New puppy and a fox den in the neighborhood

I have finally added a photo to this blog. I suspect nobody cares very much what I look like, but we have a new puppy in the house and he is just incredibly cute, as you can see.

We got the puppy through a local Humane Society, so nobody knows for sure, but our best guess is that he is half German Shepard and half Chou. He is an incredibly quick and playful guy, full of spit and vinegar as you would expect a puppy to be.

But, what leads into the second part of my story is the fact that his primary color is a reddish brown (that looks more reddish than brown in bright sunlight!) and he has a face that looks very much like a fox. So, our family joke is that he is just an extra fuzzy, extra chunky fox that somehow was mistaken for a dog, captured and dropped off at the Humane Society.

I've previously written here about seeing a fox in my back yard, and since the arrival of the puppy, my dog walker (a family member) has been reporting that he frequently sees a fox while walking the puppy and that the fox seems fascinated by the puppy to the point that it will follow along at a distance observing the puppy.

Yesterday I was walking the puppy myself when my companion said, "Look at the cats, somebody must have dumped a litter of kittens!" At first glance I decided the animals in question were too big to be domestic cats. After a second look I realized they were young foxes!

The three fox cubs were standing on a mound of dirt which I soon realized was their den. Apparently their fascination with my puppy had overcome their natural wariness. They stared at him until the next house blocked their view.

I would not have expected foxes to have a den in a relatively open spot in the midst of a suburban subdivision, but they do! This does help explain why I have not seen nearly as many rabbits and chipmunks in my back yard as I normally do this time of year.

Where's Obama?

Where's Obama? This is what a youngster said to first lady Michele Obama on the T.V. news cast. It was just so cute to see an obviously unrehearsed moment like that. A cute kid obviously just a bit disappointed that the president hadn't come along with his wife to visit his class.

I'm still getting used to having a president and first family who seem like real people, instead of just rich people trying (at times) to act like real people. President Obama actually said, "I screwed up." In eight years we never heard a similar admission from George W. Bush.

And how about those House Republicans? While three Senate Republicans managed to get several billion dollars of changes to the stimulus package in exchange for their votes, the entire Republican contingent in the House did the "Just say no" thing. Here in Wisconsin, I guess, we are used to having the Republicans be nothing more than obstructionists, but still!

There is a line in Dante's Inferno that I can't quite quote right, but it is something to the effect that the hottest circles of Hell are reserved for those folks who in time of great crisis did not do anything! Throw the bums out, I say. When the country is going to Hell in a hand basket, it is better to do something than to do nothing. I hope other voters remember this, I will!

I'm old enough to also remember "do something" Republicans in Wisconsin, such as Governor Warren Knowles and State Senator Walter John Chilsen. Though I often disagreed with him, Governor Tommy Thompson was also a doer. Who needs these folks who just know how to say no to everybody else's ideas, but have none of their own!

Plant and Animal Life Update

It's been a great summer for the trees, bushes and flowering plants in my yard. There has been rain to excess, but I live on a hill so no flooding, just paradise for the plant life. I've gotten at least two normal years growth out of the arborvitae I planted a couple years ago to provide a windbreak and back yard privacy.

Of course the woods behind my house are so thick with mosquitoes that you are at risk of being eaten alive if you go in there. But conditions appear to be ideal for the birds, squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks that populate my back yard.

At least it was ideal until the fox showed up. I had seen a fox in the back yard almost a year ago, but since I was the only one to see it, other family members were skeptical. This summer, two of them have also seen our "pet fox" so now they believe. And our fox has proven to be a worthy predator, reducing the population of prey animals in the yard, and making the survivors a bit more cautious.

Our pet deer has also been back to eat from the backyard bird feeder, and according to reports (I did not personally witness this), she brought a friend on one occasion. I guess that concludes my suburban animal and plant life update for now. More later.

So long Jim, I'll miss you!

Jim Salzman, one of the long-time vendors, and in many ways an icon of the Dane County Farmers Market, died Friday, November 30th. He was down in Clearwater, FL selling Christmas trees when a heart attack felled him.

For many, many years I've been parking in the McCormick ramp when I go to the Farmers market on Saturdays, so I approach from the east, walking past the YWCA building. Generally my first indication that things are in full swing is the sight of Jim in his usual spot at the northeast corner of the square, selling vegetables.

I occasionally bought vegetables from Jim, but not often enough to be one of his regulars. In recent years he went through some hard times, including bankruptcy I'm told, but nothing stopped him from showing up for the Farmers Market every Saturday - until now.

Jim Salzman is immortalized in a huge color photo that hangs in a conference room at the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. At least it used to when I worked there. The photo is of a much younger Jim, bare chested and bronzed, wearing tiny shorts and hawking his wares. That's how I'll remember him - icon of one of Madison's finest traditions, the Farmers Market on the Capitol Square.

Throw the bums out!

As long as we have the right to vote in this country, that should be our first priority. What is the biggest difference between a democratic form of government and any other? The fact that we can vote our leaders out of office and try some new ones!

So vote this November, and if you are having trouble deciding who to vote for, vote to throw the bums out, and give somebody else a shot at the job!

My cat gallops

I have a black cat named Orion who normally moves about silently on the soft pads of his feet. But occasionally he will run accross the wood floor deliberately using his claws to make a noise like a horse galloping. He usually ends his gallop by jumping onto a throw rug, causing it to slide into a wall or door.

I also have a deer that visits my back yard late at night to eat from my bird feeders. I would not believe it either had I not seen the evidence. These are cylindrical feeders, one clear plastic and the other metal, with small holes and perches for the birds. The deer manages to clean out both feeders on each visit, without knocking them down or damaging them in any way.

I have never actually witnessed this, but unless some other entity has figured out how to walk on deer feet, leaving no other tracks in the snow, the deed is being done by one very clever deer!

I grew up on a dairy farm and we once had a cow that would open a door in the side of a barn, hold the door open with her body while any other cows that wanted to walked into the barn and then would walk into the barn herself. I did witness this happening. We had to drill a hole and put a bolt through the latch of the door to stop her.

The point of this post, I guess, is that we humans have a tendency to believe that we possess far superior intelligence to that of other animal species. As with any arrogance, this leads us to underestimate the intelligence of other animals. What do you think?

Immigration, what a mess.

Today I'm disgusted with the whole immigration mess we have in this country. Due to various free trade agreements, goods can travel back and forth accross our borders unimpeded. Not so people.

Powerful companies want to be able to hire illegal immigrants at low wages instead of having to improve wages or working conditions to attract US workers. They like the fact that these folks are here illegally so they can't complain to our legal system when they are mistreated, and they are less likely to be able to move on to a better job.

There is a whole industry that exists for the sole purpose of making money by smuggling people accross the US/Mexico border. Arguably, poor working people in both countries (and all other countries illegal immigrants come from) are the victims of this industry.

So, should the US just build their own Berlin Wall and be done with it? Would that be better than the current situation in which both immigrant and domestic workers are the victims and the ones making a tidy profit are the smugglers and the companies hiring illegals?

What's it all about?