Storms

We had a tornado warning today and for the first time since I've moved to the condo the tornado sirens went off, as well as other alerts saying "take cover now." So, the significant other and I piled into my closet with Ebon, Siggy, and the two cats. Nothing hit us, but I couldn't help but be amused by what it was like to have all of us in such a small space. The last time I got a "take cover now" alert it was me, Ebon, and my mom's two cats in a bathroom. A bathroom larger than the closet at that, and I was dealing with the semi-feral Ginny not wanting anything at all to do with Ebon. Ah, thunderstorms.

Everyone all huddled together in the closet. Of course, Ebon's just a massive shadow

Too Hot

Ebon during a water break

I took Ebon back to the state park today, taking my mother and significant other with me. I was hoping to go when it was fairly cool, but as it turned out we ended up at the park during the hottest part of the day. The high today was 89, but with 56% humidity and a UV index of 10 the heat index got up to 94. We took plenty of water, but the day had to be cut short with an expected five to eight mile walk shortened to just three. Why? Poor Ebon couldn't take it.

After he stopped

It's been cool lately and he hasn't carried a weighted pack in at least a month. I thought he would be fine carrying the eight or so pounds he had (~10% of his body weight) as long as we drank plenty of water. However, he didn't seem to want to drink much water when we stopped. So, we kept on. After we had gone about two miles, he did a little hitch in his step, then stopped and flopped down in the middle of a shaded part of the trail, panting heavily. I stripped his pack off and offered him more water. I would have taken off his collar too if it weren't for the park leash rules. We stayed there for some time while he drank and I splashed water on him to try and cool him down. It wouldn't have been so bad if we were at home, but we were in the middle of a forest. He spent a good twenty minutes alternating between laying down and drinking. By that time, he was acting more perky so we began taking the short way back, us carrying his pack. I took a little diversion along the way to let him splash in the shallows of the river that runs parallel to parts of the trail. On the way back, he even did his happy little prance-wag at the sight of a pair of Jack Russells what were coming down the trail.

Ebon now, contently sleeping with cats

At the car I put him in some shade and offered him more water. I also took an icepack (my mom happened to bring a cooler) and alternated applying it to under his front legs and under his ears, where he felt the warmest. When he was panting more gently, we hopped in the car to leave, AC on full. It wasn't until we were back at the condo and he had time to lay on a nice, cool floor that he finally stopped panting. He's been normal even since.

I've learned a valuable lesson about this. Usually, Ebon's up for just about anything, but there are a number of things that were likely contributes to his overheating. First, since he's black his coat absorbs heat like crazy. I know this and normally he's able to regulate his temperature just fine, but it was hot and the UV index probably made him heat up faster than normal. Second, the weight of the pack and it's addition of a layer of padding over his fur probably made things worse thanks to his exertions and the insulating and restrictive nature of the harness. It also didn't help that he wasn't wanting to drink the water I offered him. Next time, he won't be carrying weight if the index is over 90. We also won't we going such a long distance during the hottest part of the day.

I feel like an idiot for pushing to the point he got to today. My mother actually thought he might have been having a seizure when he hitched before he flopped, but it was clear that wasn't what was going on. For now, he hasn't had a seizure since October.

More Local Wildlife

I've been luck enough to encounter a lot of local animals that I have either never seen or have not seen by where I live before. The assassin bug I mentioned before is one of the, but here are some others:

A daddy longlegs. Also known as the harvestman, these spider relatives are common locally but this was my first time seeing one at my house. They are known for their incredibly long legs and are not to be confused with the daddy longlegs spider. One of the easiest ways to tell them apart is the fact that the spider has a waist and the daddy longlegs does not.

A praying mantis. This is my first time seeing one found locally. I though it was a walking stick at first until I noticed the posturing of the forelegs, and then the large eyes. The only ever live specimen I saw before this was a Chinese mantis that was caught near Chicago.

I also saw a five-lined skink near my house, which was the first time I saw one outside of a nature preserve. I was a fast little thing, though, and darted under a pile of pine needles before I could get a picture. Here are some finds, though more common than those above:

I found this grasshopper on one of my tires when I was checking the pressure. It was depressingly easy to catch because it had lost both of its large rear legs. It may have also been lethargic because it had just rained and it may have been cold.

Yet another green anole. They are quite numerous here.

I found a lot of these flowers.

A spider in the door frame.

Mushrooms on the lawn after nearly a week of heavy rain.

Vultures after a heavy rain, drying their wings on a dead tree. These birds have been nesting in hollows of that same tree for several years. They are really obnoxious, actually.

One thing I never grow tired of is the sky after a rain.

Wildlife and More Storms

There was a yet another brilliant storm tonight. After some furious rainfall, including lighting, there was a beautiful show of cloud-to-cloud lightning:

Via WeatherBug for Android

We have been having some amazing storms lately, which has, I believe, pulled us out of the drought we were having earlier this summer. However, it also lead to the image on the right showing up on my phone the other day. Those are all warnings, and after a day that hit 97 degrees, we had a brutal storm that produced two tornadoes that touched down in the area. Tornadoes are quite unusual here. The rain was so heavy it sounded like hail and it caused some carnage in areas where there were no twisters. In my town, numerous trees fell, blocking roads and knocking out power for much of the area. The good thing is, the wildlife is very lively now that there is lost of water. Insects have been especially happy, breeding like crazy and forming clouds so thick at night that you're constantly waving at your face. What follows are some of the photos I have managed to capture over the past week. My favorite is the assassin bug! I believe it is a Zelus longipes.

An assassin bug. I saw two species on the same bush

A flower in my backyard. I don't know the type.

Ebon with some storm debris.

A green anole (brown phase) I found in the ash bucket hiding from the heat. Here is another picture of it going green.

Another green anole (brown phase) hiding from the heat

Ebon enjoying a break in the weather

The beginnings of a paper wasp nest

I also was able to go to a restaurant nearby that has a beautiful view of a salt marsh. Good food, too. Everything is locally caught and fresh when in season. Of course, I was more interested in the life growing on and around the dock:

Ocean is over that-a way. The dock is for customers. The cones are to keep away birds and keep the dock poop-free.

Oyster beds and Spartina marsh grass showing the high tide line.

Fiddler crabs in the oyster beds

Dock pilings with barnacles and bivalves. Luckily, no sign of the invasive titan acorn barnacle, which is taking over.

Heat vs. Humidity

Via WeatherBug for Android

That was what the weather was like where I am as of about an hour ago. Note the heat index,  humidity, and time of day. It's been a bit miserable to say the least. The thermometer at my house says 111, but I don't quite believe that.

The problem is the humidity. If I lived in the desert it would be hot, yes, but at 97 degrees you would not be feeling too bad (unless you were doing something very physically demanding), even at 105 or more. I know this from experience. You feel dehydrated and a bit tired, but it's nothing like how it is when the humidity is high. If you drink plenty of water and stay in the shade when the heat gets to be a bit much it's pretty bearable when it's dry.

Where I am, humidity over 75% is far from uncommon, and when you combine that with 95+ degree weather it gets bad. First of all, your sweat does not dry. No kidding. Sweating is an attempt for your body to cool itself, and if it won't evaporate it does nothing. It just sits on your skin and makes you feel warmer. This makes the heat very oppressive. There is nothing like those days where it seems as though you can feel the air. Even shade or drinking lots of water won't really help that much and most people just want to retreat into somewhere with air conditioning. Temperatures exceeding 90 degrees have also been known to continue even following sunset on some days.

Three minute potty break and he's already panting.

Heat advisories have been rampant this summer, with weeks of this sort of thing. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious concerns, especially in the very young and very old. I also worry about Ebon. He absorbs heat very easily because of his coloring and I am very careful to keep him cool. It's amazing how in conditions like this a dog will often begin panting almost immediately. I feel very sorry for the spitzes and other heavily coated dogs where I live. I would never own a dog like that here because it's really not fair to them.