Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
hmm, i hadn't thought of that... suddenly is texas is starting to sound a bit better to me...
... although, re-reading your expanded list of mortal dangers lurking at every moment, maybe i'll just buy some industrial strength earplugs.
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Well ... you know, and it really is true .... snakes just want to get the hell away from people. So, tossing a handfull of gravel in a snake's general direction has always gotten them going where I want them to go (which is away from me). Mountain lion attacks here are really rare (because there are so many deer ... and lions really prefer deer to people).
Most of the attacks I know about happened in California ... and fairly close to human habitation. True of both the lion and coyote attacks. The problem is that their preferred prey has been driven out of the area ... so people start looking pretty tasty. Here, there are still deer and other smaller prey all over the place.
The fire ants?? Well, I use a bait to keep them out of my yard. Once a year baiting usually does it. Yes, I know ... not a particularly Buddhist thing to do ... but once you've been chewed up by them, you get a whole lot less philosophical about them. I got swarmed one day so badly (standing over by the boat dock ... luckily) that the only thing I could do to save myself was to jump into the lake. I probably had 300-400 bites on me in the end ... but, I'm not allergic to fire ants, so ... whew!! Now, I know to look for their mounds and stay at least 10 feet away from any mound. Haven't been bitten since.
The cats are pretty good about killing the scorpions and many of the rattlesnakes that have actually gotten in to the house (through the drainage pipes that come out of the cat porch ... and then through the cat door). I still have to screen those pipes. It's on my todo list.