Garter Snakes, Indigo Snakes, Owls and Hawks might starve to death without voles. I don't understand why we don't build habitats for the above snakes instead of saying "eek, a snake". If I had them in my yard I would have no voles. the KKK River is up for the first time in a year. The other morning two young men (sigh) were carefully walking along the emergent weeds on the river bank. One suddenly grabbed and came up with a Water Moccosin by the tail. It was about 3 1/2 feet long. He held it for almost 5 minutes while his 'bud' took pictures with his phone. When he finally released it, unhurt, he left out his breath which I think he held for the full 5 minutes. What a adren rush he had, and I don't blame him. I once removed a copperhead from my Mom and Dad's yard and released it into the woods. I'd pinned it down and grabbed it behind it's triangular head. I am not a 'eek' gal! Toads in the garden are good (they love slugs) as are Guinea Hens, chickens and ducks which most urban laws don't allow. Snakes are GREAT in the garden because they prey on Voles, Ground Squirrels, Gophers, and even tree Squirrels, Ground Hogs and Rabbits avoid Indigo Snakes. They can get over 6 feet long but only pose a threat to humans if you try to grab them. who'd want to: they smell like putrid rubber. I know. I'd once rescued on that was caught in a plastic mesh. It wasn't my most pleasant 'rescue'. The snake was almost 8 feet long and 4" diameter, but the opening in the net was only 2". it would have died had I not released it. All that being said, I still don't know what the value of voles are other than fodder for other creatures great or small. Ken, with a thousand hostas, a dollar a basket is waaaaay above my budget! 'Eco' friendly Theresa Maybe this should be the subject of another thread.

Firstly let me say - those of us with a low body temperature who have always had this - it is nothing to worry about ath0ugh it does have its problems. Anyone who has only recently become 'cold' there may be another reason for it so do get it checked out. My daughter is in her final year of a nursing degree and was talking to one of the docs about this. It is unusual but not unheard of - I think most people who are colder than usual are not aware of it, nurses very rarely put down if you have a low temperature as they fear it would make them appear sloppy by not checking properly. The real difference for most people is our 'immunity' to bugs - bugs are very temperature reliant and they do not like our cold bodies. However when we come across a bug that is less susceptible to temp changes we effectively go down 'like a ton of bricks' and take longer to recover. We don't feel the cold quite as much but we feel the effects - so even if we don't feel cold we can get problems like Reynards where the fingers and toes go white and numb. Unpleasant but as long as you are aware of it and don't get too cold for too long it can be controlled. I also find heat to be a problem - I am not really sure why but I will try to find out more.

HAS ANYONE GOTTEN THE NAUSEA AND DIZZNESS. I AM 48 ALSO AND LIFE HAS BEEN HELL FOR THE LAST 9 MONTHS STARTED AS NAUSEA, SWEATS,FLUSHING ,AND I GET THESE ANDRENALINE LIKE FEELINGS MY BLOOD PRESSURE GOES TOWARD THE HIGH SIDE THEN IT COMES BACK TO NORMAL .HAD THE SORENESS IN ONE BREAST TURNED OUT I HAD A CYST WITH FLUID IN IT ,VERY DRY FLAKY SKIN,DRY RED EYES,ALSO FOUND MY DIGESTIVE TRACK WAS OFF ALSO HAD TO START ADDING MORE FIBER INTO THE DIET .AND I AM A LITTLE CRANKY AND THAT IS NOT ME I AM ALWAYS UP BEAT AND HAPPY . MY GYN TOLD ME NAUSEA AND DIZZINESS AND SOME OF THE OTHER SYMPTOMS WERE NOT PART OF THE CHANGE OF LIFE .BUT BLOOD TEST PROVED MY ESTROGEN WAS LOW BUT SHE TOOK THE SAME STANCE .I HAD TO GO TO A GASTRO DOCTOR ,ENT AND ALLERGIST NO ONE COULD COME UP WITH AN ANSWER FOR ME .BUT READING THE POSTINGS ON MENOPAUSE I KNOW NOW THAT I AM GOING THRU THE CHANGE OF LIFE MANY PEOPLE HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS I HAVE .I AM FINDING MYSELF A NEW GYN .

I also have a 9 year old shihtzu and last weekend she had on sudden paralysis and she couldn't stand up and it took me a few hours to get a hold of a vet , I took her in last Saturday night and the vet said she has something wrong with her spine without doing any exrays , she just concluded that it was spinal and gave her a pain shot and ASPIRIN and another shot for nauseous, well on Sunday she wasn't any better and it appeared to me she was taking a seizure so I called the vet back and was instructed to bring her back in , they gave a shot Of neurontin in pill form and put her on prednisone 5 mg the neurontin is to be given ever 8 hours and the prednisone once a day , I gave her the neurontin for a few days till I seen she's sleeping to much to really be eating anything so I stopped the neurontin and continued giving her the prednisone which through prayers she's doing ok with and of the mornings she still shakes some and she still has a low energy drive , I'm totally suspecting this could be IVVD since that runs in shihtzus and the surgery to fix it is between 3000 and 5000 which isnt affordable , I'm suppose to reduce the prednisone tomorrow at half the dose which I'm totally leery about doing, I just wished they were certain about her spine since to exrays were taken i have been totally devastated over her since last week , she does seem to walk without limping now and she eats good and drinks good , I'm just worried about the prednisone issue 🙏😢💗