pig fishin' the mississippi

nutria are an introduced rodent from south america for the fur trade in the 30's.  they are responsible for damaging wetlands by eating plant roots across the world from scandanavia to africa and asia.  when i worked down on the mississippi river with the bp oil spill we would see them scurrying across the marsh.  they were always eye-balling me with their little beady eyes, buck-toothed grins, tiny tyrannosaurus rex ugly hands, and ratty tails.

when i heard about a Nutria Rodeo i thought this was my chance for revenge for all those dirty looks they were cutting me.

what you lookin at boy?

southeast louisiana

map of the damage in se louisiana

global spread of nutria

we launched our death mission around 7am headed across the river to the mudflats in 2 airboats.

meet our team

teams rats ass: me, nicole mitchell, james mitchell, walker rosenberg

team sissy britches: matt moe, tim o'connor, jess barksdale, garrett landry

running from the storm

walker, nicole, james

everyone knows that every good team needs a dedicated nerd... er... waterboy... er... support staff. this assignment couldnt have happened without ms barksdale and her skillful shooting (of pictures).

locked and loaded

before the shooting began we were crossing a small ditch as we climbed the bank i started the bloodshed with a river cane to the eye

the other boat had two nutria in the boat and shot another as tim went to pick up the body and hold it up.  the 'deadish' rat in one last gasp, swung around and chomped through three layers of jackets and into his arm.   i wish i had a picture of everyones face: tims was of shock (maybe bc he pooped his pants), matt moe was laughing hysterically, james' covering his face in terror (ive never seen a mitchell scared).  luckily the nutria missed arteries and was dispatched.

mama always said id make something out of myself


after 2 hours we had 20 nutria in the boats and decided to supplement our diet with feral hogs.  we saw a group of 3 small pigs and ran them down.

the days totals 25 nutria and 4 hogs.  the perfect saturday. 

matt and his sow

15 minutes of fame

jill and i went to buffalo for new years and i was tempted by front row tickets to the bills-jets game. before leaving to the game jill was worried about being cold so she borrowed an old green military jacket from her uncle and was a little 'self conscious' about maintaining her fashionable image.  i told her 'dont worry, who's going to see you? its better to be warm.'
after a kick return one of the players ran over us and it was captured by the bills photographer and posted on their website.  jill is the one over his left shoulder with the ugly, puke green jacket and im the goofy looking one with the blue sabres toboggan taking the picture.

my reverse angle picture

the bills were victorious in front of a half filled stadium.  at least one of my teams wins...

rednecks with bow and arrows

everybody came down to louisiana for nate jones' wedding.  while the groomsmen were distracted by dressing up and eating fancy dinners.  we escaped to go bowfishing with some of the capts i work with the oilspill.  they are professional and fantastic guides if youre ever in the new orleans area and want a wild experience call them or visit louisiana bowfishing

 meet at sun down and buy beer and licenses.  the airboat rigged with huge halogen lights

front shooting deck

bows are set up with broadtip arrows with a tethered spool



the boys: dave tormey, matt moe, bear, and wilbur.  you drive along the bank shootung redfish in the shallows

 27 redfish (red drum), 2 sheepshead, 2 black drum

 pile em up

 amazingly good night

cleaning started at 2:30am and ran til morning

wilbur on filet

poor man's DIY greywater treatment system

i have finally posted the house for sale for $55K. any takers????


I finally got around to building the greywater filtration system for the house.  greywater is water uncontaminated by fecal matter i.e. kitchen sink, shower, sink, etc.  in my case the water will include urine from the composting toilet which diverts urine. the basic design is greywater from the house is piped into two 55 gal retention drums with alternating layers of 3/4 in. gravel and charcoal.  the drums provide retention time for the solids and initial breakdown of the waste stream. the overflow then enters the plastic lined pond that will house aquatic plants and fish.


started the day with two holes and a pile of supplies. 500 gal pond liner, 2 x 55 gal drums, 3 x 1 1/2" PCV couplings, 1 1/2" PCV, 2" hole bit, primer and PCV glue and other stuff.


the drums need to be uphill of the pond to encourage flow through the system.


laying out the system


i drilled holes through the adjacent drums to connect the couplings.


1 1/2" couplings with 5" PVC pipe


downhill.


pitch the overflow pipe down into the pond. this was just over 2" fall over 2'.


drums with 3/4" gravel (1 ton filled both perfectly) and store bought charcoal (without lighter fluid) layers filter wastewater.


the view after everything is in place.

summer in canadia

i spent the summer as an instructor for a college marine ecology program on vancouver island in british columbia, canada. its always great to work with young people and realize that we are in good hands in the future. but more importantly to go fishing.

boccaccio rockfish and travis

sculphin

boccaccio rockfish

sea urchin fresh from the sea

gigging for rockfish in the deer group islands


travis was hung up on what we thought was a rock or kelp turned out he had hooked a huge sea star that wouldnt release from the rocks.


between courses jill came to visit and we ate our way through vancouver, well known for amazingly authentic and diverse asian cuisines. the richmond night market is an eclectic outdoor street fair every sat through the summer. vendors from all over asia have these little tents offering the most interesting/strange foods.

yup vietnamese bbq horse meat wasnt too bad

japadog a weird twist of east and west.

kobe beef dog with seaweed, onions, terimayo, fish flakes, and sriracha.

after i finished up teaching the marine ecology course i met up with my friends from vancouver island, ian and tove, who are back down in victoria for the summer from teaching in nunavut. nunavut for those who dont know is the newest (1999) and largest territory in canadia, way up above the arctic circle (you can follow their adventures at tovian.wordpress.com). anyway they just had a little baby, wren and she is the cutest thing in the world.


somehow i got signed up for a salmon fishin derby with ian and dave. we woke at 5 to fog and wind.




the coho, silvers to americans, started biting right away, but we were hunting for chinooks aka springs, kings to americans. we brought in 6 weighing 5 lbs each.


5.2lb coho

fish on!!!

releasing a small chinook

dave at the weigh in

ian with 5.2 lb coho

notice how when i took pictures of the other boys i manipulated it to make the fish look bigger. ian wasnt so kind.

the eventual winner 26.4 lb chinook


day at the beach in tofino

tove and wren

the fine looking family