I haven't been hit by lightning, but I've seen mountain lions four times in the past ten years in the San Francisco Bay area, and that's pretty unusual. The first time was in Novato, a residential suburb in Marin County. I was awakened by the sound of a woman screaming at 3:00 am. When I looked out my front window, I saw that, instead of a woman, it was a mountain lion sitting next to my curb under the streetlght, screaming his head off. This went on for about 15 minutes before he finally left. The next time was when I went hiking on Mt. Tam with a girlfriend. We hiked down to Stinson Beach and, on the return trip, we were tracked by a mountain lion for about the last 1/2 mile of the trail. He kept pace with us--in plain sight--about 100 yards off the trail as we walked extra fast. Fortunately we made it back to our car in the parking lot before he made up his mind what to do about us. And lest you think that of course hikers are more likely to see one, this was the only time in ten years I ever went on a hike (and the last time too!). The third time was when I was driving down to Monterey. I was on a public road bordering the National Guard base which contains a lot of open space. Suddenly a mountain lion burst out of the weeds and ran along the dirt frontage road on the opposite side of a chain link fence separating the base from the public road I was on. The lion kept pace with my car for a minute or so and then dropped back to a trot as I left him behind and sped up. The fourth sighting was several years ago as I was riding my bicycle around a local community college campus. I came upon a mountain lion crouched down, busily crunching on a severed deer leg. I was close enough to see that it was the hind leg of the deer. The lion looked at me but didn't move. I turned around and got out of there fast. So I think it's pretty weird to have so many up close sightings of a supposedly rare and elusive predator. Needless to say, I'm quite afraid of them and I never walk my dogs in the evening in my neighborhood or hike in parks or woods. I figure why tempt fate?

Either they're lying low in the heat, or something has frightened them off. If you're in a rural to semi-rural area, it could be a predator bird like a hawk or a predator animal like a bobcat. It could even be a feral/wild formerly domesticated kitty. Could be something like a ring-tailed cat, raccoon or possum. Could be a snake slithering around trying to eat the bird eggs. There's lots of possibilities. Our feeder birds are feeding extremely early in the morning and extremely late in the evenings...just before sunrise and right before or even after sunset and otherwise are not very visible. I think they're just trying to lie low and say cool. Be sure you have a water source for them. Our two birdbaths and large man-made wildlife puddle are getting plenty of visits from thirsty birds and small animals. Also, even birds that generally visit feeders and eat the bird seed will spend more time hunting for insects to feed to their babies when they have nestlings. The time they spend doing that may be preventing them from coming to your feeders.

Most of the images show water shortage. Not disease. Perhaps occurred suddenly, as in windy; extreme high temps that burst in on a hot spell; very low humidity; too small a pot (are they in pots?)

I was lucky enough to inherit my grandparents house and as I have been reading through this thread. It got me think about all the things I found there, most of it wasn't new to us but some of it was. -My grandfather was a commercial fisherman so I found licenses for him & every member of his crew. Various documents related to fishing in foreign waters. The bamboo poles they used, glass net balls, hooks, net needles for mending a net, catch records, etc. -The affidavit my great grandfather signed when his daughter (my grandmother) married someone (my grandfather) who wasn't yet a citizen & thier marriage license from the early 20's. -War ration books with the stamps in them, the really funny thing is that my grandfather's height kept changing over the years, from 6'0 to 6'3! -War damage insurance policies issued by the federal government. Our house is near several bases so apperently the government insured their home, & probably the whole neighborhood, from damage either from an invading enemy or from defending from an enemy attack. -Booklets for traveling through Europe after the war while the Marshall Plan was still in effect. My grandmother had a lot of family in Europe (we still do) so they were probably planning a trip back . Propaganda pamphlets from the American government about being quite in public places & just generally being careful because of "spies". -Various newspaper articles & scrap books form the 1930's to 1940's. A letter from one of my grandfathers to his mother that was heavily censored by the War Dept. because he was serving in the Pacific. I remember one of my great uncles (his brother) telling me that for a few years the family didn't know where grandpa was while his ship was in the Pacific. I still have his pea coat & wear it when it's cold enough. -One of my great uncles Korean War era army uniform & ID bracelet. -Coins from all over the world. -A Disney war bond issued to my mother (she was born in 1939). - A letter dated 1953 from the County Assessor that explained they would begin issuing Assessor Parcel Number for every property. A letter from the post office dated about the same time introducing the zip code system! Phone bills form the '40's & 50's were the phone number had a location exchange like "bayview123" -Antique silk velvet bedspreads that were hand painted with Rococo pastoral scenes. They were backed with canvas and weighted a ton. I couldn't image actually sleeping under them with out being crushed! -Match books with a picture of my mom when she was in her early 20's. I asked her about them & she said she would write her phone number inside & give them to guys she liked! A HUGE box of her shoes from the 50's & 60's, along with the coordinating hats, gloves & purses. -A black beaded "flapper" slip that must go over an other dress, because it is way to sheer & way to short to wear alone -The remnants of the living room curtains, I hadn't seen them in over 30 years. My grandmother must have been saving them for rags (whose grandmother didn't do that!) -Immigration paper work for one of my grandfathers and for my maternal great grandparents. -Some really beautiful handkerchiefs, including a silk one embroidered with a R which would have belong to one of my great grandmothers. -Letters from various family members in Europe and possibly a great aunt who lived in Massachusetts. I'll have to do some research on that branch of our tree. -My mother's first communion vail. A beautiful sterling silver rosary, the beads are open filagree work. Judging by the marks, I think it is from South America. -My grandmothers salt & pepper shaker collection. There was one set the was just the head & upper chest of a guy, but he's not wearing a shirt! An other really tiny set shaped like pineapple grenades or maybe just pineapples it's kind of hard to tell because they are so small. And so, so much more On a different note Burden, those marks might just be the "signature" of the carpenter. One of my grandfathers liked to do wood work and he would always sign the stuff he built, and his tools with a specific design.