Get Ready 1,2,3.

If Pieface sniffs out another poisonous snake, we won't be wasting any time looking for the weapons of destruction. I only hope that our preparation will jinx the deal and these will not be needed.

But I don't expect for the bb gun to stay put. We have to pump that one to shut Pieface up if he starts nagging me for breakfast before dawn. OR the fly swatter. It's the only thing that keeps him from biting the vacuum wand/leaf blower. You know, because it moves. He can shout all he wants to then.

You can take the country girl to the big city but she'll STILL be in the country.

I'm staying in Colorado Springs (pop. 380,307 in a county just under 600K).

On our way from the airport shuttle, three blocks from my sister's house, we were making our way down an alley as Eve pointed out the yard on the right saying how she especially loved the cute little deer sculptures.

I told her I didn't think the sculpture of the reclining buck with a rack too big to fit in the car could be called little.

No, she was talking about the logs with stick antlers.

The buck I was talking about turned his head.

He was up and about when I went back later.

The next night Leo was late coming in. We were relieved when he finally showed up until we got a good whiff: he'd been SKUNKED!

The remedy off the internet (1 pt hydrogen peroxide (unopened), 1/8 cup baking soda, 1/2 tsp dish soap) worked but next time I'll try it without the detergent because CATS REALLY HATE GETTING RINSED! I must admit Leo was really kind to me and kept his claws in as he clung to me. But then I would expect nothing else from one of MamaKitty's children.

I don't believe my eyes.

Ten minutes ago (10 :43 pm) Pieface the dog was shouting "snake snakesnake!" outside my office.

I went to check it out. I heard a tiny vibrating noise where he said there was a danger. Forget the TV/movie rattle snake rattle; they sound like an insect, only a constant buzz.

I brought Pieface in to the house and told Bond to get his shotgun before grabbing my seven bulbs hands free headlight. I looked out the downstairs bedroom window and spotted a coiled rattle snake on the bare ground, about the size and shape of a pile of medium sized dog poo. I did NOT take my eyes (or the light) off it. But before Bond could get off a shot, it slowly unwound to no more than 10 inches long, s l o w l y moved and literally DISAPPEARED!

Was it a conspiracy to get Pieface in to the house to eat the cat's food?

Feline? Abundance

Anybody who has cats worries about cats and parked cars.

Knowing the danger and looking for cats on and under my car hasn't always helped. Last Fall, after backing out and stopping to give cats, if any, time to disembark in the driveway, a young cat flew out from under my car when I turned the corner a block and a half away.

Not long after, one of the very pregnant simple minded mama kitties had been hanging out around my parking place. I saw her safely sitting on the porch when I got in my car. Imagine how I felt when I backed out and saw this nest of 6 kittens!

entomological protest

The annual cycle of oppression presses on!

First in the dry cat food on the floor; we placed the dishes in moats and change them daily or suffer the WORST SMELL IN THE WORLD - wet rotting pet food.

Next came forays to the kitchen sink, for water, even though they have hefty trails into the hoses out side AND a shallow fountain that oozes year 'round.

Now they insist that our bread counter must be scrubbed - repeatedly. They don't care.

They keep on coming.

On the plus side, these ARE sugar ants. We haven't seen a fire ant inside since we had the house walls drilled and treated for termites. Fire ants bite you when you scoop them up with a sponge.

Uninvited Guest, Again!

The second time the raccoons came to dinner when I was feeding the cats late at night, I turned around and they backed off with a "you don't see me" and "I'm not really here" attitude.

A week later I turned around, saw one coming into the yard and clapped my hands to scare her away, as I don't want her to become habituated to humans and get shot for unusual behavior by someone who is afraid she is rabid. After all, our county was declared a rabies danger zone last month. This time she stopped and gave me a "What did I do?" look.

I went inside and got my camera. The flash didn't seem to slow her down at all and she didn't leave a bite for the patient cats to eat. That lazy 'coon has ripe figs on the other side of the fence.

This is my convenient cat food station. I scrub both bowls daily with blue soap and the broom, then top up the blue bowl/ anti-ant moat before renewing the kibbles; more in the morning, less (for the raccoons) at night.

Ants out of the blue

Summertime is definitely here in South GA. The lightning bugs are few and far between. The June/Fig bugs have come and gone. The trees are humming all day and night with cicadas. And this afternoon, in the Albany Home Depot parking lot, I picked up my leftover lunch drink, took a big swig of icy cold water to quench my thirst after an hour in air conditioning, and realized that my hand was suddenly covered in ants...Ptooey!

They weren't inside the left over hamburger and fries in the bag on the floor, just all over my drink. And who could blame them? It must've been over a hundred in the car.

I shook them off the cup onto the pavement and then onto the nearby grass (and added the cup to the burger bag in the car. I'm no litterbug).

I'll never know if the ones left in the car were headed home to Parrott, or off on a journey to a galaxy far far away.