i had a hot bath tonight

actually everyone...re: dex.....he is starting to drop weight, and it looks to me like his tumour is starting to get bigger again. dex thinks he is fine, but i am starting to worry. i don't think dex or michael will feel the summer sun, hopefully they will enjoy the spring.

Dexter is wonderful, I LOVE that dog he is charming, focused, a bundle of fun & always such a happy guy. as carol sez Lab give it their all ... all the time. Thank you for bringing him into my life !!!!

In my adult life, I've always had a respect for spiders, although I will admit to making my husband get rid of the HUGE ones (if it's got a body the size of a toonie or bigger, it's not welcome, it could make off with something of value!) but he's a softy and usually puts them outside. For weeks and weeks I had one that lived on my bedroom ceiling. It never came down, and I had no problem with it being there. Then one day it was gone, and I never saw it again. On the other hand, we had a MONSTER spider that liked to run at us every time we stood up (it lived on the floor somewhere), and unfortunately he needed to be "rehomed" because I wasn't up to taking on an arachnid 1/2 the size that I am!
I also agre about the mouse thing. I think they are kind of cute, and I have no problem with one living in my house, however, I understand that a multitude of these little critters poses a health risk.
RIP little mouse.

I love reading SAINTS blog. There are always intersting subjects that opens my mind to many different points of view. Thanks everyone! + I always check every couple of days to see if there is any new info on Dex. So glad he is doing ok!

You're so right Marisa. re: “greatest harm” versus “greatest good”. Horrible choices have to be made though. Perfect examples are yours and Carols.

There's been something ( either a rat or mole or? ) thundering through the bedroom walls on it's way to the attic for a couple of months now. I have searched around the outside of the house for the entrance and can't find anything. But I'm going to have to do something quick. I don't want a bunch of rats chewing on electrical wires and burning the house down. That scares me.

I love spiders. My dad passed that on to me. He said "If you wish to live and thrive let the spider run alive." So, even when I sweep I'm sure to leave their cobwebs undisturbed. I keep picturing some huge giant tidying her bedroom and me in my little house in the corner content and well-fed and then suddenly, like an earthquake, OBLITERATION! So, those little silvery houses of thread in my corners are left alone. It's odd to think of a feather duster as a weapon of mass destruction but if we gave more thought to those who share our homes we would see that seemingly benign cleaning implements can be very destructive.
The rat dilemma is a difficult one. The sanctuary for which I volunteer had the same problem. The founder couldn't bear to kill a few rats and then they became hundreds and killed her peacock chicks and created havoc. It was so sad when she finally had to decide to kill them. Those of us who respect life as sacred and realize that every creature has value unto themselves have a hard road to slog when faced with decisions of "greatest harm" versus "greatest good".

why can't someone invent a rodent treat that sterilizes them instead of killing...i don't mind a rat or two sharing the chickens feed but with a breeding cycle of every six weeks, soon, two become several hundred. it boggles the mind how fast they reproduce and how much danger they cause to the horses by burrowing under the matts thru the stall floors. and my neighbors barn that burnt down last summer, killing all of her animals? the firefighters found the cause of the fire was chewed thru electrical wires by over eagar rats.
after months of inaction and hoping they would just go away and NOT take over our saints world, i finally set up the bait boxes. i hate it. but sometimes we do things that we hate because we have to. i chose not to re-locate them originally because rats can travel more than 10 miles in search of food and in the lower mainland 10 miles from no where is hard to find. and i certainly couldn't be re-locating our rats into some other unsuspecting farm.

and here is the really sad thing of which i am even more ashamed.....if i had set those bait boxes in the beginning, i would have only killed 2 rats but i was too weak and sensitive to do that and now i have killed several hundred.it makes me sick that i have killed so many. it sucks.

Spiders are tough little cookies! And very serene critters.

I have one living behind my sun visor in the van. Must be 5 or 6 weeks now. At least it was there this morning when I peeked! When I got home I made a cuppa, sat down and felt this very light tingle on my finger. It was a little brown spider....looked like the one from the van....I thought it probably hitched a ride on my coat or something. I put my hand on top of the fridge and it crawled off. I thought for a sec about putting it back in the van, but changed my mind. What if it was a different spider and they had a turf war? :)

Mice, sadly aren't that tough. Just a few minutes before I came to read the blog I heard this SNAP! in a bottom cupboard. What the heck is that??? I open the cupboard and in the far corner is this teeny sweet little brown mouse that has gone for the treat some S.O.B. layed on a trap. At least it was quick. Totally needless and senseless, but quick.

When we bought this house there were signs of mice. I spent $30 buying a whack of those humane traps that they go in and a lid comes down. For 3 years I would take them in the trap to the railyard behind the house and let them go. They probably looked at me walking away and thinking, " now why oh why did you do that? I have to walk a long way on these little legs to get back home?" ( For all I know I could have been putting out the same damn mouse all these years. )

I went away for a short bit and took my last course in a line of many, and in the meantime my ex and now a room-mate, who works on the island and only comes here twice a month had no intention of catch and release. To his benefit they would starve to death in the humane traps by the time he got back. So the S.O.B. set up the killer traps.

I have to go bury a mouse. After extracting the trap. And I see 4 more empty traps that will be wonderful kindling for a pit fire in the back yard. Poor little thing.

afterthought....I hope he/she doesn't have a family waiting for it somewhere. How sad.

I had a spider friend once.. it was strange .. but I really missed her whe she was gone... why do we always call spiders she ? Is it a black widow thing perhaps ?