It has been so long since I posted anything and so much has happened in that time I don’t know where to begin. I just spent most of today copying all of the old Blog entries over here so I think I’ll leave most of that for another day. Stay tuned for tales of doggie diarrhea, invading possums, a possible badger sighting, and all sorts of other stuff. I also have several new weird links to share.

OK, as I mentioned on our site this is kind of an experiment. Because our ISP ev1.net doesn’t allow any sort of server-side scripting, there is a lot of functionality I would like to add to the Blog that I am not able to. The TypePad service has all of those bells and whistles, and then some! I’m trying out this 30 day trial to see if I like it enough to justify the extra expense of paying for a separate hosting service for the Blog.

Some of the cool features you will notice are the calendar for the current month, the list of most recent posts, and the ability to browse the archives by month or subject — for instance you could look at a page with only the links we’ve posted, or just the entries about our new bullymonster Mojo. Technically, I could’ve added all those things manually with HTML only but it would have been a nightmare to try and keep up, and involved many duplicated pages.

One cool thing that you can do here is add a comment to any of the posts — and please feel free to do so. Let me know what you think of this thing to help me decide whether to keep it when the trial runs out.

We had a couple of run-ins with the local wildlife this past weekend. The first, Saturday morning, was a bit scary…we had one of the rat cages set on a towel to dry after cleaning it, completely dismantled, and I was reassembling it. Simon and Mojo were both “helping” which consists of putzing around with little parts and laying on top of things I need to move, in Simon’s case, and sitting there looking quizzical and cute, then without warning taking off with one of the parts, in Mojo’s. Yes, they are very helpful… Anyway, I had the rest of the cage back together and Simon had climbed into the tray and laid down in it. As I tried to decide whether to move him now or let him enjoy it and finish putting it together later, I saw he was playing with something. I peered in for a closer look — it was a baby black widow! Ack! I quickly removed him and trapped the spider in a jar in case we needed it for identification, and looked Simon over. He didn’t appear to have been bitten, but spider bites don’t always cause immediate pain. Of course it was a quarter to twelve and the vet clinic closes at noon. I called them and they said to just watch for swelling. We were worried for the rest of the day but apparently he is fine.

Encounter number two was a swarm of pee-seeking butterflies. Later that afternoon, I tackled the stinky mess that is our backyard, which I mentioned in my last entry here. Someone on one of my email lists suggested a solution of dishsoap, ammonia, mint mouthwash and water, applied with a hose sprayer. It sounded like it was something that was worth a try so I bought all the needed supplies, mixed some up, and soaked the whole area. It worked amazingly well, but as I stood there surveying the area, suddenly several huge yellow and black butterflies (swallowtails I think) fluttered over the fence. I think it was the ammonia smell that attracted them (butterflies drink pee) but I’d been warned the stuff would kill bugs. I didn’t want mass butterfly murder on my conscience, so I spent the next few minutes running around the yard waving my arms in the air trying to shoo them away. I’m sure it was great fun for any neighbors that might have been looking out their windows.

The final encounter was early this morning. I walk the dogs very early — usually about 5:45 AM — but this morning it was barely 5:00 when we headed out. At that hour the only light is the streetlights and the headlights from cars, and it is very quiet. Usually we don’t see another single living thing other than a few people leaving early for work. This morning, had I been more awake, I would have seen that Lindsy had spotted something; she got very alert as we were coming around the corner off the side street onto Shiloh Rd, and if I’d noticed that, I would have been more prepared for what followed…

I remember glancing down absently and both dogs were trotting to either side of me, then looking down again to see Lindsy ten feet ahead and picking up speed! I’d never seen her move so fast. My reaction time was a little slow, so by the time I came to my senses and hit the brake on the Flexi-lead, she was already most of the way to the end of the 26′ line. I hung on hard to both leads, bracing myself for the coming jolt and hoping it would not end with me kissing pavement. As I did I spotted what she was chasing, something long and low and pale with a thick tail. I barely had time to think “what an ugly cat, and why is it running so low to the ground?” as I yelled “LIIINNNNNNNYYYY!” and was jerked forward several feet. I managed to keep from going airborne and got her stopped within a few stumbling steps. Mojo was bouncing along, probably thinking what a fun new game this was we were all playing. The ‘cat’ crashed into the bushes alongside the fence and at this point I had a good suspicion of what it really was…it appeared again in a clearing a few feet away and stopped for a moment… yup, it was what I suspected. We had just seen our first (live) armadillo! I’ve never seen one that wasn’t flat and covered in tire treadmarks before — very cool!

I don’t think armadillos are very smart. If I’d just had a near-death experience with a wannabe predator, I’d be laying low. Not this guy. He went rummaging through the bushes, emerging in full sight several times, while we stood and watched. It sounded like there were at least five of them in there, I don’t know what he (or maybe she?) was doing to make that much noise. Lindsy stared longingly… Mojo stood there with his hackles up, let out a tentative “woof” and backed up a few feet… I couldn’t really see much in the darkness so eventually the three of us lost interest and continued on our way.