West Seattle Wednesday: School’s out (early); preparedness x 2

(Young raccoons spotted near 38th/Dakota; photo courtesy of MG)
Welcome to a wild Wednesday! Highlights from the WSB West Seattle Events calendar:

SHORT SCHOOL DAY: Today is the first two-hour early-dismissal day of the year for Seattle Public Schools.

GET CHEESY: Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) launches its annual monthlong “For the Love of Cheese” festival; today’s events at the Admiral store start at noon.

CLINIC OPEN HOUSE: Highline Physical Therapy open house 4-7 pm at new clinic, 4700 42nd SW, suite 510, free non-alcoholic beverages, everybody welcome!

SOLD WHERE IT’S GROWN: High Point Market Garden Farm Stand, 4-7 pm, 32nd SW and SW Juneau – seasonal, fresh, organically grown produce sold next to where it’s grown.

MAKE SURE YOUR PETS SURVIVE TOO: Pet preparedness is the topic of a special educational presentation by West Seattle Be Prepared, 6:30 pm at Senior Center of West Seattle in The Junction, details here.

MORE PREPAREDNESS – AT HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: The local neighborhood council that usually meets toward month’s end is resuming its schedule post-summer, and Highland Park Action Committee has preparedness on the agenda too, with a guest speaker from the Seattle Office of Emergency Management with a SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare) presentation. Meeting starts with a 6:30 potluck, SNAP presentation at 7, news/announcements at 8. HPAC meets at the Highland Park Improvement Club building, 12th/Holden.

FOUR MORE CHANCES: “Amy’s View” starts its final week at ArtsWest Playhouse in The Junction, through October 1st, 7:30 pm Wednesday (also this Thursday, Friday, Saturday).

VBD September 28, 2011 (9:10 am)

Those “cute animals” in the picture look like the buggers who’ve been tearing out my new lawn.

Any ideas on keeping them from destroying my investment?

RarelyEver September 28, 2011 (12:43 pm)

GREAT shot, MG! :)

Always confused September 28, 2011 (4:14 pm)

VBD, the only thing I can suggest is to put chicken wire over it until the roots take. We tried giant staples, cayenne pepper spray…nothing worked. They are smart buggers and LOVE those fat grubs under the lawn!

westseattledood September 29, 2011 (1:06 pm)

So cute.

VBD – I don’t have this issue with the raccoons, but since they like the same grubs that moles and other burrowers and diggers eat, I wonder if spreading MoleMax pellets on your lawn with organic fertilizers might help. The pellets have castor oil in them which the grubs will freely ingest. But the moles simply don’t like the taste of the castor oil in the grubs and will move on to non-pelleted areas. I wonder if raccoons are as fussy as the moles about delectable grubs? I have no idea – just speculating wildly – based on the product manufacturer’s claim that others critters (rabbits, squirrels, voles, armadillos!) will avoid pelleted areas too. Even if the ‘coons don’t really care one way or the other about castor oil, at least you won’t have armadillos or moles, if that’s any consolation whatsoever. :]

Noelle September 29, 2011 (3:46 pm)

Love the Raccoon pic! So Cute!

rocky September 29, 2011 (9:13 pm)

Great photo! Do you have a family living in your tree?

MG September 30, 2011 (8:47 am)

They do not live in the tree, I’m not sure what they were doing in the tree this day — crow’s nest of eggs? They do use the tree base for their “latrine” unfortunately.

Sorry, comment time is over.