Lot Cleaning

Getting people to clean up their lots here has long been a challenge.  There are those who are very diligent about lot maintenance and those for whom 'out of sight, out of mind' seems to apply.  The problem with unkempt lots is that, besides being unsightly, they become a breeding ground for snakes both venomous and non.  Every time I bring men onto a lot to clean it they need to be vigilant for snakes.  The good news is that recently several lot owners have come onboard wanting to clean up the lot for resale.  

Below is a picture of a very overgrown messy lot.  

As you can see the vegetation is so thick that you cannot see past the street.

Here it is from another angle with a clean, maintained lot beside it.  Note the vegetation rising up like a wall.

I had 3 men working on it and believe me they earn their keep.  The shrubs have to be fallen and then limbed and piled to be burned.  It is the dry season so that will happen in a week or so.  

Here is an area that has been cleaned and the brush piled up.  It takes about a year until the lot starts to look 'maintained'.

In the bottom, left hand corner of the picture below are some shrubs.  They had fallen a tree in this location that contained a rather large bee's nest.

Below my gardener Luis is pointing with his machete to a hole.  Because there were bees the younger men stood back while Luis doused the nest (seen here as a large black lump) with gas.  He then threw in a match and as the fire spread, out of the hole came a very large, very dangerous Feur de Lance.  These are a relative of the rattlers we have in Alberta.  One of the younger men spotted it and took a swipe with his machete.  He only cut the tail and the snake turned to face him and defend itself.  He grabbed a long bamboo pole and was able to spear it and kill it.  Thank God no one got bitten.  These guys kill snakes all the time but rarely not quite so large as this one.  Wikipedia says that they grow to a length of 5.9 feet and that the females are bigger than the males so at 6.2 I am guessing that this one was a female and as big as they get.

News traveled fast and all the neighbors rushed out to see the specimen It is the 'rope' hanging from the tree..

Below are my heros.  Luis, my gardener, Jeffery my hero, and Cholo aka Hormelis chico who is the son of my former watchman and is the current gardener for the development.  Good work guys and many thanks.