Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Building a garage-apartment with a pond view

Start of Public Service Announcement
It is illegal to put out any food or mineral attractant to attract deer in the state of IL.
End of Public Service Announcement

If you didn't insist on doing it right the first time, it would go ever so much faster.

Just build a bird feeder and dump a bunch of seed and corn -- to feed the birds of course.

Bluejays love shelled corn!


The following was taken from http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources reminds Illinois residents and visitors not to feed wild deer and other wildlife in areas where wild deer are present. A ban on feeding wild deer was enacted in 2002 as part of the state’s continuing effort to limit the spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in the Illinois wild deer herd.

The ban includes food, salt, mineral blocks and other food products, with some exceptions. For example, bird and squirrel feeders close to homes and incidental feeding of wildlife within active livestock operations are exempt from the ban. The ban also does not prevent individuals from planting food plots. For a complete list of the exemptions, click here to see the administrative rule 17 Illinois Administrative Code
Part 635 .

“Feeding deer or other wildlife may seem like a great idea and may even give someone the sense that they are helping these animals find food during harsh winter months but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” said IDNR Acting Director Sam Flood. “The fact is areas where deer congregate have the potential to contribute to the spread of diseases that are transmitted by animal to animal contact, including CWD and bovine tuberculosis. Eliminating the feeding of wild deer will help control the spread of CWD and other diseases among these animals.”

Feed stores, pet stores and other retail outlets are also advised not to promote the sale of salt blocks, grain or other feed for wild deer.

Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disease found in deer and elk. The disease affects the brains of infected animals, causing them to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior, lose coordination and eventually die.

It is not known to be contagious to livestock or humans.

CWD has been diagnosed in wild, free-ranging deer and elk as well as in captive animals in a number of western states for many years. The first confirmed cases of CWD in wild deer in Illinois were detected in Boone and Winnebago counties in 2002. To date, a total of 189 deer have tested positive for CWD in Illinois. Many of the affected animals were found or harvested by hunters in Boone, Winnebago, McHenry, DeKalb, LaSalle and Ogle counties.

IDNR continues to collect tissue samples from wild deer for CWD testing. As part of the surveillance and monitoring effort, hunters in northern Illinois are asked to voluntarily provide tissues samples from deer they are harvesting during the archery and firearm deer seasons this fall and winter.

“We appreciate the cooperation of hunters and other Illinois citizens in combating the spread of CWD,” Flood said. “Sampling deer taken by hunters is an extremely important part of this effort. So is the voluntary cooperation of landowners and other Illinois residents in not feeding wild deer. Setting out feed or a salt block that attracts deer could accelerate the spread of CWD."

My question is this:
Have they definately found out what causes the spread of CWD or are they still guessing?

Still guessing in my opinion. I think it was always there and they just started looking for it and found it. Its is something that we just will have to live with. If feeding deer spreads disease why isn't there lots of diseased deer in Texas??????

If love the note on telling retails outlets not to promote the deer feeds and mineral attractants. Every retail store in the state that sells anything hunting sells deer feed and/or mineral attractants. If it is illegal to use why isn't it illegal to sell?

Ok enough hijacking sorry about that

We have the same problem in Indiana. But, it's not illegal to feed/place minerals for the deer, just illegal to hunt around them or any affected soil.

That's where it gets sticky. If there is any food left on the ground, then that could = a fine. Same for any soil that is "tainted" by the mineral mix. There is no defination bo how far away the hunter has to be if the stuff in left on the ground.

In Brettski's case, I think putting up a bunch of bird feeders where they are easily visible from the house would be a perfect solution.

I have got so many stinkin' deer...they BYO their own salt and corn for dinner

Well, if they really start getting on your nerves, I know some responsible, respectful people that would help you with that problem.

Brettski, sounds like you need to invite a group of anti's over and they could pass out birth control to Bambi's friends.

The project is looking great. I too, have much experience with construction in Illinois. Codes and inspections as you know vary a great deal. After 20 years as a self employed General Contractor, I'm following my passion of fishing and water. Our new fishiding products are selling well...more than can be said of our housing market. Instead of building houses for people. now I'm building houses for fish. Lot less stress and they don't complain about the cost. You will enjoy your place that much more having been hands on throughout the process. If you need some help before I get too soft, let me know and I'll come give you guys a hand.

Many thanks for the props and the assistance offer, Peepaw. We're gonna keep pluggin' along as a 2 horse time for now, never losing the thought that a time may come when we really do need help.
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That being said, we actually did take the weekend off. It wasn't planned, but my abscess + reconstructed root canal on Thurs night put the lid on my ability to stay on top of my game. I elected to stay home and pop Motrin 800 and Vicoden all weekend. Dang it! I missed another opportunity to work out in sweltering heat and humidity.

Good thing you are staying on top of it. Dad is still making partials and full uppers/lowers if needed.

Man, another hotsie totsie. This has been a tough summer for the midwest. We are very grateful to have utility power not only to the jobsite, but 60 amps of it channeled into our little 120 sq ft cabin. One of the very few pro's of tiny living quarters is the ability to control and adjust the ambient temperature quickly. The window A/C combined with the small dehumidifier are saviors and it's really nice to be able to run them concurrently along with the TV and the microwave. Sure beats limited juice with the generator.
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The area we are working on is in the shade until about 2 in the afternoon. We do our best, but when the sun hits directly, it's smokin' hot and productivity grinds along slowly to a drippin' sweaty end. We got above the last set of windows (milestone) and past the last funky angle change at the ends of the rows. 7 rows to go on this gable.



After this gable, it's on to the 4 tiny areas at the ends of the shed dormers. Although these little triangles should be cake as very small square footage, I expect they will give me some fits because they include fitting in the rake trim pieces on the metal roof (dang it; more roof stuff) and fitting the fascia as it wraps down and around to the soffit. In other words, time consuming detail. The good news is that once I have it figgered out, the other 3 are identical. This assumes that I get it whipped on the first one. (rolleyes)



The last challenge will be fitting the soffits along the bottom edge of the lower gambrel roof section.

Man those big lake facing windows make me smile every time I see them.

yeah...me too...thx

We stuck to our 2 day Sat-Sun program, arriving late on Friday night. We awoke to rain that shut down outside work for the first few hours on Saturday morning. I used the overcast, wet weather to get up on the ladder from the inside and finally cut out the felt paper that covers the ridge cut out for the vent. I left it in place last winter as it took a number of weeks to get the metal ridge cap installed from one gable end to the other. I just never got back to cutting it out.
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We did our standard "bunches of trips up and down the ladder" and then finally set up the scaffold for the last few rows at the peak. It's done...finally...and we're pretty happy with the results.
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I spent Sunday goofin' with first of the 4 little triangular areas at the ends of the dormers. As suspected, it's a PIMA project of nippin', tuckin' and custom fittin'. The downside is it's gonna take some time to get em' done. The upside is that I got a chance to sample how I'm gonna git 'er dun today and it came along pretty well...just real slow with alot of trimming, fitting, and trimming some more. Oh yeah, and bunch more trips up and down the ladder.

Other than ends of the dormers are you ready for winter ? When does the inside work start ? Do you have a date set for the first night stay in the house ?

After the four triangles, we are weather tight. We still have to set the soffit panels beneath both long stretches at the very bottom edge of the lower gambrel roof sections, but this has no effect on being weather tight (unless rain falls uphill, or we wait until the snow flies and the driven snow is blown up and under...and this can/will occur). My real goal is to be able to rest asssured whenever it rains. We are very close. It's been a long time comin'.
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When we arrive at that point, I promised Dski that I would get back to work on the hardwood flooring installation in our principal home (a 700 sq ft job that is about 1/2 done since we started building the pond house). I'm thinkin' that if I can get a couple of good weekends of hardwood installation completed, I can buy another ticket to move back to work on the pond crib. Too many irons in the fire.
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We have been talking and it makes the most sense to work on developing the 450 some odd feet of shop area on the first floor as our next temporary pond home. This way, we can make a mess on the second floor and not affect our current living space. When? Hopefully begin in the next month or so.

It's looking beautiful Brettski!

That is good progress. Winter inside working on what you want to .

Well, it's been a long time comin'...
What I did on my summer vacation
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We took this 3-day labor day weekend to put the final touches to the siding installation. As I feared, the 4 little corner triangles on the shed dormers presented the highest level of challenge per square foot. I suppose about half of the challenge comes from the dozens of trips up and down the ladder. Anyway, it's done. When I look up and think about it, I still can't believe the time they took. I also think about how critical this roof junction is for water and weather resistance over the long term. I did the best I could.


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Like so many of my high expectations for the finish line, this one was fairly anti-climatic...almost kinda sad...NOT. It took 5 months of weekends to get this stinkin' siding installed. Done. I thought I should introduce you to my best pals for the past 5 months.



Oh yeah, I almost forgot the most important pal...


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Next trip is soffit panels under the lower roof, along with serious consideration for gutter installation. I really don't want gutters, but I think it's the better decision to handle the volume of water that comes off that roof. You can see the mud splash on the above pic.
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We caught the setting sun just before it dropped below the treeline.

Congrats! Absolutely beautiful work.

Wow. All sealed up! The inside work will be like a vacation this Fall and Winter. Great Job!

Well done - make that very well done !!!! --

Anything else happen?

WOW. Dude, you're the man!