It’s War

Not on the clouds – they’re winning, no Great Conjunction again tonight. I could barely see a bright-ish spot where the Moon was.

No, this is an ongoing war against the gophers or whatever critters are chewing up the back yard.

First of all, I’m not the one fighting. It’s the landlord’s battle. I’m just a scout.

Secondly, I understand the problem and sympathize. It’s not just the lawn. Lawns come and go, and given the choice I would have one of those low-water, desert, drought-resistant. But the tunneling these critters do can destabilize the hillside if left unchecked. So they need to find another yard to destabilize.

I remember as a kid we had similar critter problems in Kansas City. My dad would solve it by sticking garden hoses down the holes and just letting the water run for a few hours. Water was cheap and plentiful, I guess. I don’t remember if it worked.

Water is neither cheap nor plentiful in 2020 Los Angeles, so I’m guessing that other methods are used. I’ve asked that they not use poison, since poisoned critters tend to get eaten by raptors and turkey vultures and in turn get them poisoned. Beyond that, I’m just a scout, a non-combatant.

It does occur to me that an alternate method of extermination I could get behind would be to get a pet owl or hawk. THAT would be cool! But the landlord doesn’t allow pets, and if we get an owl to keep the gophers down that’s probably a loophole we would use to get a dog, so I wouldn’t hold my breath.