Seminole County Possum Relocation Program
7 years ago
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O/T Dawn I saw the cougar tonight
Comments (47)Scott, I agree with every single word you said, except for that "Roll Tide" comment. LOL I cannot imagine the wildlife management folks would do anything to harm the mountain lions and, in fact, I'd rather it not come to that. In a perfect world, they'd trap and relocate them to very remote areas and wildlife refuges, not that there's any guarantee the cougars would stay in that area since they are going to follow their food source, so to speak. Of course, it isn't a perfect world. I have watched the NW wolf re-introduction program with great interest too and feel like the feds have made some mistakes that have led to great mistrust of them and their program. I wish they'd had a better/more efficient plan to deal with the problem wolves preying on domestic ranch animals right from the start. I'm merely hoping for a better year here at our place in 2010 with no real big kitties visiting the garden. Maybe I shouldn't have planted that whole row of catnip and catmint for my kitties and it is right along that garden fenceline too. Roll Tide? So, you support Alabama? Having suffered through OU's bowl game, and then TCU's and UT's, I'm just glad the bowl game season is over. At least the Dallas Cowboys are still hanging in there, and that gives us a little something to watch as we wait for seed-starting time and planting time to arrive. With the Florida sub-species, I'd like to see them thrive and grow because they have their role in the ecosystem. What will happen, though, if they start preying on animals or being a threat to people? What will happen if they start moving into Georgia and other areas? The 'idea' of having them around is easy, but the reality seems harder to manage. Jay, I felt exactly the same way when I read the post from our visitor from Texas. At first I wasn't going to say a word but then I thought I'd make the points I made. Maybe this is a person who has no idea of the danger involved in having large predator animals hanging out in people's front and back yards. I have found there are lots of people who have no clue about wildlife. When someone tells me they think it would be "cool" to walk out their door and see wolves or bears or cougars 'out there', I just shake my head. Let's not forget the elderly couple here in Love County that was attacked by that buck this fall. The one thought that sticks in my mind is the statement that our undersheriff made about how there was so much human blood on the ground when he arrived that he figured someone had to be dead. I'm glad they survived, and now whenever I see one of "our" deer hanging out around the pond or compost pile, I head right inside the house and wait for it to leave before I come back outside. The last two weeks we've had both coyotes and bobcats on our property, and I know this because the coyotes are leaving scat and both the coyotes and bobcats left tons of tracks in the snow and mud (thankfully the mud is about to dry up.) In an odd way, seeing them around a lot is good because they become a lot more scarce when something bigger and meaner than them is nearby. Dawn...See MoreHey raccoon lovers-I need help
Comments (19)Wow, thanks for all the suggestions, ya'll. The raccoons actually come down the trees into the fenced dog yard when they don't want to walk around the fence. Or, they try to walk on top of the fence, it's chainlink! Or, they drop like paratroopers onto the roof, but they only do thatin the middle of the night, when I'm finally in that really good deep sleep. One night they landed on the roof and ran back and forth over the bedroom, the big dogs running back and forth under the window barking. What gets me is that the garbage cans are on the other end of the house and they can easily go around the fence to get to the food and water. I think they enjoy the chaos. I think it's some sort of raccoon gang ritual, they can't join the club if they don't successfully finish a mission. They crack me up when they move the garbage cans. The cans have locking lids so they can't get into them, but they used to knock them over. I've trained them not to tip them over. I used a dog training method where you put 10-15 pennies in a soda can and rubber band some plastic wrap on top, them set the cans on whatever you want to train the animals not to get on. When they try to get on the trashcans they knock off the soda cans and it makes a big racket. It only took a couple of nights and they stopped knocking the garbage over. It worked soo well that they learned how to move the trashcans without making the soda cans fall over. I tried the soda can thing on the container where I keep the dog and cat food. But this box is only about 18 inches tall and those 'coon figured out how to pick up the soda cans and set them down on the floor without dropping too many. They amaze me. We had lights on motion sensors, but they very quickly learned not to run away from the lights. A funny thing happened one night - My mother-in-law was having diner with us and this happened right outside the dining room window.) One of 'em landed on top of a wide metal cabinet and BAM the light came on, and he tried to scramble away but couldn't get any traction so his little claws just clanged and scrambled to the left and then to the right, and then he tried to jump straight up but flipped off the back instead. It was like the lights came on and the darned 'coon started tap dancing. Now she jokes about how I train raccoons as well dogs. Another funny happened when we were getting the house ready to move into. (The previous tennents only went outside to throw bags of trash in the yard, so the raccoons where used to feasting.) I was here cleaning late one night all alone and went out to have a smoke. Well, a couple minutes after I sat down on the porch some huge creature jumped up on the railing near my head. Well, I screamed and it screamed and I ran for the door and it fell off the porch. That was my first night alone in this house and my first experience with these raccoons. It took us a while to figure out why the raccoons would come to the house when we would go out on the porch. Like I said earlier, the prev tenants only came on the porch to throw bags of garbage into the yard. They did this for years. I guess the raccoons associated the opening of the porch door with food. Some kind of Pavlovian response, huh? So you see, we moved into their neighborhood, it's just taking us a while to learn all the new rules. **Hey Wild4wildlife, I worked at a vet hospital before we moved here, and it's true that deer can jump 6 foot privacy fence. Many times we'd get called out to a client's property because deer would jump the fence. The deer would either have a broken leg from getting caught on the fence OR the deer would be confused on how to get back out of the yard. The strangest was a doe that had gotten into a 2nd story corn crib, without a ladder. The only way she could've gotten up there was by getting on top of a truck and jumping the remaining 4-5 feet into the open door. You know, I thought I left all these wildlife shenanagens behind when I moved out of the country and into the suburbs. Ya'll take care...See MoreDelurking: Relocating from New York to Florida (long)
Comments (21)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....See MoreFirst I had to throw away the frozen food, now the flour...
Comments (17)Like anoriginal says, the bugs were already there. The female weevil lays eggs in the wheat kernel and it can sometimes survive the milling process. The eggs will hatch if they’re in warm or humid conditions, or have reached their maturity. The flour bugs eat the grain and then seek to mate… while eating more grain. How do these pests get into our food? Occasionally, some may find their way inside from outdoors; however, the majority of these pests are in food products brought into the home. The initial infestation can originate at the processing plant, the warehouse, the delivery vehicle, or the retail store (chances of becoming infested increase the longer a food item is stored at the same location). Beetles and moths have four stages in their development: egg, larva, pupa and adult. All stages may be present in the food, but the eggs are so tiny they are seldom seen. The larval stage is most destructive, but the adult stage is most often seen. DOES FLOUR GO BAD? The short answer: Yes. The long answer: The more processed the flour is, the longer it takes to go bad. Whole grain flours should be kept in a refrigerator for the short term, about 2-5 days. If you need to store whole grain flour for longer than a handful of days, the freezer is the best place. If the flour will be used within a month or two, it should be kept in a sealed container. One to two months is considered “quick” in terms of flour usage, so you can keep your flour in a container that is NOT sealed (i.e. the same thick paper bag, rolled down) but the chances of the flour going rancid increase. If the flour will not be completely consumed within two months, it should be stored in a sealed container. Freeze newly purchased grains and flour for at least three days to kill any eggs. Some sources recommend freezing for up to one week. (Note that freezing will kill the eggs, but not remove them.) As a general guideline, don’t buy more grain than you will use within four months. Store grain in a tightly sealed container, not a bag. Weevils are HUNGRY little devils and can eat through bags. (See my storage recommendations above). Adding whole bay leaves and garlic cloves to the area seems to deter flour bugs from setting up shop in your pantry. Garlic may leave a trace flavor in your baked goods, so if you don’t want that, go for the bay leaves instead. You can also apply tea tree oil to a few cotton balls and place them throughout the pantry. WILL EATING BEETLES HARM ME? Other than give you the heebie jeebies, they’re harmless. In fact, the heat from baking kills the eggs and any beetles that may have made their way into your batter. So while the odds of us eating weevils – or have eaten weevils in the past – are high, the mortality rate is low....See More- 7 years ago
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