Dave, bait a trap with pecans, these guys will eat even the ones we'd put in the discard pile. Raccoons will do almost anything for a nice pecan, including come right up and take them out of your hand if you give it a little time. I have a couple of them on my property but they never bother my garbage cans because I don't put food waste in it until the actual day of pick up. I freeze all meat scraps, bones etc, and the big bonus is that my garbage men love me, lol, my garbage never stinks.

This was originally posted on Craigslist by a vet tech, in december but I thought it would be helpful for your son's dog. I use Ivermectin sheep/cattle wormer on monthly basis. I have read about Ivermectin being used on all the dogs after the hurricane in New Orleans. That was posted on the Heartworms societys website. This maybe an option worth talking over with the vet. Could save you hundreds of dollars. Ivomec http://www.internetvets.com/Articles/ivermectin_dosing.htm http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article.asp?id=11 Ivermectin Ivermectin (Heartgard® & Heartgard® Plus by Merial, Iverhart® Plus & Iverhart MAX by Virbac and Tri-Heart® Plus by Schering-Plough) was the first in this family of drugs to be approved for preventing heartworm infection. An infection with larvae as long as two months prior to the initiation of ivermectin treatment will be blocked from development. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=610 Ivermectin Only? Melarsomine treatment is expensive and often out of reach for rescue groups, shelters, and many individuals. If the dog is stable (Class I) one option is to simply leave the dog on an ivermectin-based preventive. This option has led to a great deal of misconception about the ability of ivermectin to kill adult heartworms. Let us lay the rumors to rest now: Ivermectin does not kill adult heartworms. Ivermectin does shorten the lifespan of adult heartworms. Ivermectin does sterilize adult heartworms. Ivermectin does kill microfilaria (keeping the dog from being a source of contagion) Ivermectin does kill L3 and L4 larvae (preventing new infections). This means that if one opts to treat a heartworm positive dog with an ivermectin heartworm preventive only, one can expect the dog to remain heartworm positive for a good 2 years and the heartworm disease will be progressing during that 2 years. This is not good for the dog but certainly beats getting no treatment of any kind. This approach should only be considered for patients who are Class I and may be able to withstand 2 years of heartworm infection. Now the theory in doing ivomec treatment only is this. Instead of killing the heartworms fast kill them slower. The heartworm treatment that vets use kill the heartworms faster. The dog given the heartworm treatment must remain calm and on a baby aspirin to prevent clots. Why? Because when the heartworms are killed they don't exit the body like roundworms do. The heart worms head for the lungs and this can cause the lungs bronchi to get clogged therefore the dogs can't breath and die. With the ivomec treatment you prevent the larvae from hatching and sterilize the adult heartworms. The life span of a adult heartworm is less than two years. It is cheaper for animal rescue groups to do this instead of the other. Animal rescue groups take in so many animals that cost is always a factor for them and they have to save money if possible. Instead of posting negative posts of what the original person posted about what vets don't want you to know. Maybe you should thank that person for all the rescues they have done. You see they have rescued over 600 dogs in the last 5 years. Not one time have they lost a dog to the ivomec treatment. I know I am a vet tech that works for the groups veterinarian. I have seen the work they have done and all the lives they have saved. The veterinarian I work for is the one who approves of the ivomec treatment as an option. They have spent over $20,000 dollars a year out of their pocket. They do this because they care. Depending on the vet if he/she only cares about money then they won't tell you about this option. Did you know a heartworm positive dog can be given heartguard but not interceptor. Why? Because interceptor will cause a dog to dies if they are heartworm positive becsuse the ingredients in intercept are stronger than ivomec. You can though give a heartworm positive dog Heartguard. Now there are some vets that will dispute this but the makers of heartguard have said that yes you can give a dog heartguard that is heartworm positive. vet clinic

Thanks for your answers. Some research that I have been doing indicates that rice water used as a base liquid and combined with other natural materials may be more effective treatment for various plant diseases. Evidently these are very ancient techniques and I was hopeful that someone on this Forum might have run across reference to them. Rice water could be made in three ways (I think). The first would be to soak unhulled rice grains in water for two or three days, strain it, and I find indication that this may possibly be a control for root knot nematode. Also, some experiments allude to faster, stronger seedling growth when watered with this type of rice water. The second method would be water poured off from cooked rice water. Yes, Scott, I know about the recent postings of using milk to control plant mildew problems. Wonder what happens if we combine it with cooked rice water? The third method might be rice flour whisked into water. The last two methods produce a starchy water which may just act as a 'paste' to adhere whatever to a plant surface....i.e. compost tea water + a bit of rice water may yield interesting results. I will stop rambling on the subject and begin experimenting when growing season comes around again. Hopefully you all have found the book LANDSCAPE AS SPIRIT by Mosko and Noden. Beautiful book! May help out those of you working on rock setting projects.

I'm so sorry to here about the direction you're headed... it's not an easy path to follow. BTDT. Please remember to take care of yourself too. One thing for your DH's soothies. My DH could only have liquids but had a dairy allergy. Grainlady suggested adding Great Lakes Gelatine - Collagen Hydolysate to his fruit or meat smoothies to add protein and needed amino acids... in the green colored can. I got it thru' Amazon from whichever vendor was cheapest because it's not inexpensive.... about $18 a big can... which lasts for awhile. My best wishes for you this holiday season. Kate