6/30/2007

Feral cats

San Francisco residents who don't want feral cats living in their backyards can trap them and take them to either the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or Animal Care and Control.

If taken to the SFSPCA , the cats are treated for any medical problems, either spayed or neutered, and vaccinated. There is no charge to the person bringing the cat in for this procedure.

The SFSPCA returns the cat to its original neighborhood (in most cases the neighborhood from which the resident brought the cat in). The organization tries to enlist a neighbor in the area to take care of the returned cat, but, in lieu of that, organizations such as Give Me Shelter Cat Rescue step in. SFSPCA also has a feral-cat team that travels citywide to manage colonies.

The logic behind returning fixed feral cats is that the colonies will eventually get smaller because they won't be able to reproduce. Also, because cat colonies are territorial, a tribe of fixed cats will grow smaller because they will not allow potentially fertile newcomers to join the group.

Still, returning feral cats to an indifferent or hostile neighborhood can be a hard sell. But for SFSPCA President Jan McHugh-Smith, it is the best choice.

"I think feral cats are in our environment. They're a part of our ecology," she said. "If you try to eradicate them, it creates a vacuum that can cause other problems. For example, in New Orleans they tried to eradicate feral cats, and in the areas where they did, the mouse and rat problem exploded. Unsterilized cats will move into the void and reproduce, and the problem's going to get worse."

Link.

6/28/2007

Seven Random Things

I enjoyed reading seven random things about Carol (via Colleen), so...

1) I've decided to take the morning off work on July 11 to catch the first screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on the IMAX screen downtown. (I'm not telling anyone about this but you.)

2) One of my most favorite things in the world is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on Monday and Tuesday nights during the summer when all the rides are only $.75 (in college it was $.50). I pig out on corn dogs and lemonade and ride the Giant Dipper over and over (last car only!), along with the log ride and Rock-O-Plane which is one of these things, but I refuse to get on a ferris wheel because ferris wheels terrify me. I make my friends play several games of air hockey with me (I am extremely competitive) and take silly pictures in the photo booth. My favorite $.50 night in college also featured a free concert on the beach by Sister Sledge. (Added: the Boardwalk turns 100.)

3) On vacation, I like to re-read my favorite short novels. They include The Crying of Lot 49, Down and Out in Paris and London, The Great Gatsby, The Sheltering Sky, Demian, A Feast of Snakes, and a random book I found in the cutout bin several years ago called The Man Upstairs by someone named T.L. Parkinson.

4) My favorite artist is Henri Rousseau. When I was a romantic (pretentious slacker weenie) college drop-out, I used to spend whole days alone in my Tenderloin studio apartment making paintings in his style.

5) I failed algebra in the 8th grade because I had a huuuge crush on the teacher and couldn't concentrate on the lecture if you know what I mean and I think you do--wink, wink. After getting over him, I enjoyed math ever since and sometimes regret that I didn't major in it in college.

6) I enjoy baseball, but not football or basketball. I might like hockey, but I doubt I'd like soccer. I've always wanted to go to horse races, but I have no interest whatsoever in car races or Nascar. I don't care for golf, but I'll tag along if I can drive the cart. I ran track in high school, but didn't enjoy it. I would eagerly go to a shooting range and try shooting targets if anyone ever invites me.

7) We like to eat breakfast for dinner and do that every couple of weeks. Scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, and refried beans with salsa and melted cheese. (But no coffee at dinnertime.)

I'm not really the sort of person to tag people, but if I was I might tag Lisa, Alex and JVA, among others...

6/27/2007

Leaning Tower of Pisa is saved from collapse

Phwew!

Okay, let's finish that walk.

I got my haircut (it's really bad), now it's all uphill to the pea patch.

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Isn't this nice?

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I think this is really nice.

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It's practically perfect.

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Please tell me what this vine is if you know.

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This looks like a professional job to me.

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Thyme and armeria. Very nice.

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Awesome pocket garden!

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A closer look.

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Really good use of that scallopy red brick edging.

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Blackberry.

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As far as weeds go...

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I should do this.

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We've had very strong winds the last few days and I have some wind damage up here.

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And gopher damage!

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So long, Royal Blue Ensign. I hardly knew ye.

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(However, I have another of ye in my home garden where I don't have gophers.)

Trailing lantana, totally passed by.

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The tomatoes look like heck.

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Fuchsia boliviana 'Alba' flower buds! Okay, I grew several of these from seed. I gave several away, planted three in my backyard, and put one up here. Which flowers first? Not the three pampered, watched over plants in my backyard. All in due time, I guess...

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Salvia clevelandii, from a cutting.

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Ribes sanguineum, Pink Flowering Currant, also from a cutting.

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What else is going on up here?

This sedum is flowering awesomely!

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This...squash? has really bounced back.

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I feel like I should know what this is, and as soon as you tell me I'm going to go "oh, yeah!"

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Time to go home.

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Is this how you harvest opuntia? I don't think it is.

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Always fascinating how the Agave americana leafs out.

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I have this succulent, but I water it, and it grows very differently with supplemental water.

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I should stop watering it!

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From a mural at the branch library.

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