I am, of course, the Nervous Nellie. The vet’s office had to be glad to get me out the door.
Shu is accusing as we return without Sei, but when we do get him back, Shu will take one whiff of the disinfectant and hiss and slap at him.
Well, it was early up, and a BLT hold the L for breakfast, and now I may fold up and sleep some more. My stomach is upset.
Deer… I’ve got 4 bucks that have been bedding down in my yard all summer, as well as at least one doe with two fawns. I’ve got a very nice picture of the 4 bucks lounging in a group at 2pm about 30 to 40 feet from where the neighbor has a crew in doing construction. Definitely urban deer, these are the same guys who wander across the highway to the local big-box for the salad bar (aka plants for sale). I’ve even seen one of the does standing in the crosswalk at the busiest intersection in town waiting for the light.
Oh, dinner was a BLT, hold the L, mayo (ONLY mayo worth buying is Helman’s/Best)on oatnut bread, not toasted, bacon thick and crispy… Yummm
Oh deer, I wish I had 4 bucks, that’s not a lot of doe, but it will buy milk for my morning cereal.
FOR SHAME, JOE!
Speak to me not of deer! So far this summer, they have eaten my violets, most of the hostas and day lilies.They also eat sassafras (the one benefit), mountain laurel, so no laurel this year…..anything small, green and succulent! In my other house, they knocked down and destroyed five dwarf apple and pear trees. The Rhode Island Greening has no apples on it’s lower branches…..you get the idea.
The only thing I have found to work as a repellent is the spray I make out of chili peppers. Around bushes I have, in the past, made fences using monofiliment line. The deer can’t see the line and panic when they feel it. If you live in a rural area and have good aim, a BB Gun is invaluable. Pump it up a few times and aim for the rear.
Winter, the six month old puppy, is beginning to learn to be a watchdog. She now growls and barks when animals come into the yard. She’s not a noisy dog so when she barks we know something is going on. What really gets me is that I have eleven acres of woods backing up on over 4000 acres of state management and camping areas. Why gardens?!
I agree about small dogs after owning big dogs. Winter is half Corgi and half something else (with long legs) We call her a Long Legged Corgi! Twenty-two pounds is a change after dogs ranging from German Shepherd to Irish Wolfhound. We treat her like a big dog: the kettehs still don’t know quite what to make of her.
BTW….mayo…always….it takes other stuff so well…garlic, basil etc. Miracle Whip is too sweet!
I am sorry the beasts have destroyed so much of your garden and trees. When we plant new trees, we have to encase them in ugly fencing for the first few years. Our previously pretty yard and road front is so ugly now. Our medium sized dog will bark at them and chase them, but they are not really impressed and will amble right back. We have a BB gun and a few have been popped, but they don’t seem to mind in the long term. Between us and an uncle, there are 88 acres of woodland and fallow fields full of berries and plants, but they want OUR plants. In the last week, they’ve eaten all the potato plants down to the ground so we’ll have to dig them too early. The rabbits ate all the strawberry plants which were “tented” to keep the deer out. If I ever thought these animals were cute and Disney-esque, I know better now.
Oh, I have long since given up growing on most anything these beasts find palatable. They’ll try anything once, but they don’t seem to like most herbs or heather, so those are my garden mainstays. I do have one area caged off with deer-x (that black mesh stuff that sort of looks like fish netting) with roses I’ve been struggling with for years, and another cage for the bonsai trees deer would devour, given a chance. I used to spray for them but with our super rainy winters it was a loosing battle half the year. These darn beasts are so blasted tame I’ve literally had to chase them out of the garage, and a handful of gravel thrown at them from 6 feet away makes almost no impact. Now that there are no roaming dogs in the area, they have become a SERIOUS NUISANCE!
My spouse uses an air rifle on raccoons here in pretty urban Massachusetts (we have a small, steep rocky wooded dell behind the house where far too many den). Turns out it is legal to shoot varmints on your own land in Mass, according to said spouse with much research. But, after seriously reducing the local coon population (Mama had too many kits) last summer, we found out when we lifted the lid off the compost bin that RATS(!) had moved into the hillside. So now we are practicing a less extensive variant of coon control because of the two species… well, cultural attitudes against rats leaping at one’s face when dumping out compost win out over raccoon wars.
I am curious, did the cat eat only soft food? I thought you were supposed to give them a hard food that they had to chew to keep down the tartar.
Quite the opposite: he’s had raw food, with bones, dry food, very little soft food at all. Of course, I didn’t have him until last August, so I can’t swear to what he ate before that. And short-faced cats just tend to have tartar problems because of their mouth shape and where within their mouth they do most chewing. Seishi certainly uses his side teeth on tough things, but unfortunately, they tend to swallow kibble whole, with now and again a crunch.
Eating mayo on French fries is a Southern thing, I think. (You make potato salad with mayo, no?) Being in Tx, I’m technically “Southern” since Tx was in the Confederacy (not to be confused with “southern” which has to do with geographic location). Miracle “Whup” has vinegar in it, which is what I object to. Roast beef cries for horseradish sauce (which is basically horseradish added to mayo) on one of the slices of bread. I like fried egg and bacon sandwiches (on mayo, hold the L): Bread with mayo, a lattice of bacon, fried egg, bread with mayo. These pretty much have to be eaten on a plate with a knife and fork because of the egg yolk, but thin slices of tomato between the egg and the bacon is also delish! Nuts. Now I’m hungry. . .
Indeed it does. The acid is what helps keep commercial versions safe.
I am sure there is a cat version of Plaque off – keeps my dogs’ teeth clean and gums happy … I take it too – it’s just seaweed – and my dentist was quite impressed, as i don’t need the hygienist ….
I certainly might try that. Cats are notoriously opinionated eaters, but who knows? They might like it. If it’s vegetable, Shu might well like it. If it’s powder we could even slip a bit into greenies, as treats.
it is a powder, so hopefully it could work for you …
I have a question. Are cats successful hunters of gophers?
Not sure about gophers, but our part-Siamese is hell on moles!
Along with the blasted deer, we have pocket gophers. A few years back a stray cat showed up, and I am pretty darn sure he is the one responsible for the gopher population crash. Gopher mounds were dug out and the hole well cleaned, like someone had been fishing in the hole, but I never have caught him at it or saw any evidence other than the strangely clean holes. Unfortunately he’s getting older, and I suspect he’s now snitching food from the next door neighbor’s half a dozen or so cats rather than eating the gophers. So the gophers are back, after 4 or so years with NONE. Sigh. It was nice while it lasted!
I don’t keep a cat, but I’ve had neighborhood cats visit to hunt the backyard, with my approval. There is considerable danger from coyotes, one of which I had to treat severly. But the past year or so there haven’t been any cats I’ve seen, and too many gophers. I’ve trapped 6 so far, but if you miss once or twice they get trap smart. Saw a black cat with a spot of white under its neck and white “tennies” yesterday. Hope it makes a habit of coming back for whatever it can catch. 😉