[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by karibear

But I doubt that you'd be oblivious to all warnings you'd get about being careful on a trip like that with a small pet. As I recall, her family offered to take care of the dog while they were on vacation, and she refused, saying of course nothing would happen, the dog would be in the car all the time! Dogs aren't in a car on a long road trip 24/7, they have to get out and be walked. And if she'd taken the advice of the person who pumped the gas and used the little spot for pets next to the station building, it probably wouldn't have happened, either.

It has always perplexed me, the way people who live in cities and suburbs just don't get that wild animals are wild, and disregard anything done by humans to control them. They were here first, and mostly they've been good at accomodating humanity. But the more crowded and built up their territories get, the less accomodating they become and the more adapting they do, but humans still don't respect their potential. There are a lot of coyotes living in cities, and a lot of the so-called feral dogs are actually either coyotes or coydogs. Most of the really urban areas in western WA have coyote populations, including Seattle. The area west of I-5 between Bellingham and the Canadian border is the hunting territory of at least one cougar - tracks were found in the trailer park where I lived. St Louis County in MO is overrun with deer, and it's impossible to trap and relocate them - all that would do would be to create an overpopulation elsewhere. Anchorage, far and away the largest city in Alaska, has a year-round resident population of about 350 moose. Even when the animals are 'safe' in zoos, they aren't safe from people - nor are the people safe from them. Remember the tiger incident in CA a few years ago? Or the case of the 3 boys in NYC who decided to spend a night in the bear's cave at the zoo? And there was another case of a tourist in Anchorage who for some unknown reason decided to climb nearly into the polar bear's pen to get a better picture. Binky the bear ripped her shoe off and damaged her foot, though she didn't lose it. She said herself later she had no idea why she thought it would be a good idea.

I understand that wild animals are wild, and that people make huge mistakes miscalculating wildlife. I've spent my fair share of time in the wild, all over the world.

My point was that it wasn't funny to me that the lady's dog was carried off by an eagle, that is all.

[_redbird_]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

I understand that wild animals are wild, and that people make huge mistakes miscalculating wildlife. I've spent my fair share of time in the wild, all over the world.

My point was that it wasn't funny to me that the lady's dog was carried off by an eagle, that is all.

Actually it's not funny at all. Even I was surprised because it sounded funny *to me, due to the mental picture. Sorry, it just did. And the mental picture is probably very far from the truth.

It happens. People who take their pets, unknowingly and unwillingly put their pets at risk of mishaps. I know someone who had car trouble and their dog was run over by a semi-truck alongside the highway.

When we traveled the past two years, we noticed a LOT of people are taking their pets with them. Way more than I had ever seen.

Ours are trained to never jump out of the car, even if I open the car door wide open until "I give the command". And I practice that all the time. I can't stand dogs in public who don't have basic training.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

I understand that wild animals are wild, and that people make huge mistakes miscalculating wildlife. I've spent my fair share of time in the wild, all over the world.

My point was that it wasn't funny to me that the lady's dog was carried off by an eagle, that is all.

Oh, I agree. That's why I said earlier that it was my LAST cat who was gotten by an eagle - right outside our front door, most likely. I wouldn't get another one because of the possibility.

The rest of my comment was a general comment, not aimed at you in particular. It's just one of many things about people in general that boggle me.

[Synopsis]

We have some large hawks around here that will occasionally take away a small dog or cat. I have to keep an eye on my little rat terrier Marco until he get's bigger.

[HeatherDawn]

He's a cute little stinker, Synopsis. My cousin's little weenie dog got eaten by a hawk. I almost giggled when they told me about it. Not because it was funny, but because I was shocked. It was such a weird thing to happen...

...On a happier pet note, Doxology the Happy Appy will be delivered to Colleen and her family in Mustang today.

[HeatherDawn]

Originally Posted by LadyRobyn

I would try late May into Early June depending on the rainfall... Our first visit here was at the end of June and it was breathtaking! More green than I ever knew existed.

That is the fun part about OK weather, it rarely stays nasty long enough to become intolerable... we were in the 70's just last week! We've had a VERY mild Winter this year, so this little cold snap is a nice change.

If I'm not wrong (who, me?), if you want okra and sweet corn, you're better off waiting until July. It will most likely be suffocatingly hot then, though.

[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by HeatherDawn

If I'm not wrong (who, me?), if you want okra and sweet corn, you're better off waiting until July. It will most likely be suffocatingly hot then, though.

Then Heather maybe I just need to come out for spring planting and stay until ya have a heavy fall frost...

[HeatherDawn]

That's probably your best bet!

[_redbird_]

I didn't know there was a ranch with wild horses in Pauls Valley.

"Officials will host 11 adoption events at the Bureau of Land Management facility in Pauls Valley this year, compared with four last year, he said. The first adoption event this year will be 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday."

and

"About 15,300 of the 20,000 unadoptable horses live on long-term ranches in northeast Oklahoma, McGuire said."

http://newsok.com/wild-horses-in-pau...=pod_lead_news

[_redbird_]

Is anyone else having google spammed out? When I type in any search, it comes up with the results, but if you look at the web address, it has bogus web addresses. What gives? I always delete cookies and use spybot, and ran virusscan.