This is lovely. We have a squirrel-proof feeder and put out separate nuts just for the squirrels. And about a mile away in Billings Park the chipmunks have trained a bunch of humans to bring them nuts. It's exactly the kind of community building experience you describe.
Alas, no chipmunks here. I remember a lot of them when I was a kid, but that was a much less urban environment. It is funny how the creatures train us!
I found that chipmunks like to put on displays of being disemboweled by the local cats. Squirrels, not quite as much, although sometimes the local cats might strip down a small rabbit for us. Good Easter display.
The local wildlife training me? Nah, at least the quails don’t take off with my hat when they circle around me in the back yard! And yes, a flock of pheasants did that to my boss back when I was in high school, I saw it first-hand. Damn, that was funny! He even got a laugh, saying he was surprised that one of them didn’t follow up and take a shit on his head, then the first one put the hat back on!
I am an advocate to make good neighbors with tall fences. Fortunately, I live in an older neighborhood where the houses are not within arms reach from each other. It seems that any new housing community now a days are built so unbelievably close to each other, it's hard to want to build a community together.
There is definitely something special with having nature and animals around a home. There a sense of calmness and serenity. Sometimes my place feels like a domestic zoo. We feed various species of birds and of course, the squirrels. This started out with a couple small bags from the grocery store, now its going to the animal feed store twice per month to stock up.
There comes a whole dichotomy with feeding the birds and the squirrels. I spent most of last summer figuring out ways to set up a various methods while keeping the field mice at bay. Not to mention the "deer repellent plants" and fishing lines I had to put up, to detour the deer around our gardening areas. The most interesting animals we were visited by was a peacock and a golden pheasant. The pheasant stayed for while, so I put up notices on neighborhood apps to see if someone nearby was missing it. There was no response, so I built the little guy a lard bird cage with enough room to perch on off the ground and hay bells to stay warm. A colorful bird like that is not hard for predators to spot. After all that work, he took off, likely due to the fact that the neighborhood cat kept stalking him. I guess sometime tall fences doesn't even cut it.
“Fortunately, I live in an older neighborhood where the houses are not within arms reach from each other. It seems that any new housing community now a days are built so unbelievably close to each other, it's hard to want to build a community together.” And I see these new developments are plastered all over the United States as well, not only in bigger cities, but also in smaller ones, even less than 10,000 residents. Kind of like an Eagles tune noted in late 1976:
“Some rich men came and raped the land
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes
And, Jesus, people bought 'em..."
But I did some research – many of these people who purchase houses in these new super-tight developments came from older big cities which featured tract housing, where the houses are common-wall, like old downtown business buildings. This would be an upgrade for them, as the houses are not attached to each other, but still close enough where it feels familiar, and not too wide-open. While I agree that it’s nuts to live in a house squashed on a postage stamp of land, with a common park in the middle of the development being the designated area for nature and recreation, it’s an improvement for others. I have to acknowledge that alternative perspective.
“I spent most of last summer figuring out ways to set up a various methods while keeping the field mice at bay.” I’ve found that the neighboring house cats are quite effective. The only problem is they like to sleep on my cars, and when they climb up and get down, they do a number on the paint jobs.
“Not to mention the "deer repellent plants" and fishing lines I had to put up, to detour the deer around our gardening areas.” That’s a battle you’ll never win. Even if you try to grow plants to attract them to another area, they’ll wipe that area out AND the plants you’re trying to save. I threw in the towel. I have 3 regulars in the back yard, sometimes it gets up to 6 or 7. All does and fawns. A rare buck.
“The most interesting animals we were visited by was a peacock and a golden pheasant.” Watch out for the Peacock – they can get pretty mean! (Found that out the hard way.) Pheasants are cool game birds – I’ve hunted them extensively in the 1990’s, not so much lately. Used Brittany Spaniels as the bird dogs. I now have a group of quails that flush, circle and land behind me when I head out back. They do the same when I return. They also keep the deer company. Fun stuff!
With the housing development topic, that opens up a topic that should be addressed sooner or before its too late. To me, one of the greatest devastation of the 21rst century is how architectural pride died, in lieu of profit margins. Houses today are barely even builders grade. With the current housing market, it's like Thomas Jefferson said, ""If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
The largest landowners and landlords are private corporations, as well as a company called Blackstone. From the little bit of information I have read, the money they use to buy the housing market, come from our 401k. The CEO of that investment firm is also the United States financial advisor. A recipe for disaster and contribution to homelessness and a communist ideology, where civilians only rent, loosing out on generational wealth.
So perhaps another blow to owning a house in the near future for first time buyers. Apartments are going more and more. In my town of Auburn, an investment firm from Japan is building on 80 acres.
As for the deer situation, you are spot on. I have yet to be successful. And I think I've tried just about everything except an animatronic wolf decoy.
If you’re looking for Deer success, that deer netting can work, under the following conditions:
You need to string it up with strong poles that don’t move if you press on the netting. The deer will detect any additional give and push the poles down if they move. Tie it down well; if it blows in the wind, the deer will notice the openings and take advantage of them. One time fawns got inside my garden that way and when I went out and caught them, they panicked and ran, got tied up in the netting, and totally trashed everything – fence, garden, poles. I was so angry, I wished I had a shovel that I could bludgeon them with! And you’ll need to replace that netting every couple of years, as the UV light makes it brittle, and the deer will notice and take advantage of that, too.
Ha. Sounds like too much work for me. If I was out in the country I would definitely build a rammed earth wall. Same thing the Chinese did with the great wall. Simple and cheap
You point to a very serious problem. I don't see how the average young adult today, with an average job, can afford to purchase a home. And if by some miracle they can, it is, as they said on Weeds, made of 'ticky-tacky.' This trend must be reversed if we are to have a strong and stable nation.
>>>I’ve found that the neighboring house cats are quite effective. The only problem is they >>>like to sleep on my cars, and when they climb up and get down, they do a number on the >>>paint jobs.
Might I suggest that the permanent solution to the neighbor cat issue would be to make the little buggers into a nice hearty stew?
1. I don't eat cats. Yes, I've eaten Cougar and Bobcat, but those are wildcats. But not housecats. And even if it were non-disgusting, outdoor cats don't eat good food, and that'd reflect in the meat. Yuck.
2. If I eliminated the cats, back come the rodents. Of all kinds. Not just the mice, I'd also get moles, and even MORE rabbits. Kiss any garden goodbye, and I'd need to purchase an arsenal of mousetraps to compensate from the building standpoint.
I don't see the problem here. Just start munching on the cats, and when the mice and moles come by, cook em' too! I'm sure that they'd taste just like chicken nuggets!
Or, you could become civilized and start eating the Spam!
Over the course of my life, I've lived in a wide variety of places. On farms from small to massive, in the middle of an apple orchard, apartments of course, deep in the woods, and in small cities. From all of that, I think I prefer small cities. Here I've got a big enough house on a big enough corner lot, with all the benefits of a city. Water, wastewater, sidewalks, street parking. And while I do have to put up with a bad neighbor or two, that is a tradeoff I'm pleased to make.
But yeah, the damn cats. Trying to eat my squirrels, and successfully eating a bird on occasion. Melinda's water spray bottle seems to have them largely terrorized now, all except for that white bastard. He's a psycho serial killer!
But yeah, as far as some of those new neighborhoods go, two things drive me nuts about them, but of course what I hate someone else might really like:
-You drive through some and the houses are so close together that I figure to myself one would be better off just living in an apartment. You'd hear your neighbors either way.
-Cul de sacs, dead ends, and the like. I can't fathom why we stopped building urban areas on a grid.
For sure. I can adapt to most situations, but living in an apartment or a couple feet away from the next house, with rowdy neighbors would be too much for me. If I was to live close or have shared walls, I would not be apposed to a brownstone. Today, you're luck if they even have insulation between the drywall on the shared wall.
I really like that style. Function, durability and beauty. Three things that have gone by the wayside. No more character or isms in architecture. We need a resurgence of stone masons once again.
Although, there is a church being built in Tukwila that is the most beautiful building I've seen anywhere around here, including the old Catholic churches in Tacoma.
Excellent! “I grew up on a farm and in the woods. I think that was important. It taught me an understanding of nature and gave me the knowledge needed to survive. But it also gave me an appreciation of the natural world, the plants and animals that compose it, and the importance of stewardship of it.”
My husband and I grew up in the rural countryside. I knew every tree and all its branches. The trees, the animals, the rocks and the way the river flows are still embedded in my memory. We had hundreds of acres to be kids! I left for city life at 18 and never returned except for visits until I was close to 60. We’ve been living 15 miles from civilization ever sense and we are happy. But it does get lonely here.
It sounds like we had similar childhoods. I did enjoy my time on the farm, and later in the woods, but the conveniences of city life are awfully nice too!
Indeed! It sounds similar. Bless you. When I was a kid our family would often visit San Francisco because our relatives lived there. I would always leave depressed with a sinking heart missing the city as I went back to central California farm country. . I left my my heart in San Francisco. 🎵 🎻🥲 ♥️
Most my adult life I could have cared less to returning to the rural valley, but when I did I was blessed to reunite with nature I’d put to the side during that time.
This is lovely. We have a squirrel-proof feeder and put out separate nuts just for the squirrels. And about a mile away in Billings Park the chipmunks have trained a bunch of humans to bring them nuts. It's exactly the kind of community building experience you describe.
Thank you!
Alas, no chipmunks here. I remember a lot of them when I was a kid, but that was a much less urban environment. It is funny how the creatures train us!
I found that chipmunks like to put on displays of being disemboweled by the local cats. Squirrels, not quite as much, although sometimes the local cats might strip down a small rabbit for us. Good Easter display.
The local wildlife training me? Nah, at least the quails don’t take off with my hat when they circle around me in the back yard! And yes, a flock of pheasants did that to my boss back when I was in high school, I saw it first-hand. Damn, that was funny! He even got a laugh, saying he was surprised that one of them didn’t follow up and take a shit on his head, then the first one put the hat back on!
Indeed, cats are all serial killers that must be locked away from polite society forever!
I am an advocate to make good neighbors with tall fences. Fortunately, I live in an older neighborhood where the houses are not within arms reach from each other. It seems that any new housing community now a days are built so unbelievably close to each other, it's hard to want to build a community together.
There is definitely something special with having nature and animals around a home. There a sense of calmness and serenity. Sometimes my place feels like a domestic zoo. We feed various species of birds and of course, the squirrels. This started out with a couple small bags from the grocery store, now its going to the animal feed store twice per month to stock up.
There comes a whole dichotomy with feeding the birds and the squirrels. I spent most of last summer figuring out ways to set up a various methods while keeping the field mice at bay. Not to mention the "deer repellent plants" and fishing lines I had to put up, to detour the deer around our gardening areas. The most interesting animals we were visited by was a peacock and a golden pheasant. The pheasant stayed for while, so I put up notices on neighborhood apps to see if someone nearby was missing it. There was no response, so I built the little guy a lard bird cage with enough room to perch on off the ground and hay bells to stay warm. A colorful bird like that is not hard for predators to spot. After all that work, he took off, likely due to the fact that the neighborhood cat kept stalking him. I guess sometime tall fences doesn't even cut it.
“Fortunately, I live in an older neighborhood where the houses are not within arms reach from each other. It seems that any new housing community now a days are built so unbelievably close to each other, it's hard to want to build a community together.” And I see these new developments are plastered all over the United States as well, not only in bigger cities, but also in smaller ones, even less than 10,000 residents. Kind of like an Eagles tune noted in late 1976:
“Some rich men came and raped the land
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes
And, Jesus, people bought 'em..."
But I did some research – many of these people who purchase houses in these new super-tight developments came from older big cities which featured tract housing, where the houses are common-wall, like old downtown business buildings. This would be an upgrade for them, as the houses are not attached to each other, but still close enough where it feels familiar, and not too wide-open. While I agree that it’s nuts to live in a house squashed on a postage stamp of land, with a common park in the middle of the development being the designated area for nature and recreation, it’s an improvement for others. I have to acknowledge that alternative perspective.
“I spent most of last summer figuring out ways to set up a various methods while keeping the field mice at bay.” I’ve found that the neighboring house cats are quite effective. The only problem is they like to sleep on my cars, and when they climb up and get down, they do a number on the paint jobs.
“Not to mention the "deer repellent plants" and fishing lines I had to put up, to detour the deer around our gardening areas.” That’s a battle you’ll never win. Even if you try to grow plants to attract them to another area, they’ll wipe that area out AND the plants you’re trying to save. I threw in the towel. I have 3 regulars in the back yard, sometimes it gets up to 6 or 7. All does and fawns. A rare buck.
“The most interesting animals we were visited by was a peacock and a golden pheasant.” Watch out for the Peacock – they can get pretty mean! (Found that out the hard way.) Pheasants are cool game birds – I’ve hunted them extensively in the 1990’s, not so much lately. Used Brittany Spaniels as the bird dogs. I now have a group of quails that flush, circle and land behind me when I head out back. They do the same when I return. They also keep the deer company. Fun stuff!
With the housing development topic, that opens up a topic that should be addressed sooner or before its too late. To me, one of the greatest devastation of the 21rst century is how architectural pride died, in lieu of profit margins. Houses today are barely even builders grade. With the current housing market, it's like Thomas Jefferson said, ""If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered."
The largest landowners and landlords are private corporations, as well as a company called Blackstone. From the little bit of information I have read, the money they use to buy the housing market, come from our 401k. The CEO of that investment firm is also the United States financial advisor. A recipe for disaster and contribution to homelessness and a communist ideology, where civilians only rent, loosing out on generational wealth.
So perhaps another blow to owning a house in the near future for first time buyers. Apartments are going more and more. In my town of Auburn, an investment firm from Japan is building on 80 acres.
As for the deer situation, you are spot on. I have yet to be successful. And I think I've tried just about everything except an animatronic wolf decoy.
If you’re looking for Deer success, that deer netting can work, under the following conditions:
You need to string it up with strong poles that don’t move if you press on the netting. The deer will detect any additional give and push the poles down if they move. Tie it down well; if it blows in the wind, the deer will notice the openings and take advantage of them. One time fawns got inside my garden that way and when I went out and caught them, they panicked and ran, got tied up in the netting, and totally trashed everything – fence, garden, poles. I was so angry, I wished I had a shovel that I could bludgeon them with! And you’ll need to replace that netting every couple of years, as the UV light makes it brittle, and the deer will notice and take advantage of that, too.
Ha. Sounds like too much work for me. If I was out in the country I would definitely build a rammed earth wall. Same thing the Chinese did with the great wall. Simple and cheap
You point to a very serious problem. I don't see how the average young adult today, with an average job, can afford to purchase a home. And if by some miracle they can, it is, as they said on Weeds, made of 'ticky-tacky.' This trend must be reversed if we are to have a strong and stable nation.
Agreed
>>>I’ve found that the neighboring house cats are quite effective. The only problem is they >>>like to sleep on my cars, and when they climb up and get down, they do a number on the >>>paint jobs.
Might I suggest that the permanent solution to the neighbor cat issue would be to make the little buggers into a nice hearty stew?
1. I don't eat cats. Yes, I've eaten Cougar and Bobcat, but those are wildcats. But not housecats. And even if it were non-disgusting, outdoor cats don't eat good food, and that'd reflect in the meat. Yuck.
2. If I eliminated the cats, back come the rodents. Of all kinds. Not just the mice, I'd also get moles, and even MORE rabbits. Kiss any garden goodbye, and I'd need to purchase an arsenal of mousetraps to compensate from the building standpoint.
I don't see the problem here. Just start munching on the cats, and when the mice and moles come by, cook em' too! I'm sure that they'd taste just like chicken nuggets!
Or, you could become civilized and start eating the Spam!
Over the course of my life, I've lived in a wide variety of places. On farms from small to massive, in the middle of an apple orchard, apartments of course, deep in the woods, and in small cities. From all of that, I think I prefer small cities. Here I've got a big enough house on a big enough corner lot, with all the benefits of a city. Water, wastewater, sidewalks, street parking. And while I do have to put up with a bad neighbor or two, that is a tradeoff I'm pleased to make.
But yeah, the damn cats. Trying to eat my squirrels, and successfully eating a bird on occasion. Melinda's water spray bottle seems to have them largely terrorized now, all except for that white bastard. He's a psycho serial killer!
Lol
But yeah, as far as some of those new neighborhoods go, two things drive me nuts about them, but of course what I hate someone else might really like:
-You drive through some and the houses are so close together that I figure to myself one would be better off just living in an apartment. You'd hear your neighbors either way.
-Cul de sacs, dead ends, and the like. I can't fathom why we stopped building urban areas on a grid.
For sure. I can adapt to most situations, but living in an apartment or a couple feet away from the next house, with rowdy neighbors would be too much for me. If I was to live close or have shared walls, I would not be apposed to a brownstone. Today, you're luck if they even have insulation between the drywall on the shared wall.
I'm lucky with the current house, stucco on the outside, plaster on the inside. All that Masonry keeps the sound way down.
I really like that style. Function, durability and beauty. Three things that have gone by the wayside. No more character or isms in architecture. We need a resurgence of stone masons once again.
Although, there is a church being built in Tukwila that is the most beautiful building I've seen anywhere around here, including the old Catholic churches in Tacoma.
No kidding? I'll have to check that out. I love beautiful churches.
Yes, I do really enjoy the old a lot more than the new. Easy to repair too. But, admittedly, less comfortable than new construction.
https://www.djc.com/news/ae/12161216.html#:~:text=New%20church%2C%20inspired%20by%20historic%20Vietnamese%20cathedral%2C%20takes%20shape%20in%20Tukwila,-By%20JOURNAL%20STAFF&text=The%20church%20design%20is%20inspired,Catholic%20Church%20at%206841%20S.
Excellent! “I grew up on a farm and in the woods. I think that was important. It taught me an understanding of nature and gave me the knowledge needed to survive. But it also gave me an appreciation of the natural world, the plants and animals that compose it, and the importance of stewardship of it.”
My husband and I grew up in the rural countryside. I knew every tree and all its branches. The trees, the animals, the rocks and the way the river flows are still embedded in my memory. We had hundreds of acres to be kids! I left for city life at 18 and never returned except for visits until I was close to 60. We’ve been living 15 miles from civilization ever sense and we are happy. But it does get lonely here.
It sounds like we had similar childhoods. I did enjoy my time on the farm, and later in the woods, but the conveniences of city life are awfully nice too!
Indeed! It sounds similar. Bless you. When I was a kid our family would often visit San Francisco because our relatives lived there. I would always leave depressed with a sinking heart missing the city as I went back to central California farm country. . I left my my heart in San Francisco. 🎵 🎻🥲 ♥️
Most my adult life I could have cared less to returning to the rural valley, but when I did I was blessed to reunite with nature I’d put to the side during that time.
Our big city was Seattle, and we had some fun there, but I well remember my first of many visits to San Francisco. It certainly is a place to love!
“You know what it is? San Francisco is a golden handcuff with the key thrown away.” John Steinbeck