Aravynandrea's Blog

I don't know if anyone posted anything yet, but I want to extend my condolences to the Snow family.

Tony Snow was a very entertaining speaker, and I enjoyed the many times he filled in for Rush, or the many times he did interviews on air.

He was a strong man, with a strong opinion, but the willingness to listen to others, and there was a friendly air about him.

My deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who worked closely with him. He'll be missed by many!

I just wanted to extend my wishes to the family, friends and collegues of Tim Russert who passed away today. My heart goes out to him, especially his son, as father's day approaches.

I never agreed with him politically, but there was no denying he was a good man who put his family first.

My prayers to his family and friends.

I don't know what it is about this year... but Ticks are out in force. It even caught national news attention... only they didn't mention Wisconsin in their report.

For the most part, the main problem around here are the American Dog Ticks. My brother and his wife have been pulling them off themselves by the dozen doing nothing more than walking their dog. My dog had 2 ticks already this year, last year when I first adopted him, he didn't have a single one.

My brother and his wife are enjoying walking on paths through the woods. This is the first time in the 5 years they've known eachother (3 years of Marriage) that they've been attacked by ticks during this past-time. Last year they had one or two, this year they counted 10 in less than 2 days. They've even been picking them up in their yard.

I personally have NEVER seen a tick, EVER, other than in pictures, until this year, and I spend a lot of time in the northern woods where deer ticks are usually numerous. Again, my dog never got a tick on him last year, and this year, one of the 2 he's picked up came from going outside for 5 minutes to potty.

While American Dog ticks are generally not harmful and rarely bite humans, they have been known to bite on occassion, and (less than 1%) have been known to carry Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. RMSF is extremely rare in wisconsin, and again, less than 1% of American Dog ticks nationwide are actual carriers, but with the increased number of ticks this year, there's always more cause for caution. (On the up note... if treated properly, rocky mountain spotted fever won't last long, won't leave lasting effects, and once it's over, you are forever immune.)

For the most part, they're an annoying pest, that is generally more harmful to your pet if they get infested by these blood suckers, than anything else.

In other areas of the country, deer ticks are a cause for concern. National news has noted that there is an abundant amount of deer and dog ticks this year, more than usual, and lymes disease (caused by the deer tick) is on the rise.

Ways to protect yourself...

1. Keep your lawn mowed. Ticks like Shady areas and tall grass.

2. If walking in the woods, wear long pants tucked into your boots or socks, and wear light colored clothes as they are attracted to dark.

3. Liberally spray yourself with a bug spray that contains Deet. (Deep Woods Off contains 25% deet, while general "off" products contains only 10% to 15%.) The smell of deet detracts them, and if bitten, the deet will kill them before they can do much damage.

4. If you've been in an area that may be prime for ticks, take a hot shower and wash your hair at the end of the day to wash away any loose ticks.

5. If you do NOT have pets... think of getting your lawn treated if you find you have tick and musqueto problems.

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Ways to protect your pets...

1. Keep them groomed. Especially if you have dogs with long black fur. Keep them clipped down (this will also keep them cooler in this hot weather- But don't shave them right down. believe it or not, most dogs need a layer of hair to keep cool!)

2. Check them every time you bring them in from out doors to see if they have anything on them.

3. Get them flea and tick preventatives from your vet. Avoid store bought brands as these are generally ineffective. (They are shipped and/or stored improperly which can render them ineffective, and many name brands in the petstores are actually outsourced from places like China, and we know how safe that is.)

4. Also avoid online stores (like petmeds.com) for the same reasons above

Go to your vet and get the meds.

a. They get it direct from their suppliers so they know its been shipped and stored properly
b. If you get it from a vet, most companies will guarantee their product. they will NOT guarantee store or online bought medicine. This is NOT because they want you to buy from the vet, its because they know how the medicine is shipped, they know its not expired and they can guarantee that its not outsourced outside of the US if its from the vet.

5. In personal experience as a former Vet Technician and pet owner, avoid ProMeris. There have been numerous complaints about ProMeris from lethargy, to Diarrhea, to vomiting to ineffectiveness.

My dog had a tick feeding on him. I kept it in a plastic baggie and it lived for 4 to almost 5 days. ProMeris said it would take 3 days of feeding to die. So for one, 3 days is a long time to feed on your pet. For another, 5 days later it was still kicken.

After a file of complaints from owners, my vet clinic switched back to Frontline Plus. No severe reactions, and i found another tick on my dog. It could only have been there for 24 hours at the most because I'm diligant about checking him over... and when I found it, it was already dead. WTG Frontline Plus!

There are other alternatives as well that work better than ProMeris.

If you have cats, there are cat versions of the meds as well.

I recomment Frontline Plus personally...

but avoid products like ProMeris, and biospot as they have been proven by consumers to be ineffective and even harmful.

Compared to 3 pages of minor complaints about Frontline... I have over 20 for ProMeris, and 11 for Bio Spot.

And don't forget to get a heartworm treatment to protect your dog from heartworms, which can be transmitted by musqueto bites.

Arigatou all!

Don't forget to sign this petition -

Its for tougher laws for drunk drivers.

I signed this one as soon as I heard about it thanks to fox 6.

My brother was hit by a 3rd offense drunk driver. his new car - not even a month old - was totalled and he was injured. One injury may lead to surgeries.

We were lucky my brother wasn't killed. based on the mangled nature of his car he very well could have been,

but every day, other innocent people are killed by drunk drivers. Grandmothers, Grandfathers, mothers, fathers, innocent children...

What makes me mad is this guy had a valid drivers after TWO Drunk driving violations. I have to ask my brother if the license was revoked after this time.

Another thing that gets me is the guy was wooping and laughing about it and joking around with the police officer who witnessed the accident and arrested him.

The only thing that shut him up was when the cop said "You realized you injured a county deputy sheriff, and by the way... this is his county."

Suddenly the guy was more concerned of having a change of jurisdiction.

We are taxed up the wazoo in Wisconsin. Taxed to the point that its unlivable. We're losing business left and right, and private citizens are also leaving. (I, myself will be one of them when I move to Michigan where taxes are bearable.)

You think the least they could do is toughen up laws on crimes.

No strict laws on Drunk driving or drugs, we're one of the few states left who don't have laws against puppy mills and stricter laws against animal cruelty.

We need a change!!!

I accidentally deleted my post on the wolves. (Woops) so I thought I'd start from scratch.

The short version...

There was a wolf in my front yard, eating out of my garbage.

Not a stray dog, not a Coyote, not a domestic dog of some type...

A wolf, exactly like the wolves you see up in the Northern Woods. I believe he was a Grey Wolf (Also known as the Timber Wolf) which are common in Michigan as well as Northern Wisconsin.

Shortly after that, I've been asking around and people from New Berlin, Big Bend and Especially Muskego, have all spotted wolves. Generally walking as a pair.

My brother who is a Sergeant at a local police station said he was getting calls at least 4 times a week to every other week.

In the past few days he has been getting at minimum, 5 to 7 calls a night with sightings.

The most recent calls were Yesterday - Wolves seen playing in Idle Isle of Muskego (A beach I think?) There is also now photographic evidence that the police have of these wolves... for anyone who has been told they couldn't have seen what they saw (As many people were telling me. "Oh it was a Coyote. There are no wolves here.")

I'll scan them if my brother remembers to bring them home.

So just be aware that they are out there.

No reports of attacks on people, pets or livestock, depsite the many opportunities they have. So that's a positive sign.

But please remember these are wild animals, and can be vicious if they feel threatened.

My hope is the DNR would trap them and return them to the Northern Woods or a sanctuary where shelter is plentiful, as is food and other wolves, as far from populated residential areas as possible, where they have a possibility of harming someone or something, or being harmed themselves. (There is a report of a dead wolf sighting... apparently hit by a car on the freeway.)

In the Northern woods, there is so much forest... Big Foot could live in there forever without being caught. (And probably does.) So I'd like to see them head back up there.

On a side note... my yard has turned into Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

First the wolf..... Then 3 wild turkey..... Today 2 deer..... and of course the cardinal bird nest with several eggs, very jealously guarded by a mean momma. Lol.

anyway. Be on the look out. Call the police if you see the wolves... do not approach them, feed them, or shoot them. (Especially the last one... they are still a protected species).

but help us keep tabs on them. Post your sightings here!!

People are up in arms about the proposal (that seemingly is a done deal) for a new mega walmart.

I'm curious as to why.

In Muskego, the closest Walmart is New Berlin or Mukwanago.

It costs gas to drive all the way to those stores... and with the traffic on Mooreland, especially after the addition of that stupid and unnecessary turnabout, and the construction of another.

With Gas prices reaching $3.85 and higher today... wouldn't a Walmart in Muskego be more convienent?

I also saw a woman tell the news.. "I don't want that in my back yard."

Yeah, ok but... its not in your back yard.

Its in the Back yard of Kohl's department store, and across the street from what will be a new GE plant... and kittycorner from the Gingerbread house.

I admit, I grocery shop at Walmart. When I spend $50 there... I get

Frozen Pizza
Bread
banana split flavored Icecream sandwitches (YUM YUM YUM)
Cheese
Ceral
Boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 cases of Soda
Water
Milk
Fat free pudding
Chips
Tomato Sauce
Tomato Paste
Home made pizza mix (I love pizza. lol)
Soup
peanut Butter
Jelly (strawberry. Even tho I'm allergic I love it.)

When my mom spends $50 at Pick N Save (which I heard they recently renovated) she's lucky if she gets bread, milk, soda, chips, a newspaper and toilet paper. I hear Muskego Sentry is just as expensive.

So you save on gas, and you get more bang for your buck grocery wise... especially with the price of groceries going up because of the "oil shortage." Or whatever they're accusing it on this week.

The only main concern is congestion from Traffic... but that was a concern when the Kohls went in. Didn't see much extra traffic from that.

And come on. Muskego has a walgreens, then they built another one barely 2 miles away, and I hear they're building another one on Woods. Muskego needs 3 walgreens... but Walmart is a big no no?

So I'm curious as to why residents do not want this?

I'm not saying anything against those who don't... I'm just curious as to why.