heavy rain, dark clouds,
did I almost see the moon?
harder rain, guess not.
Dear Gary:
We enjoy your column in the Oakland Tribune.
We have a koi pond in the backyard. During the heavy rains, some frogs discovered it. At first, there was just one. Now there are many. We can’t see them, but hear them at night.
They are disturbing our neighbors and us. What can we do to get rid of them?
Marge, Oakland
Dear Marge:
That beautiful music of the Pacific treefrog chorus singing a cappella disturbs you? I can’t believe it!
OK, maybe they are a little bit noisy, but you’ll be happy to know that when the treefrog breeding season ends in a few weeks or so, and the rainy season finally stops, so will all the noise. In the meantime, most people get used to the sound and start ignoring it.
By the way, it may be noise to some of us humans, but it’s also the breeding cries of the male treefrogs as they attempt to attract females to their breeding pond (aka your koi pond).
The only way you might get rid of the treefrogs is to remove your koi pond, and I suspect that won’t happen.
So my suggestion is for you and your neighbors to grin and bear it and try to think of something positive like:
All the mosquitoes that aren’t stabbing you because they’ve been eaten by the treefrogs.
Dear Gary:
I have also had a coyote face me rather pointedly on the Black Diamond Trail behind
Clayton (March 17 column, “Dog walker, dogs, meet aggressive coyote”).
It stood there and stared at me and my dogs (leashed) and held its ground. We stopped and stared back, thinking she (?) would move on.
It was then I noticed the rest of the pack (her pups?) sneaking across the road behind us, one by one.
As soon as the last one crossed, she also took off. Very smart maneuvering by her, holding our gaze with hers. I saw them all cross, but my dogs were never the wiser.
P. Taylor, Concord
Dear P.:
Nothing smarter than a mama coyote trying to protect her cubs.
Backyard TV
When’s the last time you took an hour to just sit and look out the window (Backyard TV) and watch what was happening in your backyard?
Try it, you’ll like it!
All we have to do is look and there they are.
We have a cast of characters in our yard that include a great blue heron, “Henry,” two ducks that fly in from Blackhawk Plaza we think, squirrels, turkeys, cats, all sorts of birds battling for seeds, raccoons and hawks.
Add these to the three “resident” chickens and you have quite a zoo going on out there! And it’s wonderful.
Thanks for encouraging all of us to take a moment or an hour … and just look! (Sondra Perry, San Ramon)
I saw four different cats, three squirrels (might have been one, three times), and six varieties of birds. Wow! Who would have thought!
I had a kitty for many years and no wonder he loved the window TV! Thanks for the idea. I’ll do it frequently now. (June Chandler, Antioch)
A final note
Wet morning, wet squirrel … looking for seeds dropped from the bird seed pole … he jumped onto the wet pole from the raised bed and (ZIP!) slid down to the bottom … wonderful sight and so funny! (Beverly A., Pleasanton)
Article source: http://www.mercurynews.com/gary-bogue/ci_17645694