Hi pineresin, Long story and last one here, because I do not want to hijack this thread... No these people are nice people, they in general totally against cultural xenophobia. They are not bad people and quite likable in general. But they in general seem to be blind for their xenophobic views and dismiss them immediately. I have read 6 books, chosen by my girlfriend (blind test) with the subject�nasive species". So I did not pick 'm. These are books meant for Univerity ecology/biology students. All these books are ridden with valueladen wording. At the end, it will be hard not to think of immigrant species as villains, pest, aggressive beings etc. You are indoctrinated in this way, like we can be indoctrinate din so many other ways. This psychological effect is ture for everybody, it is not that scientists themselves are not affected by this. And so it goes...these people find labour in various nature conservancy associations etc. And so their theory becomes practice.. In our Dutch naturereserves you find all sorts of sgns and explanations. In many instances, you read the simplified version: we cut out spruce and pines because they don't belong here because they are foreign". The University of Wageningen has done some research on what people think about foreign species. In two ways. One was to ask about what they think about foreign species and cutting them down because they don't belong here. Answer: 65% are totally against. They were surprised that after explaning (wrngfully!) that they weed out other species and cause extinctions, still the majority did not buy it. Especially Doug fir was highly valued. They thought that broadleaves would be nr 1. They weren't. More on that in a moment. A second one was to evaluate 200 woodland pics. They choose pics with clear foreign species, clear native species and a mix. End result: 4 woodlandtypes were highly valued. The top 2 consisted of a broadleave (beehc and oak) and in both cases a spruce tree (by some not considered native).. So....who are ecologists doing it for? Not for the Dutch people. Not for nature. If nature has anything to say some species simply don't grow somewhere and others do. Not because trees and plants cause extinctions. Well... they think so everstill, but peerreviewed research shows they don't. Even in those books I mention you can read this in between lines. The do not emphasize did, but in those book they stated that not one foreign species ahs actually led to extinctions. And then: "until now" implying that this will probably happen or is likely to happen. It hasn't. So what does Wageningen Uni want to do? DO they want to change their views..nope. Their goal is to change our views. They clearly concluded that other approaches need to be developped to make people change their views. This again comes close to some propaganda in the cultural sense. In the UK, you see they want to weed out Pinus contorta and Picea sitchensis of the Caledonian forest (Scots pine). Which is "unique" (also another words that has no scientific meaning as so many things can be called unique). Now why is Scotspine a threatend species? No: it is the most widespread conifer around the world. It is the Scottish crossbill, a bird in that forest only found in Scotland. Okey, sound plausible. But the Crossbill is happy to feed on contorta. even more strange: waht makes this bird so special? It s colour? No? Does look different from the two other crossbills in that area...No...They in fact fligh in the same flocks with all others, you cannot distinguish them. So what is it? It is the song. It has its own song...so that is a good reason the set it apart and to weed out all sorts of nonnative species apparantly. Etcetc. If biodiversity is the main reason and it cannot be local biodiversity (because our local biodiversity has gone up much by all those foreign species and not too much loss of older species). Biodiversity is global, according to them. Scots pine is not at risk. Nor is any other species in that area of any concern worldwide. Why spend so much money in your scottisch forest, while you would do A LOT more for global diversity if you would spend that money to protect the Indonesian rainforest? The fact is that ecologists and conservatist use biodiversity as a reason, but their main goal is their own nation. Not global biodiversity. Finally: it seems to be a big problem that the Ruddy duck intebreads with the whitehead duck. They however get fertile offspring. Besides: genetic swamping has never let to the demise of any species. The Ruddyduck and the Whitetailduck are no more different than black and white people. They are the same species. But in ecology, basic human things like discrimination have not the proble of being considered morally incorrect. So even so, we must kill the Ruddyduck at sight to keep the whiteheadduck (whitetailduck??) genetically pure. Where did we read that before. Another final example is the Sikka deer, also in England. It interbreeds with reddeer. Is the reddeer at threat wordlwide? It is not. do they produce fertiel offspring? Yes they do. So if anything, you get another species. A new species. But that is not okay: the reddeer must nbe kept genetically pure. The Sikkadeer must be shot a sight. I think ecology is a good showcase how people can think basically when confronted with newcomers and strangers when they do not feel the pressure of morals. They tend to be prejudice, act on their prejudice etc...This is also our nature. It shows that nature and natural do not equal good and unnatural equals bad. We do not need to judge., However: it is the people at large and not some scientist who decide what happens in a countyr and what not. If I tell these examples to people, they find it totally unacceptable. The only ones who do, are ecologists and co...

I am in the same boat, engk: our property is a woodland/wetland edge, my husband and I love the outdoors and gardening, and I am seven months pregnant. I canÂt currently use any tick spray on myself, because they all seem to contain deet, and my doctor said "no deet while pregnant". So, we have taken the following precautions: If time is spent in the lawn and vegi garden, long pants are tucked into socks, and the pants get inspected before coming back into the house. If shorts are worn, legs are inspected. If shorts are worn but the wearer has been squatting in the grass  full body check. (My poor hubby had a tick in a rather sensitive area last week after a combination of shorts and squatting. Yuck.) The clothes go straight into the designated "gardening hamper" and can be reworn only for more gardening. And a shower before bed is a good idea. For any venture into the woods or swamp, even briefly  full body check. Cloths go straight into the wash. We go straight into the shower. So far this has prevented ticks from being loose inside the house, as far as we know. This makes me feel much safer in and around my home. Since we have started doing this, we have found ticks on ourselves, but we can say precisely when and where we picked up the tick. And the ticks have so far not had time to get engorged, even if they do latch on. (A tick has to bee attached for 24 hours before there is any serious threat of transmitting LymeÂs, to my knowledge.) In addition, we just purchased a ton of damminix tick tubes. I also read somewhere about clothing infused with some sort of anti-tick chemical that isnÂt deet, but I havenÂt tracked that product down yet. This makes our garden time a lot less spontaneous, sadly. But after having half a dozen deer ticks on each of us so far, it seems prudent. I realize it is only going to get harder once we have a toddler running around. But itÂs not like time in the woods here was free and happy before the ticks, either, what with all the poison ivy about. Here is a link that might be useful: damminex tick tubes

Question about your moonflower, Dawn! This is the first year mine actually grew from planted seeds. For some reason, I've planted seed every year, but it has never germinated for me. This year, I planted 2 packets and finally got a few vines up. I love them. My question is whether they will reseed next year, like the other morning glories and cypress vine do? Or, should I collect the seed from them and replant every year? I have blue mistflower going like crazy in the garden right now; lantana 'Miss Huff', Golden Crownbeard (verbesina encelioides-native); native daisy; aster tartaricus 'Jindai' (gorgeous, about 5' tall with purple clusters of blooms with yellow centers); my aster aromatica is about to burst into bloom (very late), asclepias curassavica (tropical milkweed), pink/white salvia, 'Black and Blue' Salvia (it is huge this year, it's 2nd, and the blooms are to die for), solidago (dwarf), morning glories (hot pink with white edge, Japanese), white with blue markings, zinnias, senna bicapsularis (Christmas cassia), white cypress vine, hops, hibiscus 'Texas Star', lobelia cardinalis (beautiful!). Nothing looks outstanding really because of the dry weather and heat we are still having. I have watered the things in pots, and the ground. My gomphocarpus (tall milkweed also called 'Family Jewels', or 'Hairy Balls') is putting on a few seed pods right now, and they are about golf ball size and very unique looking. I really want to grow it next year (it's an annual here), so I will collect the seed when it is ripe. The Monarchs love it! Susan Susan

Beautiful pup. Hard rubber Kongs are the safest for the chewing stage. Also give her large raw carrots to gnaw on. Stay away from all ropey toys. The floss can block their intestine. Even nylon bones can break and should only be used under supervision. Same with pig ears and rawhide. For stuffed toys nothing beats Fat Cat toys. I'll post a link below. Just stay away from the ropey ones and the fur trimmed ones until you know her habits. Some dogs are chewers for life and others outgrow it and just like to carry,fetch and shake. Since you have acreage it will be just like raising a child. You keep her with you or enclosed until she is fully trained. No venturing out on her own until she is fully bonded to you and sees you as pack leader. Lot's of bonding time along with a crate or a dog house to call her own. Then you expand her boundaries bit by bit. Remember a well exercised worn out dog is a happy dog. German Shepherds are known for their weak tummies. Feed her a good diet and keep her out of trouble for the first year and you'll have a great dog. She's a lucky girrrl. Here is a link that might be useful: Fat Cat Dog Toys