We're moving to our new property soon and my wife has given the go ahead for me to start building my (our?) observatory. Do it right first time she said. I've fiddled with a few designs. She said she'd like a traditional dome style roof, which I can build. I think...
Anyway, the thing is, how do you keep the place free of unwanted critters? Our obs will be located on top of a fairly high hill in the middle of a paddock.
It's probably a 10 minute walk to the house. Therefore, it will be all 12 volt with storage batteries and a solar panel on the nook roof. The small nook is for a desk. I'll also need room for a small 12V powered fridge to keep the beers cold won't I..
Here's my concept model so far. Open to ideas & suggestions.
Last edited by louie_the_fly; 02-04-2013 at 07:28 PM.
Reason: Edited title because of poor spelling.
I have a nice big huntsman who lives in my pod-he keeps the bigger critters down, for the flying bities, citronella works. Because of good ventilation I think a few holes are OK. Maybe not the issue up north but here when there is damp and cold it mantains a good temperature and stops the damp. We don't have the nasty eat the wire bugs down here though (I hope!)
Good luck
Graham.
Thanks for the replies. I think it's more the spiders than anything. They freak me out, but I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. I expect I'll have to use a far bit of foam to seal the gaps.
There are some gaps you just can't seal effectively. In a dome it will be the point of contact between the dome proper and the body. One way or another this will require some clearance so the rollers etc can work without binding.
Ants are my worst insect invaders in my obs - the wet weather has brought on an explosion of them and I've found them colonising the most unlikely places - they even set up a nest inside the cordless phone I used to have there - and effectively killed the electrics. I found they had set up a colony among my books on a shelf, an air-con, inside an insulated ceiling - it goes on. Then there are the frogs that live inside the box-section steel frames, the ghekkoes that have moved into the drawers, the wasps that have built nests in the most sensitive places, the hares that has set up house under the floorboards and the carpet snakes that comes inside occasionally for a bit of company.
Ya gotta just live with it.
I only have a problem with those really tiny tiny ants. The little darlings have actually removed potions of silicon in the floor to gain access but there is a final barrier of some anti ant dust sprinkled all on the internal floor which has a rubber camping floor over the top. This kills the little sods in their tracks and thus they leave me alone. The only other visitor is the odd gecko which is easily caught and given a free trip over to the neighbors backyard.
Allan
Thanks Peter & Allan. Peter, one Saturday morning I got out of bed only to see a trail of ants heading into my home office. The trail led right to my laptop that was open on the desk. I picked it up & shook it upside down, and literally hundreds of ants fell out. I opened it up and found hundreds more. Took ages to clean it out.
I think I'll just have to contend with the ants & lizards. Spiders? No thanks. I'm reluctant to keep Mortein nearby for obvious reasons. We also have some decent snakes at our new place.
Then there are the frogs that live inside the box-section steel frames, the ghekkoes that have moved into the drawers, the wasps that have built nests in the most sensitive places, the hares that has set up house under the floorboards and the carpet snakes that comes inside occasionally for a bit of company.
Ya gotta just live with it.
Nearly dropped my OTA when a spider ran across me while packing up one night!
As much as I hate spiders and bugs, I believe most sprays use a nerve type agent. This builds up in your system over time. I'd go easy on the spray on the inside if you plan to be in there for extended periods. Simply sweep the webs as they appear and keep the area clean.
And as much as I'd like to say we're automating all things so we can sit comfortably in the house and take pictures...really...it's a man-cave (or woman, don't want to be discriminatory here) and there's no disguising it.
Lesser of two evils...either these creepy crawlies
Got fed up with the little ants and so went to Coles and bought a spray for round the house for spiders, ants and any other thing that crawls and sprayed around and under the observatory.
NO ANTS AT ALL FOR TWO WEEKS, NOT A GLIMMER AND NOTHING INSIDE.
Happy little camper.
)
And we 'eat roots and leaves ' so the chicky babes like us .
