Yard day today. It's over 90F in my yard now, so I am inside taking a break. All the rains have brought out swarms of mosquitos, too. The yard may take me two or three days to finish at this rate while I adjust to the heat. But my big lizard just sits there posing and strutting around on the back porch, like he is the king or something. He likes the heat just fine. He is the Lizard King. He can do anything.

Be careful HD. That lizard looks big enough to handle a knife <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

Great pic's Vic....hell of a long tail...!!

Well he is big for an ordinary lizard. I'll give him a Scrapper to play with.

A Mud Puppy looks about right

Cool pics - I saw so much wildlife the last time I camped out near Savannah. The scenery near coastal (and near-tropical) Georgia is just so different from the temperate woods in Pennsylvania where I grew up. Love seeing the different stuff. Still haven't run into any gators in the wild though <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

All Hail the Lizard King!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Nice pics, Vic! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

It's supposed to be real nice here this weekend... I guess I finally need to start thinking about cutting my yard. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Great pic of the yard Vic. Hey whatever happened to the punks that damaged your pump??

The alligators are out today, for sure. But none here in my yard. When I put the Scrap Muk on the table, the lizard puffed up his red throat, but I missed the shot. Then he ran over to the shade, cowering in fear!




When I unsheathed the shiny blade, he headed down under the porch to hide in the ferns!

They are in jail.

The Scrap Muk defeats the Lizard King!!.....without even drawing blood. Good job Vic.

Neat lookin lizard HD, never seen any like that in my part of Georgia.

HD, in your pic of the MUK, it looks weird. Just the angle, or did you take alot of steel of her on the belt sander?

Cool lookin lizard!
Are they all over the place
where you live?

Yes.

I wish I lived down there, or in Florida maybe.

I just whacked the head off a snake that had swallowed two of my neighbor's chicken eggs. Didn't have my camera with me. I used my 22" Tramontina. Lots of snakes, bugs, lizards, raccoons, oppossums, squirrels, rabbits, foxes, armadillos, wild pigs, deer, and alligators down here. You never run out of varmints to kill.

You never go hungry either <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

right in your back yard... bet that really helps on those bad days.

My educator neighbors have been transformed into hard core survivalists since moving out here. I was talking to the gun hating neighbor when shots rang out, so I excused myself and drove my lawn tractor over to the other neighbor's stable area where I heard the shots. I saw a huge garter snake, still alive, entangled in a pitch fork stuck in the ground. Then I saw the 20 ga shotgun sitting up on a feed box. The snake had two large lumps in it and then my neighbor, Steve came down from the house and said he got the snake out of the chicken coup with the pitchfork and shot at it with the shotgun. But most all the pellets missed, so I released the snake and whacked it with my machete. I told him that for snake killing, a machete was hard to beat. Funny, because I had just been telling the other neighbor that I would be thinning the varmints out, and not to worry if he heard an occasional gun shot. I love Spring. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

nice pics man i wish it would be around 90 here its only about 60 here so its not bad but nice pics of the lizard king and be careful about the gators they bite

Wow! Awesome back yard! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I wish I had such a nice big yard...At least until it was time to mow it. Great pics.

I wonder if he can change to one of the color combo's of the 5 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Great pics thanks for sharing

Dan

I would definitely get some sheep or goats. Then I'd have short grass, and my dogs would have something to herd <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

There are goats on this little island. They are in a field right on the main drag, Blythe Island Drive. I love seeing them. My girls wanted me to get goats, but I would have to fence in the yard and while I may look like an old goat myself, I don't know squat about raising goats! They do a fine job on the grass, though.

He can do the brown and the green. I'm not sure about the black. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Looks like it would be great bait! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

If you need some help getting rid of some of your wild pigs...give me a call, I'd love to thin some out for you <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

What that heck is that growing head/neck???

Thats a Green Anole right? I've never seen one with a growth like that.

Yup. That's an Anole, aka Carolina Chameleon.

The "lump" isn't normal. I think the "king" is sick. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" />

I've got his "queen" living at my place...



I also have his cousins living here at the house...



This one keeps sneaking in the house...he lives under my back steps...and darts in if the door is left open-

Cool Pitbull! I used to catch anoles everytime I visited Florida.

How ya been? You ready for the S5!?

a king has to have a crown. right?

You nailed it lazi! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh...I'm ready

I used to catch Green Anoles, Fence Post Lizards, and Blue Tailed Sinks all the time when I was younger.

Now the stupid Brown Anoles from Cuba and the Bahamas have destroyed the Green Anoles. I have one (Green Anole) living on my front porch now. I fear he wont be around for too much longer because there are a few Brown Anoles around and my Green guy lost his tail about a week ago.

If I can get the brown ones in my hands (I'm not as good a I once was) I feed them to the chickens.

I don't know it he is sick or not, but he does look different than the others. He is out there right now, puffing up his red throat. He was on the table when I took out a pesky squirrel a few minutes ago. The crack of the 17 HMR didn't seem to bother him.

Fried squirrel for supper? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />

I'd rather eat a foot soaked in [censored].

i dig that 17.

Now that is a pleasant way to spend the morning....thinning out the varmints from the porch... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Hmm everybody has their own taste I guess ???

Cool lizard

I will eat just about any game you put on the table - I grew up on dove, pheasant, rabbit, deer, grouse, wild turkeys, duck, goose... and I enjoyed them all.

Squirrel tastes like crap! I would rather eat the empty .22 shell casings.

Life is good.

nice pics vic it looks like youve been getting some rain the lawn looks greener!

Yes, we have had over 12" this month. The mosquitos are swarming! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

that looks like a clean cut. you been puttin your ammo on the belt sander?

Ha ha, no. That is just one hit from the 17 Hornady Rimfire Magnum. Like the 22 Magnum, it is too much for small squirrels unless you get a head shot, which is my next goal. He blowed up good, heh heh, blowed up real good.

look at that perfect separation. it looks like those plastic easter eggs that you can open and snap back together.

HD you have beautiful property!

Been a way for a while and I must say HD, your picture taking skills have gotten really good. Those lizard pics are very cool.

+1 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Thanks, jeeps. They still have a ways to go. Here is the Lizard King doing his thing.

rock and roll lyrics.

Very cool. The critters are definitley coming out around here. My dad had a run in with a rattler yesterday. Dad 1 Snake 0.

Think I would have to go for the squirrel, or just about anything else <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Struttin' <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

And I am jealous of the temp, HD. There was snow on the ground here this morning after a tease of the high 70's early this week.

I was just watching Les Stroud talk about how squirrel is not too bad!

I have eaten squirrels killed in Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia, and they were all tasty. Squirrel meat has a lot of flavor and tastes much better than chicken to me. If you pressure cook them they make a really good gravy. You can debone them and make Brunswick stew or Squirrel and dumplings. They are good roasted over a camp fire or fried, too. I can't understand why some folks say they taste bad. But then, I grew up eating them. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

It's just the shock factor that turns ppl off. Just like frog's legs.

I agree, there are a lot of things that people won't eat due to their background and upbringing rather than taste...

Better than chicken. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

let's be honest, now. chicken is a great canvas, but its natural flavor is nothing to write home about.

would almost think he had a run in with mr. david brown. naw... when i think about he'd be in quite a few more pieces. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

(Taco Bell dog voice) "Heeeeeere lizard, lizard, lizard..."

Mediterranean Gecko. (Abilene, Texas)

HD, you will have to post a recipe for Brunswick Stew....we are plagued here with Grey squirrels....they are killing off our indigenous Reds very fast....and I am seriously thinking of amending my certificate for a .17HRM...they look to be a cracking little Varmint stopper!

Do you dunk the squirrels in a bucket before skinning them? By reputation don't they have a lot of fleas or ticks?

Since getting Lyme's disease off a couple of tick bites I am getting a little careful these days....I need to get back to full fittness ASAP and that is one disease which is a hard thing to shake.

Pete - I didn't know that you had Lyme's disease. I am very aware of just how dangerous it can be, having been to a Conservation department seminar and the lady Officer discussing her symptoms - it nearly killed her. With as many ticks and chiggers as we have around here, I always (OK, nearly) apply repellant before going in the woods and field.
I hope you're doing better Brother! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

There's some good rabbit recipes out there too. Rabbit and gravy, about as good as liver and onions!

Lyme is some scary stuff, my cousin fought with it for years and years. It just destroys you. She was constantly weak and just felt awful all the time. I always load up with chemicals when I go into the woods. Those chemicals PROBABLY aren't good for me, but I KNOW what Lyme would do to me. I'll take the chemicals, thanks!

Oh, I forgot, Tiki, you're right. I've eaten some things that the "Western world" would think horrible, but it was tasty! By the same token, what do you think some folks from India think about us eating HAMBURGER! AND PORK!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

My fiance is from Taiwan, and she loves the food she grew up eating. She has made sure that I have tried many of those things that are "exotic" by this Pennsylvania boy's standards....


On the flip side, since I come from an old-time PA "Dutch" family, I have made her eat a lot of OUR weird food - like scrapple, pickled eggs, and souse (head cheese). Yum.


Man, now I want a big scrapple and egg sandwich. Thick-sliced, crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside....

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

All this time I thought The Lizard king was Jim Morrison! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Well at least the Kingdom will be safe with a guardian like him in charge.

Makes the Les Stroud in me wanna start a small fire in a cut open coke can...get a thin stick... never mind. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I shouldn't let my mind wander so. Great shot of The King Vic! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />


Peace.

Sorry to hear about the Lyme disease, Peter. Brunswick Stew was originally a small game stew. I have a friend who makes his only with squirrel meat. Just use any good recipe you find and substitute squirrel meat for the meat part. He pressure cooks them in a little water, debones them, and saves the gravy for his base in the stew. It takes 4 to 6 squirrels, depending on their size, for one pot of stew. If you just want to kill them, the 17 HMR is fine, as is the 17 Mach 2. But for hunting them to eat I would recommend a .22 LR. The Eley subsonic hp is a great squirrel stopper that doesn't tear them up.

At home, 3 summers ago we had a BAD Skunk problem. I killed 7 of them with my RWS.177 pellet rifle. It's fairly quiet and VERY accurate and you can do head shots at about 20-30 yards and not tear the meat up. My longest shot was about 23 LONG steps from the first one I killed (now you know how I got my name).

Thanks for the recipe HD...sounds good...wishing now I had'nt sold my Sako HV .22LR....that was great with Eley Sub Sonics but the trajectory was a bit of a "curve"....

On the Lyme's front...crawling round as we do I have had a lot of ticks over the years...but I think I might have caught this in the US when I was there last year in Fall...or alternatively I picked it up just as I came back ....anyway the rash on my leg showed up in Novemeber and I have been out of it up until February really....did'nt fire a shot over Winter and was in bed from Decemebr to Mid January...high dose antibiotics seem to have knocked it on the head but I was lucky I spotted it quickly. I know of a couple of old timer Deer Stalkers who died with this and a Ghillie in Scotland lost all the skin off his legs from the waist down!!! He was in hospital a long time!!

So my issues are not too bad....it hit me like Malaria which I have also had...but leaves you feeling like you have "Yuppie Flu" and are totally wiped out...still...I have fought it fairly hard and always did some exercise....now I am back to normal nearly...although there are some days when I still feel tired out. I got to enjoy the Forum more though....which was Cool! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Without wanting to go off topic here...any links on sprays you guys use to keep ticks off would be interesting...I am trying to sort out a good repellant for our Ghillie Suits...we mainly now use the unscented Avon Skin so Soft stuff for midges and flys over here...but not sure if it works on keeping ticks off...any help appreciated. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Drat, I just missed a squirrel close in with the Henry...twice. My old eyes just don't focus a good sight picture any more. Besides, I haven't finished my morning coffee yet.

Lizard King is still out there puffing up his throat and bobbing up and down.

As for insect repellent, the hunters around here treat their hunting clothes with permethrin. Let it dry before wearing, as the chemical is a carcinogen. It repels and kills ticks, chiggers, and other evil bugs.

http://www.travmed.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_80&products_id=165

Wow that thing is awesome.

You guys eat some weird food...
Almost as exotic as McDonalds. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

permethrin is awesome stuff - I treat all my gear with it, including my pack, hammock, tarps, tents, etc etc etc.

I have my youngest with me this weekend. She got to drive my Jeep and do a little target practice with her sister's Henry. She shot pretty well. Better than she drove. Just kidding. She did fine. Linda was amused at the Lizard King's antics all morning.

Guess you don't gotta worry too much about any boys breaking her heart, huh?? She might break a bit more than their hearts <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

He has worked for it. What a stud. Nature rewards persistence.

Hey family forum!!

thanks for the pictures <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />.

Think of it a Scrap Yard version of National Geographic. As for family forum, looks like the lizard family that lives under my porch in the ferns will be expanding! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Persistence!

As I said in the Outdoors forum, it's GOOD to be the King! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I didn't know what to expect when clicking on this post.

Squirrel recipes, x-rated lizard action and I think I remember seeing a MUK.

Only in the Yard.