I've lived here in the same place for several decades. I've never seen it so dry on my property. The amount of time I spend watering everything, including mature trees is becoming wearying. Yet if I don't do it, many plants will perish. Even though it's still the cheapest utility, I'm wondering what my water bill is gonna be this next cycle. In the past few years, my water district has gone away from flat rates; now they have tiered rates based on how much you use. It will be interesting. If I don't do it, to some extent, my forest will wither up and die. Even mature trees dry out to the extent they get severely stressed.
I irrigate by sections in turn. My property is of a size that I can't do it all in one go. It's about a three day cycle to give everything even a modest drink. Yesterday, I was watering toward the front of my property. In one area, I could smell something dead. This evening while I was watering, Mrs. Merkt ran me down and said she wanted me to see an animal she'd found. It was a baby rabbit. With one look at it, I could see it was dehydrated badly. I was able to easily catch it with my hand and hold it, which isn't usual in my limited experience of wild rabbits. It wasn't very old, about the size between a mouse and a rat. We weren't sure what to do with it. While we were at this, I saw a mature rabbit sprint across an open area so I put the baby up there. It was still for a long time, yet when I looked a little later, it was gone.
Point being, I know it's so dry out there now that wildlife is dying. Which is nature's way for all creatures, sooner or later. But I don't like to see it because of drought.
I keep filled water buckets and trashcan lids out for the birds and maybe some of the other wildlife. I don't like raccoons around and take active measures to discourage them. But they will ruin garden hoses by chewing when the weather gets dry. So better they take some of the water I leave out than ruin hoses. But, the raccoons aren't around much lately. It's so dry, I think they are mostly down near the Sound, which is about a quarter mile away. There are a couple of streams near us that empty into the Sound and these have water year round, even now when it is super dry.
I irrigate by sections in turn. My property is of a size that I can't do it all in one go. It's about a three day cycle to give everything even a modest drink. Yesterday, I was watering toward the front of my property. In one area, I could smell something dead. This evening while I was watering, Mrs. Merkt ran me down and said she wanted me to see an animal she'd found. It was a baby rabbit. With one look at it, I could see it was dehydrated badly. I was able to easily catch it with my hand and hold it, which isn't usual in my limited experience of wild rabbits. It wasn't very old, about the size between a mouse and a rat. We weren't sure what to do with it. While we were at this, I saw a mature rabbit sprint across an open area so I put the baby up there. It was still for a long time, yet when I looked a little later, it was gone.
Point being, I know it's so dry out there now that wildlife is dying. Which is nature's way for all creatures, sooner or later. But I don't like to see it because of drought.
I keep filled water buckets and trashcan lids out for the birds and maybe some of the other wildlife. I don't like raccoons around and take active measures to discourage them. But they will ruin garden hoses by chewing when the weather gets dry. So better they take some of the water I leave out than ruin hoses. But, the raccoons aren't around much lately. It's so dry, I think they are mostly down near the Sound, which is about a quarter mile away. There are a couple of streams near us that empty into the Sound and these have water year round, even now when it is super dry.
