What an incredible day in the backyard. Over the last three months, I’ve had a growing list of backyard to-dos that included everything from ‘keep the chickens from killing every living thing’ to ’scoop the poop’ to ‘eliminate the rat colony’ to ‘move the raised beds.’ Significant projects, all. (Well, except for the poop.) Here’s where we began…the before shot from last year.

Lush and green. (Haven for rats)

A month ago, I enlisted my friend Fred to build the chickens their very own fenced in area, and I took down all but one banana tree that same day. (Had to keep a banana source, after all.) The rats were relentless, and the chickens *still* haven’t recovered. The banana trees were not only edging out the sunlight, but sustaining a very bold rat population. Since the banana trees have come down and we put down poison, the rats have disappeared. Only Evangeline has resumed laying, but I have high hopes that the increased sunlight will not only grow the vegetables but result in more eggs.The girls love their new fenced-in home. They’re still retiring to the coop each night, but from sun up to sun down they can delight in any number of chickeny activities. Pecking through the compost heap, taking a dirt bath, mining for worms, hopping up on top of the coop, chasing after a sister chicken, bawk bawk bawking. You know how it is.

To the left is the chaos of putting in a fence, taking down the bananas, and reorganizing the whole backyard. The great guys that helped me clear everything out got to take home the enormous smoker that has been sitting idle for a year. They thought they were getting a deal, but thank god it’s gone.

I got my boyfriend to help me move a raised bed a few weeks ago, and I haphazardly planted some desperate seeds and herbs. Really, the winter garden is pretty pathetic. I’ll be lucky if I get a salad out of it. But, I have a fresh new canvas to work from come January.

Today, I am thankful for five hours of uninterrupted backyard time. All of the following projects got finished:

• woman shed expanded and organized.

• solution to chickens escaping the coop completed. We’ll see tomorrow if I’ve screened them in successfully.

• coop cleaned.

• new food delivery system in place.

• hammock moved to new locale; tables moved to better spots.

• raking, sweeping, hosing down of concrete and “lawn.”

Here are the new and improved pictures of the backyard. Yay Thanksgiving break!

Expanded Woman Shed.

New fence and cleaned up yard.

Side view…hammock moved.

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…iš didelės, šūdinos, pinigų darymo mašinos. Apmaudu, bet kartais tikrai taip pasijuntu ir imu rimtai nerimauti dėl ateities… Bijau, jog kiti parduos mano jausmus…parduos mano likimą, parduos idėjas, turtą, poeziją ir galų gale šitą patį blogą… Žemė grimzta į mėšlą. Liūdna realybė, ką?

Sukosi šiandien “ant kartojimo”. Ir jūs paklausykit kokius 4 kartus iš eilės…gal pasaulis ims nebeatrodyti toks sumautas…

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Nuotaika: like rat’s
Klausom: “Like rats in the sewers, we swim in sh*t, like rats in the sewers, in the world of filth…”

Religious morality is fake; Do like the magic man says in his magic book and receive reward after death.. or torture.. that’s not morality.

Today, the following things happened:

1) Details of my recently ended relationship were published in a national women’s magazine, courtesy of my freelance-journalist ex.

2) Received overly emotive emails from aforementioned ex – turned out to just be pleas for attention. Unimpressed. He was infact in the pub with his housemate, drinking beer and feeling sorry for himself.

3) Had my favourite jumper du jour weed on by my gorgeous yet slightly incontinent fancy rats, Elvis and Costello. Owned.

4) Applied for some jobs. More of that later.

5) Ate pie. Watched Top Gear. Stopped myself from ordering pretty things and photographic geekery on t’interwebnet.

6) Set up this new blog. So he wants to publish details of my relationships in the public forum, eh? At least this way, I get to edit it.

Think Wildlife - The campaign for responsible rodenticide use

Rapid Pest Control are proud to be members and supporters of the Campaign for responsible Rodenticide Use CRRU for short. Fundamentally, we abide to a code of practice when using rodenticides to remove rat problems.

As pest control specialists, we have a few methods available to us to control rats, but the mainstay of our arsenal is the use of poison baits. The use of such baits must involve recording the amount of bait taken and applied and making sure only the target species can gain access to the poisons.

It is also vital that the carcasses are found and disposed of safely to ensure non target species do not suffer from secondary poisoning – for example a bird of prey picking up a dead mouse left exposed will also take a concentrated form of the poison in the flesh of the prey, causing death or illness from eating this.

The code follows a few simple but effective rules:

• Always have a planned approach
• Always record quantity of bait & where it is placed
• Always use enough baiting points
• Always collect and dispose of rodent bodies
• Never leave bait exposed to non-target animals and birds
• Never fail to inspect bait regularly
• Never leave bait down at the end of the treatment 

At Rapid Pest Control, we keep extensive records of baits placed and taken, plus ensure  that any poison not taken after the treatment is collected and disposed of in a safe manner. If you want to know more about the campaign or get involved either contact us or www.thinkwildlife.co.uk for more details.

This sounds like a job for you. I truly shouldn’t laugh, but the way PMP Tom Bannister, owner of ATB Pest Control in March, England, describes the potential invasion of the city by rats stands in stark contrast to the reaction of the public officials, who seem to be taking the pending apocalypse with typical British sang-froid. Clearly, the council members are not the victims of the rat attacks.

Since Bobby is busy doing such great work with New York, perhaps we can find someone else to help the city out. Dale Kaukeinen, anyone?

Hans Christian Andersen wrote “The Old Bachelor’s Nightcap.” I mangled the words “Hysken Sträde” because they are a nonsense version of Hyskenstræde — which I’m sure I would have mangled also. I should probably just say them in American instead of trying to figure out how to say them “right.” Eisenach is a city just south of the halfway point of a straight-line journey between Berlin and Dusseldorf. Lady Holle might be a Scandinavian goddess or demi-goddess. The Tannhauser legends are pretty interesting. Ah, for the days before science. The tale of Tristram and Iseult has been told many ways. “Walter of the Vogelverde” is probably Walther von der Vogelweide.

The music in this podcast was provided by Mevio.com.

“Die Alone” is by Ingrid Michaelson.

“A Girl Alone” is by Hungry Lucy.

“Coming Home Soon” is by the Adam Woodall Band.

I moved to San Francisco from NYC about 9 months ago. I’m really still not over how many crazy people there are in this city, and the depth of the crazy that is so omnipresent. When I rant about the wackos spilling over on every sidewalk, people are shocked. “You’re from NYC, aren’t you used to it?” No, no I’m not. For those of you unaware, Giuliani shipped off all the crazy homeless people many years ago, and NYC is now a yuppie-filled Pleasantville with nary a crackhead in site. Union Square street performance in NYC consists of 15 year old hip-hop artists reenacting America’s Next Dance Crew. Union Square street performance in SF consists of a man stacking a dog, a cat and a rat on top of one another like Jenga pieces. Shit is weird out here.
I digress. I have started this blog to vent about the crazy things I see on my morning and evening bus ride on the #19 Muni, a delightful and colorful bus ride that takes me from Russian Hill (land of Starbucks & Lulu Lemon), through the Tenderloin (reminiscent of The Wire’s Hamsterdam), and finally through SOMA where I depart (healthy mix of sex stores and meth clinics). Instead of bothering my coworkers every morning with “Oh my god you will not believe what happened on my bus ride today” I figured this would be a good forum for my tales of crazy.
I’ll christen my blog with one of my very first bus ride stories:
Hopped on the bus a bit late, probably around 8:30ish. Bus was looking a bit packed for a Monday morning, so I was forced to go stand in the back. The stench of urine and trash in my 1 foot radius was a bit overpowering, so when I spotted a free seat I immediately lunged for it, likely knocking a small Asian woman out of the way George Castanza style. Alas, this seat was no refuge. Turning to my right, I noticed a kid about 21 or so in dirt covered skater clothes, the missing junkie member of Blink 182 perhaps. Face covered in blood! Dear god. No one else on the bus seems to notice or care. Unfortunately there is no room to get up, so I vow to get off at the next stop. Feel like I’m going to gag, but turn to my left hoping to escape with a more pleasant visual. There is an older man talking to himself, which I’ll take any day over a blood covered drug addict. Looking a bit closer I realize he is not alone, as there is a giant white rat in his coat pocket. He is about a half an inch away from the rat’s twitching nose, passionately engaged in conversation, occasionally calling the rat “sister.” Our eyes meet, he does not look pleased to have an onlooker observing. Vision of the rat lunging at me to defend his companion, little claws ready to be imbedded in my cheek, thrusting me back into the bloody arms of the junkie. It’s too much! The $5 cab is worth the preservation of my life. I immediately leap out at Polk and O’Farrell.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard about Kate Moss  mentioning the infamously pro-anorexic motto “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” during an interview with WWD (Story here). While I don’t think that Moss intended the comment to be serious lifestyle advice for the masses, the truth is that people, particularly the crazed, young women striving to look as starved and anemic as she is, are probably going to take it as such. I mean, a model’s primary professional concern is his or her body, so it’s not that far-fetched to believe that some people would mistake it for expert advice. Anyone with even a slight tendency to eat badly, however, will tell you there are plenty of things that taste better than skinny: bacon, Ben and Jerry’s, pizza, Junior’s cheesecake, bagels, mashed potatoes, fettuccine alfredo, and those gold-wrapped round chocolates from the gods, just to name a few.

Speaking of weight and food that’s bad for you, I heard something interesting on the radio recently about the other end of the eating disorder spectrum:

A new study done on rats suggests that unhealthy, but delicious, food can actually be as addictive as (gasp!) heroin or cocaine (side note: Kate, remember when you were in the midst of a highly-publicized coke scandal in 2005? Nothing is better than how being high off coke feels, right?). According to really smart scientists at Scripps Research Institute in Florida, rats who were exposed to “high-fat, high-calorie food” ate increased amounts as “the pleasure pathways in their brains became less and less responsive, forcing them to consume more to get the same amount of pleasure.” Even when the researchers paired the junk food with a mild shock, the rats still chose it over a nutritional alternative. And when the junk food was removed altogether, the rats preferred to not eat at all rather than eat the nutritional alternative, which is pretty indicative of addiction.

In other words, a person addicted to junk food would probably prefer to be tasered and still receive a Big Mac than have to eat a Kashi granola bar and an apple. smh.

This week has been an incredibly bad one for pets. For those of you know don’t read this blog very often, or who perhaps are new, Ben and I own 4 rats, who we love very much. They are the brightest, most intelligent yet clumsy creatures ever known to man, and the are in no way stinky or scary. In fact, they have so many funny little mannerisms and such distinct personalities that how anyone could look at them and be scared rather than amused seems absurd!

Storm was the first of the four, a blue-grey princess with big ears on the side of her head and a lot of brains, She is the matriarch of the group, can kung-fu kick if cornered, and is the one everyone looks at and goes “wow”. She is gorgeous.

Buffy was the next introduction. A little rescue rat-kitten from down in Oxford, there is no pedigree here. instead, we have a loving girl who enjoys snuggling in blankets, isn’t bothered by food, and who is unfortunately allergic to those little mites that every animal (and human!) normally has but doesn’t notice. She itches all the time, poor thing.

Muffin was the third rat. Technically a pedigree  ”Siamese rex”, this beauty has curly hair and whiskers, and really big hips. She loves to show her affection by licking you whenever she can (adorable, by the way!) and by curling up with you. She does, however, get very nervous if anyone touches her head, and runs away to hide.

The final and most recent intro to the group was Hermione. A little hermaphrodite, this gorgeous girl had finally stopped trying to rule the roost and taken instead to being absurdly inquisitive and rather adorable.

On Tuesday, we noticed two of our little ratties were ill. Storm, bless her, had developed a large tumour/growth about the size of her leg, and Hermione was looking terribly ill. Her head had swelled dramatically, and she wasn’t energetic enough to move. We rushed them to the vets, where Hermione was declared a little anaemic but fine, and we were told that it would cost from £60-£180 to find out what Storms lump was, and remove it.

Unfortunately, the next day Hermione died. We found her upside down in the corner of the cage, where the other rats had actually buried her. It was horrible. Storm is OK, still perky and energetic, but for now we can’t afford to have anything done. We are just desperately hoping nothing happens to her. On the same day, Ben’s cat from home had to be put down, which was incredibly sad on its own.

It hasn’t been a good week for pets. I feel so sorry for the other rats left without their friend. It is horrible.

We use bell laboratories rat baiting station which have a variety of types for the professional pest industry Protecta Tamper-Resistant Bait Stations: From the toughest to the most discreet baiting systems for use indoors/outdoors, for use on rats or mice. Servicing these station fast and convenient. Final, Fastrac Exceptional Rodenticide Bait Formulations which has a variety of rodent baits available

Another type of rat traps are the Glue trap glue formulations are the result of substantial research and testing to determine the ideal combination of immediate grip and stretchable hold, the two factors needed for the highest possible capture rate. Mouse and a rat attractant, each targeted to the specific feeding preferences of the mouse or rats.  Here are some examples displaying Protecta Tamper-Resistant Bait Stations

rodent traps

Yesterdays picture was that of a TUSSIC MOTH Caterpillar…

1. During World War II, the free-tailed bat caves near San Antonio were guarded closely as part of top-secret Operation X-ray. The U.S. military attempted to train the bats to carry small incendiary bombs and release them in Japanese buildings. During one test, bat bomb carriers escaped and set fire to barracks and a general’s car. The project was later scrapped.
2. A bee has 5 eyes, 2 large compound eyes on either side of its head, and 3 ocelli (primitive eyes) on top of its head to detect light intensity.
3. A small portion of the population is allergic to fire ant stings and should see medical treatment immediately if stung.
4. Blacklegged (deer) ticks, carriers of Lyme disease, like to spend the winter nestled in the fur of a deer.
5. 67% of homeowners are most concerned about pests in the summer. 
6. Bees must collect the nectar from 2,000 flowers to make 1 tablespoon of honey. 
7. Cockroaches have quite a capacity for survival. If the head of one is removed carefully, so as to prevent it from bleeding to death, the cockroach can survive for several weeks. When it dies, it is from starvation.
8. Rattlesnakes gather in groups to sleep through the winter. Sometimes up to 1,000 of them will coil up together to keep warm. Even after its dead, a snake can still kill you with its venom.
9. Rats can swim for a mile without resting, and they can tread water for 3 days straight.
10. The common housefly is faster—in one sense—than a jet airplane. The fly moves 300 times its body length in one second, while the jet, at the speed of sound, travels 100 times its body length in one second.

The krishna river…it always rains when i come here. Pilgrims first climb the adjacent hill to a temple, absolutely no photos allowed and you have to climb the hill barefoot (not nice). Then they come down and bathe in the krishna river and then they give thanks at this tree. They leave offerings of bananas and coconuts, hence these giant rats live inside it, coloured yellow by the powder from the shrine, they appear every now and then to grab some food and disappear back into the heart of the tree.

]]> http://inlug.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/je-deviens-folle/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:05:47 +0000 inlug http://inlug.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/je-deviens-folle/

(ATTENTION estomacs fragiles s’abstenir !)

De temps à autre, je m’accorde un peu de chocolat avant d’aller dormir. C’est bon pour le moral, mauvais pour les hanches et scheiss drauf.

Puisque nous sommes manifestement en pleine période de famine de souris (qui osent donc tout pour grignoter MON chocolat), j’avais été prévoyante et l’avait mis en sûreté dans une boite en plastique.

En plus, le bruit de la souris qui farfouille juste devant mon nez est franchement désagréable, la nuit.

Bien. L’autre jour, que j’avais la crêve et que le courageux MonsieurChéri affrontait le froid, la nuit et le crottin, je me délectais donc de mon chocolat-noisettes, la tablette négligeamment déposée juste à coté de moi, sur le lit. Etant rassasiée, je replie le papier pour ranger la tablette dans la boite. Par acquis de conscience, je tatonne même l’emballage, pour faire peur à une hypothétique souris qui aurait pu se faufiler dedans pendant un moment d’inattention.  Bien. Je range la tablette.

Hier soir, je me dis “oh allez, soyons fous, je me prends un carré de chocolat avant d’aller aux écuries.”

Imaginez vous bien la scène. Je suis en pleine décompression du travail, assise sur mon lit, en train de regarder pour 10 minutes une série sur tout ce qui porte un uniforme et procède à des contrôles (police, douane, sécu sociale etc etc). Vous voyez la scène au ralentis, quand je tends le bras vers mon chocolat, un léger sourire de satisfaction anticipée planant sur mes lèvres, quand j’ouvre la boite et déplie le papier du chocolat ?

Vous imaginez vous trouver nez à nez avec un cadavre de souris en lieu et place de vos carrés de chocolat ?

La souris était minuscule (4 cm environ) mais ca l’empêchait pas de puer.

La boite (et la souris) ont volé à travers la chambre. C’est MonsieurChéri qui a rangé après. Ouais c’est pas sympa, mais lui c’est un homme fort et moi j’ai failli bouffer une souris décomposée.

Et le pire du pire du truc qui t’énerve tellement t’es con c’est que :

Hexe n’arrêtait pas de fixer le chocolat comme s’il allait s’envoler. Et tout ce que j’ai fait c’est me moquer et de la traiter de stupide. Pour la souris dans les chaussures, elle voulait toujours entrer dans le placard et on avait peur qu’elle y fasse ses besoins.

Même moi, un soir, j’ai eu l’impression que le papier du chocolat bougeait. Je l’ai surveillé de près 1 minute, mais il n’a pas bougé et je me suis dit que j’étais bien fatiguée, et t’es sûre qu’il n’y avait rien d’illégal dans ton sandwich ?

Alors après la souris dans la corbeille de tissus, celle dans l’armoire, et toutes celles qu’on retrouve régulièrement à moitié mangées autours du lit le matin, voici la souris du chocolat.

Petit à petit, je crois que je perds la raison.

Le problème c’est qu’on aimerait bien ne plus avoir de souris dans la chambre, surtout de souris mortes, mais

- Hexe ramène des souris qu’elle chasse dehors, mais elle en chasse aussi pas mal dans la chambre.

- on mettrait bien de la mort aux rats, mais 1) c’est dangereux pour les chats qui pourraient en manger, 2) les souris meurent, et ca pue toujours autant chez nous.

- ne plus avoir de quoi grignoter dans la chambre. Personne jusqu’à présent n’a réussi à soutirer les gummibärchen à MonsieurChéri sans le payer de sa vie.

- boucher tous les trous partout. Tiendra aussi longtemps qu’elle ne trouveront pas un autre trou pour rentrer. Et si elles meurent derrière les murs, ca pue quand même.

Est ce que quelqu’un aurait ne serait-ce que les prémisses d’une solution miracle ?

siouplè !!

A bad deal made by someone I’ve never met and will probably never meet. A bad decision made by this very same person. We’re all in it together, some just get thrown out more quickly than others.

A group of men and women make a decision. This decision is in the best interest of some and not for others. This deal will help the bottom line for some, but not for others. A blade quickly lops off the others.

As the others, we should not complain. We have some things that many don’t and many more will not. As the others we are responsible only to ourselves and for ourselves. As any good “objectivist” is.

Are we the complainers, the ungrateful? Do we lack vision or a sense of team? When little beasts are scurrying off the edge of the deck are we foolish to believe that they are just too weak?

I am the rat who will jump into the water. I can swim longer than you think I can. I can survive by any means. I can survive by eating anything. I will survive by eating anything. I will eat the rats.

Yup, OMG where on earth am I going to put all the little ratties? Oh well, at least Andi gets to have her kids in a loving environment and not have them end up as snake food. I really am a little excited, just a little…

The last time I was in Washington, D.C. a rat scurried across the sidewalk right in front of me. I’m fairly certain the hurried rodent dived into the nearest sewer grate. But was he going to his calculus study group? Was his teacher Hobbie-J: smartest rat in the world?

Good heavens, I can barely deal with the wild, fornicating, garden devouring rabbits in my backyard. How am I going to handle genius rats?

I had squirrels for three years… I paid several “pro” big name wildlife and pest control companies big money to eradicate the squirrels (… and the rats and the bats and…well you get the idea…the wildlife was just one problem after the next)…and they all kept coming back year after year.

Keith from   www.bigfootwildlife.com   animal control 678 314 7828  came out and he said he could solve my problems… and for a reasonable cost!

He saw the problems differently then just “animal control of pesky critters”. He seemed to understood the way the animals think and why they kept finding their way into my home. He modified the landscape environment by showing me what to remove that was attracting the animals, and also he sealed the perimeter of “invisible to the untrained eye” but easy access entry points, which the animals were easily finding.

• Bam! The problem was solved and he didn’t have to kill them or eradicate them, he just cage trapped them safely and humanely as my wife insisted, and got rid of the animals! He got rid of the way they would get into my house…
• Keith’s knowledge of humane animal control techniques prevented the rascals from reentering and terrorizing my family this year and for this I am grateful …my home is finally trap and wildlife animal free …CALL KEITH    678 314 7828

I had to pass this along because if rats were this big – it would scare me too…. Hilarious video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7ZWvwaUE1E