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I lived in an Indian village in northern Canada when I was in my 20s--ate caribou (yummy), moose (good, but not as good as caribou), arctic hares (tasty), and muskrat (also tasty). I live in Maine, and back about 15 years ago I hit a moose at twilight when I was driving in the northeastern part of the state. Luckily it was a juvenile and a glancing blow; the moose survived, and my car did as well with just a broken headlight, side mirror dangling, and moose hair embedded in the rubber around my windshield. We used to let our cats outside, but they were big guys, around 13-15 lbs, so I don't think they would have been prey for an owl or hawk. I now live in a condo complex in another Maine city and we are required to have pets leashed if they are outdoors, so current kitty is indoor only. Even if he could go out, we have coyotes around, right in the city (!), so it wouldn't be safe.
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Marine - good luck with that. That was actually an attention seeking tactic by my mother - winter clothes and ‘working’ outdoors during a heat wave. Dehydration, vomiting, UTI, so she had to see a Dr and I had to care for her more. It was all so frustrating.

Peasuep - Great Horned Owls can take a grown cat. Hawks - anything under 4lb is at risk. My neighbour scooped and ran with her chihuahua once she realized a hawk was stalking it. One dull evening, as our indoor cat stood by the sliding glass door, I realized a Great Horned Owl was on the ground just outside the door, intently watching her.

Owl trivia: (stop eating) Ever seen dead rodents hung in trees? If so, you may have a Barred Owl. (or a shrike if spiked on a thorn) They save them for later.

I’m a treasure trove of grisly trivia.
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First comment...my 'whine'...I do not understand, nor am I able to get my 81-year-old mother to understand, it is not a good idea, nor should she do it...go outside to 'work' in the yard, when it is 82 degrees feel like index of 85 degrees...while she is battling UTI...caused by dehydration.... caused by working out in the heat of the day.
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Hmmm, hadn’t thought about owls - we have plenty of those, but I thought they usually went for small rodents. I’ve found a few owl ‘pellets’ in the woods and am saving them for Science day with GD during the summer. Did it with my own kids a few times; a couple pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass and you can find intact and identifiable bones, even whole skulls.

I never had carabou, Golden. Another thing to put on my list. I get the impression you’ve had a very interesting life. Have you thought of writing a book? There was a way of life that is almost lost. My mom lived it for her first 20 years and she was good about giving my sibs and me summers on the farm where she grew up. I’m sad I can’t really share much of a ‘non-tech’ life with my GD.

That makes a pretty decent whine moment for today!
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Geaton - Oh my goodness. So scary!!!

psue -Moose can be great - depends. I'm not fond of venison. Haven't tried bear, but I'm not inclined to. Bison, yes. The best is caribou - never had such tender tasty meat. Elk is good too. Pronghorn - too "sagey"

I think all carnivores can be dangerous to smaller animals, and some are dangerous to us. If anything I suppose wolves are more dangerous as they are bigger. Though I don't think there are many records of attacks on humans. Now I wouldn't want to live near cougars. We lost Rocky's sister to a fox almost certainly, or a coyote. Poor Pumpkin! She was not a cautious creature.

nacy - I can do without most insects - not a fave of mine unless you are talking about beautiful butterflies, moths and dragonflies. I like ladybugs too.

I just made some ground turkey vegetable soup for supper. R wants left over turkey necks and there aren't enough for two.
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Wow, Geaton. Amazing stories. Absolutely terrifying and awesome (not in a good way).

Golden, I have tasted both moose and bear (also rattlesnake) and have not particularly liked any of them enough to choose them off a menu. Now Emu is another story as are Bison and wild boar, all of which are delicious.

Are wolves more dangerous or aggressive than coyotes? We lived quite peacefully around coyotes in our previous home but you did have to keep an eye on pets and small livestock. There are noisy coyotes here and I assume foxes, although I haven’t seen any. Cougars have been spotted down by the river but not in our woods.

Nacy, insects are SO interesting. In our old location we had Jerusalem Crickets…weird! Also black widow spiders, which are very pretty as far as spiders go. We also had ugly scorpions - I woke one night to see one on sleeping DH’s back! I backhanded it across the room where it hit the wall, fell to the floor, and crawled into the closet door pocket, never to be seen again. Many more interesting bugs there than here but I can’t say I miss them.
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cwillie, I'm in Ft. Pierce FL right now (the place that had like multiple tornados that preceded hurricane Milton). Yesterday I visited my cousin and wife in a neighborhood where their house was spared but 3 of their close neighbors' homes were not. He showed me the video he was shooting up to the point where they realized it was coming right at them. In FL no one has basements and they only had enough time to scramble into their garage and shut the door and dive under their car. They said it sounded like a freight train and they could hear the other homes being torn to pieces. Was 15 seconds of utter terror for them. One of the homes had the roof and side sheered off but you can look inside to see clothes still neatly hanging in the closet and a perfectly made bed. My cousin sent me a picture his friend took of 4 tornados lined up next to each other, all the same size, in Ft. Pierce. I wish I could post it here, it doesn't look real. My 105-yr Aunt lives 1/4 mile from Spanish Lakes where 6 people were killed, yet barely a palm frond was on her lawn when she returned to it after sheltering with a relative. She has 9 lives, like her cat...
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Yes, moose are more solitary and don't travel far. Used to make great moose soup from the bones. We intrigued the neighbourhood kids with moose carcass hanging in the garage and blue tarps over the windows. It was like that Arnie film scene in the slaughterhouse.

Saw a wolf out front one very cold winter day Jan 1st. They were in the woods opposite the house. Coyotes too, and deer and foxes. Here we hear the coyotes singing their songs at night.

I agree that so many organisms are beautiful - viruses, diatoms, really anything you can see under a microscope/electron microscope. Loved studying them.

Hope you can get dh into a better routine, psue.
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Nacy, it’s a new doctor unfortunately so we’ll have to establish a relationship. After that I assume they will be more understanding. Specialists are hard since they are scarce and you have to take what you can get.

The natural world is wonderful and mysterious to me, even the dangerous and deadly parts. Something so powerful that is not made or controlled by human beings is scary AND beautiful in my very, very humble opinion. But I’m odd that way - I even find viruses beautiful and fascinating!
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Ahem, tornadoes are not beautiful, they are scary AF.
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My whine: DH is not out of bed despite the usual cheery wake-up routine. Wednesday is a doctor appointment before noon (the only time available). We talked about him practicing getting up consistently when I called him but I did not have high hopes.
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You’re right Nacy; when I lived in the SF Bay Area earthquakes were so common we barely noticed them most of the time. I would like to experience a tornado out on an open plain somewhere, but only if it I could know ahead of time that no person or property would be harmed. I think they’re beautiful.

I’d also like to see moose. I’ve seen impressive herds of Elk and Antelope, even wild horses and Bison. But Moose are more solitary, right Golden? I’d also like to hear wolves but not sure I want to see them.
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Yes. moose, They are BIG!!! I nearly hit one once - heard it clopping across the highway before i saw it.
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As the days go on and my Narcolepsy still awaits seeing a specialist at Duke, I frequently find myself repeating, "well, I have nothing more to say." I have nothing more to say. good night, I look forward to laying myself down to sleep, but I don't know what to pray
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Golden, -Moose! I can’t even imagine! The closest I’ve come to a moose is on Dr. Oakley! Now, deer, I’m well acquainted with - as is the front bumper of my car and several of my evergreens.
And my perennials.
And my bulbs.
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So glad we don't have to deal with deer or moose on the road any more. They were a liability.

Pam, your grandson is growing I bet. I don't like driving in the dark either. In fact I avoid it.
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Pam, I agree! I don’t know whether my night vision is worse or whether I’m just out of practice driving in the dark and rain. It’s so very glarey out there!

Nacy, my night comfort eating is starting and it’s only been a week since the time changed. I dug up my online food diary to try to head things off at the pass before I need to be the one in the Santa suit at Christmas since nothing else will fit!
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I also am not a fan of the early dark! i babysat my grandson today and it was raining and dark when I left. Only 3 miles but I hated it! I retired a bit over a year ago and I think this is the first time I've driven in the rain/dark since! And the deer are out!
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It looks like dusk here at 3:30 with all these trees and with rain expected any minute. It really is hard to get used to. On the other hand, no yard work to do except blowing the leaves into the ravine.
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Carolyn - have you considered getting the pharmacy to dispense his meds in blister packs?
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I'm sick and tired of putting the multitude of my and my husband's meds together. If I don't do it, nobody does. All I can manage is doing them one day at a time. I can't handle putting more than that together. Since I also take many meds, my brain is limited in function, No matter what method I use, it always boils down to one day at a time. Otherwise I get confused. I'm sick of it.
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That is frustrating, Nacy. My DH’s hearing is fine; we had it checked when he started hesitating with his answers and saying “what?” all the time. It’s just what happens once it gets inside his ears that’s the problem. He calls it Spaghetti Head now but for a long time he had no idea he wasn’t processing. I had really hoped it was a hearing issue too.
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My whine today: people who don’t follow up!
Of course I understand it - lives are just too full. But some of the questions asked and the answers given are so darn interesting I really want to know what course people take and how things turned out.
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Feeling nearly normal, thanks, Psue.
Glad you are better, Nacy.
Way - how are you?

I do my best to never run out of chocolate. Worst comes to worse, you can always make a few with cocoa powder and coconut oil and whatever else you want to add.
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Hahahah! Eww!
We called hotdogs “snouts”.

I know it’s not a whine but does anyone else have a good one?
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My family called fig newtons "fly pies".
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My whine: The chocolate is gone. Nothing is left in the house but Twizzlers (blech!) and stale fig newtons. I’m going for the fig newtons.
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Golden, are you doing ok? Feeling better?
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Golden, I don't believe that "belief" in any god is choice.

I am not capable of pretending I believe in something I do not believe in. It is to me like just saying I can believe that dogs can fly if I want to. I could PRETEND I believed. But I don't believe. I never did for a single second of my life. That is why I teasingly say I have no gene for it. I have read the bible and other books of faith and I love cathedrals, hymns, Saints and all of that. But I don't "believe" in them. For me it is kind of a Santa Claus thing.

So with all respect, if it were as simple as "choosing" to believe something I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't. I just don't, and can't pretend I do. It would be like my CHOOSING to believe I like escargot.

As to Neil, you believe God showed me something and I believe he fell into the lucky 10%. Makes no sense to me that God would choose to SHOW ME something, and let another woman's hubby die, because he chose NOT to show her something; I could never believe in such a being who would play at that kind of game. t-PA clot busters are very scientific. They don't "care". They work or they do not work. And time is of the essence.

So again, EVERYONE, whether you believe or do not, every single second is your brain dying after a stroke; you must get to a stroke center and as fast as you can. Call 911 at once. And believer or no, I hope you will be lucky, or blessed, or whatever.....as he was. We all will go. But this time he stayed.

Ending on a fun note, coming back from the hospital the first night his daughter B., said "Did Dad vote". And I said "Yes. By mail. Weeks ago" and her hubby, my SIL, C. said "Doesn't matter. If he dies they are gonna say "vote doesn't count; throw it out! He's a dead man". Reminded me of my favorite home town stories about Chicago, where dead men vote!

Still a bit shell shocky here. I will see him go off walking the dog and think "It could have been so different today (yeah! I could have been the one walking her). I have always wanted to be the first to exit; I hate to deal with change. My OCD kicked in supper bad, and I came home to line up little combs and pens and phones at right angles! Getting better day by day.
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My whine today: I can’t see my driveway. Neither can the delivery drivers and I just ordered a bunch of Christmas presents.

I love my leaf blower but the rain is falling faster than the Maple leaves so I can’t use it. On the bright side, the leaves are especially beautiful this year and watching them fall between the fir trees is magical.
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