CD3 this reminds of the time I had a pet Raccoon named Randy. One day I noticed a pink bubble (looked like someone had blown an bubble gum bubble) on his stomach. With all the hair on his belly, I couldn't tell what it was. And was afraid to look too closely, thinking maybe he had a hole in his belly and his intestines were sticking out. So I picked him up and took him to the vet. I walk in with him in my arms and the vet say's "wait a minute". So he goes to the med. closet gets out a bottle and a needle and comes back. Tells me to lay him on the table and he puts him to sleep before he will take charge. Well I leave him there and they call me later to tell me he is ready to be picked up. He is in a cage and they have wrapped the latch with a whole roll of adhesive tape to keep him from letting himself out. It seems that he had been trying to "mate" with his baby blankie and had irritated his male apparatus and caused the blister. Boy was my face red. Well, I contacted the Univ of Fl zoo and they had been wanting to find a male to go with their Female in the Raccoon Habitat, so everything worked out well. Glenda

Gerard, it's this wonderful, precious group of people that keeps me coming back every day! Gardeners are nurturing by nature, but these people are above and beyond! I'm incredibly thankful that I stumbled in here one day to ask a question... because they not only answered me, they welcomed me into the fold and have warmed my heart ever since! From me to you, this is your official "welcome"! I hope you stick around! We share much more than just hippeastrum blooms and gardening tips... we share our lives and families, our pets and homes, and all the other beautiful things we enjoy growing and nurturing! Thank you for sharing your photography! The flowers are wonderful! If you only knew how painful and depressing winters used to be for me... well, that's in the past now... I look forward to winter these days... because I get to share it with this unique group of caring individuals, and their talents with bulbs and digital photography! Welcome! Pull up a keyboard and join us!

I was a bus captain for the 2005 AHS Convention in Cleveland OH - what a trip(s)! The best tip, or should I say warning, I received was - getting folks back on the bus was like "herding cats". Enjoy - it will be something you will ALWAYS remember. Deb

I have spent several vacations on the Winipeg flowage out of Minaki, Ontario. My parents-in-law had a cabin on an island 5 miles from town. The only way in was by boat or swim. The terrain is similar - no sandy beaches. Just a rocky shoreline to bang the bow of the canoe. Landing can be tricky in wind and waves. That country is a stunning place to visit. Once you are out on the water, it hits you. This place could be dangerous. There are lots of ways to mess up, so one takes care not to do those things and then along comes a situation you did not think about. It keeps you alert. Mosquitos can be bad or not so bad, but are ever present. During the day, if there is a breeze that is faster than the flying speed (5 mph) of the buggers, they tend to stay parked on the underside of leaves. When the wind calms at nightfall and the relative humidity rises, they come out. To survive and sleep, you must have good mosquito netting on your tent and you should have a repair kit. However, we noted an interesting phenomonem. If you get in a canoe or boat and move away from shore, you will find a distance beyond which they will not venture. Its in the neighborhood of 30 ft. Those waters are populated with muskies and pike. When these fish are about, you do not sit on a dock and dangle your toes in the water. These fish have a teeth and a ferocious strike. A story circulated one year about a boy who dangled his toes, a muskie struck and stripped most of the flesh off his great toe - unpleasant! The guys made sure they did not go skinny dipping for obvious reasons. They wore suits and had no problems. And now it is story time. There were two young fellows who worked for the "Lands and Forest" during the summer. They had the job of moose survey and tagging. How do you place an ear tag in a wild moose?? It was their practice to go out in a small helicopter to spot the moose. When they found a moose swimming in water, they could swoop down, look for the ear tag and if none were present, tag the moose without much fuss. The moose was terrified however. The guy doing the tagging would climb out on the runners - regular modern cow - no - mooseboys. On this fateful day, they are 30 miles away from the station when they spy a moose in water. The water is almost over the shoulders. Now, there is one predictable thing about moose and that is they are unpredictable. This happless pair swoops down over the moose with a man riding the runner. The moose did not move. Just as soon as the tagger reached out to tag, the moose stood up! It was laying in a couple ft of water. The moose in getting up tips the helicopter over and it wrecks. The rotor hit the water. One person got a broken bone and the other one was knocked around a bit. There they were sitting in water with wrecked machine, one person significantly injured, and the radio shot. The storyteller stopped and never revealed how they got out. Needless to say, the accident was written up and the provedures revised.