You guys demonstrate my theory that cottonmouths are "passive-aggressive." Dangerous in that they don't move out of the path, often, and people who are not alert can step on them. Tales of them chasing people are usually highly exaggerated. This isn't to say it can't happen. Just that it's not a common behavior. My best cottonmouth story involved canoeing by myself on Rock Springs Run. I was in an area we call the Flats. Very shallow water, with a lot of grassy vegetation. Makes for slow canoeing as you try to glide through without digging up the bottom. I spotted a cottonmouth in the water, about 2 1/2 feet long, and close to the shore. It had a dead fish in its mouth. I don't think it killed the fish, but I can't be sure of that. But the fish looked REAL dead. It was a panfish of some type (bluegill, shellcracker, one of those) and quite wide, and this snake was trying its best to figure out how to swallow it. The snake worked its mouth slowly around the body of the fish, which was way, WAY too wide for it to swallow, and even tried to force it down sideways. The fish was probably ten inches long and no way was that snake going to get it down sideways. I let the canoe drift over fairly close, as I was enjoying the show. The snake finally began working its way towards the head of the fish, where it would have had the best chance to get it down, but suddenly noticed me or my canoe slowly nearing. If snakes could change expression, this one's eyes would have bugged out and his mouth would have dropped open. If they could talk, he would have been yelling "Holy Sheepdip! Where'd THAT come from??" He did a backflip away from the fish and took off for the weeds like a streak! It was so funny looking, I almost fell out of my canoe laughing at him. I always wondered if he came back later to finish working on the fish. But I didn't wonder about who was more scared by our encounter. He definitely was! Still...I am very careful on the river or in places where cottonmouths might lurk. They normally don't care if you approach them. I admire them, but I don't want to step on one or come face to face with one at any closer range than what I just described. I'm not NEARLY as brave as Wayne! Marcia

The Patagonian toothfish (renamed Chilean sea bass for marketing in the U.S) has been overfished in many areas. Wikipedia: According to Seafood Watch, the Chilean sea bass is currently on the list of fish American consumers who are sustainability-minded should avoid. I suggest if it's that expensive it may have been purchased on the black market, and I would definitely avoid it. Besides, I'm a cheapskate!

Sea bream is one of many names for a family of fish having numerous species. Porgy and scup are a couple of other common names. They are usually small, not much bigger than your hand and deep bodied oval shaped, more or less the proportions of you hand. They are common and considered a desireable food fish. I can't describe the flavor, but they are popular and I think there is nothing about them not to like. Jim

Cathy... the "comments" you're referring to were not mine, please re-read more carefully, it was directly quoted verbatim from a website dedicated to neem oil... it was actually the first website that popped up on a yahoo search for neem oil. The following below is lifted verbatim from a website that manufacturers and sells neem cake... "The quality of the neem cake is determined by the amount of oil left in it, and also the process by which the extraction was done.... neem cake is used as good organic manure in agriculture and also acts as pest repellent. The high Azadirachtin content in neem cake helps in protecting the crops against parasitic nematodes and as best soil conditioner... It accelerates root development and overall plant growth and protects the plant from Nematodes and white ants." Judging from the grammatical syntax, my guess is this is an India-based company selling to an English-speaking customer base... and make no mistake, it is a sales pitch. The claims of this seller are that it is wonderful for the worms, however that is not the point I was making... again you must re-read more carefully, it is that a worm bin is an eco-system with many other inhabitants (far more numerous) than just worms. And like all eco-systems, work best when a stable balance among the inhabitants is maintained... and insecticides (yes, even enzymes that indiscriminantly target whole segments of the eco-system) tend to upset any balance which ultimately may not actually be good for the worms or the plants. I believe balance is key for the health of all in an ecosystem, be it plant, animal, or the soil that feeds us all. Think about it, if plants didn't have a natural resistance to diseases and insects then the plants would have gone extinct long ago... the fact that they are not proves there is some natural resistance that can be compromised when the plant is stressed (which is why the disease or insect has not died out completely either)... there it is again - it is about balance. I believe if your plants are plagued by insects then perhaps the best solutions may not be found through attempts at destroying the perceived villains but rather one should seek improving the health of the plant so its own resistance can ward off the attacks. It is just an opinion I shared and that is all. BTW, azadirachtin is just a neem plant-based chitinase (which is an enzyme that accelerates the breakdown of chitin)... there are other plant-based chitinases that come from other plant sources (some are from kelp), they just have other names for each of those other chitinase (enzymes). People are free to do as they wish but it would be nice if they would come back after experimenting and provide a report of their findings so that others may draw upon any knowledge gained, one way or the other. Perhaps you will come back in the future and report back on your experiences... I'm sure that would be appreciated. And good luck in finding your solution.