Things the Dealer Doesn’t Tell You-  If you have a generator you should start and run it each month for a few minutes to keep it in working conditions!

OW!!!

Are you tired of using that expensive toilet paper that scratches your butt?  You don’t have to put up with that anymore.  Just use RV Digest It a bacterial deodorant, it’s less expensive, you only use 2 ounces in a 40 gallon black or gray water tank, it grows and eats up toilet paper- even Charmin!

Jaywalkin'

Cont. from last post . . .

The Division of Wildlife officer came to our house with a lion cage to try to trap our little visitor. At one point in the late afternoon we see him sitting outside the chicken cage very calmly looking in and we could only imagine him thinking, if only I can catch one, my belly will be so full and happy. He had found a good place to continue visiting and that was a great place to catch him. We fill the trap with hay and really yummy stinky food like eggs, dog food and at the way back a pound of raw elk meat, really tempting stuff to a hungry little guy. He came in one more time before nightfall all the chickens were on their roosts ready for a relaxing night. The bear got into the chicken house and mayhem ensued there is a very small door with a ramp on one side of the chicken house, out this little door come a noisy white chicken that looked like it was dragging the baby bear. My husband yelled at him to drop the chicken and he obediently did, and then proceeded to stand up at tall as he could with his arms at his side and stared at us. The funny thing was he had a ring of white feathers around his neck like he just got off the plane in Hawaii and had been presented a lei. He took off over the fence and we were sure the trap would get him later that night.
Well in the morning the trap was empty, we were very disappointed and worrying how we could keep the chickens safe today. About a half an hour later we could observe the cage from a window, we saw him very carefully start in. First he enjoyed the eggs, he would have to get half way in before the door would close. We just waited and watch and once he got to the next pile of food the door slammed down, he jumped a little looked back at the door and turned and kept eating. It was the easiest meal the guy had probably ever had. They came and picked him up and put him with his brother at the rehabbers and they will spend the rest of the summer fall and winter fattening them up and then before spring they put them in a den they observe and when they come out they will be older and wiser ready to be on their own. I am glad to say the first chicken is very healthy and happy now a month later and we have a great little memory of our most exciting visitor this year!

On the Hunt in the Chicken Pen

In the middle of June I was home with strep throat, strep as an adult is not the ice cream picnic it is as a child, but I digress. I was lying in bed and heard our chickens get all excited. The chickens have a flock warning sound that makes all the other chickens run inside or under trees. Usually it is the fledgling hawks learning to hunt, so normally I will let my dogs out to run the perimeter of the chicken run to keep the hawks from diving bombing and taking away a chicken or better yet, kill one and then sit in the pen and slowly pluck it. This process sounds so macabre but it is part of nature and living in a forest area one of the inevitable dangers when you raise poultry. I was thinking the dogs had done their job now I could go back to sleep, the phone rings it is the neighbor saying there is a bear up a tree with a chicken.
I quickly jump up and go to see, stopping to grab the phone to call my husband we call with exciting wildlife reports. His first comment was, “I hope it is not one of my favorites.”
Sure enough, up a tree with three big dogs at the base looking up is the cutest baby bear you have ever seen, just like a teddy bear. He was the size of a cocker spaniel and just observing the scene below. I called in all the dogs and the little guy ran down the tree and into the woods… My son and I were checking things out when we noticed a half grown chick on the outside of the pen (of course it was one of the favorites) but the thankfully it was wobbly but alive. We put it in our special pen where we can closely monitor him. He has a cut on his back and had fallen about 15 feet from the tree but amazingly seemed ok.

We all went in and relaxed and an hour later our little friend was back in the run, this time all the chickens were safe in their chicken house. When he saw

Up in the Tree

us, he again ran off through the woods. I called the Division of Wildlife to report him. The story in our neighborhood was that two cubs had been wandering around without their mother, no one had seen her at all and there were many sightings of the cubs. One of the cubs a few weeks earlier had been trapped and sent to a rehabilitation ranch because he was very underfed and dehydrated, but they could not catch the second cub. We had seen him about that time and unlike his sibling he looked very healthy his coat looked good he had weight on him and he was dining on dandelions and was very car smart. The division of wildlife had been looking for him because they know that if these little guys raise themselves they develop very bad habits, like eating chickens and trash, and then they become the problem bears. If they get them to a rehab they learn what they are supposed to eat and they don’t get used to humans. Because as cubs they are so cute everyone takes their pictures and do things to draw them in to get to see them, and then they create a problem bear.

Part 2 of 2 published Sept. 6th!

September 22nd Conference

On Sepember 22nd in Oconomowok (yes I’m serious), WI the 7th annual Sustainability and Energy Efficiency conference will be held. As companies that are founded on green building techniques grow, the marketplace and economy for this sector is growing significantly as well. The conference will feature a couple of the leading experts and contributors to the green building industry! If this is of interest to you, check out the website for more details!

For those of you in Colorado that are pet lovers you may want to be at this weekend’s “Raise the Woof!” Grand Opening Gala and fundraiser in Arvada. The event is to celebrate the opening of the Foothills Animal Shelter and to raise money for the shelter. This will be quite the event that includes dinner, auctions, and a setting amidst a private car collection and museum.  If you’d like more information visit this link: http://www.blacktie-colorado.com/calendar/event-detail.cfm?id=20434

How Hip is "Green"

Sierra Magazine, a publication of the Sierra Club, is trying to link cool to schools that are going green. The article rates schools coolness based on their sustainability and “greenness”. For a copy of the article click here. Now I’m curious to find out how many students would rate their school’s “greenness” as a top 3 factor in their school choice. Has green become so cool that 18 and 19 year olds are refining their school searches based on the “green” factor. My guess is that it would average 7-10 on the priority list.

Retiring . . . Not Retiring?

Even for those of you that are not sports buffs, you may have heard about the drama behind Favre’s attempts to leave the game behind but the addiction that holds him there. He has been talking retirement for years, then he retired, then he unretired, and this offseason his comments made many think he was finally hanging it up. Not so fast, he has been practicing with the team all day today and signs point to him staying at least another year. Look up retirement jitters and Brett Favre would be the posterchild. Well let the drama continue because I’ll watch a quarterback of his caliber anyday, even if he flip flops more than John Kerry!

Green Fallout by Jason Daley

Entreprenuer magazine came out recently with a great article called, “Green Fallout!” by Jason Daley.  It takes a look at the new roots developing in the “green marketing” community.  The article points to BP being a fundamental example of the need and symbol of this change.  BP for years marketed themselves as the green oil company, but all the marketing in the world can’t change the fact that BP is now responsible for the largest oil spill in US history.  Daley takes an expansive look into the green subculture for businesses and marketing and is seeing a growing trend of becoming more transparent in what green strengths a company will offer rather than washing itself over in Green.  Companies are realizing that “green” on the label doesn’t convince as much as honesty and an open conversation.  Take a look at the article, it’s an interesting read!