Photo of a possible Limia vittata/Poecilia mexicana hybrid. The upper fish is a female Limia vittata. The bottom fish is a possible female Limia vittata/Poecilia mexicana hybrid. I have tried for years to produce a molly/Limia hybrid to no avail until maybe now. Why would I attempt this? ... Read More
farm fauna
Vat Worms
Photo: A likely Diplocardia ornata, a vat worm found in one of our vats and crawling on author’s hand. Long ago, I promised a blog updating two species of “vat worms” found in our greenhouses. At long last, I’ve just finished it. Before you read this blog, you might want to get some ... Read More
Bryozoan, To Be or Not To Be…
Photo: A freshwater sponge (Dosilia radiospiculata) growing on aquaculture mesh in one of our vats. This blog is an update of another blog: https://goliadfarms.com/a-bryozoan-lives-in-the-greenhouses/. Read it for background. Way back in pre-Coronavirus ages, October 2019, I wrote ... Read More
Raccoons 13, Possums 3 (and Coonhound Paralysis)
Photo: The first of 13 raccoons (Procyon lotor), a youngster from this year, we’ve live-trapped since November 7th. Beginning around November 1st of this year, our greenhouses began to show signs of a raccoon (Procyon lotor) invasion. This often happens in the Fall when the mature raccoon ... Read More
A Bryozoan Lives in the Greenhouses
Photo is of a bryozoan attached to a 1/2" aquaculture netting to show its size. During the last few months, we have noticed a number of these bryozoan creatures (it turns out plural is appropriate as you’ll learn below) pictured above in some of our vats in Greenhouse 2 which mainly houses ... Read More
Still a Busy Rattlesnake Year
Photo of a young rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox), the sixth we've found so far in 2019. It’s officially Fall, and on October 1st we caught our sixth Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) of 2019. The first rattlesnake this year was found March 27th, a month earlier than ever before. ... Read More
A Cicada Ecloses
Photo: A cicada after eclosing and still clinging to its nymph stage exoskeleton. A few nights ago, the dogs (German Shepherds Oso and Maya and rescue mutt Sunshine) and I headed out to check the greenhouses and closeup the warehouse. As we approached the yard gate, Oso and Maya alerted at ... Read More
Update on Gammarus Identification
Photo by Matt Hill (EcoAnalysts, Inc.) of one of our male scuds. This is the first in a series of blogs about finally getting some of our hatchery’s invertebrates identified. You might want to read this blog for ... Read More
The Farm Can Be a Dangerous Place
Photo: Oso, our German Shepherd male, being prepped for surgery after being attacked by a feral hog. Note the puncture wound oozing blood on his abdomen. This blog didn't post to Facebook as it was supposed to. I've been told this has been fixed. This is the second test to see if that ... Read More
Early Dewberry Warning System
Photo: Blondie with purple dewberry stains from rolling in dewberries. Note the purple patches behind her shoulder and on her upper haunch.Every early summer, we go dewberry picking on the farm. Susie makes jam and cobbler from the berries. We have large patches of dewberries, but they are a bit ... Read More