OT July Chit Chat

[agate]

What blows my mind is that there's so much evidence that animals grieve:

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... Treat everything living as holy, however you might define that word. Treat all living things with care and compassion, even if it does mean killing them to survive. Do it swiftly, suddenly, cleanly, so the animal sufferers as little as possible. While it's alive treat it well, not because you want to fatten it for slaughter, but because you understand it, too, is a living thing.

Unless of course it is a mosquito. Or tick. Or flea. In which case, squash it flat.

We could add cockroaches. I'd have no problem with that.

[Howie]

I went hiking in the deep woods one time, and every time I looked down, there was a tick crawling on me. So I took everything I was wearing off until I got to a more open area. It just made seeing them before they could dig in a whole lot easier. And yes, even the thong!

[agate]

Um, was anyone with you?

Sounds like a sensible idea though. Catch 'em before they have a chance to get too comfortable.

[Howie]

No, all alone....that time. I lived not too far from a National Forest, and had a spot where I used to go camping. And it was located away from any lights from a city or town, and the nighttime sky was so beautiful. I miss seeing the stars that way.

[Frog42]

And it was located away from any lights from a city or town, and the nighttime sky was so beautiful. I miss seeing the stars that way.

I saw that once from the White Mountains in NH. It was amazing. Couldn't see lights from any city at all. I'll never forget it.

[Howie]

I would love to go to Australia, and camp like that where you could see the night sky. It's a whole different sky that we in the Northern Hemisphere never get to see. But then, they never get to see our nighttime sky.

[agate]

I was lucky enough to be a child in an area where the stars were always visible. We had a lot of fun finding the constellations and the North Star, evening star, Milky Way. We were always watching. Odd that the question of whether there was life out there never came up. It was just amazing that there was this vast sky full of stars that had guided people for centuries.

Good way to orient yourself if you're lost.

The stars were never visible in Chicago.

[Sunshine]

And any disease carrying insect, and rats...and raccoons.

[Sunshine]

We need Make a Wish for Howie, or gofundme.

I figure 20K to fly you, give you all your MS support equipment and a buddy who could help you if you get into medical trouble. Sam, unfortunately , would have to stay with Cat Dancer.

[Cat Dancer]

Raccoons: I was bored the other day and watching a TV show..I think it's called "Bizarre Foods", or something like that. Anyway, the first segment was talking about mushrooms and mushroom hunting. OK, I've done that, TC does that, we eat wild mushrooms -- but kids, be careful out there, as there are lots of poisonous mushrooms, and unless you know what you're picking...don't pick them!

So it gets through that segment, and then starts in talking about rural somewhere..I think it was West Virginia, but maybe not...and a family reunion....where they're cooking up this lovely dinner.....possum (opossum), shot that morning in their back yard...and roast raccoon.....

Now, I've eaten squirrel, and rabbit, and wild turkey, and venison, and alligator, and bear........but not (yet) possum or raccoon....

[Howie]

What's that saying about China...."They eat anything with four legs except the kitchen table".

[Sunshine]

Many Raccoon carry rabies. I wonder if cooking it is unwise. One has to handle the dead creature in order to cook it, after all.

[stillstANNding]

I grew up in Western PA, near Pittsburgh. I often heard about "possum pie."

ANN

[agate]

There's no way I would eat raccoon meat. The rabies possibility puts me off. I no longer eat meat anyway but if I did, I'd have to be starving before I'd think about a raccoon.

I couldn't kill one either. Their habits are destructive and they can be vicious but they're furry and rolypoly. I'd have trouble killing a mouse though too.

Every time I've had to remove a mouse from a trap, it bothers me. They're furry. Like kittens.

[Howie]

So far, Sam hasn't stepped in any of the traps I set for her....I MEAN for the mice!