Mango the cat is going to turn 13 at the beginning of April, and one of his favourite snacks is poisoned ants.  Because this house seems to be a refuge for huge colonies, there are times when an army of ants can be seen marching into it along the walls.  I attack with Raid foam and also put those little cans of poison around.

Whichever it is that actually kills them, I don’t know, but there are times when their dead bodies are belched all over a small area.  Soon Mango’s over there, eating all the corpses, then meticulously cleaning himself afterward, as though he hasn’t just chemically altered his whole body.

And speaking of birthdays, little Louie’s going to turn four on April 1^st.  It was sad but the other day he was soundly beaten up by a skittish black lab on our daily walk in the neighbourhood.

I saw the youngish woman and the dog on a leash approaching and Louie did too and he started to get excited to rush forward to greet them.  Being a Lover and not a Fighter, he was pretty shocked by what happened over the next few moments.

Just as the woman was saying she didn’t like it when her dog started stalking the way she was, at the same moment Louie started growling at the dog and also lunging for it, and suddenly the melee was on.  Dog fight on Hall Road!

As this dog was three times Louie’s height, she had him off the ground in her mouth and he was being shaken out like a dirty mop.  He was screaming and I was yelling Help Help, while the woman fought to get her dog to release Lou.

I inspected my dog, and didn’t see anything on him so told her he was okay.  She apologized and left admonishing the dog as they walked away.  Louie ran all the way home, and wasn’t himself for the rest of the day.

A few hours later I noticed he was holding his head to the side, and then I saw one ear flap had an incision from a bite mark.  I put Polysporin on it, and otherwise the dog was fine.  The next day he went on his walk as though nothing traumatic had occurred the day prior.

And here’s some happy news.  The bees survived the winter!  I went down on the first sunny and warm day in March and took off the insulation.  I put my ear to the hive and couldn’t hear a thing so I thought they’d probably bought the farm.

But then I pried open the lid, and there they were, crawling around the top of the frames.  I had a pollen patty ready for them which I slapped on top of the bees and frames and put the lid on top of that.  With that food they’ll easily make it until the dandelions bloom.

I’ve researched chickens, but I haven’t done one single thing about ordering any. First I need a handyman to convert the kids’ old playhouse into a coop.  Then I need fencing around, and actually over top due to the raccoons.  Otherwise, no chickens.

In a month or so I’ll be picking up a second hive, so will concentrate on the bees for now.