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.

Interesting title but I am definitely an animal lover though I am not too keen about encountering a bear or cougar in my yard!! But rats! Years ago I had several nice paphs and one day I discovered most of them had been eaten down to the roots!! It turned out a neighbor's boy had dumped his rats into my yard and they found their way into my greenhouse and had something to eat!! I used traps. But over the course of the years I learned that the best rat catcher was not a cat but a possum, who also eats slugs. I also have leanred about using nonlethal tactics to protect your plants. That is just leave food in an area regularly that is away from the plants. However with the arrival of raccoons forget all the above!! Not only do they make a mess of things but much of the time it is done in sheer play, even carrying off my doormat and tossing it around!! So I just let it go. Plants are nice but I am adverse to killing animals who are hungry and dealing with situations that have been and are being created by the ineptitude of man.

Veilchen, I hand picked maybe half a dozen colorado potato beetles last year and one so far this year. I think one of my neighbors must have a better supply of them and a few fly over here. I still have some doubts about the so-called Four-lined Plant Bugs. Mine do look very beetle-like, with the first wings converted to hard wing covers and the second wings fold out -- just like beetles. I don't know if I have a camera that can get a decent picture of them. I'll give it a try in a couple of days. When I finally do buy a digital camera, it will have a macro lens or a close-focusing telephoto. Our 35mm camera recently developed a mechanical problem. I have been relying on my DV camcorder for my recent pictures, but compared to still cameras, they are rather low resolution. On a different matter, I have been having serious cut-worm-like damage to potatoes and tomatoes. And, dig as I might, I couldn't find any of the culprits. This evening the mystery was solved when we encountered the culprit -- it was a large snapping turtle! With my son's help we got him/her re-located into a nearby pond. Hopefully that will be the end of the mysterious damage. MM

"I also once had a keeshound, so cute, but I made the mistake of not knowing the breed before buying and they need yards and room to run." I don't know who told you that about Keeshonden but that's not particularly accurate as a definitive statement. I've been a Keesmom for 7+ years now and volunteered with Kees rescue for a time (left due to philosophical differences); it took us a year of research to choose a breed. (Mutts are fantastic dogs if you're more flexible than we are about size, temperament, and such, but we needed the relative predictability.) Like any dog, they do need exercise to stay healthy but ordinary walks can be plenty sufficient, which is one of the many reasons why we chose the breed. I taught him to go round on a lunge line like a horse for those days when I was too unwell and DH too busy to give him a proper walk, since he was never interested in things like chasing a ball or Frisbee. This is the first house we've had with a properly fenced yard as opposed to a trolley or a small fenced run primarily for toileting, and it's not even very large. Our handyman is Dutch (and he was very surprised to see a Keesie here!) and says they are as common "back home" as a Lab is here, even in dense urban areas. Of course, if you want to get into agility, flyball, or other doggy athletics, the average Kees is more than happy to oblige and bust his furry little behind to make his people proud of him. Keesies are usually far more intellectually energetic than physically energetic; they are often too smart and creative for their own good, and if they get bored they can get extremely inventive looking for something to do, which many people interpret as the dog needing to be exhausted with a great deal of vigorous exercise instead of mentally stimulated. That goes double if they're lonely, with many Kees preferring the company of humans to that of other dogs - they CAN be very intellectually and emotionally demanding dogs. sovra, your friends will be best off contacting a Dalmatian-specific rescue. They can start by Googling "dalmatian rescue" and working from there. A Dal with a history of aggression toward smaller animals (probably a high prey drive combined with lack of training/redirection) needs some serious rehab work with an experienced fosterer before s/he is ready for home placement.