Deer do most of their damage at night down here, and my dogs sleep in the house. On the rare occasions when I'm out with one or more of them and they spot a deer, a big chase ensues. I guess I should harden my heart and get a dog that stays outside the fence 24/7, but I know I'd give in to their crying to come in, and I sure couldn't leave one out in the rain or on a cold winter night. You'd think all the dog poop and the smell of all the urine my male dogs puts on trees would drive the deer away, but apparently not. I don't have the huge deer problem here that some have in other places, but it's still pretty bad. Living in the country/woods may keep the deer from trying to knock down my cages or browse through thorns - there's so much they can browse on nearby. Sherry

I just sent this to an author of an article on the moutain lion in ct. I am posting this here to see if anyone else saw what I did. On November 9, 2011 I was driving from Syracuse to Binghamton at 10:30 am. Soon after I passed the Whitney Point exit, but well before Castle Creek, I saw a dead cat on the left shoulder of the road. This was a huge red cat. It was obviously dead but its face and body were intact. The face was rounded-a cross between a raccoon kind of face and a domestic cat.-sweet and round. It had a very long tail that had fur that was straight (not fuzzy or curly) and the tail was rope-like and long-swung/curved around to the front of the animal. The legs were long. The color was very close to the red you would see on a domestic red cat-solid color not spotted and not merely tan with redish tint-clearly orange red. I would say its back would have been about 2-3 feet off the ground had it been standing. It was thin and the fur on it was not fuzzy but short. I was traveling at 65mph and by the time I had processed what I saw it was too late to easily pull over and I was late. I called the police (I think Castle Creek-911 but can't recall) and the dispatcher showed interest. She said she would have someone check it out. I called her later that day. She said she was so curious about it that she went herself during her lunch hour but by then it was gone. She said someone probably took it for the fur. Then she started listing the kind of animal it could have been. Now, I know nothing about wild animals but was surprised by the animals she listed because they were the sort of animal I assumed existed only in places like africa (I've got the suburban NY-view of the world) or the zoo. I began to google the various animals she suggested to compare to what I saw. What I saw was clearly most similar to a mountain lion. But, the face was round and did not have the long muzzle that the pictures show. So, I think it was probably young-although the pictures of the young mountain lions suggest that they are not solid in color. Maybe there is an adolescent period when the body becomes solid color and the face is still round? It was only after I looked at pictures of all kinds of animals that I started to read about Mountain lions in NY. I had no idea there was any controversy about whether they exist or not. I did not know they ever existed in NY. In fact, I would have been quite surprised to hear that they existed in this country at all..anywhere. So, when the dispatcher mentioned things like mountain lions and panthers I was very surprised. I posted a description of what I had seen on Topix in the hope someone else had seen it and could let me know what it was. All I got was a few snide comments. Then I started to google more seriously because it began to bother me that I could not figure this out. At that point I found this post on a different site: "05-05-2011, 06:48 PM #1 Crokit Mountain lion sighting First, let me state that I have all my faculties, excellent eye sight, and am not given to exaggerations. Today, while traveling south on Interstate 81, between Syracuse and Binghamton, I saw a Mountain Lion / Cougar/Panther, pick your noun. !! 100% positive, absolutely no doubt. There is ZERO chance that it was anything else. The only other thing it could have possibly been ( other than a live mountain lion/cougar/panther ) is a full body mount of a mountain lion/cougar/panther and someone pulling a prank. It was less than 100yds off the West side of the road, sitting on top of a section of rock/cliff that the highway had been cut through. It was sitting on it's haunches, leaning forward, ears forward, looking down onto/across the highway. It was about 30-40 feet above the highway. Just before the " Castle creek 1 mile " highway sign. When I screamed " holy F%^K, a mountain lion, scaring the S#$T out my buddy who was driving almost lost control at 75 mph. An absolutely beautiful animal, well muscled, excellent specimen. Up until now, when ever I've seen reports of sightings, I've taken them with a grain of salt. No more! Anyone know of any other recent reported sightings in that area? Wldnerness: Can you put me in touch with any of the state Dec/Rangers/etc from that area?" And my post on Topix was as follows: Justwondering East Syracuse, NY huge red fox, moutain lion or lynx on I-81 (S) near Castle Creek Nov 9, 2011 Did any see a dead huge cat like animal on the southbound side of I-81 about a mile closer to Syracuse then the exit for Castle Creek. It was on the left lying an its side, obviously dead and huge. If you did see it, or heard someone else talking about it, what was it? It looked like it had a body like a mountain lion, a long tail with long fur-not bushy and a face that was rounder like a lynx.Its color was pretty uniformly red-not mixed or strips or anything like that. I was moving too fast and, once I had processed what I saw, I had gone too far to see it. Apparently someone picked it up, probably for its fur, because it was gone soon thereafter. I saw it at around 10:40am Tuesday morning. If you did not see it but are familiar with the wild life around there, any ideas? Any information would be appreciated. What do you think? These two sightings are at identical places. I do not believe that they are both mirages. Also, if the one I saw was young, it would not have been as visible to a driver on I-81 6 months earlier. The one I saw was not so big that it would have been very visible to drivers if it were on the top of a hill. That means that the one I saw could have been the adolescent offspring of the one seen by the earlier poster. I think there must be a den and the female must still be in the area. I know this was not a mirage and I wish I could locate others who saw it on that day.

Just a clarification to the Florida native who stated newer homes did not fare as well in the hurricanes. That is not the case across the board. I know many older homes with water damage like the new homes - HOWEVER there were PROPORTIONATELY more damaged newer homes - all water damage due to shoddy construction and lack of paint. Yes, according to the report by the Florida Builders Association - PAINT. You need to check into who the builder of the new home was. Builders who had the most problems were Ryland and Mercedes. The subdivision where we recently built was built by Lennar. We had NO damage whatsoever in any of our 300+ homes - not even 1 shingle was lost. We carefully canvassed our neighbors after each hurricane as we live in a smaller community and have developed close relationships with our neighbors. Compare that to our neighborhood in Winter Park - homes there were built from the 50's to the 80's and were custom homes. There was no home without at least shingles missing. The difference is that the newer homes built by quality builders have been built to far better withstand hurrucanes than homes built before hurricane ANDREW came through in 1992. The building code was greatly changed after that in order to avoid the devastation seen in the Homestead area. The roofers had to use nails instead of staples and use more nails in each shingle...one of the main reasons roofs in the newer homes fared so much better than the older homes. The effects of the new code is true in many areas that can't be as easily seen such as: Our home has hurricane straps every 6 feet from the foundation through to the 2nd floor roof. It also has solid poured concrete every few feet throughout all the walls, I could go on, but you get the idea. Also, be sure the check on the schools. They can vary widely...in western Seminole where the previous poster mentioned, Lake Brantley High School, which has a great reputation, rated an A in 2005, but they were a B school in 2003 and a C school in 2004 according to the Seminole County website. It is not uncommon for schools to fluctate - look for a consistent score. You can find the ratings of all Seminole County schools here: http://www.scps.k12.fl.us/_doc/GradesSummary2005.pdf To state that you would never live in eastern or southern Orange County is doing those areas a great disservice. I love living in the Waterford Lakes area (eastern OC) and have friends in the Bay Hill areas and Isleworth areas (Southern OC) that have absolutely fabulous homes and love the area. They sit in their backyards by the pool and watch the Disney/Epcot or Seaworld fireworks at night. Some of these areas also have the newest and most up to date high schools with the latest in technology to offer their students. I would suggest the original poster look over all the different areas of Orlando, it is widespread and there are areas you would be wise to avoid..i.e. Pine Hills, west of downtown,etc. However, every area has its own lifestyle. The area I am in is more relaxed - I have wildlife in my backyard frequently...deer, bobcats, wild turkeys and even wild hogs. We love watching the wildlife come to our yard and feed out of the salt lick or drink from the swimming pool. We have this and we are in a new community. Not all new communities have 'postage stamp' yards. Our yard is not huge but it is between 1/2 and 1 acre - around 3/4 of an acre. We can take 528E and be at the beach in 30 minutes, hit 417S and be at the theme parks in 20 minutes or take 408W and be downtown in 20 minutes or take 417N and be at University of Central Florida and the surrounding research park in 10 min. I think you can find whatever you are looking for here in beautiful Orlando. Just decide what is important to you and take time to look around - there is enough variety for most anything you like.

Hi, I'm building a fence here in sunny southern California. I'm using con heart redwood 4x4 posts. I've found some conflicting theories about how to set the posts. Some say concrete, some say gravel... and I'm looking for some advice on what wood protector to use for the base of the posts. Because my soil is heavy clay and the drainage is poor, I don't think gravel is a good idea, it'll just create a cauldron of water for the post to soak in after it rains. Even though concrete doesn't seem much better, I think that's the way I'm going to go. I'm definitely going to use about 6" of gravel at the bottom of the hole, and make sure the base of the post is set in an inch or two of said gravel before the concrete goes in. Since the fence is going to be unpainted and I want the natural look of the wood, I'm avoiding using PT wood for the posts, and I've had recommendations to use either asphalt emulsion (Henry 107) or Woodlife Copper Coat green to coat the part of the post that's going into the concrete. The Henry seems like a waterproof coating, while the copper is more of a wood preservative. It doesn't rain very often here, but when it does the posts will get a good soaking, and the ground will take a while to dry out due to the poor drainage. Some say that the Henry 107 will cause water to get trapped inside the wood below ground, accelerating rot. The copper coat would at least allow the wood to "breath" a little and allow it to dry out during our long periods of no rain. I know no matter what I do these posts may only last 10 years or so, but I'm looking to give them the best protection to start with, so they'll last as long as possible. Thanks for any input!