I'm on it with repellents. Did bamboo skewers last year, but after a while cats just started pooping between them (kind of got to admire that). Going to try chicken wire, rue and bobcat urine dispensers (I hope it's not as stinky as the coyote pee my mom tried for rabbits). And will have to remember to keep repelling during the winter. We'll have to agree to disagree about the gross-factor of cat poop v. bird, bat, etc. And about the shrugging off of pet owners' irresponsibility. Honestly, I think most just don't know and should be educated/encouraged to take measures to limit the problem, as we did with dogs. Though I understand it won't be eradicated any time soon. And, again, I'm not personally worried about disease. Dude, I raised a thumb-sucker in Africa:) I only bring up the disease part because it ties in to the pet owners' respnsibility. There is a known, sometimes deadly pathogen in their pet's feces. We can only do so much to control wild animal risks (and a lot is done, actually, to try to control honta and other diseases transmitted by animals, whether the through feces or other pathways), but pet owners *can* do something to control the risk from this pathogen (in fact, help reduce its prevalence), but they are not asked to or don't. I'm not sure why we've decided it's their right to possibly infect even one person at risk of death or sever illness from toxoplasmosis. I don't want to overstate the risk. It's, in the scheme of things, quite small. But, without being overly dramatic, that's not really a comfort to the individual mother who's lost a pregnancy or person who's lost an immuno-suppressed loved one. I'm just saying, there are things that could be done besides having gardeners remove or repel the doo doo, and maybe we should think about doing them. Start by educating cat owners. Why not try? Thanks for he discussion. It's allowed me to procrastinate quite nicely:) Hasta luego.

james-in-lapine froze again chattered HappyDay, your 'What would Jesus do?' was off topic and is just fanning the flames. I know, cos every mention of Jesus incites unforgiving rage. It's the reason for His ministry and what He died for. Seriously, looks like my lil joke zoomed overhead. I'll explain. For some time I have wondered at the unbelievable cowardice of the librul haters. Aren't libruls historically the weak men already? Libruls are the lily livered, civil rights and free love if not feminist advocating, pot smoking back to the landers and conscientious objectors. They are the meek and mild bleeding hearts, like Jesus. You know, the intellectual and emotional conscience of society. So why are these gorilla headed neocons namecalling them? It's like a drunken wifebeater yelling "Tha b*tch got between me and my kids!" Talk about blaming the victim. Libruls are no threat to the rich, strong, and powerful who own everything and control the government and the military. Oh wait, they are. Love-ins stopped the Vietnam war. In a time of rampant overpopulation, lives were saved and military contractors lost money. Unforgivable. Today, the voice of the victim is the only voice that has any moral clout in American society. There is only one way for those in power to reclaim control over the hearts and minds of the populace. To silence the voice of the victim, they have to pretend to be even more pitiful victims themselves. This reminds me of the oil and land rich Muslim world resenting even the tiny corner lot that the Jews finally got back after a decade of suffering. Regarding Jesus, it's ironic, isn't it, that Hitler used Christian rhetoric to turn brainwashed Germans against Jews when Jesus Himself was a Jew? He was killed for being King of the Jews. In fact, Hitler was probably the illegitimate grandson of a wealthy Jew who may have molested Hitlers mother when she was a servant in their home. Isn't it also ironic that most neocons hate their fellow American libruls even more than Bin Laden? Divide and conquer. Don't think about it, just shut up and do as you're told. Well, to be fair, the terrorists are only shooting at the soldiers. A man can respect and even admire another warrior. But the Libruls might be saying bad things about the soldiers, and that is unforgivable. What bad things are they saying? Oh, bad things like stop the war, save tax dollars, bring our sons home. Horrible things like that. Unforgivable.

We've got some traps, but I'm squeamish about using them! I think I don't want to be a good trapper, because that entails handling the end result.... I've planted some of the herbs gophers don't like & I've also put down coffee grounds, both of which seem to help deter them. Also, I'm giving some plants (favorite ones of the gophers) herb teas & strewing rosemary, sage & lavender about the garden. I'll have to try rue, also. Again, it SEEMS to be helping; hard to say. I guess I'll just end up making some gopher-proof raised beds in the fall, unless my funky methods end up working.

Plants my cat *loves:* * Dracaena marginata. Maybe because it looks like pet grass? Got it because I thought it might be tall enough to be out of her reach, but she'll stand on the planter and nibble on it! * Peace lilies. She'll nibble on whole leaves! She's eaten so much of it in the 6 months or so that I've had it, it's now smaller than when I bought it :( Plants she hasn't touched yet: * Pachira Aquatica (I've had it for a few weeks/month now). I got a taller version (waist/stomach height), but some of its leaves are still low enough that she can reach, especially with her planter-standing method. However, so far I haven't seen any nibbles! Fingers crossed that she doesn't grow accustomed to its scent or something of the sort and becomes more curious! * Snake plant. I didn't realize this plant was toxic for cats, but thankfully it's always been housed in areas she can't frequent -- in a hard-to-reach spot of a kitchen counter/island (I had it surrounded by cookbooks and my coffee maker) or its current spot at the top of a bookshelf. They don't require loads of light, so it's easier to position these plants somewhere you can enjoy, but your cat can't. * Succulents. I've kept a couple in window sills year-round and she hasn't touched them. Although I don't recommend keeping succulents indoors unless you have super bright Southern sunlight or grow lights. I had an Echeveria Green Goddess that is etiolated slightly from my mostly Southern, slightly Eastern window. I think I'll stick with sedums/Graptopetalum Paraguayense (which I think still look attractive with their sliiiiight legginess) for indoors year-round.