You know your neighbor's visitors are from the city when...

[dickfoster]

There are skunks in cities too. They look gorgeous, their fur is all glossy - well fed.

Our kitten has befriended a baby skunk from next door. The kitten runs out and they run around together. We're wondering how that's going to end: the dog has already learned his lesson.

LOL I guess you'll know it when it happens. Did you do the tomato juice thing with the dog?

I know they're around here, one got ran over in the road out front a couple of weeks ago but otherwise I haven't seen any. I guess they're mostly nocturnal critters so hopefully my dog won't tangle with any.

 

[JRobyn]

Our new shelter dog is a tracker/chaser. Wife lets her off leash sometimes. Week before last she let her off for a bit and she shot down into the woods like a bullet and came back with a face full of skunk. Mostly in her mouth and nose. She's finally starting to get a little less unbearable to be around. I don't know whether to feel sorry for her or laugh at her.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Very true and unfortunately those people procreate.

Very true and unfortunately those people vote.

And they vote for more and more government to take care of them. :thumbdown:

We saw the fruits of that in Katrina, as they sat on their fat welfare-fed behinds and waited for the government to 'do something', while decent people had the sense to get out of town.


I live in a rural subdivision, I'd guess you call it. Mostly 1 & 2 acre lots, with a scattering of half acre and maybe a few in the 3 acre range. Not as country as I'd like, but surrounded by either forest or farms, so it's sure not city. The nearest city is 20 minutes away.

When I first moved out here the POA had a Yahoo group mailing list that was pretty active at the time, as folks were debating turning over the roads to the county, instead of the POA (not) maintaining them. (The county is doing a great job, BTW, now that the good-ole-boy network that used to run it has been stomped.)

It was interesting seeing who was city-bred and moved out to the country but forgot to leave the city behind. One woman asked how long until the street lights got installed. We laughed at her (as much as you can on email). Then there was the ditz who wanted something done about those horrible people that rode horses on the roads and left..... droppings, and decent people shouldn't have to see that when they are out walking on a nice country road! I kind of unloaded on her. Told her she was like the people who move in next to the airport and then complain about the noise, and if she didn't like road apples she should just move back to Fairfax and leave us alone. She asked if I had really just told her to go back to the city, and I said yes, that's exactly what I had said.

Didn't hear much more from her.

 

[Garandman]

LOL I guess you'll know it when it happens. Did you do the tomato juice thing with the dog?

Didn't really work on our dog (Yellow Lab).

This worked great: De-Skunking Your Dog : The Humane Society of the United States

Mix together:
1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide (available at any pharmacy)
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap

We only had a pint of hydrogen peroxide. Now we make sure we have two bottles at both houses. Cheap.

 

[ultrarunner]

I watched a Detroit TV station and was cracking up when they were interviewing a lady complaining that it had been days since a tree fell across her driveway during a storm and the "city" hadn't come out to move it yet. As a result she couldn't make it to work. Out here in the country where I live we had more than a dozen trees fall across the road within a 1/4 stretch during a really bad storm. Unreal how many neighbors including myself were out there with chainsaws and tractors cleaning up. We take care of ourselves, not wait on someone else.

I have witnessed the same... I really wonder what would happen to all the helpless people in a disaster...

Of course if you are too well prepared you make yourself a target for looting just as markets and shops have found out.

 

[Garandman]

It's gettin' a little deep.

Most people in most city neighborhoods look out for one another. You see the ones that don't. Detroit is broken in about every way possible.

Life is hard if you're dumb. No matter where you live.

I watched a Detroit TV station and was cracking up when they were interviewing a lady complaining that it had been days since a tree fell across her driveway during a storm and the "city" hadn't come out to move it yet. As a result she couldn't make it to work.

Out here in the country where I live we had more than a dozen trees fall across the road within a 1/4 stretch during a really bad storm. Unreal how many neighbors including myself were out there with chainsaws and tractors cleaning up. We take care of ourselves, not wait on someone else.

And here in the city if it snows in our neighborhood, I have to get up early or someone has already cleared our sidewalk. And we clear all the old folks driveways and walkways, and all the hydrants and curb cuts for wheelchairs. And help the blind lady get to the subway station. And clean up any downed trees.

And we don't think this is anything noteworthy. We think it's normal, and wouldn't claim how superior us city folk are. We're Americans.

 

[cqaigy2]

I don't know if this is a city vs county thing, but one of our neighbors had family over from Norway. We got an invite from him to have a pot luck at his place and to meet his family. They were very friendly, and fortunately spoke english like a native which is much better then i speak Norwegian. During the dinner, i was seated next to one of his family, talking about how thing were in Norway, and i noticed that him and his wife, kept glancing at the woods. They are fairly thick as this is on the wet side of Washington state. I eventually asked them if they had seen something as i notice they been glancing at the woods. They both said that it was very unnerving to have such wild uncleared woods and that they were used to a much more manicured wood lots. I probably shouldn't had mentioned the bear that had pooped in the yard a few days ago, but i honestly thought we had been exchanging information about our respective lives and such, and then i said that it was wild like this for probably hundreds of square miles. All in all, they were very respectful of our fences, gates and livestock and it was very nice to visit with them.

 

[Garandman]

"Ten thousand Swedes
Ran through the weeds,
Chased by one Norwegian."

(Sadly I'm part Swedish, not Norwegian).

 

[MossRoad]

You guys harping on some lady in Detroit waiting for the city to remove a fallen tree.... What do you expect her to do? Pretty much nobody in any large city owns saws big enough to remove trees. You think she should have a chainsaw in the house? Sheesh. :laughing: And for that matter, in Detroit, if the tree is between the street and the curb, its the city's responsibility to remove it, not the homeowner (its like this in lots of cities). So, yes, she's probably justified in waiting for the tree to be removed by the city. If she pays taxes, she should get the service she pays for.

Tree Down | Report | How Do I | City of Detroit MI

 

[Creamer]

My wife is from the city and I grew up on a Dakota cattle ranch. When i first took her there before we were married we got in late at night. In the morning my Mom asked here how she slept and she said not very well because we didn't lock the doors. My Mom asked her who was going to come out here to which my wife responded "Marauders'. that has been a good laugh for our family aver since. Almost as good as a little later in the day when she asked my Dad where kept the "guy cows".