Sunday, April 28, 2019

EAGLETS NAMED -- SQUIRRELLY -- SCAMS--CONS



Bald  Eaglets – continuing saga......

The two fluffy little Big Bear Bald Eaglets written about in my most recent previous posts with links to this continuing live cam have been named – Cookie and Simba.   Names were submitted by the public, then selected by the Big Bear Valley 3rd graders as reported on this Friends of Big Bear Valley site.

Mama Shadow feeds Cookie and Simla:   Oops!  Mama is Jackie and Papa is Shadow.



Squirrelly .....

My house had sudden fluctuating power outages once again about 10 P.M. one night earlier this week, like that previously described here.   Since electricity to only half the house was down again with all the same important appliances off as before, the outage proved to be as my electrician had previously indicated – “one leg is down”.  

My electric company did send someone out that night, after they called me again when I left it up to them whether or not someone needed to come since I had since regained full power.   The following morning more service men appeared, then informed me they would be replacing the line to my house, so would be on my roof.    

When they left after reporting having completed their job, I didn’t think quickly enough to ask what the problem was with the defective line or “leg”.   The truck with the cherry picker has yet to come to trim the trees as had been suggested earlier was needed.    

Thinking about all of this, I remembered the electrician’s weeks earlier speculations about a possible culprit other than the wind blowing in the tree branches causing my outages.  There was no wind the night of this most recent occurrence unlike before.   His suggestion had altered  the perception I had been indulging for many years that the neighborhood alleged creature culprit causing my power loss was “harmless --  merely attractive, cute and funny”.  

Reflecting now on a years ago experience, I recall I had previously heard rumors,  even “stories”  from others that should have given me pause.  When the offense actually happened to me, I’d never before been exposed to such behavior as occurred in that years-past weekend series of destructive actions.  But I tended to make allowances then for the attractive creature.   The episode did distress me enough that I initiated immediate action making the future environment totally unattractive and uninviting to him or her having now become a violating intruder.  

I should have noted more seriously what that one wily squirrel’s actions was telling me when after my several delightful strictly bird-feeding-only years he/she discovered my bird feeders.   The sock with nyjer or thistle seed for my yellow-feathered finches was shredded, the black seed spread all over the barren ground below.   Plastic portions of hanging feeders were gnawed open expelling all those sunflower seeds in the bird treat mix.   The feeders were so ruptured they could no longer be used. 

So it is that the delightful creatures I once rather enjoyed seeing from my patio performing their high wire act and other antics, that I’d also  pleasurably observed elsewhere through the years, I’m finally seeing more clearly who they really are -- the rose-colored film has lifted from eyes through which I had viewed them – my perception and attitude toward them changed.

I am disappointed but no longer disillusioned as to those agile squirrels’ capabilities and true selves --  and I don’t trust them – even if they do have lovely fluffy tails and their actions can sometimes evoke my laughter.  It’s that pesky “...red-furred sleek generalist from the East Coast, a fast procreator with an appetite for everything” that has invaded our So Cal area displacing our native gray squirrels described at SoCalWild.   Did those native eastern squirrels gnaw on one leg of my electric line?   I may never know.


The California gray squirrel displaced by the eastern invader red fox squirrel:


Words and actions......

I was reminded we can see who others are since they will show us by their actions -- if we just pay attention.  Objectionable behaviors can sometimes be excused as anomalies, but all too often they reveal character quality.   We need to not forget what we learn from such observations, but especially on the occasions they’ve caused us distress.  Our lesson best be to disassociate ourselves from the violator of civilized tolerant standards permanently, as quickly as possible.    

Perhaps crazy unpredictable antics are what draws in some human champions of such species  – allows these supporters to minimize, overlook or excuse the behaviors being demonstrated – dismissing  what they’re really about which is greedily taking others share for their own, dividing allegiances between those who see their true nature and those who don’t – the latter  likely having not yet experienced their destructive actions, mistakenly thinking they never will be subjected to them personally.

Do you suppose there might even be some parallels here with what’s occurring with our nation’s government and similar leadership in the world we’re navigating today?  


Scams and Cons ......

I don’t think Alexander Graham Bell anticipated this abuse of the phone system any more than some of our tech guys thought would occur with the Internet.  Always seem to be some individuals who have to introduce undesirable and exploitive elements into inventions that otherwise would be only beneficial to mankind.

Scams.....

The latest new phone scam I received was a message left on my answering machine informing me a collection agency was coming after me, so I needed to contact them post haste.  They were even brazzen enough to follow-up with a second call. 

Then...there’s that old standby in a call that just came again – “I’m calling about your computer.......”

and Cons.....

I was also treated to a con when I answered the phone recently to what proved to be a man representing himself as being with my electric utility company.    Given my recent power outages I thought this was a follow-up call of some sort.    I specifically asked if he was with the Edison Company to which he said he was.   He then proceeded to ask a question that told me he had just lied to me.  I asked again, directly, was he an employee of Edison and again he said “yes.”   I said, “You have just lied to me.   You’re selling solar.”   He stammered a few utterances, then abruptly disconnected before I could hang-up.      

I regret now that I did not first find out what company he represented so I could report this misrepresentation to the electric company, then call the solar company to tell them what happened and that I would never do business with them in the future plus would be alerting others to the same about their proclivity for dishonesty.  I only go to such lengths if I happen to not have other matters occupying my attention at the time.  

32 comments:

  1. I hate those phone call scams. I keep getting one on my phone from a lady who speaks only in Chinese (at least it sounds Chinese) and I have blocked her phone,but the lady has purchased or stolen a whole block of numbers! Animals are best left to the wild. I stop feeding birds in spring and only start again in late fall.

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    1. I haven’t been feeding the birds at all since other than during our hottest weather I expect seeking food is not an issue here in SoCal — water, maybe.

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  2. I've had lots of squirrels in all the places I've lived and never had any of them damage anything. Here in Michigan, though, it's the little flying squirrels who will get into houses and do damage. Squirrels are territorial we have mostly Eastern Fox and Eastern Gray Squirrels here but this year I've seen a black squirrel in my yard.

    Those baby eagles are so cute!

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    1. Glad you’ve not had any problems with squirrels — we didn't either in Ohio years ago.

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  3. I don't go a day without garbage phone calls, and I only use a cell phone. I don't answer any calls from numbers I don't recognize, but some actually leave messages! Infuriating.

    We are so enjoying the EagleCam. I introduced my mother (89 and in the early stages of Alzheimer's) to it, and she loves it.

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    1. Glad you and Mother enjoying the Eagles— visual stimulation can be especially beneficial for those with Alzheimer’s.

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  4. Funny on the squirrels. I've had to see our ground squirrels here under a different lens when we learned they destroyed the roots of the last ocotillo. Always a dark side.

    As for how we see our leaders, I am afraid for most of us the lens goes through media, who point it where it suits them. To get an unbiased view today... I wonder where it'd come from since we meet none of these people ourselves. Even what they say ends up truncated or interpreted for us.

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    1. Too bad about the ground squirrels. As for news media, behooves us to do our homework to seek the most reliable since democracy needs them.

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  5. I am surprised your scammers left messages on the machine. I never answer unless I know the number and never get any messages.
    Sorry squirrels have gone to your bad list though I understand. I think I am the only one in the neighborhood who has no squirrels and I do love to watch the athletic little buggers. I think destruction of feeders might push me to the dark side also.

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    1. Should I decide to put up some more feeders in the future, they’ll be metal.

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  6. It is so strange that up here on Point Loma I don't see squirrels. I go to visit G in Balboa Park, and the trees around his museum have the grey squirrels.

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  7. The house we rented in Ft Worth was packed with squirrels. My previous dog used to sit on the patio and watch them endlessly. It did not take long to come to the same conclusion as you. There were also a couple of other critters -but they kept cler of the squirrels. I have not experienced the marketing issues you described in years - knock on wood.

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    1. Troublesome squirrels in Texas, huh! Lucky you not getting scams and cons.

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  8. I don't have a landline anymore so thus avoiding those scams the only one I get on my mobile are those awful surveys which I counter with "I need to charge you for wasting my time!" and hang up.

    Those eagles are so wonderful, I love how both babies get fed tho one is more timid than the other.

    We have the most emaciated tiny squirrels out here. At first I didn't recognise them in my trees where I used to live. Scraggy tails, thin.T hey look like the rocky terrain they spring from. Slim pickings.

    XO
    WWW

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    1. I’ve notice, too, that one of the eaglets appears less assertive. I’ve wondered if it was the second egg to hatch, is a different gender, or some other difference?

      You also have me wondering why your squirrels are so scraggly— longer winter than their prepared resources last fall, or inadequate food available now, or other reason?

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  9. We have been losing our Uverse tv, computer and telephone service too many times this spring. We had our landline telephone "unbundled" from Uverse tv and computer service a few years ago, but every time we have a problem with Uverse we still lose our landline phone service as well. I only keep the landline because it is easier and quicker for 911 to locate where an emergency call comes from than it is with a cell phone. Here lately we have been losing service when it rains a lot. The repair people always blame it on the squirrels chewing. Now the repair people keep wanting us to go to fiber optic, it's almost like a sales pitch. I am starting to get suspicious of their chewing squirrels now.

    One time the electric in parts of our house would go dim and then bright and dim, and extra bright again. It looked like something out of a ghost story. Turned out there was a limb making contact with our electric wire sometimes when the wind blew a certain way.
    I believe it had scraped off part of the coating on the wire.

    I recently received a scam robo call informing me that they were from the Department of Social Security and my benefits were being suspended and then gave me a phone number to call them for information. That could have been a real scare for someone that thought the call was actually from the Social Security Administration. These scam calls need to be stopped. The politicians talk and talk and do nothing.

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    1. I’ve kept my landline for the same reason as last figures I read said only 50% of cell phone service is as efficient for 911 calls — all the rest can do is reveal the closest cell tower So locating the caller can be a much lengthier process.

      Squirrels have caused outages in past years for some neighbors who’ve reported finding their electrocuted bodies in their yards. Hope you keep your power. Ah, the squirrel conspiracy! :-)

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  10. Yeah, I keep getting scam phone calls, too -- computers and solar. All with a foreign accent.

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  11. You have your squirrels and I have field mice that somehow manage to squeeze their way into our homes and they can be quite difficult to get rid of. They don't damage our wiring or anything else but, just the fact that they are inside the house drives my daughter in love crazy.

    I too get quite a few scam calls and I have now started answering them by pretending to be a mechanised answering system asking them to press one for English, two for Marathi and so on. That puts them off alright.

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    1. Those field mice can be an issue as a family member had that problem in a brand new condo they leased.

      Like your solution to your scam calls. I’ll have to try that. Sometimes for my entertainment I fake a foreign language as they mumble around trying to figure it out and it’s just gobbledygook - no language. Other times when they keep asking for my name I keep saying “Who?”, or I don’t respond and just allow silence.

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  12. All the power lines in Belfast are underground so thankfully they can't be sabotaged by squirrels. As for nuisance phone calls, we're getting several every day. Either someone claiming to be British Telecom or Microsoft or total silence. We report all the numbers to BT but as the firms keep using different numbers we still get pestered.

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    1. Guess these scam calls are universal.

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  13. Good for you for telling the man on the phone what for! I think I probably would have just mumbled something before hanging up on him.

    I hadn't realized East Coast squirrels were infringing on the turf of West Coasters. I had heard, when I lived in NY, that greys were overpowering the reds. My question is: How do these little fellers travel cross-country?

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    1. Good question! Check out the SoCal Wild link in the post above as it describes several activities that give the answer, but basically we people are to blame. If the gray squirrels find this out we humans may be in trouble.

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  14. Having had a pet squirrel for eight years (raised from the no fur, eyes closed stage after a nest was torn up)I'm willing to bet on a squirrel as the source of your electrical problems. They adore chewing, and in fact have to chew, since their teeth grow continually, and it's how they keep them under control. But mine had a real thing for cords in the house -- computer, television, refrigerator. We had to be really careful, to keep the critter from electrocuting himself.

    Squirrels are so clever it can be hard to keep ahead of them. I'll spare you the whole, lengthy story, but we finally found the source of the water puddles in the kitchen when we discovered the squirrel had chewed off the plastic fitting around the copper water pipe for the refrigerator's ice maker. Then, he punctured the tube itself. Every time the ice maker clicked on, he'd make a beeline for the fridge, disappear behind it, and get a drink of water. It took us longer than it should have to figure it all out.

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    1. That’s a delightful story about your pet squirrel. He must have kept your life interesting.

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  15. I am in constant amazement as to how sneaky and downright treacherous those little squirrels can be. My poor birds live in fear of them every day.

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    1. They do dominate bird feeders if they start coming there.

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  16. There does not seem to be any method for stopping those calls. We have stopped answering the phone and let it go to voice mail unless the caller ID tells us it is from a family member or friend. The worst offender is a robo-call from OUR OWN NUMBER. Caller ID identifies the call as coming from my husband. And the calls come as early as 6 am and as late as 11:30 pm. The phone company has been of no help, and the police says this is more and more common. No one seems to know the purpose although we assume it to be nefarious.

    We have fewer squirrel problems since we switched to suet with hot pepper. The birds don't mind it and the squirrels hate it.

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    1. Those kind of calls you describe are enough to want to discontinue phone service. Interesting about the taste differences between the birds and squirrels.

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