Kathy, Usually a mama copperhead gives birth to 10 or 12 snakelets (snakelings? snakettes?) at one time, but sometimes up to 14. The most I've ever seen, though, together in one place was one mama and 7 or 8 babies. I sure would check the ordinances on pit bulls (and also on how many dogs are allowed on one piece of residential property)! Some friends of ours in Marietta had their little English bulldog killed by a pit bull about 3 or 4 years ago....and that pit had come onto their property and attacked and killed their dog. They loved that little dog and were grief-stricken. Just a couple of weeks ago, their daughter stopped by the house to tell us that her parents' "new" dog that replaced the murdered dog had also been attacked and killed by a pit bull. Again, just like the other time, the pit came onto their property and killed their dog. It is just so wrong! We had neighbors (fortunately, their house is not terribly close to ours....more than a mile away as the crow flies) that raised pit bulls. Those dogs were always running loose and scared me to death. It was not uncommon for their dogs to turn on and kill one another. I don't think they have pit bulls any more, and I think the reason was because the dogs kept killing each other. Here, there are dog ordinances in town, but in the county there are no dog ordinances and so the sherriff's policy basically is "do what you have to do" to protect yourself. Most people out here, though, won't shoot a dog unless they catch it attacking a human, an agricultural animal or a pet. Celaena, A red-tailed hawk picked up my cousin's cat once and carried it off some distance, and it was a big old tomcat. She figured the cat was a goner. A couple of days later the cat showed up, scraped up and cut up but alive! We don't have many owl problems here because the crows dog them mercilessly. We used to have a barn owl and a little screech owl who hung out together and hunted on our property at night, but I haven't seen or heard them much the last couple of years. Dorothy, I know your cat had a safe spot to retreat to, and do feel the snakebite contributed to its inability to fend off the stray dog (or whatever other critter might have gotten it). It is just such a shame that it happened.(sigh) And, y'all, remember the "copperhead crossing" area I mentioned above? Well, this morning DS and I went for a 30-minute fitness walk (no dogs). On our way back to the house, we saw a dead rattlesnake in the middle of the road....a little one about 15" long. Guess where he was? Right there at the copperhead crossing! I laughed out loud and then had to explain to DS that I was laughing 'cause I had JUST written about the copperhead crossing this morning, and here it was....occupied by a rattler! Dawn

Interesting analogy regarding the diseases brought to the new world. One big difference, we didn't know the damage the feathered rats were going to do to our environment when we released them in Central Park and we certainly didn't know they were vectors of WNV or I can assure you the people releasing them wouldn't have been allowed to do so. Unfortunately, we knew enough about the spread of disease when we traded blankets with the Native Americans and willfully and intentionally chose to trade blankets that had been used by people who had died of small pox and measles. Yup, it's sick but true. You know, not many people realize that eagles will eat carrion just like an opossum or a vulture. I don't bring road kill to the rehabbers or to that little local zoo. Just HOSPs and EUSTs and rats. I don't know what critters they're feeding our frozen morsels to other than vultures and snakes. They have a walk in deep freeze and there are buckets of white rats in there so presumably they take source into consideration when feeding? Vultures are well adapted to cleansing themselves of bacteria. Don't know how well adapted they are to ridding themselves of parasites in captivity but they've got vets on staff so the next time I run into one I'll ask how they deal with those issues. One thing though, I don't believe any of the raptors they have are capable of being released back to the wild. Their eagle is missing an eye and one of their raptors had to have a wing amputated as a result of some injury. I think something happened to all of the birds of prey they have that prohibited their release back to the wilds. I have visited a little family owned zoo in another state that survives in part because of donations of fresh road kill deer that are brought to them by local residents and a county agency for their "retired" lions and tigers- http://www.deyoungzoo.com/about.htm I know there are other little zoos that eek out an existence because of road kill donations. Something that might be of interest to you- http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00946/accounts/micro.htm Really sorry about your little cat. I've got two here that are older and I know the day is coming. One is 20-21 and the other is 19. They came from shelters so we aren't positive on the age but the one was supposedly around 10-12 when we brought him home and we have had him for 10 years. The other had been returned a few times and they tracked back his age to when he was a kitten so he was around 11 when we got him and we've had him 8 years. Our other cats are much younger and are all just over 10 years of age. They're a part of the family so I feel really bad for the hole in your heart you've got right now.

I've made note of that eye medicine, Mountain Lady. I may need it. I got Sandy into the cat carrier and to the vet this morning. Her eyes are very badly infected, and the ear mites they treated her for before are as bad as ever. The poor cat must be so uncomfortable. She tolerated being handled by the vet amazingly well. He washed out her ears pretty thoroughly and put ointment in her eyes. He also gave her another long-lasting antibiotic shot and treated the ear mites again. And he clipped her nails. He told me my only choices were to treat her for these problems or put her to sleep. Of course I said I would give treatment my best shot. He also said she's not a mean cat; she's a good girl. I agree. I thought about how to proceed with the treatment, and decided the best way for me to have access to her twice a day is to raise the dog crate up onto the bed so I can reach farther in. So I went to the hardware store and bought a tarp to protect the bed. I obviously can't deal with the little tube of eye ointment while wearing leather gloves, so I hope we can pull this off without injury--to me. I have severe Raynaud's, and even though we're not officially in winter yet I already have painful sores on my fingers, caused by a lack of blood flow. If they are opened, that would not be a good thing. I sure hope she can be restored to heath. I can't help wondering why this cat contracted so many things: eye infection, ear mites, fleas. I hope one fed off the other, and this doesn't indicate an impaired immune system that can never be improved. I've now spent $300 on her vet care, and that's a chunk of money for me. Between that and the report on her eyes and ears, I was feeling rather discouraged when we left the vet's. But then I saw a dead dog taken out on a stretcher, and his crying owners. I got in my car and cried, too--for them and for animals everywhere--but at the same time I realized how lucky I am.

UPDATE...The month balls did not work. glad they were only $2.00. I cleaned out so much poop after putting it down. What did seem to work so far was the similar stuff we bought to Boundery, think its the same stuff but it was expensive $18.00 @ ACE. I sprayed the wall and the stepping stones near the rose bed. Then for good measure I sprinkled cayenne pepper all over the area around the roses, boy now that did work no more cat poop. Watched the cat and the thing would not come close. Did not know that my husband last week put the cayenne on the top of the cement wall. No wonder all of a sudden they were not coming over the wall. So do not know if it was the spray or the cayenne, only time will tell. Only problem is that every year I grow my own cayenne and dry it, so in the next few month because it contains seeds I may have plants popping up every where. But hey I can transplant them into the garden for more cayenne next year. Yippy no more cats for now.