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Posted to rec.food.cooking
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Wildlife and the "crops"
Kathleen wrote:
> Gloria P wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> I just got home from an errand and opened the sliding glass door to
>> the patio to cool off the house (75 deg. inside, 71 outside) only to
>> see SIX raccoons in or around the grape vine on the overhead trellis.
>> The ones on the ground scampered all of about 6 feet away, waiting for
>> me to leave so they could continue to eat the grapes, still green but
>> very plentiful this year.
>>
>> I had hoped to make grape juice this year but they always beat me to
>> it, about a week before the grapes begin to show any sign of
>> ripening. The raccoons live in our storm sewers and have become way
>> too aggressive over the years.
>>
>> Made a second batch of zucchini bread today for the freezer. The
>> garden is very marginal this year. The flowers are doing very well,
>> as are the weeds, due to all the rain. Moderate temperatures have
>> been very comfortable, but they don't do much for the tomatoes.
>
>
> Aside from the rabbits, which my JRT regards as a gourmet treat, the
> worst pest I've faced this season is my daughter's puppy, Floyd.
>
> Floyd is an enormous border collie X shepherdy-ish mix who was rescued
> off the streets in Warrenton. He's about 8 months old currently.
> Because he developed pano (basically, acute growing pains), he's been
> placed on a restricted diet to control his weight gain and minimize the
> stress on developing bones and joints.
>
> He's so extremely goofy that it's impossible not to like him. He
> prefers to take the sliding board down off the deck rather than use the
> stairs. He allows a 4 pound kitten to boss him around. When he's
> excited, his ears stand up, but tilt towards each other so they cross in
> the middle, while his eyes appear to be staring off in two different
> directions. His field of vision must be incredibly broad. He has no
> concept of his own size, or where his body happens to be in space at any
> given time. He's constantly crashing into things, knocking stuff over,
> cracking his head while turning around... His call name has become
> 'Boogle'.
>
> However, he has decided to supplement his diet with tomatoes from the
> garden. It wouldn't really be a problem - we've got plenty - except
> that he has to jump the fence to get in there, and then he tramples the
> plants. Looks like a herd of elephants has passed through. And
> tomatoes really don't agree with him. To put it bluntly, after a tomato
> bender, his farts could peel paint.
>
> It's not worth messing with this year, but I've told my husband, next
> year that fence has to be higher.
>
Boogle:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=347bl9e&s=5
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=xblq3d&s=5
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