gall, to me, but then, I didn't think galls were really hard, like you describe here.
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljuly99.htm#destructive
And looking down at the oak apple gall or the bush chinquapin gall.
It sorta looks like some sorta gall, to me, but then, I didn't think galls were really hard, like you describe here.
For more information on galls than you really want to know:
Generally called galls, these tumorous (neoplasmic) outgrowths develop from rapid mitosis and morphogenesis of plant tissues and come in an astounding array of colors shapes and sizes. Galls may be smooth, spiny or fuzzy, and resemble everything from marbles and ping-pong balls to dunce caps, saucers and sea urchins. Almost half of all the known galls encountered in America occur on oak trees...
You said these were beneath your oak?
Generally called galls, these tumorous (neoplasmic) outgrowths develop from rapid mitosis and morphogenesis of plant tissues and come in an astounding array of colors shapes and sizes. Galls may be smooth, spiny or fuzzy, and resemble everything from marbles and ping-pong balls to dunce caps, saucers and sea urchins. Almost half of all the known galls encountered in America occur on oak trees...
You said these were beneath your oak?
Galls are growths on things. THese seem to be just sitting around, waiting for something to happen. I stand by my claim that they are some sort of fungus. Why not take them to the University you got there in OKC? I'm sure a botanist would be interested in it. My sister, a biology prof at a small school, gets the occasional non-student local bringing in all sorts of strange stuff for her and her colleagues to look at and they love it; it's a distraction from all that research and writing and teaching and paper-grading stuff they get paid for.
When you pick one up, use tongs. There might be a mouth hidden somewhere there.
When you pick one up, use tongs. There might be a mouth hidden somewhere there.
I think Dan is on to something with the gall thing!
Looky here: If the sumbitches start jumpin' I am OUTTA HERE.
Certainly one of the most interesting galls are the "jumping galls" of California. Jumping galls are attached to the leaves of several native oaks in California's Sacramento Valley, including the valley oak (Quercus lobata), blue oak (Q. douglasii ) and Oregon oak (Q. garryana). During favorable years, the undersides (and uppersides) of each leaf contains dozens of galls. When multiplied by the hundreds of thousands of leaves per tree, this accounts for the millions of galls that fall to the ground beneath these oaks, like a shower of tiny BB-shaped bird seed. In fact, some valley residents become dismayed when the galls cover their patios, sidewalks and driveways. Each gall is inhabited by a tiny cynipid gall wasp appropriately named the "jumping oak gall wasp" (Neuroterus saltatorius), formerly named Cynips saltatorius. Since the gall consists of a single cavity or chamber occupied by a single wasp it is termed monothalamous. And since the galls break away from the leaves, they are called "detachable galls." When the minute galls fall to the ground they begin hopping about like fleas. Like jumping beans, the larva inside is active during the summer months, but ceases its activity by late summer and fall when it changes into a pupa. And like jumping beans under jumping bean shrubs, the sound of thousands of jumping galls in the leaf litter beneath oaks resembles the patter of rain drops falling on dry leaves.
Looky here: If the sumbitches start jumpin' I am OUTTA HERE.
Certainly one of the most interesting galls are the "jumping galls" of California. Jumping galls are attached to the leaves of several native oaks in California's Sacramento Valley, including the valley oak (Quercus lobata), blue oak (Q. douglasii ) and Oregon oak (Q. garryana). During favorable years, the undersides (and uppersides) of each leaf contains dozens of galls. When multiplied by the hundreds of thousands of leaves per tree, this accounts for the millions of galls that fall to the ground beneath these oaks, like a shower of tiny BB-shaped bird seed. In fact, some valley residents become dismayed when the galls cover their patios, sidewalks and driveways. Each gall is inhabited by a tiny cynipid gall wasp appropriately named the "jumping oak gall wasp" (Neuroterus saltatorius), formerly named Cynips saltatorius. Since the gall consists of a single cavity or chamber occupied by a single wasp it is termed monothalamous. And since the galls break away from the leaves, they are called "detachable galls." When the minute galls fall to the ground they begin hopping about like fleas. Like jumping beans, the larva inside is active during the summer months, but ceases its activity by late summer and fall when it changes into a pupa. And like jumping beans under jumping bean shrubs, the sound of thousands of jumping galls in the leaf litter beneath oaks resembles the patter of rain drops falling on dry leaves.
It's got to be gall! Google images for oak and gall.
Gallmakers
When feeding on plant tissues, many insects and mites inject or secrete a substance into the plant that causes the plant to grow abnormal “galls” (Figure 41). Galls may be found on leaves, buds, stems, or roots. Plant galls are caused by a number of different animal and disease organisms, but the majority are caused by insects and mites. The greatest majority of galls are produced by cynipid wasps (Family Cynipidae), gall midges (Family Ceccidomyiidae), and eriophyid mites (Class Arachnida: Order Acari: Family Eriophyidae). However, other wasps,
mites, flies, beetles, homopterans, and lepidopterans also produce galls. Each species of insect or mite produces a characteristic gall on a certain part of a specific plant. The host involved, the location, and the shape of the gall produced are extremely useful in identification of the causing species, since the actual organism itself is small or may have already vacated the gall.
Gallmakers
When feeding on plant tissues, many insects and mites inject or secrete a substance into the plant that causes the plant to grow abnormal “galls” (Figure 41). Galls may be found on leaves, buds, stems, or roots. Plant galls are caused by a number of different animal and disease organisms, but the majority are caused by insects and mites. The greatest majority of galls are produced by cynipid wasps (Family Cynipidae), gall midges (Family Ceccidomyiidae), and eriophyid mites (Class Arachnida: Order Acari: Family Eriophyidae). However, other wasps,
mites, flies, beetles, homopterans, and lepidopterans also produce galls. Each species of insect or mite produces a characteristic gall on a certain part of a specific plant. The host involved, the location, and the shape of the gall produced are extremely useful in identification of the causing species, since the actual organism itself is small or may have already vacated the gall.
Might have been helpful to have mentioned the oak tree early on. Marble Galls, DT et. al. are right on it. That's why the dang things looked so familiar. Lived in the Crosstimbers east of Arcadia for two years, saw them often. They are about 3/4 inch to 1 inch wide.
Mushey when squashed in early spring and mid summer, but are brown husk after the wasp emerges.
Wierd breeding habits these wasp have. Something about type "a" lays eggs that emerge as type "b" and then type "b" lays eggs that come out type "a". Yep, them there be galls (not of the French kind Pechur).
Mushey when squashed in early spring and mid summer, but are brown husk after the wasp emerges.
Wierd breeding habits these wasp have. Something about type "a" lays eggs that emerge as type "b" and then type "b" lays eggs that come out type "a". Yep, them there be galls (not of the French kind Pechur).
Well, why have they never shown up before?
And will they hurt the tree? Do I need to do anything? Last thing I need in the frotn yard of a house I'm fixing to sell is a sick tree!
And will they hurt the tree? Do I need to do anything? Last thing I need in the frotn yard of a house I'm fixing to sell is a sick tree!
ER said:"Well, why have they never shown up before?"
Duh, let's see, 60 days or so of straight rain, low temperatures, etc.. Hell, I've got bugs in my bed even that I've never seen before. My cats have galls growing them even.
First things first are they actually on the tree?
Do they smell of boy?
Were they "imported"?
Not much hurts those blackjack oaks, assuming you have such in your yard. No giant oaks belonging to her majesty's ship build service on your property is there? No Bur Oaks?
Just do the "horse trader deal". Knock them off of the tree and hide them.
Duh, let's see, 60 days or so of straight rain, low temperatures, etc.. Hell, I've got bugs in my bed even that I've never seen before. My cats have galls growing them even.
First things first are they actually on the tree?
Do they smell of boy?
Were they "imported"?
Not much hurts those blackjack oaks, assuming you have such in your yard. No giant oaks belonging to her majesty's ship build service on your property is there? No Bur Oaks?
Just do the "horse trader deal". Knock them off of the tree and hide them.
Sorry, but I go along with some of the earlier comments on alien spore, the mother ship overhead, etc., etc. Forget the research and the facts. Speculation on alien invasion (or coming in peace) is much more interesting.
# posted by : 10:54 AM
: 10:54 AM
Well, of course, if aliens were invading, they'd make their spore look like gall, so as to avoid suspicion until that last minute when they crawl into your house quietly at night, climb up on your bed and release the worm into your ear.
ER's actually made it easier for them by bringing them into the house!
ER's actually made it easier for them by bringing them into the house!
Holy crap. This morning, the orbs in my yard were Mountain Dew green. Not kidding! If they start gettin' bigger, I'm callin' ... who would I call? The Men in Black!
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