This And That..... Miscellany

With the edges of Hurricane Florence beginning to whip up the waters of South Carolina, my thoughts are with the folks who will be on the front lines when the areas re-open.  Right now, South Carolina is taking the first hits, while the winds will soon impact North Carolina, Georgia, the southern parts of Virginia around the Chesapeake Bay, and possibly all the way down to Daytona beach in Florida.  Florence is a huge storm, and even though she's only a Category 2  at this time, she will probably cause trillions of dollars of damage.
   I was worried about my beloved islands of Chincoteague and Assateague on the Eastern Shore of Virginia (and Maryland) - but it looks like they'll just receive the effects of a really nasty and long-lasting nor'easter.  The folks along the coast lines of the Carolinas, however, are in for a beating from the winds, and a drowning from rains and storm surge.  I feel for those who had to leave their homes, but that is one of the downsides of coastal living.  (Having been in Florida for 38 years, I know what I'm talking/writing about.)

    Last year, Hurricane Maria crashed through the US Territory of Puerto Rico.  Immediately after the storm, the number of dead caused by Maria was listed at 64.  As time has passed, and people have been questioned about health care and the aftermath of Maria, it turned out that the number of deaths related to Maria came to a total of 2,975.  This included those who died from heat prostration, from dehydration, from starvation, from filthy and impure drinking water, from not receiving medical care, etc.  -  And one of the latest finds was 20,000 pallets full of bottled water that have been lost for over a year - laying under tarpaulins where they were deposited, and sitting there while people died.
  Yesterday, as Hurricane Florence approached the United States, the current President denied this had happened.  He tweeted, "3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000."
  The President is refuting studies done by the US government and US universities.

Here in Boulder, a resident can tell that it's fall.  The leaves are changing colors early this year; a lot of juvenile mountain lions are on the move, leaving mom and siblings, and staking out their own territories; and our local population of black bears are raiding garbage cans and cars that have food left inside them.  I live in what is considered "downtown" North Boulder - it's on US 36, the main road from Denver to Rocky Mountain National Park.  A couple of weeks ago, a young (but adult) mountain lion was tranquilized and moved to RMNP from beneath the deck of a house 1/8 mile from US 36, and a couple of blocks from our apartment.  Earlier this week, a friend called to say she had seen a black bear opening trash cans 10 blocks from my apartment, and 6 blocks from her house.  The bears need to consume 15,000 to 20,000 calories per day to hibernate successfully.  And two elementary schools were placed on lock-down due to  the presence of a mother bear and three cubs in there vicinity for a full school day.

Two days ago, Bob Woodward's new book, Fear, was released for sale.  In it, Woodward details a conversation between former National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and the 45th President.  They were discussing rising interest rates, the deficit, and the national debt, to which the President offered an interesting solution: "We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money," the book quotes the President.  Cohn told Woodward that he was "astounded" at the President's "lack of basic understanding" about how the government works, and what borrowing would mean.  When Cohn told the President that wouldn't work, the President came up with an alternative resolution - "Just run the presses," the President told him.  "Print money."  Gary Cohn again tried to explain the basics of debt, inflation, the stock market, and the debt ceiling worked, but the President just kept saying that he should print more money.  Woodward wrote "it was clear that" the President "did not understand the way the US government debt cycle balance sheet worked."
   But this really isn't news.  In May 2016, when the President was running for office, he told CNN's Chris Cuomo, "People said I want to go and buy debt and default on debt, and I mean, these people are crazy. This is the United States government.  First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK?" 
   Yes, it has been announced that the US will have a $21 trillion national debt at then end of this fiscal year, and not 2020, as previously believed.  But the President believes we can just borrow our way out of debt and then just print more money when he needs it....
   And, with Hurricane Florence about to strike the shore, and with all those other lovely hurricanes lined up behind her, I can't wait to see what this man, who stated, "I, alone, can help you," will do.  Not much, I think.

    It seems that there might be a hold-up in Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court bid...  He has been, apparently, accused of unwanted sexual advances....  The FBI has been asked to investigate, and the voting on his SCOTUS seat has been postponed for a week.

   And it was also announced by ABC News that it appears that Paul Manafort has reached a plea deal with prosecutors in his second trial -  this one for 7 felony accounts including lobbying for a foreign country, not being registered as an agent for a foreign country and tampering with witnesses.  ABC stated that it is believed that the plea deal will be announced tomorrow in the Washington DC court.  At this time it is unknown whether he is just pleading guilty to the charges, or if he will assist Robert Mueller's Special Investigation to keep from spending so much time in jail.  (He is 69 years old.)

Critters, Wild and Tame

It doesn't seem like a week since I sat down in front of a blank blog page...  All sorts of things are going on in the news and wildlife areas.  And I've been taking care of multiple houses full of critters, as people decide to vacation on a whim, without planning for pet care.  I've been running around like crazy.  I think I have two days off, Wednesday and Thursday this week, if nothing else pops up.
   I've started re-reading my Robin Hobb collection, and am currently reading Dragon Haven.  After I read her books, I'll hit my Rafael Sabatini novels, and then my un-edited editions of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.  That should keep me busy for a little while.
  I received my National Geographic DNA information back some time ago - my Haplogroup is J1c4.  But I have recently sent my DNA for processing to both Ancestry and to 23AndMe, also.  I'm waiting to see what is reported by the other two agencies...
   We've recently had moose in North Boulder - a woman was tending her garden on the edge of Wonderland Lake, and said she "suddenly felt a presence looming over" her.  It was a mother moose with twin calves, and the mother decided the woman was threatening her babies.  She was knocked down and walked upon.  Luckily, she only had scrapes and bruises.  And another moose with a single calf was reported at the Justice Center near the end of Boulder Canyon.
   Of course it's now summer, and we're having our usual incursions of coyotes, mountain lions and black bears.  The coyotes have been grabbing small dogs who are off-leash on walking, jogging, and biking paths, as well as cats loose in neighborhoods.  The mountain lions are grabbing the mule deer and fawns.  The bears are smashing bee hives and stealing honey, as well as raiding any bird feeders they can reach.  A friend has a one-inch thick wrought iron post for her feeders, and thought they were safe - this morning the post was bent at a 70 degree angle and the bird feeders were crushed and empty on the ground.  And folks around my sister and brother-in-laws house now have teen-aged bobcats out hunting with their parents, as well.  The fox are staying under cover as much as possible.  The cottontail rabbit birth explosion is feeding most of the smaller predators.
    Tess, one of the dogs I care for, is not doing well at the moment.  She started having seizures last fall.  They began occurring every 4 days a couple of months ago, and she has finally been placed on Potassium Bromide as a daily medication. (Her owner is a very firm believer in holistic medicine and diet taking care of everything.)  The K-Bro medication has increased her appetite amazingly, as well as her thirst.  But the main side effect is ataxia, her hind legs don't support her well...  The vet told the owner that once Tess reaches her optimal medication level, she'll return to normal.  The vet told the owner it would take one month.  I read the information, and it says the optimal level is reached in three to four months...  We'll have to see.  In the meantime, the dog who always bounced and danced on her hind legs is now shuffling with her nose to the ground.  It's pretty sad...
   Still at 59 new foals on the Chincoteague NationalWildlife Refuge - 56 after the three losses.  One foal died from an umbilical infection, one foal got stuck in the marsh mud and couldn't break free, and one had a congenital defect of the forelegs, which could not be healed.  All the others are quite bouncy and bold.  As usual, there are some really stupendous pinto markings, quite a few solids with great conformation, and a few real stand-outs.  I'm happy with the foals so far...
 

Cougar on Buffalo Campus

I don't have internet access while I'm at Lynn's, so I'll be checking my e-mails and doing my blog and catching up on all my news sites just once a day until the 18th.  I had a blast with the girls last night - Tessa, Dhisana, Lilly and Lyra were all in fine fettle and we played and chased and acted the fool for quite a few hours.  I walked Rosie and Remy this morning, but Remy started favoring his hip a block away from the house, so I took the red kids to visit with Tessa.  Tessa  and Rosie chased each other in circles around the back yard, while Remy stayed sitting or lying down for most of the time.  If I had internet access at Lynn's, I'd just take Lovey and Nedi over there and we'd all stay together happily - but I need my PC time these days, too. 

There was a Winter Weather Advisory on the Western Slope last night - anywhere over 9,000 feet got between 3 and 18 inches of snow.  We got down to 50 degrees - but we actually have a cooling trend going: today's high is supposed to be 68, tomorrow's 62, Saturday the high will be 48 with rain all day, and then 56 on Sunday.  It'll be nice, if it's correct.  And Coffeepot is supposed to pick up Mocha on Sunday, between noon and one.  She is currently crouched in the patio door way, and Lovey and Nedi are sunning on the concrete.  The kits have all had 15 minutes of individual attention, and once I take care of my e-mail, I'll need to head back to Lynn's.  I love her house, I love her critters, I love her yard.  I miss being home with my kits, though.  Maybe I'll take them over once Mocha is gone....

The big story around here is that a 2-year-old male mountain lion was spotted yesterday in a tree next to one of the CU dorms.  College kids clambered around, being noisy, and taking lots of photos and videos with their cell phones.  The young man who first sighted the big cat, and called the Division of Wildlife, said the cat looked petrified with fear, because he was drawing so much attention.   The cougar was tranquilized, fitted with a radio collar, and turned loose on the farthest Boulder County Open Space lands (40 miles and several mountains away to the west). He was estimated to be two-years-old, and his spine length (not counting the tail) was four feet.  This is the time of year when male youngsters leave their mom to establish their own hunting territory, and they frequently end up on the west side of Boulder and the CU campus.

A Very Strange Dream

Like a nut, I left the book I was reading, and my alarm clock, at Sammie and Tuppurr's yesterday.  I'll pick them up this afternoon.  Since I didn't have my alarm clock, I was worried about waking up on time to get over and walk Rosie and Remy before it got too warm.  Luckily, I awakened at 6:30 due to a dream - and what a dream!  If you read this blog frequently, you know that I am a big fan of  NCIS; most notably David McCallum and Mark Harmon.  But the next person in line is Rocky Carroll, who plays NCIS Director Leon Vance.  The reason I went on an NCIS tangent is because I watched it last night.  This morning, for whatever reasons, I dreamed:  I was sitting on a toilet in a large and very ornate bathroom (I have no idea what I was doing on the pot).  There was a large collection of old and new stand-alone toilet paper holders standing in the bathtub and in the glassed-in shower area.  Director Vance was sitting at a large desk in front of a huge mirror about 5 feet away.  His back was toward me and he was doing some paperwork.  I made some kind of laughing comment about the TP holder collection, and he smiled at me, over his shoulder, and made some type of funny comeback.  He turned back to his desk, and the phone rang.   It was an old empress style telephone made of brass and ivory, and it was sitting next to the toilet (and me). He tossed over his shoulder, "Hey, can you grab that for me?", so I answered the phone with a very quiet "Hello?"  The person on the other end of the line said he needed to speak to the Director.  I began feverishly to grab at toilet paper, so I could move out of the way - after mopping up from whatever I was doing...  I suddenly realized that I was panting aloud, and had what looked to be a five-inch stack of accordioned TP in my hand.  Then I realized the Director was looking at me with raised eyebrows.  He finally asked, "What?"  I replied, in a strangled whisper, "You have a phone call."  He stood, said, "Well, I'll answer it in the other room," and walked through the door.  I looked back at all the TP in  my hand.  He closed the door....  and I woke up.  - Weird!

Other oddments:  A woman in Centreville, Maryland has been charged with 133 counts of cruelty and inhumane treatment of animals.  She had a 200-acre Arabian breeding farm (Polish bloodlines), and investigators found the horses dying from starvation and dehydration last April.  ....  Two full grown mountain lions wandered into an outer suburb of Los Angeles yesterday, and freaked out a home owner and his neighbors.  Authorities believe the cats came down from the San Gabriel Mountains for the hunting of easier game.  ....  Another person has been bitten by a coyote in Broomfield.  Idiot people feed them and then are upset when they attack because they aren't being fed as they are used to.  ....  The manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge has requested funds to restore the parking places lost by the waters of Hurricane Irene.  She hopes to replot and have a full set of over 900 parking spaces by early summer.  (But don't expect to see folks working on it now - it's time for the winter and spring nor'easters, and they would just wash all the work away again.)

Boulder's Mountain Lions

We received about 6 inches of snow yesterday; by 10:30 in the morning it had stopped snowing and the sun was shining. It was beautiful. Right now, it's 12 degrees outside and it's mostly sunny. I've been out walking, but will be going out again to exercise the Irish kids. There are no visiting critters outside, and both kits are in; Lovey and Banichi ran out this morning and came back in complaining about the snow... I apologized and told them that I had no control over it and to think about summertime. Banichi is curled up in the sun on the top of the cat tree and Lovey is sitting between my arms, in front of the keyboard, "helping" me type.

Boulder's mountain lion controversy is stirring up again. A couple of weeks ago, a home-owner in North Boulder let their terrier out after dark. When the dog didn't want back in quickly, the owner called for the dog without any response. The owner went out with a flashlight, and in the alley behind the house, caught a mountain lion - with the dog in it's mouth - within the light. The dog was obviously dead. The lion jumped the 6-foot fence and left with its prey. Boulder re-issued it's warning about mountain lions - that we are living in their territory; go out with a light; make lots of noise; don't let small pets outside by themselves. As usual, people are getting very upset about their "rights", the "rights" of their pets, and the "rights" of local wildlife.
Me - I love all animals; domesticated, feral, wild. I feel very sorry for the family that lost their dog to the mountain lion. But I'm also irritated and angry with them. Just because one lives within the city limits, one cannot expect wild animals to respect unseen lines on a map. The wild things have been here much longer than we have, we keep pushing into their territory, and we can't expect them to keep moving away from old hunting grounds. These people have lived in Boulder for over 10 years - they have heard all the stories about coyotes, fox, mountain lions and bears. But they felt "safe" and ignored ordinary safety precautions. So now they blame the wild animals for being wild animals. Somehow, that doesn't make sense to me.

The local news has been covering the National Western Stock Show each morning. I think I'm going to have to visit Denver this Friday as well as next Friday to go to the event. Today is "Western Dress" day in Denver and there will be a parade of horses, wagons, stagecoaches, riders, floats, and long-horn steers beginning at noon on 17th Street. I'd love to go, but won't be able to make it down there in time after walking Rosie and Remy. I think I need a big dose of farm animals to get my "animal equilibrium" back - I definitely see and get and give love from plenty of cats and dogs at this time, but I miss the big critters.

Wildlife vs. Citizens & Wild Weather

Wildlife in and around Boulder are having problems. People move to Boulder and the nearby Rocky Mountain areas for the beauty of nature and the wildlife. Then they do something stupid and blame everything on the wildlife, which is so beautiful from a distance and which is very frightening and disturbing up close. - In case you can't tell yet where this is leading, I'm very much in favor of letting wildlife be wildlife - and not killing it because it is wild. Due to the drought in this area, making the usual berry patches and foraging unvailable to bears and deer, they are both invading local neighborhoods for sustenance. And, of course, where the deer go, our mountain lions follow. There have been two killings of wildlife by the Department of Wildlife (DoW) in the past week in and around Boulder.

The first was the killing of a young black bear - she was less than two years old, and was sighted twice in the same neighborhood, raiding trash. The people who live in the area are supposed to have bear-proof garbage containers, but do not. The first time, she was tranquilized, tagged and moved back into the mountains. The second time, she was shot dead. Yes, she could have become a "nuisance bear" - one that is not afraid of humans and might end up harming someone because they were stupid enough to challenge her space. In this time of drought and loss of feeding habitat, I think the people should have just ignored her as much as possible and made sure their children and pets were secure. And they should have purchased the bear-proof trash containers they were required by law to have done - were they cited for that lack? No. And the bear lost it's life.

The second incident was due to a couple who moved to the mountains to enjoy the beauty and wildlife. These people regularly sleep with their patio and French doors open at night - no screen doors, no barriers whatsoever to keep wildlife out of their home. Now, I admit this was bold (but the house was wide open): a mountain lion entered their bedroom and unfortunately killed their Golden Lab, who was sleeping on the floor near the bed. Had it been my dog, I would have been terribly heart-broken and upset, and I do feel for these folks in their loss - but this was their own fault because they left the doors to their house open in a wildlife area. This mountain lion, who was an opportunistic feeder (and what cat isn't?), was shot dead by the DoW. Had these people closed their doors when they went to bed, the cat would not have had easy access to their home and their dog. They were stupid.

Yesterday, a couple in North Boulder heard a terrible crying coming from the bushes in their yard. They investigated and found a mountain lion in the process of killing a fawn. They immediately backed off, yelling, and went inside their house. Yesterday evening, they decided to look closely at the kill, and suddenly found themselves within 2 feet of the mountain lion, who was sleeping under the bush next to his meal. They again quickly retreated and called DoW. This time the story has a happier ending: the young male cat was wearing a tracking collar and was identified as one of five young males being tracked in a government-funded study - so he was tranquilized and turned loose up in the mountains.

As humans crowd into the habitat of wildlife, some pressures will be felt, and some leeway must be accorded on both sides. Humans have the choice in the matter. I feel that if you move into an area "for the wildlife," then you should take all precautions recommended by experts on wildlife. Respect the animals' space, respect it's need to forage for food and drink, keep things that are important to you safe from the animal (i.e.: keep cats and dogs indoors, or in completely fenced runs), do NOT leave your doors open to your home, inviting wildlife inside. Well... I guess I've blown off enough steam for this morning....

Last night we had wild weather: a Flash Flood Warning, a Tornado Warning, and a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. We didn't flood; a tornado did touch down, but it was quite a distance from here; and we got 7/10ths of an inch of rain in an hour. We've had sprinkles and light rain all morning. Our low this morning was 57; dependent upon cloud-cover, our high might be 78 today. Yeah! We deserve a break in this dry, hot weather - and so does the wildlife!!