Important John Lydon news

Dave W · November 23, 2020, 07:22:22 PM

Johnny Rotten Suffers Flea Bite To His 'Sex Pistol'

uwe · November 23, 2020, 08:55:27 PM

I was never in doubt that there was an only thinly veiled S/M connotation to Ken's perverse affinity for these infested, vile & verminous rodents.

Highlander · November 24, 2020, 03:19:15 PM

I've always professed the fact that squirrels drive you nuts... but we don't let them in the house... something to do with our resident Cujo's dislike of them... oh yes, and flea-less, danke...

morrow · November 24, 2020, 05:01:51 PM

Ah , the squirrels ... Herself is a gardener , and we used to have a good number of bird feeders around . The squirrels , naturally , we're all over them . So for a number of years I was matching wits with them . No contest . I lost .
Unfortunately , the rats started getting really brazen around them too , and we had to take them down .

Dave W · November 25, 2020, 12:21:28 AM

I didn't have a problem when Dakota was younger, she would catch and eat them. Now she's a slow senior and can't catch them.

uwe · November 25, 2020, 06:21:09 PM

Yeah, blame it on the poor dog. My sources tell me that squirrel stew is a popular dish in the more rural areas of Minnesota.

Dave W · November 25, 2020, 11:24:19 PM

She would eat everything but the fur and the liver. Once she did eat the fur, and everything came up on the living room carpet. She was smart enough not to eat the fur again.

I'm nowhere near the more rural areas but there's plenty of wildlife in the neighborhood. Squirrels, cottontails, foxes, coyotes and occasionally raccoons.

morrow · November 26, 2020, 07:17:23 AM

The raccoons are tenacious . And smart . My neighbour was trapping them for a while , and then letting them loose in more affluent neighbourhoods . He would get one every night , sometimes two in the trap . After about a month he said he got tired of driving them around .
Didn't put any noticeable dent in the population .
Interesting to see how different they were in the trap , some were docile and terrified . Some were flat out evil , and insanely aggressive ... all different .

TBird1958 · November 26, 2020, 07:32:48 AM

We have raccoons around along with possums, bunnies, squirrels, occasional coyote etc, there's a good sized wet land just across the street so no surprise there - My kitty is an in - house only creature. Which actually is best for all involved as cats if left to hunt outside can often upset the local food chain, they're not natives.

uwe · November 26, 2020, 10:33:48 AM

Minnesota, say no more.

Even the rodents imbibe uncontrollably.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/25/minnesota-squirrel-drunk-after-eating-fermented-pears-video

uwe · November 26, 2020, 10:53:42 AM

And, animal related: White House ornithology is when golden fox geese turn lame ducks and pardon turkeys.

https://images.app.goo.gl/5qdSUpsCDa2EAh736

Pilgrim · November 26, 2020, 11:17:35 AM

I can think of few more fun band names than Drunken Squirrels....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

uwe · November 26, 2020, 03:06:52 PM

Ja, frohes Erntedankfest, liebe Amerikaner!

Dave W · November 26, 2020, 11:18:31 PM

Quote from: Pilgrim on November 26, 2020, 11:17:35 AM
I can think of few more fun band names than Drunken Squirrels....

Happy Thanksgiving!!

How about the Dog-Sized Lizards?

uwe · November 27, 2020, 05:10:58 AM

Oh yeah, tegus (or sometimes: tejus). I'm not surprised - just like iguanas and pythons before, they became popular as pets among herpetologists about 15 years ago. They are hardy, omnivorous, peaceful, a bit monitor-like, but more on the pudgy, stout side (at 03:24) ...

... easy to keep and breed - but they grow and grow (up to 4 feet, tail and all though)! So it was a question of time when released pets would start populating a place like Florida that offers optimal living conditions for most reptiles.

I doubt whether they will really be an invasive problem though. That's an old rule, the more omnivorous a species is (eg like racoons or catfish), the less it has a measurable impact on other species' individual populations. And it's not like tegus wouldn't become part of the diet of North American indigenous predators. Just like iguanas, you can eat them - tastes like turkey ... Happy Thanksgiving!!!

It's evolution at work, any species is engineered to enlarge its natural habitat. Spread and conquer.

Build that wall!

But given that you US humanoids have so far mostly survived (as a species at least) living alongside venomous rattlesnakes and Gila monsters,

I'm reasonably confident you'll also do alright with tegus.

Ooops!