As many of you know, I live outside of a town called Live Oak. It
isn't at all surprising to find that my house is located under several
large live oak trees. It kinda adds to the charm of the place. Except
I also have a metal roof. These trees tower a good 20-30 feet above
my (metal) roof. Long about this time of year they start shedding
their fruit, which is, of course, acorns. Each gentle breeze brings
showers of acorns down on my (metal) roof. It isn't just a gentle
"ping" when these things hit, either. They come down with a vengeance
and go "WHAM." Sometimes they fall in groups, sometimes they fall
alone. I get to hear them roll off the roof after they fall, and
being acorn shaped instead of round, they roll kinda funny, and
sometimes they get stuck, until WHAM, another one comes down and runs
into it. Then I get to hear two irregular rolls as they head down my
(metal) roof. It goes on day and night, and I get no relief if I go
outside, as three of my outbuildings also have metal roofs and are
under (natch) their own live oak trees. Maybe we've had more storms
in the past and got over this quicker, maybe there is a bumper crop of
acorns this year, I don't know, but this has been going on for weeks
now. It's starting to drive me (even more) nuts. Nuts, get it?

cue music:

They're coming to take me away
To the funny farm...
--
Galen Hekhuis
Hell hath no fury like a bird in the hand

Galen Hekhuis wrote:

As many of you know, I live outside of a town called Live Oak. It
isn't at all surprising to find that my house is located under several
large live oak trees.

I've always wanted to know: what's a Live Oak? How does it differ from any
other (non-dead) oak?

It kinda adds to the charm of the place. Except
I also have a metal roof. These trees tower a good 20-30 feet above
my (metal) roof. Long about this time of year they start shedding
their fruit, which is, of course, acorns. Each gentle breeze brings
showers of acorns down on my (metal) roof. It isn't just a gentle
"ping" when these things hit, either. They come down with a vengeance
and go "WHAM."

I bet. When the squirrels run across our well-insulated, asphalt-shingled,
roof they make a racket. I'd hate to think what they'd sound like on a
metal roof (and probably dropping acorns - come to think of it, are you
sure it's a breeze? It's probably squirrels throwing the acorns!).

cue music:

They're coming to take me away
To the funny farm...

ha ha, ho ho, hee hee...
--
derek

Where I lived it was the ravens out to get you...
we lived in Northern Canada and shared our townsite
with bears and wolverines, seals and ravens.
The ravens are smart birds and they got bored. A lot.
When they got bored of turning over garbage cans they
used to go bowling. They liked to go bowling at the crack
of dawn. They would pick up a rock, fly to the ridge pole
of our roof and drop the rock. The rock would roll down the
roof and if it hit the gutter it was worth mega points. But
the winning point was scored if the rock rolled along the
gutter and went down the rain spout. Clang, clang, clang
down the rain spout and out into the street. Where they
would pick it back up and again and bowling by raven
would start all over again.
k :-)

On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:03:57 CST, Derek Broughton
wrote:

Galen Hekhuis wrote:

As many of you know, I live outside of a town called Live Oak. It
isn't at all surprising to find that my house is located under several
large live oak trees.

I've always wanted to know: what's a Live Oak? How does it differ from any
other (non-dead) oak?

A live oak differs from other oaks in that it does not seem to drop
its leaves in the winter, aside from having smaller leaves than other
oaks. The live oaks never seem to get bare like other trees. I don't
know if they are actually classed as "evergreens."

It kinda adds to the charm of the place. Except
I also have a metal roof. These trees tower a good 20-30 feet above
my (metal) roof. Long about this time of year they start shedding
their fruit, which is, of course, acorns. Each gentle breeze brings
showers of acorns down on my (metal) roof. It isn't just a gentle
"ping" when these things hit, either. They come down with a vengeance
and go "WHAM."

I bet. When the squirrels run across our well-insulated, asphalt-shingled,
roof they make a racket. I'd hate to think what they'd sound like on a
metal roof (and probably dropping acorns - come to think of it, are you
sure it's a breeze? It's probably squirrels throwing the acorns!).

I've got motion detectors all around the outside of the house. Some
of them detect magnetic changes, they will pick up on a car or some
large metal thing moving, but ignore things like deer. Others pick up
on motion, no matter what causes it. A large piece of Spanish moss
falling will set those off. If *anything* moves within a few hundred
feet of the house, I know it. I've tuned the sensitivity on the
actual motion detectors so they won't go off when a squirrel is
running around, but they will go off when an armadillo trots by. I
also have cameras all around too, and many is the night I've watched
deer or some other critter scamper around. Anyway, the motion
detectors all have different sounds, so I can not only tell a critter
is around, I can tell pretty much where it is. I have the motion
detectors and cameras not because I'm paranoid and think people are
out to get me (although they are), but because I'm generally nuts and
I like to watch critters. Anyway, I mention the motion detectors
because when several of the acorns hit it sounds like someone is
pounding on this "manufactured" home (doublewide trailer). I don't
know how many times recently I've been in that state in bed between
being awake and asleep only to hear someone banging on the house. But
none of the motion detectors go off so I know it isn't someone
pounding, it's those damn acorns. I don't know what huge tree limbs
would sound like hitting the roof, but it's probably worse, because
that's what the just the acorns sound like.

cue music:

They're coming to take me away
To the funny farm...

ha ha, ho ho, hee hee...

As I think about it, I think that part was done without any musical
accompaniment. My bad for cuing it.
--
Galen Hekhuis
"Mistakes were made"

On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 13:44:57 CST, Galen Hekhuis
wrote:

The live oaks never seem to get bare like other trees. I don't
know if they are actually classed as "evergreens."

Yes, we consider them evergreens because they have green leaves in the
winter. Never seen one completely bare, but foliage is less dense and
new growth is apparent for a few days, maybe a couple weeks about
February for me. I usually notice it when I'm cleaning out the
plugged carport downspout. The live oak is the Georgia state tree.
It is also protected along the gulf coast and some are truly majestic
trees that have lived 500 years and survived hurricanes. That doesn't
mean they are a good idea close to a pond, or driveway.
--
Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8
http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb

Hal wrote:
Yes, we consider them evergreens because they have green leaves in the
winter. Never seen one completely bare, but foliage is less dense and
new growth is apparent for a few days, maybe a couple weeks about
February for me. I usually notice it when I'm cleaning out the
plugged carport downspout. The live oak is the Georgia state tree.
It is also protected along the gulf coast and some are truly majestic
trees that have lived 500 years and survived hurricanes. That doesn't
mean they are a good idea close to a pond, or driveway.

The deer and wood ducks seem to like the acorns. Which to me are WAY
more important than a perfectly clean pond...

--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
"Usenet really is all about standing around and hitting the ground
with clubs, on a spot where many years earlier a dead horse lay."

many trees = good anchors for netting that would catch the nuts and redirect them to
a barrel. Maybe sell the acorns. I thought acorns were el primo pig feed?

On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 10:39:30 CST, Galen Hekhuis wrote:
As many of you know, I live outside of a town called Live Oak. It
isn't at all surprising to find that my house is located under several
large live oak trees. It kinda adds to the charm of the place. Except
I also have a metal roof.

On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 11:37:22 CST, Chris Barnes
wrote:

The deer and wood ducks seem to like the acorns. Which to me are WAY
more important than a perfectly clean pond...

Squirrels like them too. I don't ever see a wood duck and the only
deer are the painted concrete statues in the back yard that my wife
likes, but I could do without the bulb digging tree bark stripping
little tree rats. If I had 10 acres to plan and plant, I'd still
plant live oak some distance from the house and koi pond.
--
Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8
http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb

wrote:
many trees = good anchors for netting that would catch the nuts and redirect them to
a barrel. Maybe sell the acorns. I thought acorns were el primo pig feed?

Acorns are wasted on pigs - pigs will eat anything. We have lots of
feral ones where I live - most property owners put out large cage-traps.
Had one friend that worked for Nabisco that would get crates of
cookies and crackers when a delivery truck was in a wreck and the whole
load was deemed "not fit for sale". He used them in the hog traps.


Acorns are good for native wildlife however. Deer, squirrels, 'coons,
and wood ducks love them.

--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
"Usenet really is all about standing around and hitting the ground
with clubs, on a spot where many years earlier a dead horse lay."

"Chris Barnes" wrote in message
...
Acorns are wasted on pigs - pigs will eat anything. We have lots of
feral ones where I live - most property owners put out large cage-traps.
Had one friend that worked for Nabisco that would get crates of cookies
and crackers when a delivery truck was in a wreck and the whole load was
deemed "not fit for sale". He used them in the hog traps.
==================
What did he do with the trapped hogs?
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Reel McKoi wrote:
"Chris Barnes" wrote in message
...
Acorns are wasted on pigs - pigs will eat anything. We have lots of
feral ones where I live - most property owners put out large cage-traps.
Had one friend that worked for Nabisco that would get crates of cookies
and crackers when a delivery truck was in a wreck and the whole load was
deemed "not fit for sale". He used them in the hog traps.
==================
What did he do with the trapped hogs?


The big ones get killed and processed in short order. The small ones
get sold (about $25-$40 each) where they put into a feed pen and allowed
to grow a bit - then they are killed and processed.

Note that up until just a few years ago, feral pigs were considered such
a pest that some ranchers paid folks to take them off their property.
And while the days of getting paid to do it are gone, they are still a
pest. Fwiw, feral hogs can damage a pond in pretty short order, even
to the point of ripping a hole in the dam. Just trying to bring this
back to some 'semblance of "on topic" :-)

--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
"Usenet really is all about standing around and hitting the ground
with clubs, on a spot where many years earlier a dead horse lay."

"Chris Barnes" wrote in message
...
Reel McKoi wrote:
What did he do with the trapped hogs?


The big ones get killed and processed in short order. The small ones get
sold (about $25-$40 each) where they put into a feed pen and allowed to
grow a bit - then they are killed and processed.

Note that up until just a few years ago, feral pigs were considered such a
pest that some ranchers paid folks to take them off their property. And
while the days of getting paid to do it are gone, they are still a pest.
Fwiw, feral hogs can damage a pond in pretty short order, even to the
point of ripping a hole in the dam. Just trying to bring this back to some
'semblance of "on topic" :-)
========================
There's few things I like better than roast pork. ;-) ~

In the winter when the ponds are mostly asleep we tend to wander off topic
at times.

I've had deer drinking from my barrel water gardens but they stayed away
from the ponds themselves. No wild hogs here but we have just about
everything else.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

Hi Dereck,
A live oak is just another cultivar of the family that all oak trees are
part of. You would be surprised to see that even a beech tree is part of
that family, as well as many other trees you may be familiar with.