Bat in Attic in Winter and Pest Control Guy

 

Bat in our attic in February. I thought they migrated somewhere in Winter.

Saturday February 22, 2025,  I enter our attic with idea of putting a screen over the opening beneath the roof vent so as to prevent possibility of bats entering via that. However, I discovered a bat hanging on a roof rafter. His fur seemed to have a patch of grey or white hair. My research has lead me to believe the bats in our area migrate to a warmer clime in the Fall and return in Spring. Not this one. So I called a pest control guy and he came over this morning (Thursday February 27). Now the bat was nowhere to be seen, but we were not prepared to move through the attic to locate it either. The past week or 10 days the temps have been below zero here, reaching 10 below one night. Of course the attic would  warmer and the bat must be hibernating n our attic. BUT, days later it wasn't in view. I learned that bats will arouse every couple weeks during hibernation and move around.

This close up of bat was cropped from the wider view photo above.

The bat guy said he could find NO evidence of bat activity in our attic. If not for the photos he wouldn't believe there was ever a bat in there.  

One more thing. I have read in many different web sites that bat's do not stay in attics because they are too hot in summer and too cold in winter. Instead they go down in the walls. Sometimes these walls will lead into the basement and bats find themselves there.

Wintery Weather Returns: Snow and Cold in March

 

March 19 we had a picturesque snowfall here in Chaumont NY. This is our backyard.

Wintery weather has returned to us here in Northern New York. The first couple of weeks this month we had temperatures in the 50's and 60's, I believe some areas set new records for warm temps. Yesterday we awoke to 14 degrees here in the village of Chaumont.  A few days earlier we had a classic, Currier and Ives picture snowfall. Slow falling, large fluffy snow.  This morning (Saturday 23rd) we have about 3 or 4 inches of snow and temp of 23. Chilly, chilly.

Yesterday's temp was a cool 14. Today it's 23. 

Winter Dog Walker Photo & a Guitar Gig

 We got some snow yesterday (Saturday). I was toying around with black and white camera setting on my iPhone 6s, looking through living room window, through the blinds, spotted this person walking a dog. Snap, snap, snap. I would like to have done better with it, but I like it. 

Person walking a dog past our house in Chaumont, NY.

I snapped this photo in the morning. In the afternoon I had a guitar gig at Orion Art Gallery, Alexandria Bay, near the thousand islands bridge. It was 2:00-4:00 and went well. Used my Guild guitar and battery powered amp. 

I forgot to have someone snap a photo of me playing. 

Gary Walts Photo archives: Edward Labrie feed pigeons Winter 1988

Edward LaBrie feeds pigeons at his farm in Calcium, NY, on a snowy day in winter of 1988.

Edward LaBrie, Calcium, NY, feeds pigeons on a snowy day in 1988.  Photo copyright Gary Walts

Edward LaBrie, Calcium, NY,    Photo copyright Gary Walts

Edward LaBrie moved his family from Tupper Lake, NY, to the Calcium farm in 1954. He passed away in 1994. In 1997 or so I documented the family's day to day life on the farm. The Sun Magazine published  a Aa photo essay from that project in the January 2002 issue. 

Lake effect snow storm hits Chaumont, NY November 18, 2014

An intense lake effect snow storm hit Chaumont, NY November 18, 2014. These are some photos I snapped during a walk around the village.

See more photos of the storm here.

Snow in Chaumont photos

The following are some photos of snow in Chaumont that I snapped this morning with an iPhone 5. It was 1 degree below zero.

A panoramic view from the porch of my home on Washington St. in Chaumont, N.Y.          gary walts photo

A cat's tracks in the snow on the walk as seen from the porch of my home on Washington St. in Chaumont, N.Y.          gary walts photo

Pic nic table in my back yard.                    photo by gary walts

Crow on a snowbank and car trouble

I am sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot and spot this crown on a snowbank.   Snap, snap.   photo by Gary Walts

It was one degree here this morning. Yesterday we had more snow. I also had a guitar gig at the library in Alexandria Bay as part of their Art in Winter event. I pulled out of my driveway and got one block and the van was making an odd noise. I get out and discover a rear flat tire. It must have gone flat over night. Then I look at the other rear wheel and it appears to be at an odd angle to the van. It is cocked outward at the bottom. Something is clearly wrong. The night before that I was driving home from Syracuse and the van was going down the road in a peculiar fashion. It would swerve oddly when I turned the wheel. It's hard for me to describe, just that something was not right with it. Now it's obvious to me that something is wrong with the rear suspension. Now I'll have to remove the rear wheels and take them into town for new tires. I'll inspect the rear suspension and hopefully it will not be something impossible or expensive to repair.

I had plans to drive to Philadelphia, PA today to visit my niece and her family. While there I was planning on visiting the Classical Guitar Store I am more than ready to buy a new guitar and they have a great selection. However, I now plan to go there in April nd be there for Thomas Jefferson's birthday.

Pigeon wing on Syracuse sidwewalk

More snow yesterday and this morning in Chaumont, NY. The low temperature last night wass 13 degrees.
I snapped the photo of the pigeon wing on a busy sidewalk in downtown Syracuse. There are hawks that live in the city and prey on pigeons. I am assuming this is the remains of such an attack.

Pigeon wing on a Syracuse sidewalk. I figure it is the remnants of a hawk attack on the bird.    photo by  gary walts

Huge lake effect snow storm in northern NY

Downtown Watertown during  near white out conditions from lake effect snow.  Unfortunately the camera sensor is very dirty which causes all the spots you see. Time to get it cleaned.

The Winter continues to be brutal.  A huge lake effect snow storm has hit the area from Mannsville to Gouvernuer. It began Monday evening. I was in Syracuse photographing a girls basketball game. By the time I got done Rt 81 from Brewerton to Watertown was closed. I was supposed to cover the storm the next day so rather than drive through the snow at 11:00 at night I spent the night at Brother D's house in Mattydale. Tuesday morning it was extremly cold and windy in Syracuse, but weather was clear. I started driving North on Rt 81 and it was clear all the way to Parish. There it was sunny, but the roads were wet. When I reached Mexico the snow started. At Pulaski the snow was heavy enough to make storm photos. I spent an hour or so there. The next stop was Mannsville and the snow was heavy with blowing winds. The village was desolate, reminiscent of a ghost town. From there I drove RT 11 and every mile north the snow and wind was stronger. Frequent white outs. By the time I got to Adams  the driving was some of the worst I have experienced. I snapped a coupl pictures in the village and then started for home. It was a good two hours+ getting there. I long line of cars and trucks, myself included, were like a caravan, moving slowly through the storm, bumper to bumper. Sometimes we stopped for five or ten minutes, Often we would move hundred feet or less, stop, move on, stop. It is six miles to Watertown and it took an hour to get there. From watertown to Chaumont was another rough stretch. Brownville was off and on white outs. When I got to Limerick it was like a switch was turned on. There was no snow, fairly bare roads and I was able to drive 60mph on those last five miles. What a relief to get home.

Pulaski, NY,  gary walts photo

Pulaski, NY  gary walts photo

Lacona, NY  gary walts photo

Pulaski NY,           Gary Walts photo

Mannsville, NY    gary walts photo

Adams, NY    gary walts photo

Adams Center, NY    gary walts photo

Mannsville, NY     gary walts photo

Mannsville NY Post Office   gary walts photo

Snowman and snow scene

Snowman in my neighbors yard, Chaumont, N.Y.                                                                             Gary Walts photo

Went Christmas shopping yesterday with the Better Half and in the course of it picked up our Christmas tree. I'll put up photos of that later. In the mean time the snowy tree in the field was taken in Calcium, NY at the Gracy farm. The snowman is in the front yard of one of my neighbors here in Chaumont.

Snowy tree in a field at the Gracy farm in Calcium, N.Y.                                                Gary Walts photo

World's Largest Snowman

This giant snowman is possibly the largest one in the World. It is located at a farm on NYS Route 126 in Champion, between Watertown and Carthage NY.   

I snapped these photos earlier this Winter. We have since had a couple of thaws and I am not sure just what condition it is in today. Otherwise, it remains a somewhat typical February up here in the North Country. It has been clod and clear. My wood pile is on the wane and we have ordered more home heating oil for our apartment house on Clay St, Watertown.  Today's price is $3.89 a gallon. What an outrage. Gasoline has gone over $4 a gallon. It is $4.04 here in Chaumont. What can the increase be from? There has not been any oil related crisis' in the news lately. I suspect oil is rising because the dollar is weakening. The Fed has been printing money which would weaken the dollar which in turn raises the price of oil. Oil goes down when the dollar is strong.

Photo of Snow Plow in Pulaski, N.Y.

I snapped this photo of a snow plow from the window of my car while parked on the side of the street. This is Port St. in the village of Pulaski, N.Y.

We are well into the thick of Winter here in Northern NY. For the past week temperatures have been below zero to single digits above zero. However, yesterday it began to warm some. This evening there is a bit of freezing rain. Freezing rain can be one of the most trecherous of weather conditions.

Dressing In Layers For Winter Warmth Outdoors

Winter is now well upon us here in Northern N.Y. Yesterday it was a mere 7 degrees F. Last night was windy and began to snow. This morning there was a good 12 to 18 inches of snow with drifts over 2 feet. Blowing and drifting snow can create some unusual shapes and patterns that no person could duplicate. The picture presented here was of a snow formation in a kitchen window of my home in Chaumont, NY. What is interesting is that somehow the wind managed to blow minute bits of snow between the storm wind and the screen, causing it to pile up in the form you see in the photo. The base of the storm window, where it meets the sill, has two small weep holes. They permit moisture from condensation to exit. As best as I can figure, the wind blew the minute, icy snow particles through these weep holes.

Snow formation in my kitchen window, Chaumont, N.Y.   photo by Gary Walts

Today's high temperature reached 23F. I was supposed to teach guitar today, but one by one my students called to say they would not be there, so I had the day off. At 1:00 I went out and shoveled the driveway & sidewalk. I did some other puttering around, brought in dome firewood from the wood pile, walked to the store and the like. All told I spent a solid four hours out doors. I never felt cold. The key thing to staying warm outside in Winter is to wear layers. I was wearing a turtle neck shirt. Over that a flannel shirt. Then a fleece vest. On top of all that I was wearing a long sleeved fleece with a zippered turtle neck. Then I had on Winter boots and a knit hat, a toque. In my opinion a toque is an essential Winter garment. The next is a turtle neck or any other zippered garment that comes up around the neck like a turtle neck. I usually do not wear long underwear until the temperature starts getting near zero. I have also found that with a good pair of Winter boots I never need more than one pair of socks. In fact, I believe that most people wearing more than one pair of socks have cold feet. I believe it is because the socks are too small and doubling them compresses them, defeating the insulating value of the layers. That effect is compounded by cramming their double socked feet into their normal shoes or boots, compressing everything even more. On occasion I wear two pair of socks, but that is rare. 99.5% of the time it is just one. When I do wear a second pair they are made of wool and are much larger than my everyday socks. I have small feet. For most of my adut life I have worn a size 8 1/2 to 9 shoe. The width of the shoe dictates whether it's the 8.5 or the nine. Anyhow, my Winter boots are a size 10. This gives my single, or double socked feet plenty of room. No restrictions. My feet stay warm. So, to stay comfortable outdoors for extended perionds dress in thre to five layers on your upper body. My lower body gets by with two to three layers. That would be regular underwear briefs and pants, or long underwear and pants. For athird layer it would be roomy overalls or extra large jeans, or snow pants. For my feet it is a good Winter boot with one or two pair of socks. If I have the maximum number of layers as out lined above, I can spend a good four hours in 20 below zero weather comfortably.

Strange Winter Dreams

I am anxious to get out of here this morning for I must mow the lawns in watertown (my rental places) for it looks like rain.
I went to bed extremely tired last night. I got a solid eight hours sleep. I know it was a deep sleep because it was littered with dreams, almost night mares. They all took place in Winter and involved bodies of water. The most prominent dream took place by a partially frozen river with deep snow all about. The river banks were rather high, probably 10 or 12 feet. A man I did not recognize stepped out on the snow covered ice. One of his feet broke through and into the water. He then fell bckward and crashed though the ice and became totally submerged. I became allarmed. I wanted to save him. The current dragged hime a short distance and he stopped just below the surface. I could see him clearly. He was looking through the water at me. I wass yelling to hime to try and get his face out of the water to take a breath. His winter clothing was weighing hime down. I was also trying to look for a long stick or object to reach out to him to take a hold of. My brother M from Dallas was there. If we had a couple more people we could form a human chain to reach him. The clock is ticking. Then brother M stands with his back to the river, pinches his nose, closes his eyes and falls backwards into the river. He gets a hold of the man and successfully pulls him from the river. That was one of the scenes.
Another scene involved me as a passenger aboard a strange motorized vehicle operated by un unfamiliar man. He drove down a bank to a lake and proceeded to drive out on it. I became somewhat panicky because there were open pools of water amid the snow on the lake, so obviously it was not frozen enough to support a vehicle with two people on it. I do not recall any more of that segment. Dreams are most interesting and entertaining. But what is the significance of this one or any of them.

Variations On A Theme: Case Road Winter Scene

Two or three weeks ago we had one of the very few snow falls of the Winter. I like how the snow packed against objects on the side exposed to the prevailing wind. So I kept my eye out for something to show this bit of Mother Nature's artistry. Thus it was I stopped my 2002 Dodge Caravan and snapped the following pictures.








As with all things that catch my eye I set about photographing them and "working" the subject. Varying the focal length of the lens, camera angle, depth of field and the like. Later during the edit process it can be difficult to settle on a favorite image from the whole take. This evening I am leaning toward the upper most photo as my favorite composition.

The scene is on Case Road in the Town of Lyme, N.Y., about 3 miles from my home.

Day 338: Winter Night Driving

At this point my morning and my day are rapidly getting away from me. So just a quick photo of a car at night on a typical, snow covered Winter road.

Car on interstate Route 81, somewhere in Northyern New York.  photo by Gary Walts 2011

Day 337: Winter Wonder & Woe




Last night I went to bed at 1:00am. I awoke at 6:00am to 8 degrees below zero. Quite cold. Not enough sleep. Later in the morning I went out to the wood pile to bring some wood in for the stove. As is often the case in below zero weather here, the air was still and the Sun was bright and strong. I looked across the street at my neighbors house and WOW, what do I see?  The Sun behind this frost covered Maple tree. I race into the house, grab a camera, get back outdoors and snap this photo. Such is the beauty and glory of Winter in Northern New York. It's a good thing that God made Winter so pretty or we would never put up with it.  

A little while later I am reminded of the problems of living here in the Winter. Those problems can often be anticipated, but usually they show up unexpectedly as was the case this morning. The Better Half was running late for work. She went to back out of the driveway and got hung up on some ice. Her wheels were spinning. My neighbor who was outside shovelling off his porch roof came over and the two of us pushed her out of the driveway. She headed down the street. I look at where she was parked. There was an unusually large block of ice that had formed and kept the van from backing up properly. Well, that's not the real problem. A few minutes later she is pulling back into the driveway and telling me something in wrong with her van. It wouldn't drive properly. She had trouble explaining it. So I hop in and take it for a spin down the street. Yes indeed, something was wrong. It turned out that one of the rear wheels was frozen such that it would not turn. It was just being dragged down the street as if the rear brakes were locked up on that one wheel.  Now everything begins to make sense. The wheel locked up made it difficult to back out of the driveway.  So, I go to the garage, get my floor jack and wrench to remove the problematic wheel.  After the lug nut were removed I had to take a sledge hammer to the wheel, give a number of "luv taps" to break the wheel rim off the hub. Then I got out the Bernz-O-Matic torch and began heating the wheel. A few minutes later it was free and spinning like new.  Evidently water (melted snow) had gotten inside the hub and froze in such a way that the wheel seized up. I have never experienced this before today.

Day 336: Ground Hog Day

Ice cicles hang from my garage in Chaumont, NY.                                                         photo by Gary Walts

The ice cicle photo was taken two days ago. The photo below was taken of my back yard about half an hour ago.

Today is Groundhog Day. This is the day when the groundhog crawls out of his hole and takes a look around to see his shadow. According to tradition: If he sees it, he regards it as an omen of six more weeks of bad weather and returns to his hole. If the day is cloudy and, hence, shadowless, he takes it as a sign of spring and stays above ground.

So most of the country has been hit with a snow storm. Some places with sleet and ice in the mix. Well, herre in Chaumont, NY it is more or less business as usual. I have been out in conditions far worse than this. The snow is on and off. What aggravates the situation is the wind. It is quite strong so it creates snow drifts. The wind can make driving difficult because it blows the snow across thye roads creating moments of  limited or no visibilty. But in between gusts, it's fine. One must exercise cautioon in these conditions.



View of my garage & snow drifs this morning. 



I'll be going outside after this to shovel the snow from the driveway. I will be comfortable because I will dress in two to four layers of clothing. The worst part will be the wind. So one of my layers will be regular Winter jacket that breaks the wind. Usually I wear sweaters and / or sweat shirts over a couple of shirts. Always I wear a knit hat.

---

To Love,
To Read,
To look skyward,
To believe,

To gaze at you,
To be bold,
To be true,
To be honest,

It's me,
In love with you.

copyright Gary Walts 2011