Can we have a forum for "older" people with bc?
Comments
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I am motivated simply by my awareness of the impact today's
actions have on tomorrow's circumstances.
Chase Streetman0 -
Quiet today. Did not encounter the three coyotes that were at the feeding area yesterday where I feed the feral cats. Dh took a pellet gun just in case. I hope they have moved on. I was able to count all my cats there. They are I think used to being careful since the store ( at the back-side ) butts up to the our park.
It is a nice day -- not too hot and not too much humidity. Glad for that.
Hope you all have a really nice day.
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Betrayal. I was glad to hear from you. I was afraid it might be 2019 all over again for you.
Cindy, The painting and audio books sounds relaxing, but from I can tell by your posts, you are high energy. 9 more days and you can drive. Freedom. LOL
Karen, Happy Anniversary.
IllinoisLady, Cayotes are bothersome. They ate one of my neighbors cat. He had a tear in the screen on the porch and not sure if the cayote went in or the cat went out. I worry when my fur babies are on the porch.
I hope all have a pleasant holiday.
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To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden, and unconscious to grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony. -William Henry Channing
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It seems like it will be a nice day. I have to work as usual, but that is okay. I am going to make beef stew on the stove-top today. It keeps the house cooler and will provide us meals for a couple of days which is mainly the reason. This week will be my last full week of having to do my friend in town 4 days a week. After Thursday, I will go back to my regular two days. Sure glad, I don't like to complain but going so often was a bit tedious with all the other things I try to fit into my day.
Sure missing my SIL. Daughter's car ( actually his ) was smoking when she got to work day before yesterday. So she had to take the other car last night that we already know needs some 'care'. So, we will see how it all goes. We have enough vehicles here to keep going, but are sure looking forward to SIL's return. He is only to be there for a short time.
Petite, we are always somewhat fearful of some of the wild-life here. We have bob-cats as well that make the circuit, same as the deer, coyotes, and other wildlife like the hawks, owls, and eagles. I do hope though that we don't have to 'start' seeing coyotes often. I hope they stay away. They are generally reluctant to encounter people, but likely have places in the park where they have stayed for a long time. Thinking the heat may have interfered with the amt. of available ( gulp-gulp ) food for them in the park.
Hope you all have a nice Labor Day and don't really have to labor. I don't actually consider what I do as work so I will enjoy my day.
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We have coyotes here which do kill cats. They mostly exist on rabbits and there's no shortage of them. I still get a feeling in the pit of my stomach when someone posts about their lost cat and it's an area where coyotes have been seen. I think small dogs are also in danger.
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Dangnabit. I posted this on the wrong thread.
Tippy is seventeen pounds, so too much for a hawk or eagle. He is never off-leash outside unless he escapes. He has a need to run, so I take him for runs with my mobility scooter. Other times when we are on the property I drop the leash. He teases me, running ahead, then waiting until he is far behind, then passes by me. Occasionally a bear ambles through town, and everyone closes their doors and waits until it is gone. Other than that, coyotes and wolves stay away. We are working on ignoring big dogs. It is a work in progress.
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Update on the morning feeding at the abandoned store ( which helps tremendously to make it so quiet there ) where we saw the coyotes. Two of them ( looks to be the two pups ) were back again today. We never saw the bigger, older looking one ( likely a parent ), today. They were much more easily spooked today and just happened that I spotted one running back into the bushes when I slowly drove my car around the BIG circle in back of the old store. We sat in the car quietly and watched as the first one, then slowly the second one came out ( all the while on the tips of their paws and listening intently, running back to the bushes if any sound was too loud ) and started eating in the small little piles I had left for the cats there.
I mainly left the food not totally for the cats, but in case some raccoons wandered out. Was hoping they would not intrude else-where, where the cats were eating. It wasn't a lot of food, but I did not interrupt the coyotes since I had hopes that they would not bother the cats. Later --- knowing their was more food they did try to horn in on the cats. We had parked closer to the cats and opened the window. Dh had the pellet gun ready. So he only had to take one shot to get them to leave. They returned briefly to the original area and Dh sent another pellet. Both times it whizzed by but enough to upset them greatly making them twice as skittish as they already were. Dh and I will be showing up with the pellet gun until they are convinced it is not a 'good' hunting ground for them.
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Be careful because coyotes are protected in IL. Can you place the feral cat feed within a confined area that they (coypotes) can't access? Perhaps feeding them is a good thing so they do not eat the cats?
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Hopefully, we can be careful -- just as with the raccoons, we don't want to hurt them, but just do some discouraging things. I have thought of providing some extra food but worry that I will alert a lot of people that coyotes are around and I don't want to be " discouraged " from going to the store to feed the cats. While most of them could get along I think, I imagine some are spoiled. I have been going 24/7 for 15 yrs. there -- save for pouring rains or some other weather issue.
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Even though we live in a well developed suburb, we see coyotes all the time. Ken has also seen javelinas when he is out early. We also know we have a good-sized neighborhood bobcat. We had a hawk that attempted to pick up our dog but the dog was too heavy for him. In other words, pets need lots of supervision here. I'll be thinking about your ferals, Jackie. (Spell check says I'm not doing well tonight but doesn't suggest alternate spelling.). Coyotes are protected here too but residents are encouraged to wear a loud whistle. I've only been afraid once - when a pack crossed in front of me while dog walking. Bent down and picked up the dog and he had enough sense not to bark. They went on their way and we came home!
Quiet weekend for us. I've spent too much time watching tennis and golf.
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It seems coyotes are everything. To hear a pack of them yapping at night is spooky. I've never seen any, only heard them. This area is very developed but there are still wooded areas.
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We have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here.
Mildred Taylor0 -
Coyotes, the ones I'm now seeing are actually quite attractive. These ones are light in coloring and look of course, very much like dogs. The main difference is the huge amt. of skittishness they display. They would rather not encounter people and have an instinct to remain as hidden as they can. They seem to have a fair amt. of patience. The ones I see don't just rush out because there is food -- they sit still for a bit and mull over whether to come out or not. They do not like my car -- and know that big moving objects have danger for them. I did charge them once with my car when they appeared to be circling my ferals. Not sure they were but it looked like it. So they now are suspicious.
Going to have another of my long days, but I did make a pot of stew yesterday and so I don't have to " cook " dinner -- just heat it up. I also have some left-over biscuits as well and some veggies to heat. Nice to know. I was up quite late last night doing the cooking -- but that was okay.
I hope you all have a really nice day.
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Lots of times the plurals of low-frequency words like feral are not entered into spelling databases. Don't worry about possible misspellings, Most times context will fill in the blank.
DNA says that the coyotes that are most likely to approach humans are actually coy-dogs.
Stripped the sofa, and my bed. Washed and starched (Epsom salts) some lace yesterday, tossed one. Put them down and they look fine. I inherited my parents' chest of drawers and now the lace she often put on it is back in its place.
I may yet get into scrubbing the porch.
(Edited for paragraphing and one spelling error.)
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We had a coy-dog once which had been bred on an Indian Reservation. She was just amazing. On walks she was in voice control. If you told her stop and her momentum had carried her forward, she would reverse to where she was when you said stop. She had hung around a student archeology dig and received food, etc. by being really nice. One friend was a photographer who stopped to change a lens. She realized he was no longer with the group and circled back to pick him up. She considered herself a dog and would chase coyotes away from the camp. We lost her to cancer after way too short a time. One eerie thing was that some photographs I took on vacation were developed after her death. She appears very ghost-like in the photos. We still miss her tremendously.
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That is so interesting Wren. Almost as though she was sent especially to you for who knows how many marvelous reasons. Gifts from the wild. I admit that some animals/insects are hard to take. Many seem to have bad habits, be super un-attractive or we are just not able to feel any comfort if they are too near -- like bears or some snakes, etc. Then there are those like you describe Wren. They are good enough or smart enough to go the extra mile and obviously adjust to humans on a fantastic level. I'm so sorry that she didn't have a much longer time to share life with you. She sounds though like you made sure she was able to enjoy her time with her loving family. If you can only ask for thing it sounds like she had it.
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Consider the genetics of a dog: Able to accept any odd-shape animal as part of the pack, knows that tongue hanging slightly out, lower teeth exposed, eyes on human parent, while responding with a lope to the command "come", is one of the best expressions for bonding with the human. Is able to change human behavior (in most cases) to accept sleeping pack-style. Is able to elicit the same type of reactions while learning to not pee or poop in the huge dens humans have. Is able to develop a receptive vocabulary of human speech of up to a hundred or so words, which does not even approach extensive comprehension of other speech patterns. Accepts the human child and infant as part of the pack. Has an innate understanding of herding, rescue, protection, entertainment, and comfort roles, largely bred into the various breeds of dog. And more and more. Is humanity bred for the dog, or is dog bred for humanity? We have our own answer for that, dogs may disagree. Further, who bred the dog for man? Was it man, or man helped by Divine Force, or pure Divine Force? I am sure others will be able to add characteristics of dogs which make them uniquely suited for being such a loyal servant with a trace of peskiness or obstinacy or whatever you might want to call it. Or maybe they consider themselves to be human. Enough, fingers-- enough.
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Wren, I loved that amazing story. I noticed on the adopt a pet website, in the "other" pets, a coyote or coy-dog for adoption. I guess if humans raise it from a young pup it respond like a domesticated dog.
MC, Love it.
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MC, wonderful thoughts and questions. So as to avoid getting too chicken and egg-y here I feel it is pretty much all creation and it evolves mainly to our NEEDS and WANTS. All here at the same time but not utilized so to speak until certain conditions appeared. As humans we are still making discoveries that un-fold ( in my simple way of looking at things ) when we become ready for them. So, in that way I feel like dogs evolved from wilder animals when either companionship or in many cases some sort of help was needed. There seems to be little as loyal as a dog will be. In simple form as well I do think animals are much like us -- some are smarter, more intuitive, shyer, etc. This in part accounts for what breeders may look for. Goes for cats as well who un-like dogs do not generally wear their hearts on their sleeves for you. Thinking of the quote: Dogs have masters, cats have staff.
I recall as a young person my blind aunt and uncle both had seeing eye dogs. German Sheppard if memory serves. There are Lab and Golden Retrievers who do just that, retrieve. There are working dogs ( most are pretty high energy ) and others who are way less so which are the ones more in tune for people my age. Those are mainly smaller breeds like Maltese or Chihuahua, Shih Tzu, Toy or Miniature Poodles.
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Mary: Great thoughts and I think I recently read somewhere that dogs have a vocabulary of up to 165 words. I sometimes think that dogs let us believe we are their masters and remember the Scottish terrier we had who if he didn't want to listen to my mother's commands would turn his back on her, lie down and cover his ears with his paws. As kids we thought this was hilarious. Yeah, my cats think my primary purpose in life is to fill their food dishes and their sense of when is impeccable, except when we change the clocks and it takes about a week for them to catch up.
Wrenn: the coy-dog story was delightful and the first I have ever heard of them. It was lucky to have met you. We have foxes in the area and when I first heard their nightly cries, I though someone had abandoned puppies in the woods. We visited a wolf sanctuary in NM and it was the first I had ever seen wolf-dogs and I felt sorry for them since they could not be domesticated nor were they really accepted into wolf packs. So many had been abandoned by former owners when they became unmanageable and many were put down if turned into animal shelters. I guess I just don't understand irresponsible breeders and this is from someone who lives in a state where we have many breeding kennels with cruel practices. Unfortunately, many are Amish and their viewpoint on animals is in direct conflict with mine.
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Mary - loved your thoughts on dogs - ours definitely train us. I really do think some are "smarter" than others though. Our Jack Russell was the smartest but Mutz makes us laugh the most with this under-bite and youthful ways. Jackson was a "leaner dog", would get as tight to one's side as possible but didn't want to sit on my lap. Mutz however seems to want to be a lap dog more often than I remember from our others. I also worry that he is signaling that Ken is failing. He's taken to sleeping right next to him rather than the bed he has at the foot of ours. . It will be a very sad time for me when I can no longer care for a dog.
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We restore the holiness of the world through our loving-kindness and compassion. Everyone participates. It is a collective task. Every act of loving-kindness, no matter how great or small, repairs the world. All those ever born have shared this collective work since the beginning of time.
Rachel Naomi Remen0 -
I'm in the city limits, nowhere near a forested park--a half-block from a major arterial lined with businesses, three blocks from the elevated CTA (rapid transit rail) tracks, less than 1/2 mi. from lakefront high-rises, and barely a mile from the end of Lake Shore Drive (major ltd. access highway). But we have coyotes--there's a den of them that's been living behind the firehouse 1/4 mi. west for years now. We also have a growing number of Cooper's hawks. Both seem to be helping keep the rat population in check, but I also notice we have fewer rabbits & opossums; and I can't remember the last time I saw a feral cat. There's a neighborhood tabby that frequents our yard (it has a collar & tag), but I fear for it.
I've read articles (and seen documentaries) that state while humans domesticated dogs, cats have domesticated us, mainly to feed them. They meow only to communicate with humans--they communicate with each other by body language and the occasional growl or hiss. My two seem to have alarm clocks in their little bellies--every four hours between 11 am & pm.
L'shana tova to all here who celebrate!
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Sandy, L'shana tova to you as well.
Cats aren't domesticated. They have trained us to feed and shelter them and eventually consider themselves part of the family. Or consider us part of their family. Our cat definitely had a clock or watch. He expected things to happen right on schedule and they mostly did. We lost him in June and still really really miss him.
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You know the saying, “Dogs have masters, cats have servants."
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Lately the cats have taken to lining up on their designated feeding spots at 3 PM. I don't know why since they will not be fed until 5 PM but they look like vultures sitting there and if I walk past, they paw at me. Nope, feeding time is 5 PM for dry food and wet food in AM when I get up between 8-9 AM. Funny to watch them report to their designated feeding sites though.
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I had a dog who at night would go sit on the stair landing. It was his hint to get me up to bed, he wanted to go to sleep. I haven't had a dog in many years now. With two houses I can't see myself dragging a pet to & from different states.
Today was my first PT appointment. She put me through 6 exercises, then iced my knee and hamstring. The brace is off but my knee is killing me now from non use. It's real super slow going but I can walk, with a limited stride, focusing heel to toe. I've got 6-8 weeks ofPT ahead of me. I'm icing again now.
We had a wild storm come through tonight. Down pour rain with wind gusts up to 70 mph. My screen house had rain going into it sideways. I had a cardinal statue blow off a ledge in the back porch and smash into pieces. News kept interrupting tv shows with updates, it was causing havoc east of us as it moved.
Hug you pups or snuggle a cat, if it will let you. Tee hee! Have a good night.
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Good morning. I slept through Mindy. It is now dumping rain in Georgia. I haven't any plans for today and will probably work on some cleaning projects around the house. The recycles didn't get picked up yesterday, so I have a pile of wet cardboard in the driveway. I will start with that. Hope everyone has a pleasant day.
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People only begin to grow when they cease to whine and revile, and commence to search for the hidden justice which regulates their lives. And as they adapt their minds to that regulating factor, they cease to accuse others as the cause of their condition, and build themselves up in strong and noble thoughts. They cease to kick against circumstances, but begin to use them as aids to their more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within themselves. -James Allen
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