No, they aren't too large. 7.5 inches is what I am finding. They are parasitic brooders and lay their eggs inside the nests of other birds. That can cause some issues for the host species brood as the Cowbird chick often hatches first and therefore gets more food. They are federally protected birds though.~~A

Brickeyee & Inox: you're both right! Inox, that is your friend's job description - nothing personal seemed intended. You have to admit, your initial response didn't address him as a friend of yours that happened to hold this position. (It sounded like you called the university & asked a stranger). Brickeyee's response was to that situation, I think, which is logical. However, knowing now that he's a friend of yours, his answer gets more validation than that of someone protecting their employer & their own job! :-) The $30 price seems surprisingly reasonable, even w/the additional filter/cartridge cost. I intend to buy it soon, AND use Brickeyee's mask alternative for current project. To the other concerns about childrens safety... Here it is, (I didn't want to "go here"). My oldest son is a "special needs" child & is homeschooled for that reason. For same reason, has frequent check-ups, where I keep his Dr. up-to-date on house situation & projects. (In the form of "conversation", but we both know its to keep him current on any issues both kids may need tested for. Dr asks "so, what are you working on these days", & I tell him, we discuss potential issues). So, sincerely, I have that covered! Ok? :-). It's just, when you mention "homeschooling" or "special needs", people start acting differently. I've been there, & wanted to avoid it here - just be an owner of an old house and a mom. :-) SL

The new puppy chewed up the camera. Sounds like you did a nice job.

Hi everyone. Kamereone - Regarding the treatment of de-hydrated plants using the sugar and water method. I soak the whole plant (or as much of it as possible). As plants absorb moisture through their roots and leaves alike, it stands to reason the more of the plant that can be soaked the quicker the fluid will be absorbed. Usually I soak the whole plant, but with tall plants where they whole plant won’t fit in the bucket, I place as much of the lower half as possible in the mixture and fill the centre well of the plant with the mixture as well as occasionally taking the plant out and inverting it so that I can dunk the upper foliage as well. The ratio quantities of sugar to water aren’t critical nor is the amount of time immersed, but I like to keep them soaking for at least 2 -24 hours (or even up to a couple of days) depending on how severely dehydrated they are. Usually the plants I’ve treated were plants that came in the post and they had been wrapped in newspaper and packed in a box for several days; in one case, a little over two weeks when the parcel went astray, and even those plants after a couple of days of this treatment responded well and after a week or two you would never have known they had been severely dehydrated. When the plants first arrive and were unwrapped, they look a bit like a butterfly when it first comes out of its cocoon; all squashed up and wrinkled. After an hour or two in the mixture the wrinkles seem to gradually disappear as the leaves straighten themselves out again and return to their normal shape; again the comparison with the butterfly fresh out of its cocoon is a good example. You mention those, "spikes that supposedly are just stick-and-forget and claim to address Mealy Bugs”, I’ve never seen or heard of them here. But I did read where as an alternative to toxic chemicals, you can sprinkle “Fossil Flour” (Diatomaceous earth) on the top of your potting mix and water it in and it will kill Root Mealy Bug. I did a trial with this last year when I found a plant with Root Mealy Bug after knocking it out of the pot in preparation for dividing and re-potting. I cleaned off as much of the potting mix that I could and removed about half of the roots that were covered in the root Mealy Bugs and re-potted in fresh potting mix and new potI sprinkled about ½ teaspoon of Fossil Flour over the top of the potting mix (it was a five inch pot and as the fossil flour is very fine you don’t need very much, just a dusting) and then added a topping of fresh mix and watered in well. When the plant was knocked out of the pot again after six months, there was no sign of any active root Mealy Bug (even under a microscope) and I was so pleased to have found a natural insecticide that didn’t harm other insects, It’s now become part of my normal re-potting routine and I use it on every plant I re-pot as a preventative. To read more about this natural product, go to : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth CAUTION: As it’s a very fine powder you should take the same precautions you would when using any other dusty products and wear a dust mask with an appropriate filter to prevent inhaling this powder. All the best, Nev.