GOD'S TAKE ON LAWNS - I think this has been posted in other (gardenweb) forums here. Let me begin by saying "To me Grass is a perennial weed That invades my vegetable garden". :-) This may be a good time of year to re-visit this conversation... ************************************************************** GOD'S TAKE ON LAWNS: Imagine the conversation The Creator might have had with St. Francis on the subject of lawns: God: Hey St. Francis, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there in the Midwest? (or Quebec) What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect "no maintenance" garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But all I see are these green rectangles. St. Francis: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass. God: Grass? But it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees, only grubs and sod worms. It's temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there? St. Francis: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn. God: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy. St. Francis: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it... sometimes twice a week. God: They cut it? Do they then bail it like hay? St. Francis: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags. God: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it? St. Francis: No Sir. Just the opposite. They pay to throw it away. God: Now let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away? St. Francis: Yes, Sir. God: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work. St. Francis: You are not going to believe this Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it. God: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves form compost to enhance the soil. It's a natural circle of life. St. Francis: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away. God: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter and to keep the soil moist and loose? St. Francis: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. The haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves. God: And where do they get this mulch? St. Francis: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch. God: Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore. Sister Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight? Sister Catherine: "Dumb and Dumber", Lord. It's a real stupid movie about..... God: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

It seems dunks aren't entirely safe for birds. I put a very small crumb of a donut into my fantail pigeon's bird bath to keep the mosquitos from breeding while we were on vacation. My son called us while we were in California to say the birds were dying. When we got home 8 out of our 12 pigeons were dead. Our birds also had pigeon waterers to drink from so guess not all of them drank the birdbath water. Mosquitos never get into the waterers, but I had to empty out the birdbaths every few days because of wiggletails in them. I've kept pigeons for almost 30 years and never had anything like this happen. Thought of writing to the company that makes them to inquire to see if pigeons were particularly sensitive to them, but never did. Glad to hear that apparently the amphibians are doing okay with mosquito dunks, just thought I'd pass this along.

I have a wild kingdom going..and I would think Crows would make fast work of Mantids. I used to see Jays and Mockingbirds..but once cats started in this neighborhood,rare to see them. Possums would make a snack of them...they eat anything. Even the number of fence lizards has gone down..when they had showed up for a few years out of nowhere. Same for Garter Snakes come to think of it. Could be the wet weather 2 years in a row spread everybody out?

Early one morning last week, DSIL had to chase a bear out of the garage. The garage door was closed, but he came in through the man door that is almost always closed, it may have been left ajar that night. The bear got the dog food and had opened the refrigerator and pulled out a few bud lights (probably trying to get to more dog food on top of the fridge. DSIL chased him out with a broom and then managed to lock himself out of the house. Fortunately, the bear had run off by then. The dog, who had just walked past the door to the garage didn't bark or do anything to alert. Not a good guard dog to say the least. It is not unusual to have to chase a bear off -- usually yelling is all that is needed. Bear are frequent this time of year around town, but are frightened by humans and property damage is really the only problem. Garbage cannot be left outside, by city ordinance, unless in an approved bear proof containers. Making it easier for Bear to forage in town is dangerous for the bears, not so much humans. Humans tend to contribute to the problem by leaving food out -- even hummingbird feeders are a problem. Moose and mountain lions are much more worrisome -- those are much more of a threat to humans and dogs. Luckily, mountain lions are relatively scarce, but there seems to be a moose injury to a human in the area every year or so. Usually cows protecting their young and they will charge a dog, who they view as a wolf, one of their primary predators.