Text 8832, 113 rader
Skriven 2008-06-12 14:14:49 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 8737 av Nancy Backus (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Bird Feeder
===================
Hi Nancy,

 RH> I still do a double take on your name--one of my Houghton instructors
 RH> was Nancy Barcus. (G)

 NB> (smile)  I can see that... :)  Once upon a time, I was Nancy Elder.

A long, long time ago in a far off galexy............? That's what it
seems like to me, anyway.

 NB> not think it  NB>> all that strange to see deer, bear or even moose up
 NB> in the Adirondacks  NB>> near where we have our camp... along with all

 RH> It's to be expected up in that part of the state. My folks have lots
 RH> of deer & bears but I do't think they've ever had a moose in the area.

 NB> Some of our neighbors up at the Pond were telling us about following a
 NB> moose down one of the main roads up there... for a few miles...!  This
 NB> is up where we have a camp, up near the Adirondack Park, in St.

The moose are more common up there.  My one sister and brother both went
to Paul Smith's College and my sister worked in Saranac Lake for a while
after graduation. I don't recall either of them having any moose stories
but one time my sister had bears in her back yard.

 NB> Lawrence County...  It is more strange to see moose here in the
 NB> Rochester area
 NB> where we live, though.  :)

It would be, I'm sure.

 NB>  NB>> and we've never had problems with anything raiding our
 NB> trash/garbage,  NB>> in or out (except for our own indoor cats that
 NB> had to be taught not to  NB>> "dumpster dive" in the kitchen).  But,

 RH> I think all of our dogs & cats were trained not to do so.  Sam, the
 RH> cocker spaniel, was brought up with excellent manners! Considering
 RH> that the kitchen waste basket was relatively near his food, he never
 RH> attempted to dive into it.  He did eat cookies from the table, both at
 RH> out house and at my sister's tho. (G)

 NB> Most of our cats knew better from the start, but we had a couple at
 NB> one point that thought they could get away with it.  They were quickly

I think it all depends on how the animal is brought up when young. We
had one cat that had been abused as a kitten and adopted by someone else
from an animal shelter in Germany.  We were at least her 3rd, probably
4th or 5th owner.  You would have expected her to be a trash diver but
she wasn't. One night, after our girls were in bed, Steve and I each had
a dish of ice cream. Steve finished his first and put the bowl on the
edge of the coffee table where Jenny could reach it (standing on her
hind legs) to clean out.  After getting as much as she could at first,
she very delicately moved the spoon with a front paw so she could get
what was underneath that area.  Steve and I both started laughing which
made the girls wonder what was so funny.  Had to let them know we were
having ice cream without them--but they could have some the next day.
Jenny also went on a hunger strike once when she had to have a lamb and
rice diet--she actually pushed the dish away and refused to eat.  The
vet that put her on the diet told us to let her go back to her usual
diet--after laughing about it.

 NB> disabused of that opinion...  We normally share delectibles with them
 NB> anyway... meat juices, tuna water, scraps of cheese or meat or fish,
 NB> bits of bread products, a little milk in a milk cap... etc...  But on
 NB> our terms, not for their scavanging from the waste basket... once it
 NB> goes there it's off limits.  ;)

Sam would occaisionally get hand outs too.  He would sit and watch us
eat--hard to refuse (but I did) those big brown cocker spaniel eyes.


 RH> saw a coyote ambling down one of the main streets in Sierra Vista (AZ)
 RH> one night just after dark.

 NB> I was surprised to see what I'm pretty sure was a coyote a few years
 NB> ago in (the town of) Greece (northern suburb of Rochester), in part of

Kinda mangy looking dog? Probably, either that or a coy-dog which were
giving folks in the Catskills all sorts of trouble some years back.

 NB> grassy area within an entrance ramp for the expressway (390).  But I
 NB> guess there's enough wild habitat in the area to support them...

Probably a fairly good habitat, actually.

 RH> guess some of the parks attract it, as well as the pickings they can
 RH> get from trash cans.  Probably remains of fast food meals are a big
 RH> attraction as a source of food for them in the city.

 NB> Dunno.  For the vegetarian wildlife, there are lovely flatleaf weeds
 NB> in backyards... ;)  And some brave souls (with enough yard & with
 NB> enough
 NB> sun available) do put in vegetable gardens as well as flower gardens
 NB> in the city...  Plus there are a number of people that put out cat
 NB> food for feral cats, so that can attract wildlife that would eat
 NB> kibble.  Cities have long supported squirrels and pigeons, of course.
 NB> :)  And places
 NB> like Rochester, on a large body of water, do get garbage eating birds
 NB> such as the gulls... :)

Yes, you really can't be too surprised by the wildlife you see in areas
populated by people now.  After all, we are moving in on their habitat.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly@earthlink.net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


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