I was in line to check in for another dismal night at the casino, and was next to check in, when I got the call that the power came on. Man was I happy. Got home, and was greeted with this:
There are deer in my neighborhood starving and I did nothing. I immediately went inside and grabbed the 50lb bag of dried corn and peanuts for the squirrels and crows and just dumped them in my front yard.
And for the love of everything holy if you suburban dwellers tell me not to feed the deer and blah blah blah I am going to lose it. Deer have always been here my entire life and only come when we log and ruin their normal grazing areas. There was logging all around here the past two years so it ain’t their fault and I will feed them if I want them I am not attracting them here they are here cuz there is no where to go and I am going to feed them so back off. I’ll put out a god damned salt lick if you fuck with me on this.
At any rate, all the critters are fine, none of the pipes froze, the house is back up to 48 and climbing, but some of the plants look PISSED and I may have lost a couple.
I am so glad to be home.
Steve in the ATL
I cut short some yard work today because a family of deer came by for an early dinner and I didn’t want to disturb their nosh
RevRick
Home is one of the most powerful words we have.
Nancy
Glad to read this!
I think it’s fine to help the deer, because you know they’ll have to eat the willow if you don’t.
Litlebritdifrnt
Good on you John. I would have done exactly the same thing.
Baud
I hope the willow is ok.
Poptartacus
Lol chill out feed the deer ya big softee
WaterGirl
I will chip in for the salt lick, Cole. Welcome home.
Starfish
So tailgate party at John’s house? This is a tailgate party, right?
jl
Glad Cole is home and comfy again.
But why book a room at a casino? Isn’t open 24 hours and a guy can just nap on couches here and there?
J r in wv
Glad you’re home, Cole. I’ll be in town a little while more…
eclare
Glad you’re home, with deer! I lost power for four days in May 2017, it is unnerving.
eclare
@J r in wv: I saw your post, I hope you and your wife get some answers soon!
FlyingToaster
Around here, I don’t think anyone would give you problems for feeding the deer.
OTOH, if you feed the *&^*(&^$*@# turkeys, it’ll be WAR.
(I’m west of Watertown Square, so we have coyotes, not turkeys. Heh. Fuck the TLF.)
Bex
Cole’s home. Amir is back. Deer are feasting. Life is very good in Jackalia.
seefleur
I live in Maine. I have bird feeders in my back yard, which means I also feed deer, chipmunks. squirrels, the occasional raccoon, woodchuck, crows, wild turkeys whatever wanders through… the list goes on. I don’t actively “feed the deer” – around here that could get me accused of “baiting”. But the critters sometimes need more than what they can forage for after their area has been taken over by humans with the yen for McMansions on land that used to be NOT suburban. You are a mensch in taking care of your furry neighbors.
Tehanu
Love that photo. I live in the middle of L.A. but very, very occasionally we see a coyote or a possum, and once a heron that apparently got lost looking for the wetlands. You’re lucky and I’m glad you fed the deer.
CaseyL
Welcome home! I guess now you’ll immure yourself for a couple of weeks!
I’d feed the deer, too. I am infamous for feeding wildlife. Moms come by with their babies, having taught them how to do “puppy dog” eyes at me. Solo adults will get fed if they look like nursing mothers. I should open a restaurant, get the neighbors even madder at me.
Chris T.
Spousal Unit here feeds the deer, squirrels, birds, bunnies, everything outdoors. (I do the indoor cat-feeding)
swiftfox
Logging opens up more feeding areas for deer. Feeding deer in winter increases the spread of chronic wasting disease and covid in deer.
Yutsano
@CaseyL: “You can get anything you want/At CaseyL’s Restaurant.”
:P
BTW I’ll be in town next week. I wasn’t gonna put out the word for a formal meet-up since, well, plague. But informal breakfasts/lunches/dinners will work.
lowtechcyclist
Glad to hear you’re back home, Cole!
And yeah, feed those deer. For most of our plants, garlic sticks keep the deer from eating them. But if push came to shove, I’d rather have the deer than the plants.
Oh, and the offer of a cheap very non-whole-house generator from the other thread still stands.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’ve seen several reports recently of high rates of covid in white-tailed deer.
debbie
@CaseyL:
Not that I want to be giving you any ideas…
NotMax
Shame Hitchcock never got around to making The Deer.
;)
Another Scott
So many questions…
Where’s Pappa deer?
Who’s giving Covid tests to wild animals?
How much did you win at the casino?
…
So many questions.
Glad you’re home. Feel better.
Cheers,
Scott.
NotMax
Wait ’til the pets show up with ticks.
:(
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Another Scott: I saw a report that “scientists” swabbed the nasal passages of deer in Ohio. I tried to picture it, but didn’t succeed.
Yutsano
@debbie: Egyptians kept pet cheetahs, mostly because they seem to have an affinity for humans. They’re not really tameable from what I understand, but instances of cheetahs cuddling with humans aren’t unusual.
EDIT: it’s hecking adorable too.
Yarrow
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Covid going back and forth between animals and people so easily seems like it would make it difficult to eradicate. Too many places for it to hide and possibly mutate.
Ruckus
@Tehanu:
I was born and have lived for the vast majority of my life in LA county. For the majority of my first 20 yrs I lived about 4 miles from the Arcadia Arboretum and we would get peacocks in our front yard. Beautiful, large, loud birds who managed to defecate rather a lot. Oh well nothing is perfect….
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: There’s no way to avoid that.
Gin & Tonic
@lowtechcyclist:
Not me. They are disease-spreading vermin. Luckily where I live, fairly rural, there are coyotes as well.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: Simparica (for dogs, anyway) is a goddamn miracle drug.
Suzanne
I like the deer. One of the best parts of living in this part of the country.
NotMax
@Ruckus
Could be worse. Could be Miami.
Miami agrees to do something about its peacock problem
@zhena gogolia
Not looking forward to the “So I was removing ticks from Steve’s butt when this happened” post.
:)
Raven
@Gin & Tonic: big rats
Chacal Charles Calthrop
glad to hear you are home, I’m sure the dogs are beyond delighted…. and Steve will be beyond delighted once the heat inside climbs to a comfortable level.
And I like the idea of a tailgate at John’s place! this could be fun!
debbie
@Yutsano:
My and my roommates’ kittens usually slept with me (my bed was on the floor), but they were less overwhelming than those kitties!
laura
Amir Khalid is home with his jackal pack, and I am going to sleep so soundly tonight, safe in the knowledge that there’s a bit of alright in this world.
Speaking of salt lick- Trader Joe’s had a cheesy seasoning and I pitched it in my basket so fast I may get called up from the minors when spring training commences. Lots of popcorn in our future.
NotMax
@Yutsano
Whence comes the expression “keeping fast company.”
:)
zhena gogolia
I want to know what happened at the casino.
Mike E
The most deer I’ve seen in one place was at Valley Forge, countless number of refuge-seekers (before they were recently culled)… runner up was in Durham NC, 30 does and yearlings in a field (you know the bucks were lurking inside the treeline) . I’ve been stomped at and snorted on a few times during my canvassing career, fun.
raven
J r in wv
@eclare:
Wife had a small stroke. MRI soon, will be admitted for more testing, once they find a room. Yes, that’s an issue here and now…
Imagine that!
raven
@Mike E: Chickamauga is covered with them.
zhena gogolia
@J r in wv: I hope all goes well with her recovery.
Wileybud
I do the same thing, sort of. Whenever I have salad scraps (cut up broccoli stalk, celery, red cabbage, carrot skins, etc., I take them to the far edge of the property and toss in the wash. That’s “gully” to you non-desert dwellers. The wildlife loves it; check the next day & it’s all gone. They feast at least twice a week. Better than letting it marinate in the garbage can!
raven
@J r in wv: It’s too soon to tell now huh? Mine manifested in double peripheral vision and they didn’t find it on the MRI for three weeks.
raven
@Wileybud: an arroyo!
Mike E
@raven: A local sports fan radio guy thought they’d be playing before May…he must have just awoken from a years-long coma, thinking ownership are any less eager to hoard their money for however long it takes
CliosFanBoy
Yeah, but how were the dogs????
A Ghost to Most
The West Virginia Whinger.
dmsilev
@Mike E: Some of the national labs run by Energy and other departments keep herds of deer and other animals. Lots of deer. Perhaps most famously, Fermilab just outside Chicago maintains a herd of bison. There are always adorable baby pictures every spring.
raven
@CliosFanBoy: At any rate, all the critters are fine, none of the pipes froze, the house is back up to 48 and climbing, but some of the plants look PISSED and I may have lost a couple.
wonkie
I love it that you are feeding the deer. I am just confused about what to feed them. I went to a feed store and bought what was recommended for deer==but it had corn in it and there’s literature that says corn is not good for deer because they can’t digest it. I feed then lettuce, carrots, apples etc but that’s pretty expensive. Can anyone give me the definitive word on what to feed deer?
CliosFanBoy
@raven: oops. Missed that. skimmed it too fast.
eclare
@J r in wv: My mom had several of those, they didn’t seem to affect her. Sending good thoughts!
raven
The olympic skating audio sucks.
Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan
@J r in wv: Hope she will be ok
eclare
@dmsilev: Things I didn’t even know I didn’t know!
NotMax
@J r in wv
Oh my. Paws crossed.
raven
@wonkie:
Don’t feed deer: It’s bad for them, bad for people & illegal!
Mai Naem mobile
@J r in wv: oh, no. Hope everything works out. That is scary enough without having to worry about COVID and the availability of a bed.
Mike E
@dmsilev: Nice, they’re steering their bison away from the beefalo mixing lines
Dorothy A. Winsor
@J r in wv: I hope the stroke turns out to be really minor and the additional tests come up clear.
Ruckus
@debbie:
There is an extremely good movie on Netflix called Rising Phoenix. It is about the Para Olympics, which is about people with disabilities who have their own Olympic games. One of the people in the movie is a South African man named Ntando Mahlangu who runs the 200m with prosthetic legs that I call spring legs. He has a pet cheetah that runs with him in South Africa. And lives in his house.
Ruckus
@J r in wv:
Hope all is well. Good luck to both of you on all fronts.
John S.
@Mike E:
We rented a house in Beech Mountain, NC this past summer and we that place is crawling with deer. It was really nice and they just don’t care about the people being around at all.
mrmoshpotato
Oh no! Audrey II!
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
Oh, the goring.
John Cole
@J r in wv: You need me to drive down and help or you got neighbors who can help.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Mr DAW is watching curling.
trollhattan
I think it’s a good thing that when it gets cold, deer don’t drop out of trees.
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Svengoolie here.
CaseyL
@debbie: D’aww. Not sure if I would do that, unless I knew those big fellahs really really well.
@Yutsano: That would be lovely. Dinner, preferably, as I WFH during the week.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: I would be more terrified if deer could get into the trees in the first place.
Dan B
@J r in wv: How are you doing? Do uou have friends or family to talk to? Or does the hospital have counseling?
Jackals can be great listeners. Sending virtual hugs.
Miss Bianca
@Wileybud: I’m torn. I’ve gone from being the suburban kid who would have been thrilled beyond measure to see Bambi in my front yard – or back yard (wherever) – to thinking of them as “range rats” and nursing a long-term grudge against the whole species for depredations to my garden and destruction of my vehicles. But yeah – when I get way too many scraps for the worm bin, it all goes sailing off the back deck to feed the deer and other critters.
Spanky
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Sub “graduate students” for “scientists” and it all makes sense.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
Sleep tight. :-)
surfk9
We will be camping up at Oregon House ( CA) in a couple of weeks. The RV park we are going to are lousy with deer. They are everywhere. last time we went there in November, the camp warned us that it was rutting season and to watch out for marauding deer.
randy khan
We’ve spent the better part of the last 80 years creating great deer habitat all through the Eastern part of the country. They like the edge of the forest, where they can forage and then run and hide, and suburbs are a lot like that, with lawns and trees, plus parks. It’s hard for me to get made at them for taking advantage of it.
trollhattan
@J r in wv:
Damn. Heartfelt wishes on a good outcome for the missus!
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: The only tree in front of our place couldn’t support the weight of a deer. ??
geg6
@J r in wv:
my John had a small stroke a few years ago. Other than some memory issues, he’s fine. It’s all minor, thank the FSM.
trollhattan
@surfk9:
Deer will def. not be the biggest thing to avoid whilst in Oregon House.
joel hanes
@swiftfox:
The root problem is extirpation of predators.
Keystone predators shape and improve entire ecosystems in ways that are not obvious without study.
Most areas of the eastern US have far too many white-tailed deer for the health of the deer, for the health of the plant communities, and for the health of people (tick-borne diseases, and now COVID)
raven
@geg6: On my last visit I asked my neuro if I was doing everything I should be in relation to the “pons” stroke. She said “Oh, if you’d had it anywhere but where you did you would have never known you had it”! Great, why didn’t you tell me that three years ago!!!
raven
@joel hanes: Exactamundo!
Suzanne
Why do the Russians dress their figure skaters up like drag queens from 1987? Even in a sport with too many sequins and rhinestones, they always manage to be excessive.
surfk9
@trollhattan:
The most spiritual thing I found in Oregon House was a cool little farmers market.
geg6
@raven:
Johnny Weir is not miced correctly. Can’t hear lots of his commentary over the music. Tara Lipinsky seems fine. Maybe because her voice is higher, perhaps?
joel hanes
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
A survey that pathologically examined lymph organs from sampled white-tailed deer estimated that 80% of Iowa’s half-million white-tailed deer are carrying SARS-COV-2
It will be interesting to see what effect this has on the winterkill, and thus on next year’s population. I’m kind of expecting a crash. That would be a good thing for Iowa’s woodlands, which almost no living person has ever seen in a healthy state, since we extirpated wolves and mountain lions very long ago.
Looking across the fields, you can see the browse line in the understory of any grove. That should not be the case.
raven
Man, I don’t really like this stuff but Kamila Valieva is fucking incredible.
Wvng
@swiftfox: I might add that deer overpopulation is destroying the oak hickory forests of the mid Atlantic and North east. In my part of Eastern WV the forest floor is bare and most tree specie seedlings get eaten before they grow past the deer.
raven
@geg6: I can’t hear the damn music. . .
Spanky
@raven: Mime skaters!
joel hanes
@Wvng:
this
S. Cerevisiae
Deer love forest edges, here is a well known paper that shows it:
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C14&q=edge+effects+whitetail+deer&btnG=#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3Drt6-5-m1k48J
CaseyL
@J r in wv: Fingers crossed for the least possible damage, and the best possible recovery.
Dan B
@Yutsano: Id love to do dinner but my partner would be upset. He had pneumonia every winter as a kid and has a visceral reaction to the thought of Covid. Have a great time. See you when Covid cools down.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I see a family of 4-5 deer each night I walk the dog. Often we’ll be within 90 feet of each other and share stares for a few minutes.
mvr
@J r in wv: Man, I’m sorry. That has to be so frustrating. Hoping for things going well.
Sure Lurkalot
Spouse and I were discussing the music feed for skating. Seriously? It seems some genius could figure out how to coordinate a stream or something that brings in a video audience. Not to say how are those performers inspired by that tinny shit?
joel hanes
Home is one of the most powerful words we have.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44261/the-death-of-the-hired-man
Martin
@Ruckus: Paralympics are so much more enjoyable to watch. No medal count fixation. Lots of explanations for how the various athlete categories work. No hyperbole over the records being set. Hey, NBC, if she wins the 3rd gold, it of course will be a record, as it was when she won the first and 2nd golds. They’ve only had this event 3 times.
Leto
@J r in wv: oh man, that sucks. As with everyone else, hoping things go well.
Sure Lurkalot
@J r in wv: So sorry to hear this, hope for good prognosis.
joel hanes
@raven:
>>> wash
>> gully
> arroyo
in Iowa, it would be “the ravine”
in the Santa Cruz mountains west of where I’m sitting, it’s “La Honda”
Martin
Speaking of unions, California folks, call your state reps about AB 257.
Sharing labor responsibility between the franchisee and franchisor should help a lot. Right now corporate is getting a complete pass on labor issues. We know this can work better. In-N-Out is headquartered here and isn’t franchised. Their prices are lower than the other chains for comparable food, and they pay a lot better. The one near me is starting at $21.50/hr plus benefits including for part time workers. That’s not buying you a house here, but it’s at least not living in your car money.
Ksmiami
@joel hanes: the eastern states need a wolf and bear reintroduction… possibly big cats as well… deer are actually not great for plant life and for the other animals that rely on it…
Sure Lurkalot
@joel hanes: Absolutely,
Steeplejack
@J r in wv:
Yikes! Sorry to hear this. Sending prayers for a quick and happy resolution. ?
The Pale Scot
Saturday Tunage;
Good copy of
Janelle Monáe – Dirty Computer [Emotion Picture]
Janelle is so cool
Starboard Tack
@Ksmiami: Apex predators control prey populations by changing behaviors as well as by direct predation.
rikyrah
Glad you are home ?️
I would be freaking out if I saw deer in my front yard. I can’t even handle the occasional bunny ?
Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan
Here’s some more:
Lonnie Liston Smith – Quiet Moments
NotMax
@rikyrah
That’s what barbecue tongs are for.
;)
gwangung
@The Pale Scot: Janelle Monae is ALWAYS on topic.
Ohio Mom
@J r in wv: Oh dear, but you are in the right place with the right people. Hoping for good news for you and Mrs J R. Please keep us updated when you can.
Sister Golden Bear
@rikyrah: Bunnies are fine. Now raccoons….
The Pale Scot
@gwangung:
That Emotion Picture is High Art. The color palettes, the editing, the make up, the costumes. I think it’s the best music film done with modern techniques. I’m annoyed that I can’t buy a DVD of it from her. It was only released in Japan on DVD. I’d like to pay her directly for something that has kept me sane down here FL
James E Powell
@NotMax:
I think Gary Larson had a few Far Side cartoons along those lines.
prostratedragon
@joel hanes:
Thanks, it’s good to revisit things after time has passed. Oddly enough, I just dug this painting out of my memory this evening:
laura
@J r in wv: I’m sending every good thought and wish your way. I hope that this is a minor blip and your Mrs. is on the mend and soon to home. ?
Debbie(Aussie)
@J r in wv:
I am so sorry to hear that (?). Best wishes to her for a full recovery and to you, as it’s never easy being the one who waits. Take care.
While I’m here. Welcome home Amir. Just in case you missed it, we have (mostly) all been worried about you. If I had decided to stay up just a little longer Saturday evening I would have seen ?you.
john, I’m glad you are home. A lot more is right, as in correct, with our world.
Ohio Mom
I am usually thrilled by most of the wildlife in my suburban subdivision. There was a neighborhood fox for a while; last year we had a chipmunk living right outside the family room window; there are all sorts of birds, including hawks (the other day, a squirrel saw one and screamed warnings to all his compatriots); a few summers ago, a mother deer and her two fawns visited our backyard fairly frequently to sit and chill; and rabbits, who seem to be easiest to spot in the early morning, at least that’s when I spot them.
The exceptions are the squirrels, I’m still holding a grudge from the time a mother made a nest in our attic. It’s expensive and time consuming to evict them, and keep them evicted.
The Pale Scot
@gwangung:
Asian Dub Foundation – ACCESS DENIED
There’s so much great music out there
prostratedragon
@The Pale Scot: Surprised it doesn’t have a lot more views, as it’s quite good.
Soprano2
@J r in wv: I’ll have good thoughts for you and your wife. Even if it’s small, a stroke is scary
John, I don’t blame you for bailing on the house with no power. We were 12 days without it during the Great Ice Storm of 2007, and I’m still scarred by the experience. Not something I ever want to do again.
glc
https://www.bonecollector.com/the-dos-and-donts-of-feeding-deer-this-winter/
mrmoshpotato
How long until Upchuck Toddler the Rethuglican Fluffer makes this reality?
oldster
I wasn’t going to blame you for feeding deer.
But what about the deer with peanut allergies!
Also:
If the deer all have COVID, does that give them herd immunity?
Anne Laurie
Game departments asked (required?) hunters to turn in the heads of deer killed under license. I wouldn’t particularly want to swab the nasal passages of a dead, severed deer head myself, but that’s *science*…
P.S. Don’t worry (too much) about the deer in Cole’s yard. Deer know when it’s deer-hunting season, and also which neighborhoods are safe even during deer season. At least the deer in Michigan had this figured out, and I assume the WV ones who don’t get the memo get the cervine version of a Darwin award.
CaseyL
Just saw that Amir has returned to us: YAY!
Leto
Here’s The Boat That Won’t Bring Jeff Bezos’s Hair, Or Wife Back
I think this is the best review yet of Bezos’ other penis replacement project.
Anne Laurie
Scary! Will hold WV Wife in the light…
Anne Laurie
There are areas of the eastern states that already have sufficient bear populations, thankyouverymuch. Like deer, black bear take full advantage of suburban ‘edge zone’ habitats — and it’s not good for the bears when their population climbs to the point that they wander into more crowded neighborhoods, even urban downtowns, briefly. But our Massachusetts bears seem to run around 100lbs, too small to take down a healthy whitetail, and there’s too much easier food for them to get into the habit of trying.
I’d love to see wolf packs restored to some of New England’s wilder regions, too, but the local ‘eastern coyote’ / coydog hybrid almost certainly has filled that ecological niche. The suburban ones live on rodents, feral cats, and the occasional straying pet, but there are scientific reports that the well-grown families in wilder areas (like Maine) are starting to run deer in packs.
Large cats, i.e. mountain lions (catamounts!) are a lovely fantasy, but each one needs such a large territory that it’s probably not going to happen in my lifetime. Although there’s a stubborn few people who insist there are mountain lions in New England woods, they’re just shy enough & rare enough not to make the news!
MomSense
Sending love and healing to her and you too.
mrmoshpotato
@Leto: What a slapdick. And they should just drop that bridge on his supercock, I mean yacht.
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Some 50 years ago, besides the more common wildlife such as bears and deer inhabiting the woods in the boonies of the Poconos, once — just once — I saw a panther, leisurely ambling across an otherwise deserted two-lane road at dusk.
People said I must be even more nuts than they previously suspected but I saw what I saw. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
Anne Laurie
@NotMax: Fifty years ago, tv comedian Jack Douglas did a whole book about keeping mountain lions (and wolves) as pets, sometimes in suburban Connecticutt. I would not be the least bit surprised if you saw someone’s stray ‘pet’ wandering loose on the roadside in the Poconos.
It was upscale ‘bohemians’ who kept wild animals as ‘pets’, in those days (going back to at least the 1910s & a craze for cheetahs). Now, of course, it’s ‘trailer trash’ and drug dealers who have, it’s been asserted, more tigers in captivity as ‘pets’ than exist in the wild!
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Well, this was about as far removed from anything resembling suburbia as a place could be. Entirely possible to travel for miles without seeing a house. If the smudge on the map where I lived had a year round population as high as 50 I’d be surprised*. And there were verified historical sightings of panthers in that neck o’ the woods.
*You’ve seen old movies where the post office occupied a corner of the general store? We didn’t have a general store (or any other retail establishment), post office was tucked against one wall of the living room of someone’s house.
LongHairedWeirdo
Hey, John Cole? Thanks for looking out for helpless living things. It matters.
Yeah, really. Don’t be cynical for ten seconds: own a moment of perfect love, armor yourself up a bit, and then, well, let’s wade back in against the motherfuckers.
Mary G
@J r in wv: Scary, will be sending good vibes for a swift recovery.
opiejeanne
@J r in wv: I wish her a swift recovery, and no lasting damage.
I hope you have some support if you need it. Easy for me to say, from the opposite side of the country, but I do hope you’ll take advantage if you need it.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: NOT THE BUNNIES!!!1!
Tony Jay
@J r in wv:
Small is good. Got my toes all crossed for you both.
Amir Khalid
@J r in wv:
Yikes. Here’s hoping she recovers fully.
lowtechcyclist
@debbie: Looks like it was a three
dogcat night.lowtechcyclist
Man, this place gets quiet at the end of the night.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: People must be sleeping the sleep of the just.
There’s always something going on in politics, though. In Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Board of Commissioners(?) Chair Val Arkoosh has suspended her campaign for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. Arkoosh had the backing of Emily’s List and a PAC that supports candidates with STEM backgrounds (she is a medical doctor). She hasn’t gotten much traction, and is now leaving Lt. Governor Fetterman, Congressman Lamb, and state Representative Kenyatta to fight it out. The primary is in May. Kenyatta lags in fundraising and this may turn into a rwo man race between Fetterman and Lamb.
Nancy
@J r in wv: I hope that’s resolved by now.
FWIW, my thoughts are with you.
OzarkHillbilly
Build a pile of feed, and they will come.
Morzer
Friends and comrades, I have an MRI tomorrow to see if I have suffered a stroke. One side of my body basically functions, but has some numbness and tightness in the side, leg foot and face. I can get around fine, my speech, mind, general capacity seem unimpaired. I can lift my arms, my grip is strong, I can smile normally. This may or may not be connected to my Moderna booster shot, which I got 4 days before things become interesting. It may or may not be connected to a very stiff neck which I had at the time, although I’ve had those on and off for years, probably because of bad pillow choices. Oddly enough, I had a very brief moment while ambling round Seoul when everything felt back to normal for a happy 3 minutes. I won’t pretend that I have not felt moments of utter terror this weekend. Any advice or insights gratefully accepted!
germy
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Morzer: Madame had the same thing happen to her after her wrist surgery about 15 years ago. Turns out it was something called Bell’s Palsy, she thought she was having a stroke too. It just affects the face, it is caused by a pinched nerve in the neck near the ear IIRC. It generally resolves itself in a couple of days. If that’s what you have, you’re in good company, George Clooney had it too.
Morzer
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Did she also suffer side effects that affected her leg and side? Frankly, if this turned out to be Bell’s Palsy, I’d be tempted to embrace whatever god gets to me first.
germy
@Morzer:
I was thinking Bell’s Palsy, too.
But I’m glad your getting those tests done. Keep us posted on your progress.
Morzer
@germy: I shall do my best. If this turns out to be a false alarm, I shall try to maintain whatever personal growth I have achieved.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Morzer: No, just her face. Better get those MRIs.
debbie
@Ohio Mom:
I could have done without the turkey vulture standing in the middle of an intersection last summer.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Morzer: I’m glad the test is soon. Waiting around for the medical folks to get to you is the worst!
germy
Those deer are too close to Cole’s house. Is one of them named Willow?
barbequebob
@Wvng: Yes, and even worse are the forests where the understory is taken over by invasive alien species that deer will not eat, such as Barberry.
sab
My deer story:
Four deer jumped into my yard. My neighbor has a fence with some kind of weedy vine eating the fence that separates our two yards. The previous owner did not allow the renters to prune anything. That was written right into the lease. So the vine is now huge. The new owner hasn’t gotten around to chopping it down.
The deer ate every last leaf off of the vine on my side of the fence. Then they jumped over into the neighbor’s yard and ate every leaf off the vine on that side of the fence. So the vine has no leaves left. That should make chopping it up and hauling it away a whole lot easier.
Thanks, deer.
satby
@Morzer: oh, no! Hoping for the best outcome possible!
satby
@sab: now rent some goats and get the rest of the vine.
sab
@satby: Good idea.
RAM
The logging around your area may actually be providing more browse for the deer population. Deer are creatures of edges: They love the edges of wooded areas and like to feed on saplings and understory. So you may actually see an increase in deer population until those woods grow back again.
Another Scott
@Morzer: Pinched nerves can do all kinds of funny things. Soft tissues (muscles, “disks” in your neck, back, etc.) are still a bit of a mystery to many MDs because they don’t show up well in most of the imaging techniques they rely on.
Maybe look into a “sports medicine” type person?
Surgery can do wonders for some people, but always look into options before they start cutting if you can.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Cheers,
Scott.
Nettoyeur
@dmsilev: There are federally employed goats working grounds of various airports……I think Apple has some at its HQ, also….
brantl
@Bex: Isn’t that Jackalania?
Another Scott
@brantl: I always thought it was more like Jackalandia.
?
Cheers,
Scott.
Salt Creek
For you on the mainland, this is a cute story. For us on Long Island, this sends shivers down our backs. There is no real hunting, the deer are a disease carrying nuisance. People who feed deer are regarded the same as people who keep 70 cats. Weirdos
kindness
One problem with feeding the deer here in N. Cal….Deer out here migrate up and down the hills depending on the seasons. Winter they come down the hill where it’s warmer and snow isn’t covering everything. Summer they go up the hill. Well, mountain lions follow the deer. Deer are their prime prey critter. Friends of mine up on the hill have learned the hard way. If you feed the deer they will stay at your place. And if they stay at your place, that is where mountain lions will hang too. Dogs and cats are easy pickins for a full grown lion.
So I guess the lesson here is if you’re going to feed the deer, do it far away from your home.
sherparick
For those wondering, suburbs & exburbs have been built out rural & wild areas. If you quit being narcissistic about your yard, check out this website for how to set up your yard for wildlife. https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/Create
sherparick
@Anne Laurie: Starting in Ontario & Quebec andgoing south into the Midwest & East Coast, the wolf-coyote hybrid called the “Eastern Coyote” is now pretty common, filling the predator niche that wolves use to fill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_coyote#Distribution