June chitchat

[agate]

Looks somewhat like a Swiss army knife. I recall most boys in school had knives and did whittling. In school. They also had shotguns but never brought them to school, of course. They routinely went hunting and tended to have an attitude of, "If it moves, shoot it."

There was often a story circulating around the class about a Mountain Lion. Someone had seen one, or someone had killed one, or something. At any rate, Mountain Lions were always big news and news of them filled the class with awe.

Edited to add: I capitalized Mountain Lion to show its importance. Really another name for a cougar, I think.
1200px-Mountain_Lion_in_Glacier_National_Park.jpg

[flatcap]

Virginia, I am happy my post brought up good memories for you. I am sure you miss your husband dearly. Certain people leave an imprint on our lives that we carry with us forever.

Agate, the BSA lists a Swiss-army type knife in their catalog today. They also offer a knock-off of the Cub Scout pocket knife, but a close look reveals it is made in China.

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I recall someone telling me that the awl on the Cub Scout knife was there for punching holes in leather. Sounded good to an 8-year-old. LOL

I had a Swiss Army knife at some point. I think that was around 7th-8th grade. I managed to break the main blade when trying to use it as a pry bar: it snapped like a twig. I was surprised but not hurt, thankfully, and left only with the impression that Swiss Army knives were junk, when in truth the incident was entirely my fault. You should never use a knife to pry open or bend something. You can damage the knife, and you might be injured.

Where I went to high school, kids would sometimes roll up in the parking lot driving their dad's pickup — or even their own pickup — with a gun rack inside the cab hanging from the back window. During hunting season or at other times, said rack might carry a rifle or shotgun. No one ever attempted to bring them inside, so no one got ever got into trouble over it.

We could have just been lucky, but people weren't going into schools and other public places back then to kill as many others as possible. I don't know how or why that changed, but here we are. Whether our country will ever do anything about it is questionable, when it should be clear that we must.




PS: Yes, a Cougar is a Mountain Lion.

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[flatcap]

Virginia, I need to say more about losing the love of your life. Maybe it will help you to know that you are not alone on this. I lost mine 34 years ago, not to death but another man.

Ever since, I have thought of her every single day. We went through a period of about a decade where we were still in touch, and we talked a lot about seeing each other, the implication being that we might get back together again. Things never got to that point.

The last time we talked on the phone was about ten years ago. I have since looked her up and know how I can contact her, but I don't want to butt into her life as if it were my right. It isn't. I keep telling myself that so I don't.

I miss her beyond words, but there is nothing I can do about it. I have tried to let go and spent years in therapy with that purpose in mind, but I still haven't. No one ever came close to filling the void in my heart I am left with.

Some of us, maybe all of us, know what that is like. You go on the best you can and most of the time you hope no one sees your pain. They expect you to buck up and bear it at some point as if it never happened.

I don't get that. Every now and then, we give clues, yet no one picks up on them. Sometimes, it all comes out and people still don't get it.

I get it, Virginia.

As alone as you may feel sometimes, you aren't. We are here for you whenever you need us, and you can take that to the bank.

[Virginia]

Well, that brings up something I read on Nextdoor Neighbor just earlier today. I live in a town home community. I am just a block and a half to two blocks off the main road that runs by the entrance. That main road has sidewalks and people often walk on the sidewalk. There are single family communities up and down that road, so this stretch is residential communities. A man from my community posted that he was out for a walk on the main road and a coyote came up a little way behind him. He continued to walk toward our community and the coyote was following him. Finally, two men came from the opposite direction and the coyote then crossed over to the other side of the road. He heard some leaves russlling and figured it went into a real nice community across from us.

He went on to say that they had heard some howling and mournful sounds during the night. He said they saw 4 walking down the road in our community. He was asking if anyone Knew something that could be done. He said he lived in the city, but I don't know what anyone could do. I think someone called some agency like animal control.

There have been a coyote or sometime two around this area since I have been here. We have a lot of walkers and a lot are ladies who walk their dogs in the late evening. I don't know the phone numbers for most of them, but I am going to call one lady that I know. I have trees and bushes around my house and I already have been looking at some thick bushes close to my trash can when I empty the trash in the late evening. I told my brother I am going to stop going in my back in the evening. I can't move fast enough and I have to walk across my deck and down about 9 steps.

Edited to add: Flatcap I didn't mean your post above brought up the subject of coyotes. I was referring to the mountain lion. I think you and I cross posted. Yes I do miss my husband, but I am pretty peaceful most of the time.

[flatcap]

I am glad you have found peace.

Regarding cougars and coyotes, the latter have been around here a long while. I used to see coyotes all the time running through town at night. People said they were hunting for cats, which might explain it. I noticed afterwards all the missing cat posters around town and decided to keep mine indoors from that point forward.

Now that we have cameras everywhere, people near the edge of town are seeing cougars in addition to coyotes. I don't know how the cougars survive in a semi-arid desert but apparently they get along just fine. Sightings are regularly reported in the local news.

[agate]

Coyotes are apparently becoming more common even in larger towns. They've been seen here in the city I live in though I haven't yet seen one. I've often heard people say they've seen one. One neighbor was actually putting out food for them. Not a good idea....

I've heard that they're coming into towns because they're gradually losing their habitat.

I found this about them but I'm not sure how authoritative the information is. It sounds as if the author knows his coyotes but you never know. I'm not very familiar with the source (Outdoor Life) but have definitely heard of it.

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Virginia, would it be possible to find a walking companion--a neighbor? If someone saw 4 of them at once, that's quite a few coyotes.

Animal control sounds like a good place to start too.

[flatcap]

A group of four roaming coyotes is called a pack. That wasn't a family group, and they weren't out there for a stroll. They were hunting.

Calling animal control or the police is an OK place to start, but I would probably take it up with the Fish & Game Department or the equivalent.

Interesting article from Outdoor Life and a good short treatise on the "urban coyote" phenomenon. Thanks for posting it.

[agate]

Yes, I definitely don't like the idea of seeing 4 coyotes at once, just barging down the street in a devil-may-care way, not skulking around in the shadows as if they were timid.

[flatcap]

Coyote-fied

Man wearing a dashing cap with his BFF.

[agate]

Unusual to have a coyote as a pet, I think. Living with a coyote as a pet must be like living with a cyclone.

[Virginia]

Agate, I can not walk well enough to go for a walk. It is my neighbors that I am concerned about. Many walk their dogs, some very small and if the dog was attacked the neighbor would try to save it. I saw this morning that animal control was called, but I don't know what they can do.

A lady in a neighborhood just down the road from us responded to the post I saw and said she saw 2 standing out in front of her yard at 3PM in the afternoon one day last week. She also called animal control, but if the coyotes leave before they get there what can they do. I do have a concern about going out on my back deck and down to my trash can. I will no longer do it at dusk. I also don't like the idea of bringing in my groceries from the car. I have to walk down my sidewalk and I make numerous trips to get them all in. Many times it is at dusk. Guess I should try to stop going so late. I am on a corner and there are many trees around. My front door is located on the side of the house, which gives me more privacy, but also means a much longer walk.

[Virginia]

Don't know if any of you have been reading about the smoke from the wild fires in Canada, but we have cloudiness and a hazy look from those fires all the way here in North Carolina. Our air quality for yesterday and today is in the red. My brother called and told me not to go out today and if I just had to I should wear a mask. They say there are particles in the smoke that are dangerous for many people to breath.

[Ikoiko]

I was surprised that we had coyotes on the sea wall in my small beach town in Massachusetts. Twice in that town a coyote snatched a small dog from its owner right on their front porch.

[Virginia]

Ikoiko, there have been several dog remains found on the road that runs past the entrance to my community. We think that is what happened.

[Virginia]

THIS IS TO LET EVERYONE KNOW: Agate contacted me this morning by e-mail using her phone. She is having trouble with her internet provider. She will be back on as soon as they get it straightened out. She says it is too hard to type that much using her phone. I can understand, I couldn't do it either.