Keeping a 3' by 3' square of grass turf alive

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Much better to play with them for a day or two then kill them.
Bill

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I find it bizarre but you're right.
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Well before you go, I was thinking about what might keeps a squirrel mentally challenged and perhaps this would be sturdy enough. It keeps dogs entertained.
http://www.alphadogtoys.com/twist_treat_rubber_dog_chew_toys.html
I haven't been to that web site before so I'm not endorsing it, just the toy. Put some peanut butter, a few nuts, freeze and give the creature something to occupy their time. Just a thought.
Kate

wrote: Meant to put this in the privious post but got side tracked by gunner.
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OK. How about http://www.rainbowwildlife.com/video-squirrels.html At the very least, it shows how professionals do things.
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It's good to know that you can be as cranky an ol' bastard as myself. Welcome to the club and make yerself comfortable.

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No kidding. But that hasn't stopped you from being a horse's a$$ to Bob, about something you know nothing.
How about this line of thought "hmmm, here's a line of inquiry I know nothing about. How about I shut up?" Does that ever go through your head?
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More conjecturing, or as I say in another post, more of your talking out your a$$. You don't know jack about animal rescue, but you know how someone should go about doing it.
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He's asking about growing grass you moron! Is he going to ask "the zoology dept. at a college, a biologist at a local high school, or alt.med.veterinary" ABOUT GROWING GRASS?!?!
You've already said you know squat about animal rescue. Now, could you tell us why that qualifies you to lecture/question Bob?
I know, I know, because you're a jerk with a keyboard. <sigh>
Here we could have have a nice little OT thread about animal rescue, we could all have learned something, but instead we have this pissing contest. I'm as guilty of that IN THIS THREAD as you, but I waded in because this has become standard behavior for you and you needed to be slapped.
You are a net minus for this newsgroup. Any positive stuff you contribute are outweighed by the invective, the "I'm right you're an idiot", and the willingness to argue (not discuss) stuff you know nothing about. Like animal rescue.

wrote:
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That gave me a chuckle too. But you gotta admire his tenacity--he's sticking to it: I should be asking zoologists and veterinarians about growing grass. But lucky for me, Billy the Gardener knows all about zoology. So it evens out. <g>
And it is a shame that this was turned into another usenet flame thread by a couple self-centered loons. Most usenet groups have gone that direction, as it only takes a couple of 'em.
If you want to see something hilarious, read through some threads on science and physics groups sometime. They've got wackos who have theories about quantum mechanics, but they "...don't know math, so someone else has to write it down". Some funny stuff.

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There's something I'd expect you to know about. Farm boy were you?

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Lee was correct, you're not. And what's with the "Dr. Bob" thing? Are you retarded? I said I volunteer my time and money, I took the time to study and get licensing, I hire the best veterinary specialists that I can find, and fund everything myself. That's all you need to know.
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[mercy snip] Your thing started off tiresome and went downhill from there. Hopefully you got the attention that you crave.
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That would be correct.
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Hallelujiah. Now go volunteer your own time and money so you can figure out what's actually going on here.

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But it certainly isn't all I want to know. There certainly can't be any harm in telling us where you are playing Mother Teresa. Hmmmmm?

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Sorry, that should have been Dr. Mengele. At first I thought you were just a clown, but now I see you are more menacing than that.

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That would be correct. There are only about 4 or 5 of us (in a large city), and no funded organizations that deal with wildlife. That is, aside from housing them overnight and usually euthanizing them within a day or two.
The 'Billy's of the world should try volunteering their time rather than telling everyone else how it should be done. That would lend some perspective in a hurry.
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BTW, my father (out of state) works with bats. Amazing creatures.

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I said put them down and labeled a loon. Euthanasia sounds so correct.
21 century Schizoid man
Bill

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Now Bill, the jerk is a guest ;O)

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not NYC? do you get any other of the fringe city dwellers, like oppossum, raccoons, coyotes, foxes? or just the obvious, like squirrels? any birds? raptors?
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yes, they are. i'm so happy the government is giving emergency funding for the study of white nose! can you imagine how awful the mosquitoes would be without them? or a world without vanilla? lee <bat conservation international. donate!!!>

wrote:
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I just mentioned WNS in another post, but obviously you already know about it. Yeah, it's tough to stir up sympathy for bats (squirrels are tough enough, and they're cute and fuzzy). I hear lots of "let 'em die" from the usual crowd, until they're informed of the possible consequences. For some, it depends on which animal you hate worse, so mentioning West Nile/Mosquitos usually elicits some sympathy for bats. <g>
I've occasionaly 'rescued' birds, but that entailed just mainenance or shuttling the worse injuries off to those more specialized. I've actually seen a couple raccoons and oppossums wander into the city, but I don't deal with them (my life is complicated as it is, and there's a whole other level of licensing for possible rabies vectors).
One of the misperceptions about those mythological altruistic city-funded "Wildlife Organizations": Someone called the city about an oppossum who had wandered into a park. They captured and euthanized the poor critter and its babies. Would have been easier to transport her to a rural location, but that's "not their policy." The animal is nocturnal--she wasn't bothering anyone. She was obviously just displaced or lost.
Since you're up on WNS, do you happen to know if there's been any news re profiling it or its spread?

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well, the "squirrels are cute" line doesn't really work so well when they're mauling my garden & making off with my hickory nut crop ;) i do like squirrels though, mostly because of their most annoying trait: figuring things out. how *do* you keep a squirrel in a pen? and bats are cute and fuzzy too!
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it's surprising how many people *hate* possums, i guess because they look like rats. i wouldn't mess with an adult if i didn't need to, because they can be pretty nasty, but they don't go out of their way to attack. i have barn cats, who have a heated bed in the winter. one night i went out to shut the chickens in (they free range) & feed the cats, and there was a possum curled up in the cat's bed sound asleep. not exactly what i want in my chicken barn... it was persuaded to leave, & hasn't returned, but that was weird. i also have a couple skunks that eat with the cats. they don't bother the chickens, but they do get a few eggs. <shrug> they eat ground nesting yellow jackets, so i'll let them have a couple eggs. it's a good tradeoff.
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this is the latest: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html lee

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Where I was the squirrels were in cages. I wasn't very good at keeping them in when I was feeding and cleaning. On seveal occasions, one would run up my arm, over my back and was free! (I wan't good at catching them either - the squirrels no doubt enjoyed my being there.) What I enjoy most about squirrels is how much they like having fun - as soon as their eyes are open they're wrestling with each other. As Cindy Lauper might have sung, Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun.
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We had a possum that would hiss and make threatening gestures towards everyone. I discovered he was a sucker for vanilla wafers and I would lure him out of his cage and let him roam the room while I cleaned and then I'd lure him back in when I was done.
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I came upon a raccoon in a cat's bed once. The cat didn't seem to mind so I left it to it's snoring.
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What's with cats and skunks? I came home one day to find 2 cats and 2 skunks chasing each other in the backyard. I backed up and parked in the front.
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Kate

snipped-for-privacy@notme.com wrote in
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looking evil can keep one out of fights. opposums have that down to an artform :) i just wish they had more road smarts... looking evil at a car doesn't work.
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i had a pair of baby raccoons once. the cats were a bit unsure at first, but once they were getting weaned & moving around, the cats explained the use of litterboxes to them.
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my barn cats are black & white. maybe they figure the skunks are smelly, near-sighted cats? the smaller skunk is a lot twitchier than our old skunk (he was around for nearly 6 years, so i think age caught up with him). i think it's fairly young. we have to be sure that one knows we're about to go into the barn, & it'll leave. the mostly white one is almost as laid back as the old skunk... good thing because we found it sleeping in our basement when we moved a board. oops. he didn't even stamp though, so no problem. we put the board back & left the door open. it left. have you ever seen red & white skunks? lee

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You weren't worried about Raccoon Roundworm (Baylisascaris)? http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10370_12150_12220-27261--,00.htm l Clinical and Pathological Signs In humans, pathological lesions observed consist of skin irritations (cutaneous larval migrans) and eye and brain tissue damage (visceral larval migrans) due to the random migration of the larvae. The affected individuals may experience nausea, a lethargic feeling, incoordination and loss of eyesight.

t.au:
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no. i have a vet that used to be a zoo vet. she's quite up on care & treatment of "exotics" (which is any non-domestic animal, although she specializes in reptiles & birds). raccoons can be given anthelmintics with no problem. besides, internal parasites like roundworms aren't passed prenatally. these guys were less than 24 hours old when i got them from a guy who shot the mother, and was too much a wuss to deal with the babies. i had permission from Fish & Game to keep them, on the condition they not be caged. lee

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Apparently, they can come from contact with environment contaminated by the adults, firewood for example, and possibly nests. All's well, what ends well. We had a young squirrel for a couple of months. Tried to leave it in an apple tree but it started screaming when we left it. We ran a curtain rod from our bedroom out to a tree, and the squirrel came and went as it pleased until mating season. We went to the local vet to get it a rabies shot.