attack of the wild tree rats!

Another brutal Texas winter is approaching fast! How do I know? Well, for the past few days, the wild tree rats (aka grey squirrels) have been busy burying nuts across my yard. A pair of these vermin produces about 6 more every year, and they live about 7 years unless killed by one of their natural predators : a housecat, or an SUV speeding through my neighborhood. Once they're kilt [sic] you can fry `em up in a variety of ways.

There's entertaining Squirrel Info on memepool, although the stuff about squirrel-proofing a bird feeder is on the Looney Tunes side. I've used a squirrel baffle for many years, and it easily keeps them out of the feeder. What it does not do is keep them away from the base, after the bird-brained birds knock the seed to the ground.

Speaking of wild rats -- there's a (supposedly non-partisan) web site called Political FactCheck.org .. I'll have to go there every few days to see how close this site is, to reality.

Speaking of reality -- the Political Sign Wars continue unabated. Tony Goolsby is a cranky 70-year old running for re-election; the Dallas Managed News endorsed his opponent -- a 50-something named Harriet Miller. The green-and-white signs of Goolsby are in sharp contrast to his challenger's red-and-white ones (which inexplicably emphasize HARRIET .. perhaps to avoid a comparison with Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, who is not up for re-election this year).

I spotted a yard sign advising me to

VOTE STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN

I'm waiting for her neighbor to place a balancing

VOTE GAY REPUBLICAN

sign Real Soon Now. Hey, it could happen. And it would be entertaining!