The Vent and Rant Thread

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by LazyScot

Hmmm. <Thinks about housecleaning> <Warning: Geek Mode Activated>.

Okay. First off, you need to have hard floors. Next you need is a scanning laser connected to your PC that also has a camera that watches the floor. Then you need a random walk program driving the scanning laser, cross linked to the camera to ensure that the entire floor is tracked. Then you need to ensure you cats have some form of lightweight cloth attached to them. Turn on. You should then have your cats madly chasing the laser dot all over your room, cleaning as they go.....

<Geek Mode De-activated.>

i like this plan. can you come up with a way to make them wash the dishes as well ?

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

why not ? do they just live out there on their own ?

Sort-of yes. The ponies and cattle that roam the New Forest are (usually) owned by someone, but the owners are allowed to let their animals graze in the forest. I seem to recall that during acorn season, pigs can also be let out to forage. It's an ancient (or at least very old) right of the people living in that area, and it does have a name which escapes me at the moment. They pay a fee for each animal they let graze, and their animals must be marked (branded or ear tagged) to show their owner, and the tails are trimmed to a certain pattern to show the fees have been paid.

The grazing helps keep the open heathland as, well, open heathland. And the ponies eat gorse bushes as well as the more usual grass...

[zelda_pinwheel]

hm, sounds like a very efficient system to me.

[RickyMaveety]

The thing we need to be most careful about here are the deer on the road. Especially in the next few months when there will be all the new fawns.

I got a new baseball cap a few weeks ago. It has a set of LED bulbs in the visor portion of the cap. I use it at night when I have to take out the trash (all the better to check for snakes and lions). Anyway, it's really odd when I walk out with the light on, because I can see the eyes of the deer glowing. Their eyes are as bright as those of the feral cats (which I also often see).

Sometimes I see fifteen or more sets of eyes pointed in my direction. That's when I know for certain it is safe to wander around out there.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

The thing we need to be most careful about here are the deer on the road. Especially in the next few months when there will be all the new fawns.

I got a new baseball cap a few weeks ago. It has a set of LED bulbs in the visor portion of the cap. I use it at night when I have to take out the trash (all the better to check for snakes and lions). Anyway, it's really odd when I walk out with the light on, because I can see the eyes of the deer glowing. Their eyes are as bright as those of the feral cats (which I also often see).

Sometimes I see fifteen or more sets of eyes pointed in my direction. That's when I know for certain it is safe to wander around out there.

I'm still wondering when N. Court Street here became Wildlife Central. Admittedly, there are a few patches of untouched land on one side of it, but they aren't that big, and N. Court is in the middle of town. I use it all the time to connect to the main road to go to work.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, I was coming toward home, and what I thought was a very ugly persian cat stopped right in front of the car. Of course I stopped, waiting on it to pass, but then it just turned and looked at me...between it's face and it's paddle shaped tail, I realized that it was no cat, it was a BEAVER. I might add that N. Court St. is halfway across town from the river....
Then a week later, broad daylight, a doe comes dancing across the same street right in front of me. I saw her in plenty of time to stop and admire as she pirouetted into a patch of very pretty green grass and just stood there and posed (not on her toes, in spite of the ballet analogy).

[Curly]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Florist's glass is very inexpensive, and is less dangerous than handling lead. Plus, because it comes in net bags, it is very quick to remove and replace, and wash, if necessary.

I am not exactly casual about cats peeing in the house. They have twelve litter boxes that they use on a regular basis, and that I clean every day. However, there is almost nothing that can be done to prevent male cats from marking their territory by spraying. If my cats were allowed outdoors, then it wouldn't be a problem. However, my cats are largely either ill (with Feline AIDS) or handicapped, so they have to stay indoors.

Rather than go nuts because they spray, or get pissed off when a cat vomits somewhere (which they do all the time), I simply make certain that it is (1) easy to clean up and (2) does not damage my furniture or my collectibles.

When you have 18 cats, all indoors, and many of them either sick or elderly, you simply have to learn to engineer around the potential problems so that both the humans and the cats can live in harmony.

Ricky, I'm very glad to know there is someone in Texas looking out for ill and elderly kitties. It sounds like you have a lot of good strategies for keeping them healthy and happy and maintaining your house -- which is beautiful by the way (from the pics in that other thread).

As for the redecorating, like lazyscot says, it probably like painting the Forth Rail Bridge -- as soon as you get the end, it is time to start over again from the beginning. Good luck to you!

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

We go down just south of the New Forest quite a lot, and often drive down at night. And to be quite honest there's times when 40 seems far too fast (usually when there's patches of fog, deer and cattle drifting across the road...). It's actually quite odd coming across a herd of cattle sauntering down the road late at night, and realising that you don't need to try and find the local farmer to let them know their cows have escaped...

They have a herd of sheep wandering around town here (actually there are 3 heards). Naturally, there is a herder with it too (and dogs). They decided it was a cheap, environmentally friendly and fun way to keep the grass short

It's great fun to see them walking around


Now, OT, I want to buy my first e-ink reader, but still no idea when it comes out!

[LazyScot]

Originally Posted by ShortNCuddlyAm

Sort-of yes. The ponies and cattle that roam the New Forest are (usually) owned by someone, but the owners are allowed to let their animals graze in the forest. I seem to recall that during acorn season, pigs can also be let out to forage. It's an ancient (or at least very old) right of the people living in that area, and it does have a name which escapes me at the moment. They pay a fee for each animal they let graze, and their animals must be marked (branded or ear tagged) to show their owner, and the tails are trimmed to a certain pattern to show the fees have been paid.

The grazing helps keep the open heathland as, well, open heathland. And the ponies eat gorse bushes as well as the more usual grass...

Pigs are left out in the forest during the winter to eat the acorns (otherwise the horses suffer). As well as that, you also get donkeys out there. It's a very rich area for wildlife!

People who live in the forest often have rights (usually, I think) tied to the property to graze the forest and collect wood from it. There are a collection of wonderful words associated with these rights (I don't think they are confined to the New Forest, and are general ones): mast, pannage, turbary (and probably others I don't know or have forgotten).

As regards the deer, some are wild and some are owned. Generally you have to be careful of them throught the year as they are very skittish and fast moving. It's almost impossible to predict which way they will run and jump. And sometime, no matter how careful you are, when going through Forest the will just leap into the side of the car.

As for other (smaller) wildlife, apart from birds, you get badgers, foxes and rabbits (and doubtless others). The rabbits are most common, and like the deer run unexpectedly.

Oh. And squirrels.

[Peverel]

Originally Posted by LazyScot

Pigs are left out in the forest during the winter to eat the acorns (otherwise the horses suffer). As well as that, you also get donkeys out there. It's a very rich area for wildlife!

People who live in the forest often have rights (usually, I think) tied to the property to graze the forest and collect wood from it. There are a collection of wonderful words associated with these rights (I don't think they are confined to the New Forest, and are general ones): mast, pannage, turbary (and probably others I don't know or have forgotten).

As regards the deer, some are wild and some are owned. Generally you have to be careful of them throught the year as they are very skittish and fast moving. It's almost impossible to predict which way they will run and jump. And sometime, no matter how careful you are, when going through Forest the will just leap into the side of the car.

As for other (smaller) wildlife, apart from birds, you get badgers, foxes and rabbits (and doubtless others). The rabbits are most common, and like the deer run unexpectedly.

Oh. And squirrels.

It certainly is a beautiful place at any time of the year. I think my mother has the right to graze pigs on the forest, and her's is certainly associated with the house my parents purchased. I also agree with you with regard to the 40mph speed limit. It really is a place that needs you to stick to the speed limts as the top speed and often slower.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by LazyScot

. The rabbits are most common, and like the deer run unexpectedly.

Oh. And squirrels.

No predators left?

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

No predators left?

Yes, the squirrels.

Cheers,
Marc

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

No predators left?

Cars. That's about it. Foxes for squirrels and rabbits, but deer have no natural predators in the UK.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

...deer have no natural predators in the UK.

Humans predate deer in the UK.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Humans predate deer in the UK.

In some cases only because there's no natural predators to keep herd sizes under control. And in others for fun, sport or food...

(edited to add: I am neither condemning nor condoning these activities with the above comment, btw, just stating the reasons people give)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Humans predate deer in the UK.

Well, yes. But not as random hunters. In general the deer are managed and killed as necessary to preserve the habitat from getting over-grazed.