Part of a Part of the "Raibow" Springs Paddle, Part 2

The First Part, which comes before This Part, can be found here.

Also seen on "Raibow" Springs:















A very cool "longhouse-style" home...













Several otters at play...

The Wife managed to capture this photo. She was the first to notice them, too. Riding in the bow has its advantages!











...and a giant horde of tubers.

(I find the term "tubers" to be appropriate on so many levels.)

Acting Locally, pt. 1 of ??

Yesterday, I called my wife from work after spending a half-day at the office half-asleep (too much wine the night before with good friends). It was a typical conversation for us, involving an exchange of mutual admiration followed by inquiries about what's in the fridge for lunch. I would, by God, be home in time for lunch. Alas, I found that I had an itch that only a big, fat Moe's burrito could scratch (black beans, rice, tofu - yes, tofu, cilantro, salsa, guacamole, and fresh jalapeno thank you very much). I asked the Wife if we had the dough together for me to enjoy a burrito on the way home, all the while knowing that we did - but wanting to give the "CFO respect" anyways. She admonished me for not eating breakfast, then gave me leave to go have my burrito - which I did. After another touching mutual display of telephonic affection, I was on my way to burrito bliss.

Going through the line, I noticed two things that didn't exactly strike me as normal, but nor was I particularly troubled. First off, Moe's has finally gone "Combo-" and they now offer the obligatory side of "this" and medium soda of one's choice. I was somewhat dismayed, as they are teetering close to the edge of being just another fast food chain, which I suppose they always were but I enjoyed the delusion. Second, the serving of chips that they gave with all of their meals was about half the size it used to be. "Well, no big deal," I said to myself, "I don't need to eat too many chips anyways."

The restaurant was packed. It was 1:15 PM. The people at the tables and booths were late-teens and younger geezers like me, most with kids and spouses in tow. Two televisions projected down to all - two different (damned) 24 hour news stations. Both televisions were muted so the satellite feed of "the best hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's" could be played through the restaurant's speakers. The subtitles were on the television that I could see, and it was tuned to CNN.

I would have paid no mind, but the broadcast subject was near and dear to my heart presently and I had no one to talk to, so watch I did.

CNN had some show on with a couple of commentators surprisingly NOT offering opposing viewpoints to one another, even more surprisingly NOT screaming at each other or otherwise acting like jerks.

I'll have a side of bitter chuckles with that burrito, please.

The subject of the show was the rising cost of food, its causes, its effects, and etc. First off, the show presented your standard man-in-the-grocery-aisle interviews with desperate people scratching their heads and wondering, in some cases theorizing, about what the Sam-hell is going on, and why their eggs are so expensive. Then, it was on to the panel-of-two to discuss the issue.

Both commentators mentioned various and sundry reasons that food prices are up at a time when Americans at large are feeling a squeeze in every other aspect of their lives. They opined, in particular, about corn and the fact that so much of its production is now diverted into ethanol instead of food. For this reason, corn and all foods associated with it are more expensive - from sodas to meats to stuff you'd never imagine had anything to do with corn in the first place. I give fair credit to CNN on this point, because both commentators spoke of the folly in this "swapping food for gas" plan.

I looked at my dinky serving of corn tortilla chips and said, "Uh-huh."

Somehow, they managed to not talk about peak-oil, but whatever. It's CNN. What could I expect? Now - anyone who has been following Kunstler's posts at Charlie-Foxtrot Nation has seen all of these issues coming down the pike for a while.

I, for one, wasn't surprised by anything the comentators said, and there are others out there in the world who can write much more eloquently than I on the peak-oil situation and how that relates to everything we hold dear and familiar.

I suggest, dear reader, that you seek this information out ASAP if you don't, or haven't already.

BUT - the major failing of the program, in my opinion, was that it (sort of poorly) defined the problem, then offered exactly ZERO suggestions for viewers to have any part of a solution - not even a teensy tiny little itsy-bitsy one. Instead, the program devolved into an exercise in perpetuating the viewer's role as "informed" but detached victim. The commentators reinforced the sad mantra that changes necessary to alleviate the food-shortage and price inflation problems would somehow have to come from the top-down and not the bottom-up, to the point of citing getting this whole human population thing under control.

Well, DUH - of course - but, telling people to get the population under control is the same as saying, "Don't do an 'effing' thing." It's totally abstract. Yes - of course, there are too many people. And let's pretend that everyone suddenly, miraculously decided that reproduction was verboten for the next thirty years, or however long would be effective. How long until this moratorium on live births actually leads to a demonstrable difference in the problems that face us NOW?

Between the lines, I think the program gives a pass for Joe Citizen to sit on his hands, hope for the best, and wait for something better to come to him, gratis. But, then again, what would I expect from CNN?

Transcript of the program is below the beautiful propaganda image.

Well, screw that. Maybe the rest of this country needs to hit rock-bottom before it decides to do something about a problem, but not me.

I've dabbled in a lot of stuff I had no business dabbling in, but I never had to hit any kind of a bottom before making an adjustment to how I was living my life. To be fair, I DID have to see the bottom approaching before slammin' on the brakes - it's just in my nature. But, boy howdy is our current National "bottom" ever approaching - and fast. Best to be ready.

We'll be getting ready here one 20-25'x4' raised vegetable bed at a time.

On our property, we will bring back the Victory Garden.

I feel the need to get this project up and running fast. The major issue, really, is time. Our butterfly garden is doing fabulously these four-or-so years after planting it. It's basically self-sustaining at this point - but it took four years of adding compost, leaves, and etc for it to get that way. What's more, the butterfly garden was cut into a hill of fill-dirt, not the naturally occurring aforementioned limestone-ridden, shallow topsoil. We don't have four years, if you ask me. We need to get this underway yesterday.

Ultimately, I'd like to have at least four, maybe even up to six of beds. Construction begins ASAP. We're almost done with the exterior house painting here, then those raised vegetable beds get priority billing. I do not have enough time, money, or "organic material" to convert enough of our limestone-ridden, shallow topsoil into arable vegetable-growing plots so we'll have to build UP, not dig DOWN.

I finally figured out where the heck we're going to put the beds, too. I have the room for them in what is otherwise a giant gravel-driveway deadspace. All this time I have been agonizing over where to put those stupid things, and the answer was staring me in the face.

Re: Victory Gardens - not such a tough sell, if laziness wasn't the new all-American Value

Encouraging citizens to grow their own food addresses the problem of food prices at both macro- and micro- levels. Call it something else if you want - "Victory Garden" is so, you know, forties - but for crying out loud, bring it back. Sell the idea by tying the pride of growing one's own food into the stupid blank-stared, skyflower-watching zombie Nationalism currently gripping the country. Make it patriotic to grow food for the table (which, if you ask me, it is). The original Victory Gardens were an exercise in patriotism, for a good and common cause.

Citizens growing food in different climates, soils, and etc will not be able to use just one type of tomato, potato, or squash. Heirloom fruits and vegetables could, should, must reclaim their rightful place at America's table.

This is not to mention the exercise benefit, the eventual breeding-out of the couch potato gene, the simple joy of bringing forth something of value from the earth beneath our feet, the pride inherent in that.

Who am I kidding? It's not like the people who control what goes on CNN in the first place actually have a vested interest in seeing people empowered to make a difference for themselves, in their lives, in this time (as one famous politician is fond of saying).

Who am I kidding? All those folks eating their Moe's tacos, burritos, and whatever didn't even look up. I was the lone crazy guy, alternately looking up at the TV, looking back down, smiling, muttering something or other about everyone "having it coming". I don't want to be one of the people who "has it coming" - not when it comes to bread on the family table.

There's SO much more to say about the broadcast transcripted below, but I have gone on long enough here for now. Suffice it to say that ANY society that relies solely on one staple crop for its food is in for BAD trouble. Daniel Quinn called it "Totalitarian Agriculture".

(scroll to last paragraph in the article linked above...funny that they use the Irish potato famine as an example, because so did I in the following sentence...Yes, I link after the fact in these posts!)

The Irish called it, "Where the hell are my potatoes?"

At Moe's, I called it, "Wow - my portion of tortilla chips shrunk noticeably."




















TRANSCRIPT of CNN broadcast follows. Howlers and knee-slappers abound in this story. You may uncontrollably spit out your fair-trade, shade-grown coffee. You've been warned. AT LEAST, scroll down to the very last paragraph or two for some perspective on the news day.

"UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's obvious everything has gone up and it affects me. It affects the choices that I make as far as the kind of foods I eat and how often I shop. Today I was going to buy some boneless chicken breast and they're on sale for $3.29. That's about -- it used to be on sale for $1.99.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I bought the fish, the steak. Me being a senior citizen and on a fixed income, it's very difficult to decide what I want to buy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you doing today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you doing, doll?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's much deeper than the election. I think -- I don't know if it's recession, depression, whatever you may want to call it but it's difficult right now. I don't see any solution because I'm going day-to-day.

I haven't really been able to think. How can I save a few more dollars down the road? If you got a family of three, four, five, it's difficult, you know. I'm probably spending just lightly in a week, $100 a week, and that's not anything substantial. Just stuff to keep us moving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Voters grappling with the issue that we're all grappling with right now. Soaring food prices. What's the solution?

I'm joined by a man who thinks he might see some solution to all of this. Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, and author of "Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization." And up in New York, a man who knows all the answers are or so, he tells me, CNN's senior business correspondent Ali Velshi. Thanks for being here.

Lester, let me start with you. Why have our food prices gone up so much?

LESTER BROWN, EARTH POLICY INSTITUTE: There are a number of trends that are operating here at the same time. One is 17 (sic) million people a year. And you don't have to be an agronomist to know you get in trouble if you do that indefinitely. Second is incomes are going up. People around the world, maybe four billion people want to move up the food chain.

FOREMAN: So they're buying more than moving up in the chain. What else?

BROWN: And third, and the big one in the last couple of years, has been the enormous shift of the U.S. grain harvest in the production of ethanol. The world demand for grain was growing about 20 million tons a year. Food, feed, and so forth. And then suddenly, the last couple of years, it's jumped to about 50 million tons a year. Thirty million tons is grain going into ethanol.

FOREMAN: That's corn being used for something other than food but to replace energy. Ali, do you buy those explanations, or is there something else at work?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, unless he's being -- he's very learned about this. He's being extremely polite. It is a ridiculous policy to take a food that we were actually eating and turn it into a fuel for our cars when we have uncontrolled demand for gasoline.

The fact of the matter is it's a good concept. Reducing your reliance on crude oil to make gasoline by using other things. Other things like waste products or maybe something that nobody ever eats. I don't know. Maybe we can make oil out of Brussels sprouts or something.

But to take corn which is a staple crop -- what it's done is it's resulted in causing the prices of other staple crops like wheat and rice, to also go up because there is no interchangeability amongst them. These are very important things. We've had record prices in wheat, in corn, in soybeans, in rice, and a lot of it is due to biofuels being done the wrong way.

FOREMAN: Well, Ali, I know you've already made enemies in the ethanol community and in the Brussels sprout community, but we'll get back to that in a minute. Let's look at some of these increases that we're talking about here. If you haven't seen them in your own stores, you can easily.

Look, eggs have gone up 34 percent, almost 35 percent in the past 12 months. White bread up more than 16 percent in the same period of time. Milk up 13.3 percent in that period of time. These are really the kind of prices that hit home on main items here, Lester.

Is there any solution to this? Let's say you wiped out the ethanol subsidy and you said we're not going to do that anymore. Well, that contributes to the energy problem and transporting all this food, producing it takes energy. How do we get out of this?

BROWN: Well, first of all, energy -- ethanol is not the solution to our automotive fuel problem. If we converted the entire grain harvest into fuel for cars, it would satisfy maybe 16 percent of demand. That's not the answer. I think the answer and it's going to be still a couple of years away is plugging hybrids, running almost entirely on electricity.

FOREMAN: That will solve the energy issue, but what do we do about the food issue now? Because I think a lot of people out there are really worried that they're going to seriously be looking at their grocery bill and saying I can't buy things.

BROWN: Right. If we reduce the amount of grain going into ethanol substantially and quickly, it will begin to restore some stability in the world food economy including here in the U.S. I mean, right now, we are subsidizing the conversion of grain into fuel and being rewarded for that subsidy with soaring food prices.

FOREMAN: But, Ali, is this really supply and demand right now, or is this a little bit a shade of the housing market?

VELSHI: Think back --

FOREMAN: Does it have to do people investing and looking for returns?

VELSHI: Right (ph).

FOREMAN: Are we short on food, or are we just short on affordable food?

VELSHI: Well, in parts of the world, we really are short on food. We don't have a food shortage in the United States. But, you know, two years ago when the government decided it's going to subsidize or is going to encourage the production of ethanol for fuel, well, it would have been a smart thing to do to invest in corn and that's exactly what people did.

There are people who invest in corn, wheat, soybean, food futures because there are a better investment than the stock market and the real estate market right now, because we know that there's no end in sight to the demand.

Tom, I've got a "National Geographic" recently -- "Growing Fuel." It's got a picture of corn on the front. I've got "Barron's," which is read by everybody. Commodities boom.

This is a big trading thing. People are making money. They buy futures. They've got nothing to do with the corn, the wheat, the soybeans. They just make sure they're out of that trade before they actually have to take delivery and make the money.

FOREMAN: So Ali, let me get back to the basic question there. The basic question is do we have a shortage of food in this country, or are we headed to a shortage in food, or do we just have a shortage of cheap food?

VELSHI: There is not a shortage of food in America. There's a shortage of cheap food. As you get down the scale to people who have lower incomes or frankly who live in poorer countries, it's a real shortage because you can't afford to pay up. If I need rice today in America, I can get as much rice as I want regardless of some limits that some stores are putting on, but I will pay up for anything I buy that is grown.

FOREMAN: Lester, assuming politicians aren't going to shut down the ethanol subsidy right now because there's no sign they're going to that or some kind of immediate stock up measure, and certainly the ethanol people have good arguments as to why they think they should not. Assuming that doesn't happen, what else could political leaders do now?

BROWN: Well, we're dealing with longer term trends, population growth, 70 million people a year. We're dealing with spreading water shortages that are making it more difficult for countries like China and India to expand their own grain production. There are host of longer term trends here. They're coming together now, a scarcity of water and scarcity of new crop land, and a diminishing backlog of technology.

The rise in land productivity, which a few decades ago was over two percent a year, is now roughly one percent a year because there are not a lot of new technologies that farmers can use.

FOREMAN: That's more of the problems. What is the solution? What else could politicians be doing now? What should we be really asking them about?

BROWN: We need to address the population issue for one thing. If we don't address that, there won't be any humane solution to this problem. We can't keep adding 70 million people a year when our land and water resources are already being stressed.

FOREMAN: The worldwide population or the United States population, or both?

BROWN: Of which the U.S. is part. We're the only industrial country that has not stabilized its population.

FOREMAN: And with that, I think we have to move on. Lester, thanks for being here. Ali, as well. I think we'll be talking about this more as time goes on. We'll keep eating, I'm sure of that.

Just ahead, life on Mars."

Say Hello To My New Links

Janine's Blog - Photos! (and science)

Tales from the Swamp - Science! (and photos)

Flourish - Badass UK Gardener!

Wrigglers Down The Hatch

It's late afternoon, and time to feed the fish in my aquarium.

In the morning, it's "Fishie Flakes", but in the afternoon, it's a larvae-chomping free-for-all courtesy of my backyard breeder. The population of mosquitoes never really gets much of a foothold in the bucket. These larvae got pretty big, but I hadn't gone out for a scoop or two (or three, or more usually, FOUR) for a few days.

My 20-or-so fish make short work of 100 larvae, easily.

That green tube sticking off the side of the breeder is a simple contraption to allow curious/stupid small mammals egress from the bucket, should they fall in. I have already plucked one dead squirrel from the depths of the bucket, many months back. It was no great loss. The squirrel wasn't the rare "fox squirrel" species, just the garden variety grey "tree-rat". They're pests around here, really. I'd have been royally bummed if it had been a fox squirrel. They're rare, thanks to habitat loss/development. The tree rats are happy to coexist with people in disturbed and developed areas, but fox squirrels are more discerning about the company they keep.

I have seen two in our neighborhood. I wish I could see more.

The New Math

I highly, highly suggest reading and considering this post.

Alas, we take baby steps here.

Yesterday, I declined my lazy side its indulgence in late-afternoon XBox creature-killing mania.

I opted instead for pulling weeds and planting sugarcanes, and it was infinitely more rewarding, of course. The bed I am using for the sugarcanes has failed me several times now. The list of ex-plants consists of sunflowers, peppers, tomoatoes, squash, and peas. Obviously there is something wrong here, and I think it's the light PLUS the fact that there is no way to keep pesty rodents from destroying the plants. Timing may also have been a factor. SW Florida is a weird place to try growing food. Everything is in reverse, more or less. For example, OUR tomato season is dead-of-winter. Anyways, pray for my canes.

After digging in the sugarcane, the Wife and I yanked up a ti plant, replaced it with a couple of roses, and transplanted the ti into the front shade garden. Roses grow easily in the front of our house, and I have to admit that I like them despite their general uselesness as wildlife plants, human food plants, and etc. I hope the front of the house will be ALL roses before too long. They are an indulgence and they give much pleasure, thorns be damned.

At the end of the day, I carefully put away my tools. I then considered, once again, our fallen Passion snag and how best to dismember it. I looked back at my tools. I had just gotten done weeding and "stirring" the soil in the sugarcane bed by hand. The RotoTiller lay silent in the toolshed.

I looked at the chainsaw in relation to the work that needs to be done on the Passion snag. Considered the lengthening shadows, chirping birds and crickets, the fluttering wings of chickens settling into their evening roosts. I likewise considered my softening belly and resolved myself to buying a bow-saw. The chainsaw will have its day, probably after a big storm or something - but I don't want it to be the only option I have for a job. I'd rather have a quieter first option.

It's a "little bit", but it's a little bit that I would like to think is imbued with some meaning. It's one more step towards a general goal here - making ready to subsist in an increasingly unsure world.

...And No One Heard It (Or Saw It)

The fallen "Passion snag", awaiting its dismemberment.

Yes, those are old Christmas trees. The twig borers love them.

The big, ugly basketball hoop will be sold in a garage sale forthwith. The Pulguinha has used it about three times since we bought it almost two years ago. I can't cast stones, though. I hardly ever use the exercise thing standing next to the shed.

Not so cool.

I found another elater on the fallen snag today, as well as an ichneumon wasp patrolling around, presumably looking for borer larvae and the like. I didn't have the camera with me, and that ichneumon was very wary anyways.

The elater, interestingly, was more dun-colored than the one in the post below, and its temperament was completely different. The elater in the post below was a very patient and calm model, whilst the one I found today was flighty and prone to using its clicking defense. The species was the same, however, though we do have other elater species around here...

...and it just so happens that I have some photographs of one of those other species right...here!


































Alaus myops - "blind click beetle". Since there's no scale in the photo, I'll just tell you it was about 5 cm long. No, it's not dead. It's just playing "possum".

The larvae of this species are predatory on other wood borer larvae.

Cool.

See You Elater

Getting An Ear Full

Looks like she's reading him the riot act, doesn't it?

I know the feeling, pal. We've all been there.

Just wait a couple of days for her temper to cool, if you can. A good, sincere apology goes a long way, too.

If all else fails, break out the chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

Requisat en pace, Bare-ass

We had a humdinger of a storm last night - so bad the rain was blowing sideways.

This morning, one of our chickens didn't want to climb off of her roost when I put the scratch out. I knew there was going to be a problem with her. Well, I came home and found her dead in the run.

Brought her way out to the back of the lot so she'll feed the scavengers. Seems undignified, but the way I figure it, she spent her life feeding us, and she may as well feed something else in death.

I am thankful to her. Bare-ass was a good bird.

I just wonder if that storm freaked her out or something. She always perched right next to the mesh separating her from the outside world. She probably got a good soaking last night.

Bare-ass was one of the sicker chickens we inherited, hence her name. She was stubbornly bald. Turns out that she had worms.

We put all those poor hens through Hell trying to treat them for feather loss, never having any idea that internal parasites can cause the birds to go bald. No one we asked for advice had any idea, either. My Mom asked an acquaintance of hers in North Carolina about the problem we were having with our birds and he nailed it: worms.

Bare-ass came a long way, and looked glorious for the last several months of her life. Fully feathered and spritely. She was chasing stuff around the yard under the Pulguinha's watchful eye yesterday.

Before finding Bare-ass in muddy repose, I got a surprise as soon as I drove into the back yard.

While I was gone at work, our BIG snag in "Snag City" toppled to the ground. It took a huge passion-vine with it. Snag City looks bare. The woodpeckers will now have to relegate the dead tree to more terrestrial users.

I do look forward to seeing what is inside that dead tree, though. I just hope I don't find an occupied cavity/nest. The downy woodpeckers, in particular, have been busy in that old tree this year.

One way or the other, be assured, that porous, soft wood won't go to waste. Either we'll find a use for it around the garden, or the animals and fungi will.

The fallen tree did reveal a little jewel, though, in the form of the "eyed elater" click beetle, below.

Funny - this was one of the first insect species I ever noted, really noted, got interested in, looked up the information, and etc. I was with my family, visiting my Dad's parents in North Carolina.

Just a boy, then.

I still have that same Audubon insect book that looks like a Bible to the untrained eye. Mom and Dad used to let me bring it to church when we'd visit the paternal Grandparents. I suppose it kept me from getting too antsy, though I can't imagine my Grandparents approved at all.

Funny, too - that's my Daddy's daddy's ring.














Alaus oculatus




















The "Passion snag", in better days.
















I'll post more elater photos and photos of the inevitable "Passion-snag" dissection later. There's a HUGE shelf fungus growing out of the side of it that had been hidden by the passion vine. It is now revealed.

Time To Eliminate The Middlemen

Board Eyes Rules After Dog Attacks
How many chances should dogs get?

By BRENDA HAWKINS for the Collier Citizen

12:11 p.m., Thursday, March 27, 2008

"The dog attack death of an Estates woman coupled with increasing animal attacks has some residents angry that Collier’s dangerous dog policy does not have enough teeth to protect the public.

“Why do they let the owners have the dogs back, when the owners can’t, or won’t contain them? The local ordinance is just too lax,” says Rene Oliver, an Estates resident. “When dogs repeatedly get out and destroy property, or hurt people, they need to put down. The second offense should be treated as a felony; not just a slap on the wrist.”

By county ordinance, a dangerous dog is any canine that has aggressively attacked or inflicted injury on a person or has severely injured or killed a domestic animal while off the owner’s property; has been used or trained for dog fighting; or has, when unprovoked, chased or approached a person on public property, in a menacing fashion and a sworn statement is made and investigated.

Bold print is my emphasis, here and below - tf23

Dangerous dogs can reside anywhere in the county. Of the five currently registered at Domestic Animal Services, two live within the City of Naples. All of the dogs live at home with their owners. Seven dogs are also in custody at the shelter – four of whom are still considered provisionally dangerous.

FIVE?! You're kidding, right? There's more than FIVE on my block! - tf23

According to DAS interim director Amanda Townsend, there were 1,097 bite cases reported in 2007. As of the beginning of March, there were 263 reported so far this year. “Bites” include any incident where the animal breaks a person’s skin.

Those bites turned deadly in May 2007, when 71-year-old Carshena Benjamin went for a walk on Jung Boulevard around 6 a.m. and did not return. Later that afternoon, deputies discov ered her body in a ditch in front of 1960 Jung Blvd. The medical examiner later determined Benjamin had been killed by dog bites.

The owner of the home at 1960 Jung Blvd. owned two pit bulls, which had been captured and photographed by DAS as strays, one year earlier. The suspect dogs were later returned to the owner, but were nowhere to be found after the Benjamin attack, according to Collier County Sheriff’s investigator Cpt. Raymond Wilkinson.

Oliver says the dangerous dog policy provides more protection for a dog’s owner than its victims.

On Oct. 28, 2007, her husband, Rob, discovered two pit bulls and a cattle dog circling their goat pen and biting at the goats through the fence. Before Rob and two other men could drive the animals away, the cattle dog pushed through the chain-link fence and attacked the youngest goat. The Olivers captured the cattle dog and DAS responded, but was not able to locate the two pit bulls.

The Olivers later learned the dogs were also responsible for killing five of their neighbor’s goats.

One month after the attack, the Olivers returned home from work to find the two goats dead, their throats ripped out. Both the sheriff’s office and DAS responded to the 9-1-1 call; the next day, the two pit bulls were captured, impounded and labeled “dangerous dogs” by DAS.

Oliver said DAS was slow to provide her with the name of the dogs’ owner, Diana Chavez, so that Oliver could seek restitution for her loss. She also wanted to prevent the dogs from being returned to Chavez.

But two weeks later, both dogs were returned on condition that Chavez provide current rabies proof for both dogs; post “Dangerous Dog” signs, microchip the dogs, provide a minimum six-foot by six-foot enclosure - or keep the dogs in her house - and keep the them leashed and muzzled for walks, according to county statute.

Here, we see Ms. Chavez being an exception to the rule by actually bothering to COMPLY with the orders... - tf23

Townsend says Chavez was in full compliance when the dogs were returned to her.

BUT... - tf23

Barely a month after receiving their first “parole,” the pits attacked a 140-pound pot bellied pig belonging to a DAS officer. They were impounded a second time.

OOPS. That was the wrong person's pig to mess with! - tf23

This time, DAS sent Chavez a registered letter, as required by state statute, giving her 14 days to make an appeal on behalf of the animals. That deadline passed Jan. 15.

DAS planned to send a second registered letter – not required by the state – giving Chavez 14 more days to plead for the lives of her dogs, but it had to be reviewed by the county attorney to determine if DAS can actually euthanize the dogs.

Can you BELIEVE the number of chances this person gets? The amount of time that is allowed to pass with no action really taken? The legalistic gobbledygook? The money that goes into housing these animals, and etc? - tf23

Townsend could not be reached at press time to verify the outcome.

Townsend says DAS is obliged to protect the rights of the owner, as well as those of the victim.

Oliver is livid and made a case for a tougher dangerous dog ordinance before commissioners on Mar. 25.

“Why are the lives of the dogs more valuable than the lives of my goats?” she asks, pointing out that if parents of minor children are liable for damage their kids do, dog owners should be held equally responsible under the law.

She said the dogs’ record as repeat offenders should put them, and their owner, on a fast-track to appropriate consequences before another person falls prey to dangerous dogs.

“Every morning when my husband and I leave for work, our neighbors are walking their children to the bus stop with small dogs in tow as well as ladies with babies in strollers taking walks,” she says. “Are dangerous livestock-killing dogs not considered a priorty at DAS? Does it take a child being mauled to get their attention?”

It costs the owner $300 annually to officially register a dog a “dangerous,” as well as numerous other DAS fees - which Chavez paid – when the dogs were first apprehended. But Oliver says no attempt has been made to compensate the families for their vet bills or the loss of their goats, estimated at about $150 each.

Oliver took her case to Dist. 5 Commissioner Jim Coletta, who encouraged her to file a public petition to go before the board to push for tougher dangerous dog laws and victims’ rights. By law, any damages must be pursued through a civil lawsuit.

“I think it’s terrible that the victims have to pay to get a lawyer when a crime has been committed,” Oliver said.

Coletta agreed, saying owners of dogs that repeatedly offend, should be required not only to make restitution, but should receive hefty fines in order to get the word out that irresponsible pet ownership will not be tolerated.

He said the commission takes every opportunity it can to strengthen the local ordinance so it will be more meaningful, but explained the county is somewhat limited by Florida statute.

“If a person feels threatened by a dog, they should have the right to dispatch that dog with a gun, or whatever it takes,” Coletta said.

Such was the case in February 2003, when Estates resident Gary Uhlar shot a dog that attacked him while he was walking his dog on 18th Ave. NE.

According to sheriff’s reports, Uhlar attempted to use pepper spray on two dogs that attacked him in the street, but the container malfunctioned.

He then pulled out a 9mm pistol and shot at one of the dogs, which later died from the wound.

Uhlar had a valid Florida concealed weapons permit and no charges were pressed.

In Tuesday’s meeting, commissioners agreed to bring Oliver’s concerns back as an agenda item in order for staff to determine how to add more teeth to the local dangerous dog ordinance."

Female Painted Bunting

I Know I Must Have Heard Wrong...

...but I could swear I heard some smack-talking about SLR's.




















Hmph.







































(just "hanging around"...)

Since I just took this photo today, I don't have the ID ready yet - but that top photo is a new favorite of mine. I'll update with a species ID very soon.

BugGuide, here I come!

p.s. Just kidding, Fc. I agree that sometimes changing lenses steady SUCKS.

Why You Grinnin', thingfish23?

Florida's population slowing to 30-year low, study shows

A University of Florida economics professor finds Florida's population's is dipping to 30-year low.

BY TRENTON DANIEL
tdaniel@MiamiHerald.com

A new study has reaffirmed a growing demographic trend in Florida: The state is seeing its population growth slow to its lowest level in three decades.

So says a University of Florida professor who reviewed building permits and residential electric customer data to draw projections on the state's population growth.

''The state has not experienced a decline of this magnitude since the mid-1970s, when we were in a national recession,'' said Stan Smith, an economist and director of UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

The Census Bureau has made similar findings in its tracking of population growth in Florida. In a report released earlier this month, Census officials reported a net gain in the state's population of just 35,301 between 2006 and 2007. The figure was much lower than the 170,099 gain tabulated from 2005 to 2006.

The lower rate of growth is caused largely by people leaving South Florida, where the cost of living is driving them away from the region.

In his study, Smith notes that the state's population growth is slowing because more people are leaving than moving into the state. He expected Florida to add an average of only about 209,000 residents a year between 2007 and 2010, compared with annual increases of about 418,000 people during the previous five-year period.

Florida still remains a major destination for retirees, but more and more twenty- and thirty-something year-olds -- the lion's share of the state's movers -- have left, Smith said.

That same segment of the population represented the largest group moving to Florida during the past four or five decades.

Smith attributes the recent departures to Florida's sagging housing market, high cost of living and the overall economic malaise plaguing the nation.

Florida enjoyed a boom in real estate and construction from 2002 to 2006 -- just as it did from 1971 to 1979, Smith notes.

He adds that fewer job opportunities in Florida have curbed the influx of younger people.

''The question is, will Florida rebound as it has in the past?'' Smith said. ``We're guessing it will, but that is certainly not a guarantee.''

Smith projects that Florida's population will return to a ''more normal growth'' level of about 317,000 a year between 2010 and 2020, similar to the 1980s and 1990s.

Even with slow growth in population statewide, there is one county likely to enjoy strong growth: tiny Lafayette County in North Florida. It is predicted to grow the fastest in percentage terms between 2007 and 2010 because of prison construction, Smith said.

During that period, Lafayette County is expected to add 1,000 people, reaching a population of 9,200, he said.

Many of Florida's steadily growing counties -- such as Flagler on the East Coast -- will still lure newcomers.

In terms of absolute numbers, the following counties are expected to make the biggest gains between 2007 and 2010:

• Miami-Dade, from 2,462,292 to 2,512,300, due to foreign migration.

• Orange, from 1,105,603 to 1,154,200

• Hillsborough, from 1,192,861 to 1,234,900.

Broward is not among the biggest-growing counties in actual numbers, according to the latest estimates by the Census Bureau.

In a report released on March 20, Census officials estimated that the number of people in Broward fell by more than 13,000 people -- or about 1 percent -- to 1,759,591 from 2006 to 2007.

from The Miami Herald

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YES! YES! YES, I SAY! YES! AMEN!

3 cheers for a high cost of living!
3 cheers for the bottom falling out of our bloated sac of a building/developing insustry!

I want the people in the permit offices twiddling their thumbs in boredom! I want them wasting my hard-earned tax money playing World of Warcraft and online Poker while ON THE CLOCK!

I want to see every earth-moving, tree-ripping, asphalt-laying, limestone-pummeling machine rust in its place!

I am ready to see the joint black bear/Florida panther hostile environmental takeover! I want to see them endangering pedestrians and their small pets!

BRING.IT.ON.

Semi-Live Blogging

A parting shot before I go out to drill, paint, and/or plant roses and sugar-cane...

Today is a good day for wildlife in the yard.

- Not one, but two Male/Female couples of painted buntings.
- A long black racer making its way through the butterfly garden
- The polydamas swallowtails are back, laying eggs on our pipevines ("Calico flower"/"Dutchman's pipe")
- A catbird (one of many) luxuriated in one of our suspended bird-baths, soaking one of our watchful cats in the process. She had to have been in that bath for a full three minutes or so. Very cool to see over morning coffee.
- And, finally, our little Carolina wren has been feeding her newly-hatched chicks for the last few days. At long last, I had the camera ready and managed to snap this shot through the porch screen - that's why it looks a little bit weird.

OK - this is a quick post because NOW I just found out I have to go to work. Not on my own place, mind you, but to "the office". What a drag - but it puts food on our table, not to mention the birds' tables.

Winter Toms

The joys of composting - you never know what'll come up!

We now have several vines bearing these delicious little tomatoes. One of the vines is taller than me. When they were all in their prime, we got about this many toms per day. Now that it is getting hotter here, the harvest is falling off.

We've been enjoying these with some mozarella and balsamic vinegar dressing. S'good stuff.