So, tell us
when you
are arriving so
I'll buy better
beer than
Bud Light.

Sounds even better than driving to Belgium. See you soon!

Sure, yer welcome any time.

The Open Door Policy
is back in effect.

Anyone can come.

Just give us the
heads up.

born in florida, went to UF Gainesville (gators as a mascot, gators in the pond next to the house and fried gator on the menu at 'The Yearling') ...lived as a jeweler/diver in the Keys (with psycho mel fischer divers)local salt water crocs now off the endangered list, but not tasty conchs), treasure hunter (with psycho AA pilot as a captain) on the east coast...damn glad to be gone, seems like FLA is DOA...

D'ing Mo'
All the time.

Fuckin' freak
xow in a sad
way.

Lots of guys older
than me w/pony
tails, beer guts,
melanoma tans,
Harley bandannas
and sun shrunk
women who talk
loud and stupid.

Livin' that
Wasted Away
Again lifestyle
for real and
for too long.

Pathetic when
you see it.

Time and again.

Snob.

So
Not
Off
Breality?

I caught a snapping turtle once when I went fishing. It wasn't fun attempting to get the hook out of his mouth.

But did you get it out?

Once when I was going to primary school, I have found a small turtle and in fact these days I was dreaming of having one.

Later, I have discovered that rats are more intelligent, livelier and can be the greatest fun ever as far as having a pet is considered.

You guys, have really interesting animals down here.



Who is more popular Magritte or Mariën?

Rats are a
close 2nd to
dogs.

They just don't
live long enough.

Damn right. And they can die of stupid diseases. What is more, they can cooperate with the dogs-dogs have a great respect for them, at least those that were visiting us and seeing with our rat.

And they learn faster that one would suspect. Our second rat has learnt on his own to open the cage, have a walk all way round the house and then come back, close the cage and go to sleep. His cage had actually two floors and two entrances of which he knew everything as far as closing/opening is concerned.

Once we were walking him, like going in the woods, he was very close to us and following us like every other dog; he was not afraid of heights as well-he could go anywhere he thought he should-and so he was doing.

We miss the fucker although he bit my father's ear once and was chasing my grandma ever since.

I built a boat, it was made of wood, it was long and flat,
the seats were high off the bottom, you could set a 5 gallon bucket under them. I kept a lay line on The New River for years, I used to catch those snappers regularly, they get quite large, they are good to eat, pressure cook it first then bread and fry. Tastes like chicken.
Anyway, caught one, put it head first in the bucket, stowed the bucket under my seat. Awhile later the look of shock on my mates face whilst she stared at my crotch lead my gaze to that general area, about the same time the horny beast snapped down on the spot where my ballz would have been, had I not retracted them at the sight, I ended up tearing a hole in my pants to get it off me. I'll never know how he got turned inside that bucket, it was a tight fit.

I had a friend who caught a big snapper and though he had killed it. He put it in the back seat of his VW only to discover he had only rendered it temprarily unconscious and it was pissed when the head poked beteen the fron seats. That snapper owned a VW for a while.

The people I was with at the time got it out. I suppose it was a pretty common occurrence for Southeast Texas.

Rats!
I love rats. I used to have one I'd take to work with me and she'd sit on my shoulder for hours on end. They're smart little buggers.

Hamsters are satan's spawn.

Mice suck, too.

But rats, ah rats!

NYT: July 10, 2007

Rat to Rat, Kindness Takes Hold

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Rats may be more caring and selfless than their reputation suggests. Or at
least they can be very kind to each other, even to rats they have never
met before.

Swiss researchers put pairs of female rats — they were littermates — in a
cage, separating them with a wire mesh. In one half of the cage, a rat
could pull a lever attached to a baited tray that would deliver food to
her sister, but not to herself. Each rat was trained in alternate
sessions, first as a recipient of food, then as a provider. The sisters
learned to cooperate, and they pulled significantly more often when their
littermate was present than when the other half of the cage was empty.

Then the researchers put rats who had recently been assisted by their
partners, and rats who had not recently been helped, in with unfamiliar
and unrelated rats. Those who had recently been helped were about 21
percent more likely to pull the lever for the new partner.

This was not just ordinary operant conditioning or reinforcement, the
researchers maintain, because the rats were never rewarded for their own
behavior, only that of others. Because the rats were unfamiliar and
unrelated, there was no family interaction involved. The only plausible
explanation, they believe, is that the rats had developed what they call
generalized reciprocity — that is, they were generous even with an unknown
partner because another rat had just been kind to them.

The study’s lead author, Claudia Rutte, a behavioral ecologist at the
University of Bern in Switzerland, warned against drawing conclusions
about humans from work with rats. “We’re interested in the evolution of
cooperation,” she said, “but our research is about animals, really, not
people.”

Still, the paper, published in the July issue of PLoS Biology, cites
previous research showing that humans act the same way — people who have
been helped in some way are more likely to help others immediately
afterward.

Incidentally, these rats were not the usual cute, pink-eyed white lab
rats. They were bred from wild Rattus norvegicus — the brown or gray
Norway rat depressingly familiar to residents of many American cities.

Is it time to stop using the word “rat” as an insult? Maybe. Apparently
even a nasty-looking rat can be possessed of sterling character.

Rats are sweethearts.

Once you recognize them as real friends, they will care for you, too. If, just like other intelligent creatures, they do require attention and being in a group (herd).

Thus, they know the rules of a given house. Once, we left our rat under the bed (he had built there some sort of shelter)-simply forgot to take him to the cage. In the morning, we have found out he did not leave the shelter and actually was waiting to be taken to cage (as if he hadn't known where my room is).

Here he is (pic might be not of good quality):

The sweetest pet I ever had was my big brown rat, Plague. He never bit me. I would put my finger in his mouth and he would just lick me. He loved to be held and cuddled. I cried and cried when my Plague died.

Know how you must have felt then, Nymph. Plague is really cute, for sure we would get on well.

I hate to be on
key w/Pymph, but
the last great
crying jag I had
was when my rat
Cappuccino died

She was a total cutie
and smart like BoggyTits'
lil' un.

Came home from work
and she was dying, so
I held her until I went
to sleep, then slept w/
my hand in her cage.

I made a funeral
pyre in my chimenea
w/her in a box w/her
favorite foods and
some hard cider that
she liked to drink
out of a shot glass.

Some of you may have
seen her picture @ the
Mini Mansion w/her
b'day cupcake.

Had other rats after
her, but none compared.

She didn't realize she was
a rat, so we got her a
baby rat as a pet to keep
her company when we
weren't home.

I used to perform intracerebral and intrajugular cannulations on rats. Nice little fellows to work with. However they didn't make me rich and famous.
Still poor and unknown.

I see you have
Snapper Fever.

Here's some more
Southern fun:

Fuckin' Fire Ants

The mounds are fun
to kick open, though.

I thought that fucking ants was a Dutch speciality, but without the fire. You have everything in the South.

Except culture
and a full set
of teeth.

I'm think it isn't all bad.

I'm thinking about a FL trip now.

You're French; what about that fabled penchant for quality over quantity?

Yeah, like winning
one war by yourself
over getting us to
bail you out every
time?

HA!
Like nobody helped you for yours.

Mine died in my hands. The funeral was held as well. He really deserved it. No matter how bizarre I will sound now but even till today we are in good contact.

From his behaviour in my dreams, I can figure out if he is warning me of something or not, and he always happens to be right.

"You" didn't seem to have bailed the French out in Indochina, now did you? And "you" didn't PTFA when De Gaulle warned "you" to stay out of that quagmire (and a more recent one)...

[Apologetical quotes inserted because Liver isn't part of Them™ either]

Those French learned their lesson in Algeria but we don't PTFA.

We do so love
a quagmire.

Keeps the military
supply companies
in the green.

Yeah, good money, lotsa flag wavin' . . .

Helfrich, I'm kicking you in the nads for that avatar! Those things are the reason I don't skinny in the creeks any more. That and the damn leeches. Last time I went tubin' I got a big leech on my arm.

That's interesting. Didn't the little smart-ass warn you against me?
(This is just a haphazard question.)

Pymph,
You went swimmin'
+Prole stroked up
next to ya?

Leeches too? You guys live in hell. Save they have teeth and culture in hell. I'll put the baby killer back on!

So far not, maybe he liked you?

That would be great!