Turtle in our garden

Turtle treat

This box turtle has lived in our garden for nearly twenty years. He emerges only in the rainy season. This morning, he graced us with an appearance.

Patty’s Birthday

Once a month, Remixto and MexicaChica put on a decorous brunch at Roger Lynn’s gracious Casa Mexilio, one of the oldest privately owned hotels in Merida. The courtyard here is especially lovely and I enjoyed leaves falling into my food. (No, really, I did.) There were six of us at our table to celebrate Patty B’s birthday, and other tables were grouped under trees and among flowering plants. The food was first-rate and presented beautifully. I would have taken more pictures of it, but it was hard to hold back. Remixto and MexicaChica are the two new companies that put on that dynamite cooking class I took a couple of months ago.

Lechon Benedict - an inspired idea

Another Car Crash on Our Corner

Today I was sitting at my computer all the way in back of the house, when I heard the unfortunately familiar sound – the screech of brakes, and then the impact. This happens regularly on our corner despite the traffic light (downtown, Calle 58 and Calle 51). I am am always impressed with how rapidly the emergency teams respond and how efficient they are.

Today it was a pickup truck and a car. It was hard to tell who had run the light. One man, who had been sitting in the back of the pickup on a propane tank, was injured. The paramedics came within a few minutes, followed by an ambulance. They removed him immediately, put him on a stretcher into the ambulance, and were off to the hospital. Then the bomberos, the fire department, responded because of the propane tank. After careful examination, they decided it was intact and safe. There were lots of police cars and other unidentified officials. Several newspapers were there. Here are some pics.

A few minutes after impact

Injured man on stretcher

Paramedic

Examining the propane tank in the truck

Bombero

Fire truck

Photo of the day

All together, there were eight marked municipal police cars, one small police truck, an ambulance, two paramedic motor bikes, two fire trucks, and about 50 personnel.

Madrugada is set in Merida and a fictional village called Yaxum. Superficially, it’s about the theft of artifacts from an archaeological site, and associated greed and murder. The sub-theme is the impact of the modern world on small Maya pueblos in the Yucatan.

In the story, there is an archaeological site at Yaxum that is being worked by an American team. It’s a tale of corruption, pride, overcoming personal obstacles, and friendship. As in anything I write, the book takes a strong look at the dark side of human nature. The main characters are an American woman investigator from New York, the Merida Police chief, and the head man of the village of Yaxum. Right now, I’m editing this book once again.

We have a writer’s group in Merida, and they were helpful to me in writing my other book, 2012: Deadly Awakening. Now I am going over chapters of Madrugada with them. They have excellent insights. I enjoy this informal group that meets weekly in people’s living rooms.

Deadly Awakening features the same investigator and police chief as in Madrugada. They are wonderfully flawed people who are in Merida close to the “end of days,” which many predict will occur on 12/21/2012, the end of the Maya long-count calendar (a period of over 5,000 years). In Deadly Awakening, there is a truly awful murder scene, which makes international news. There are thousands of spiritual tourists in Merida for the end-of-days, and a number of groups have bizarre, charismatic leaders who don’t see eye to eye.

Right now, 2012: Deadly Awakening is available on Barnes & Noble and Amazon as an eBook. I am in the process of putting it into print, a long, arduous process. I just went over printed proofs of the book and read it through. Even I was amused. There are photos in both the eBook and the upcoming print edition.

As I nudge Deadly Awakening through the print process, I am preparing Madrugada for eBook publication. A third book with the same characters, Rotten Fruit, is in the works. A lot of the action in Rotten Fruit takes place, where else, in Oxcutzcab (the citrus center of Yucatan). The dregs of the Las Vegas mafia is involved.

We continue to get the most unbeleivably rude calls from Sky’s collection agency. This occurs in cycles, and when we eventually clear it up, they apologize and go away. But a few months later, they are back, even ruder than before.

The other night a woman called asking for Jim. I asked who was calling and she said, “You know who this is. Put him on the phone.” I took a hard look at the receiver, not sure it was operating correctly, and said no. She said, “You have to put him on the phone.” I hung up.

The creepy stalker lady called over and over and over again. I told her to stop calling and she said, “I’ll never stop calling you.” A Spanish-speaking friend of ours who was at the house told her to go to hell. Then I took the phone off the hook.

The cycle before this, the bill collector threatened to come to the house to collect. I encouraged him to do so, and said he would meet the police here.

This outrageous stuff is especially amazing in a country that is generally so polite. There is no attempt to actually find out what the problem is, or ask whether it has been taken care of. Just an onslaught of insults and threats. I can’t believe this method is ever successful with anyone.

Even if we had problems with Cablemas, which we don’t, there is no way we would ever again deal with Sky under any circumstances. Sky should realize that this kind of bad behavior reflects on them and affects their image.

In all fairness, the Sky company representative who came to collect the box was totally professional and apologetic, but as he explained, they farm out the collection jobs to other companies. He promised that it wouldn’t happen again, but we have gone through several more cycles now.

We recently bought an answering machine. Remember those? A great invention.

Here are some photos and a bit of commentary about my last couple of weeks in Seattle. I’m back in Merida now. Whew!

Family

My sister Leila has an electric car. It’s a Xebra, made by a company called Zapworld.  Unfortunately, it is rarely in operating order, so she’s thinking of selling it. It would be fabulous if only it worked. It’s cute and running it is free. No gasoline! She plugs it into a 110v outlet for an hour or two, and then it will go about 30 miles at speeds up to 35 mph. Well, she says she may not sell it after all because it’s so much fun to drive. It needs a new charger.

My niece Celia, who goes to a nice suburban high school just outside Seattle, says that a whopping 95 percent of the kids in the school drink alcohol and smoke marijuana, pretty much on a daily basis. Most kids are high while  in school. I think it takes a lot of grit and determination to maintain yourself in the five percent who are different. You go, girl.

Keith and Richard’s

One delightful evening I went for dinner at Keith and Richard’s at their home on Capitol Hill. Here are some pics of them and their garden. Keith is a landscape architect.

Keith G. in his award-winning garden

Garden

Keith divides outdoor spaces into "rooms."

Garden

Richard cooked dinner.

There were four for dinner. This is Curry and Richard.

World's most polite dog

Tim the sculptor

We walked around the corner to the home of their friend, artist Tim D. Here’s what that looked like.

One of Tim's cars

Statue for sale

All of Tim’s statues are outdoors, in the untrimmed yard. The place has a wild look.

Wall outside Tim's house

Tim has his demons.

This is my favorite. It’s a mummy, or maybe a zombi. He has moss growing on his arms.

Mossy zombie

Pig truck

Here’s another interesting vehicle. It was picking up a load of cheese from a manufacturer.

Handmade pig truck

Jeanne

This is my friend Jeanne Sather. She maintains a superb website called Assertive Patient (www.assertivepatient.com). This site is an invaluable resource for people living with cancer and for their loved ones. It is also a revealing collection of stories about the medical profession, banks and money institutions, gardening, and raising children. The site can be painful to read.

Jeanne makes and sells original and unusual jewelry which you can see and order from her other site, Charmed Jewelry.

Jeanne Sather

These are Jeanne’s sons, Akira and Robin.

Akira and Robin

It was Robin’s 20th birthday. He’s about to go to Japan on an exchange program for a year. Here is a picture of Jeanne’s photogenic ex-stepfather.

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Mexicans in Seattle

One day, in the process of cleaning up the two units in our duplex and getting them ready for new occupants, I needed some heavy lifting done. I drove up to Home Depot where at any given time there is a crowd of unemployed men looking for daywork. I hired Angel, from Oaxaca, and Abel, from Veracruz. Abel was a tall, sad looking young man. I asked him why he was up here and he said he makes more in the USA in an hour than he makes in Mexico in three whole days. And that’s IF there is any work, which there seldom is. But he misses his parents terribly.

These guys are giving up a lot to come here to support their families. Home, siblings, kids, fiestas, home-made food, music everywhere, flowers, people you have known all your life. I wish for them that they will be able to go home soon, where the human environment is warm and beautifully complex, and find work that can support them.

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Margaret and Beta

My friend Margaret chauffered me around on a mad run of last-minute errands the night before I left. Then we went to a vegan restaurant where her companion, Beta, was welcome. The waitress brought him a bowl of water without being asked. Actually, letting the dog in was the best thing about the restaurant, Chaco Canyon. Vegetarian, okay. But vegan, not good. Everyone in there was very thin and intense and politically correct.

Margaret and Beta

The bird of Seattle

This is a picture of a banana slug, the mascot of the City of Seattle.

Free pet

The Journey back

This is me on the inter-terminal train in the Houston Airport. I’m at my most exhausted, schlepping two heavy suitcases, a purse full of small weighty items, and a package over six feet tall containing a new grill for our Honda Passport, which I’d crashed last month. (See my article called Automobile Accident.) I had many unkind thoughts about Cesar, the man who smashed into me as he tried to pass me when I was turning left. I thought about him as the handle from the box dug into my hand. I thought of him as Continental was telling me they were so sorry, but they couldn’t fit the box on the plane. (They did.) I thought of him when people pointed and commented at the crazy lady with the bizarre assortment of luggage. I frightened small children.

BG and auto parts

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Seattle Cat Needs a Home

For my Seattle readers… This is Pumpkin, a four-year-old neutered male cat who is an excellent mouser. Unfortunately, he also kills birds (hey – he’s a cat) and his owner can’t stand it any more. He is clean, trained, indoor-outdoor, not annoying, and I loved living with him for two weeks. If you are interested, contact me, and I’ll forward your questions etc. to the owner.

Pumpkin

Detail of Tim’s Wall

Ceramics

I’m in Seattle right now, and staying in my friend Susan’s townhouse in Jackson Street Co-Housing. She went back east to visit family and I’m living with her dog Wolf, and her huge orange cat, Pumpkin.

Wolfie

Co-housing is defined as an “intentional community” where buildings are erected according to a communal style design, or existing buildings are “retrofitted.” Co-housing developments have individual self-contained residences and also community facilities. These may include a dining room and kitchen, children’s play areas, free internet, pools, gardens, and in the case of Jackson Street Co-housing, a hobby room and a secure indoor garage. Some rural co-housing communities have substantial acreage and raise a hefty percent of their own food.

Jackson Street Co-Housing

The overriding philosophy is to have a low impact on the earth and learn to share resources. Everything here is meticulously recycled. In this house, there aren’t any disposable paper products, zip lock bags, or any disposable plastic.

The food served in the dining room is mainly vegetarian. This urban development has vegetable and flower gardens on the steep paths between the buidings. I only ate in the community dining room a couple of times, but I had my own cloth napkin sealed in a bag with my name on it, waiting for my next visit.

Often, a core group of people will get together to organize such a community. They might buy land, hire architects, and get the residences going. Other people who share their values, buy into units.

People depend on each other. If you need a ride, or need to have your child watched for a while, or you want to borrow a book, share a cup of coffee, or whatever, there are people all around you who are here because they want a semi-communal lifestyle and they’re (reasonably) available to each other.

You can sign up for meals or stroll in and ask the cook whether there is enough for another person on a given day. They serve meals about four times a week, and people take turns cooking. Saturday morning there were three kinds of quiche, with fresh fruit, juice and coffee. Meals cost $4.00 for a guest like me.

Here is a group at dinner. Attendance is sparse because it’s a holiday weekend and the majority of community members are out of town.

The population is multi-generational, ranging from small children to people in their 80s. The community values their elders and are meeting these days to talk about how to be more supportive to them. Several of the older people were instrumental in designing and bringing the place into being about ten years ago

I’m staying in a three-story townhouse, but there are “flats,” apartments in an elevator building. Living units range from studios to three-bedroom homes. Legally, the co-housing developments are structured as either co-ops or condos. This one is a condo. There are 27 separate units.

The residents have regular business meetings and decisions are made by consensus. I am hoping to attend a meeting. There are no leaders.

Of course, everyone knows everyone else and are closer than most neighbors. They are genuinly helpful and friendly. Before I came, Susan circulated an email so everyone would know who I am, and everyone greets me as I walk through the beautifully gardened paths between my house and the parking area, the trash area, the communal building, or the street.

The only drawback to this place that I can see is that the internet system is truly awful and I had a heck of a time getting up on line. The DSL operates in fits and starts and my service goes in and out. But in a way, it’s in tune with the place. No one gets too pushed out of shape though, and yes, they will get to it and have it upgraded, but there will probably be a few community meetings to figure out the specifics.

I’m enjoying the meals and my neighbors. There is wonderful six-year-old named Hannah who lives next door. She’s a brilliant little girl who plays independently for long periods, does not scream, and is comfortable with adults. We who don’t ordinarily live around children forget how exciting it is to see ordinary objects through a child’s eyes. I like hearing what Hannah has to say.

This little boy is the son of the guy who prepared brunch July 3. We had three kinds of quiche, plus fruit.

The co-housing movement originated in Denmark in the 1960’s and co-housing communities exist all over Europe. There are 115 of them in the USA. See www.cohousing.org for a full background and a directory with descriptions of all the USA communities.

I’m told that the units here sell for between $200,000 and $400,000 depending on the size and configuration. They are well-built, attractive structures, with balconies, bay windows, large kitchens, and a lot of windows. There is also a monthly maintenance fee, as with any condominium.

I got to know several people in the two weeks I was at Jackson Street and hope to get to know them better on another visit. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and would consider living here if I ever returned to the USA full-time.

Every few months I come to Seattle for a few weeks. It is such a contrast to Merida that for the first week or so I feel like a foreigner. Here are a few sights I saw that aren’t notable if you are here a lot, but for me, they were strange. In another week or so, this newness effect will wear off and I’ll be just like the rest of them.

The New iPhone 4

The day before yesterday, the new iPhone was released. I happened to be driving through an upscale shopping area, University Village, where there is a big Apple store, and saw the lines. This was in the early afternoon and there were several hundred people lined up for blocks in either direction to get their new phones.

There was one line for people who had pre-ordered and another for people who hadn’t. They took five people from the pre-ordered line for every one from the non pre-ordered line.  The people I talked to in the non-pre-ordered line had been there since five a.m.

Happy customer with new iPhone4

Next on line being greeted and escorted into the store

Brent and Ara

Pepper and Barb

Nick Smith from Oakland

 Nick Smith is visiting from Oakland and wasn’t buying a new phone. He just came down to the Apple store as a tourist. I asked him why so many people were all excited about the phone.

“I guess because it has video chat. There’s a little camera right in the phone. Also it has a good GPS feature.”

He said that he didn’t need it, and was happy with the phone he had.

Stan is on the pre-ordered line with his friend Angus. He’s buying the iPhone4 because “it has a better screen and a better processor.”

Stan and Angus

 Several people told me they were buying the iPhone4 because “it’s the latest thing.” They weren’t concerned with new features. The recession is not visible in Seattle, or at least among this part of the population.

Un-pre-ordered line

Taken from my car - the end onf the non-pre-ordered line

 The people at the end of the non-pre-ordered line, several blocks from the beginning of things, were grouchy and disorderly. No sun, no snacks, no visual contact with the mecca, the Apple store.

Since the day after the phone was released (yesterday), the news is that the phone has a design flaw. Apparently, if you are right-handed and hold the phone in your left hand, you cover part of the antenna (or one of the dual antennaes?), reducing the reception. If you put the phone down on a surface, it has five bars, but if you are holding it, you only get three. My god!

A young guy interviewed on the news said, “I’m sure Apple will make good on it. I’m not worried.”

And he is probably right. This company has generated a huge fan base because they are reliable and trustworthy and genuinely produce superior products. Years ago, Apple Mac computers were appreciated mostly by the less technically savvy of us because their interface is so intuitive. But now, Apple has become the darling of the tech population as well.

According to my site statistics, many more people who access gorbman.com have Mac operating systems rather than Windows or any PC system.

Apologies for the blue pictures. I had my lighting set wrong and I don’t have photo fix software with me.

Hairless Cats as Service Animals

This is Sam and her service cat, Baby Charlie. I was in a restaurant on Queen Anne Hill with my friend Richard when Sam walked in. She says that Baby Charlie lowers her blood pressure. She takes him everywhere, even when she rides her horse. Baby Charlie sits in front of her, clinging to the horse.

Sam and Baby Charlie

Baby Charlie is very cuddly.

Sam says that Baby Charlie is a Temple Cat and the breed is Egyptian.

I’ve been watching the congressional hearings (the US House Energy and Commerce Committee) and BP is not taking responsibility. Tony Hayward, the CEO, says he is sorry, he feels terrible about this, and admits it’s a terrible disaster. Poor Tony. Tony is responsible for this disaster, but hedges every statement by saying he had no direct knowledge of what was going on. He is the CEO, for god’s sake. He is delegating the responsibility and the blame to little people, far down the corporate food chain.

You know, as you get older and supposedly more mature, you start to look at issues with a broader scope – the adamant one-dimensional viewpoints of our youth slip away, perhaps unfortunately, as we learn more and see many sides of things. I know I’m certainly less vehement about a lot of things I used to think were clear. And on some issues, my viewpoints have changed dramatically. Like, I think police are necessary and we need more of them (speaking of the USA). Although generally I think it’s a bad practice, I can understand why some people might need guns (although that is certainly out of control). Although I can’t possibly understand all the issues, I think the USA might be right in sending troops to Afghanistan. I don’t know where I am any more on unions. Maybe waterboarding wasn’t such a bad idea, all things considered. Etc.

But certain issues are inviolate. They haven’t changed for me. Equal pay for equal work. Non-discrimination. I’m against hurting or killing people, especially children. Abortion rights yes. No on capital punishment. Health care for all Americans. A better educational system. Gay rights absolutely. I think the government has to impose rules of behavior and protection and even of ethics. (although they are hardly perfect themselves). And I think leaders, especially obscenely paid ones, should take responsibility.

In my plodding, middle-aged way, I was well on the road to thinking corporations had been unfairly portrayed as bad guys. I worked for Boeing for a number of years and thought they were ethical and reasonable with workers and with the way they made their products. I lost the “evil corporation” fervor of my youth. I mean if it weren’t for commercial competition, we wouldn’t have…(fill in the blanks).

But this BP thing has blown my perspective all to hell. BP are bad guys. BP knowingly, against the advice of their own engineers, followed unsafe procedures in order to save money and time. They had no emergency plans in place.

There was apparently a choice at some point between doing things one way or another in building the catastrophic oil well (known within BP as the “nightmare well”). One method cost seven million dollars more than the other, so BP chose the less expensive option, which was known to be less safe. Other oil companies have said they would never have used that method because it was dangerous. Tony said he wan’t part of that decision -making process and couldn’t comment on it.

In a five-year period, BP had 956 unsafe practices reported by government monitoring agencies, while Sunoco had six and Exxon had one.

There is a safety mechanism available, a remote shutoff control that is used by many oil drilling companies, according to the Wall Street Journal. BP did not choose to invest in these products. This mechanism could have prevented the disaster.

Every time a congressman asked Tony a question, he would say, “I was not party to that information,” or, “I was not part of that decision-making process.” When Henry Waxman, committee chair, asked who WOULD have known the dangers associated with this particular well, Tony said, “the drill team.” Give me a break.

From the Washington Post:

“There is a complete contradiction between BP’s words and deeds,” Waxman said. “Under your leadership, BP has taken the most extreme risks.

“We are seeing the same corporate indifference that cause collapse on Wall Street.”

And may I say here that Tony Hayward was awfully calm and quiet. The congressmen asked him repeatedly to speak more clearly and please speak directly into the mike. His affect was flat, his face never changed, he barely moved, his voice had zero inflection, his answers were fully rehearsed. I wonder what could have caused him to be in such a state? Well, considering that he has the the environmental future of the globe on his shoulders, he is hardly to be blamed for calming himself down before this appearance. We wouldn’t want him to have a nervous breakdown.

The oil disaster continues unabated, all efforts to halt it or slow it down meet with failure, and the environmental damage, so far limited to the US Gulf coast, is increasingly disastrous. Thousands of people are out of work, all the wildlife in the affected areas – marine, avian and land creatures – are dead or dying. There are dire predictions of the oil contamination spreading to Florida, to Mexico, and to the USA east coast. If it continues for years, it may affect the entire world.

When we watch CNN and they are talking about the Gulf disaster, there is almost always an inset shot of the massive amounts of oil, shooting powerfully into the surrounding waters. Up to 120 million gallons so far. I’m not a marine biologist, but it seems to me it would take many many years for this to clear up, even if they managed to stop the flow right now. And it hasn’t even been slowed down. After 59 days.

The live-camera shots of the oil billowing into the Gulf makes me ill. So does the footage of the oil-covered marsh birds, being cleaned, one by one, a tiny fraction of the bird population. No fish. No shrimp. No crab. No plants. No algae.

Now some experts are saying that even if they manage to construct “containment wells” to redirect the oil and siphon it up normally, that still might not work. It might not even work to build two wells. They are predicting mid-August as the time the first one may be finished.

Tony Hayward earned a salary of 4.7 million dollars in 2009.

The torrent of oil gushing from the deep seems like as much of a threat to the world as global warming.

Rather than succumbing to them, we have discovered a couple of easier ways to deal with these disgusting insects. The trick is prevention. It’s almost impossible to keep them out of our big open homes here in Merida, but we try.

All our windows have screens, of course. As do the doors. That’s in addition to two big metal gates, also throughly screened. We keep compulsive watch for cracks or openings in the screening, or places it has departed from the wall.

Our own little patio carcel

One of the best things we did a few years ago, was to screen in our entire patio (above). Yes, it gives the patio a prison-like look, but we are pleasantly incarcerated under a bug-prooof open roof. We had metal workers design a giant framework and then carefully attach panels of screening. It has worked like a charm. The only thing I would do differently would be that instead of using black metal, I would have painted it white because the black iron absorbs the heat and sends it into our living area.

This arrangement is also a 100% effective security measure. In days gone by, especially if the house had been vacant, we’d find that entrepreneurial folks had lowered themselves from the roof into the house with a rope.

We had a pencil tree that grew so high in the patio garden that it’s little branches poked right through the screening, so we trimmed it back and patched the miniscule holes it had made.

Jim has taken a liking to blue screening. At first I thought it looked tacky (well, it still looks tacky) but it blocks some of the sunlight. Right now, we are having an unprecedented heat wave here, and although there has been very little rain, we are suddenly getting waves of mosquitos.

Blue screen panels for shade

Blue-screened window. Tacky but effective.

Fully screened and barred rooftop palapa room

Our other lines of defense against mosquitoes are repellent  products. One is called Ultra 30 insect repellent, made by REI. It comes in a lotion and is 30% DEET. REI also sells a liquid called Jungle Juice made by a company called Sawyer. This lethal stuff is 98% DEET and you are advised not to apply it directly to your skin. Duh. (I do it anyway if I’m going to an exposed place at night). These products also protect you from ticks, flies and other despicable creatures and in the case of Jungle Juice, possibly from other human beings. These products are so effective that I think of them as suits of armor. Don’t drink them. You can order them from the REI website.

And we have those eye-catching orange spray bottles of RAID in every room.

We’ve had a spate of record-breaking heat here in the last 30 days. You can talk about shade, fans, airflow, etc. all you want, but when it’s this bad, the best solution is air conditioning. Lots of it. The most and the strongest you can afford. If you are lucky enough to have a pool (we aren’t), that does help a lot too, but you can’t stay in it day and night.

We aren’t security experts, but we’ve found that the best defense against theft is redundant security. That is, if there is a lock on the front door, you might also consider putting good locks on all the inner doors as well.

The only break-in we’ve had in about 20 years (well before the patio prison was installed) was when someone very tiny cut a hole in the roof of our palapa and squeezed in. They stole a hammock. They had to go out the same way they got in, because the two doors to the palapa have strong locks on them. Thus, they couldn’t carry anything large or heavy, like the refrigerator. Even if they’d gotten out of the palapa doors, they still wouldn’t have been able to get into the main part of the house because there is yet another locked gate.

We don’t lock every little door all the time, of course.

Oh, the heat is awful. Last week we went to the beach for a breather, but it was hotter in San Crisanto than it was in Merida. We took our 15 year-old malamute, Cujo, who is a real trouper. He was glad to be off leash, but he just found a shady spot and lay quietly. We gave up after two or three hours, when the electricity went off, so we didn’t even have fans to move the stifling air around on the patio. When we got back to Merida, poor old Cujo collapsed on the street getting out of the car and couldn’t get up. Getting his 130 pounds into the house was difficult. Dr. Tony Rios from Planned Pethood, the legendarily fabulous vet clinic, came immediately and carted him off to the clinic where they put him in a zero degrees C room for two hours. He revived well.

Magnificent San Crisanto beach

It’s too hot to walk early in the morning or late at night. It’s too hot to transplant my baby tomato plants into the ground. I don’t remember it ever being so hot here for so long. There are a bunch of storms predicted, and I wish they would come now. Meanwhile, we have our trusty LG air conditioners.

Of course there are the insects – the millions of mosquitoes, cockroaches, wasps, bees, flies, and those amazing ants. And the reptiles, including various snakes, iguanas and adorable singing geckos. We all hear the varied calls of grackles and other wild birds. Cardinals are especially melodious and my favorites are the chattering flocks of wild parrots. The zopilotes (vultures) circle above us, waiting for us and for smaller creatures to breathe their last. That’s got to be the world’s ugliest bird.
Then there are the warm-blooded furry creatures. Some are pests, all are interesting. Some nocturnal, some diurnal. Some you almost never see, and some are downright pushy.

Dogs
There are wild dogs everywhere, especially in the beach communities. I haven’t seen too many in Merida the last couple of years, and I shudder to think why that is. They are pitiful things, most of them, half mad from hunger, thirst, pain and fear. If one is lurking by your house, at least give him/her a bowl of water. Take injured dogs to the vet, or one of the shelters – Evolucion or AFAD. With some love and care, many of them transform into stellar pets. The dogs take on a certain look after several generations, and meld into a mix called “Mulix.”  For more information on shelters and for a thorough discourse on Yucatan dogs, please see the excellent article on Yucatan Living. The dog situation is a huge issue in Merida.

Malix pup

Possums (zorros)

These omnivorous, nocturnal marsupials are here because their natural habitats have been taken away. They are ubiquitous, and you can often hear them galloping around the rooftops at night. When I surprised one in the back yard recently, he looked at me with contempt, and continued his slow survey of the property. His rat-like tail was as long as his body and his sharp little nose didn’t miss a trick. I hoped he didn’t like cats.

Rats
Rats immigrated to Yucatan on ships from Europe, starting in the 11th century. There are brown and black rats of many species here. They live where there are sewers and where there is garbage, in the city. Some can reach two feet long. I don’t care what anyone says – they can’t match the rats of my native NYC, where they are as big as dogs and just as bold. They like to burrow.

Mice
It’s hard to define the species of mice here in Merida. Mostly, they are small, grey, cute, and love fruit. However, they’ll happily eat bread and other leftovers.

Yucatan Squirrel (Sciurius yucatanensis)
I’ve never seen one. Have any of you? They are arboreal, according to Wikipedia, and eat fruits and nuts.

Bats
When I first moved to Merida, I was sitting in Santa Ana square one night with a friend and became aware of lots of birds flying around. What kind of bird flies at night, I asked. Of course, they were bats. I was a little startled, but enjoyed watching them dip and whirl. They are all over the place here. Certain trees attract them (like the Ramon) and they love to hang themselves up in quiet buildings in the daytime. One evening at Uxmal, looking at the Temple of the Dwarf at dusk, I saw flocks of swallows entering the large doorway on top of the pyramid at the same time as flocks of bats exited. They had a cooperative arrangement in this ancient hotel. I don’t know what species these are – fruit bats, brown bats, or some of each. They are harmless marsupials, not aggressive to humans. Jim Conrad, on his website, Backyard Nature site, says that fruit bats are critical to the dispersal of fruit seeds. He says these bats smell deliciously of the huge amount of fruits they consume. Check out Jim’s website – it is unique and fascinating, created by a unique and fascinating person.

Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcintus)
You used to be able to see these at some of the ruins, and I have bought them from people selling them, all trussed up, along the road. Apparently, they make good tacos. These nocturnal prehistoric looking creatures have nine bands of flexible armor that completely covers and protects them. To me, they are one of the more amazingly constructed animals. They are gentle, slow-moving creatures with a diet of insects and butterflies and can burrow quickly to completely bury themselves in the daytime. I had one in my yard for a time (until I released him into the wild) and only Fifa, aka “the nose,” a dachsund, could locate him when he was burrowed into the garden.

Armadillo - from goodoldgirls.com

Coatamundi (Coati) Nasua narica

The white-nosed coatamundi is a diurnal relative of the north American raccoon. They look adorable but aren’t. People try to domesticate them, but they are known to be cranky and also have huge canine teeth, a bad combination. They look like a cuddly cousin of the raccoon and are grey, with black and white circled tails that always stand right up, perpendicular to their bodies. I’m told that the reason the tails stick up like this is so that they can locate each other in high grasses. They’re the size of large cats. They are ground dwellers, but sleep in trees. I saw two of these in an empty lot in Centro recently and when they spotted me (I was on a rooftop), they made a beeline for a pile of rocks. They are extremely shy, omnivorous and will eat your garbage if they can. I had never seen coatamundis in person before and felt privileged to have this sighting. However, it’s sad that they have to resort to household garbage because their natural habitats are being destroyed.

Coatamundi

Although they are adorable, it is possible to run into too many Coatamundis. If you’ve ever been to Tikal, perhaps you have experienced this. Hundreds of them wander through the site, looking for tidbits and handouts. Kind of overwhelming.

Collared Anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla)

I saw one of these black and white mid-size-dog sized beasts on the Rio Lagartos road about twenty years ago. They live in trees and feed on insect nests, termites, and ants. From a distance, I thought it was indeed, a dog, but as I drove slowly closer, I saw the long snout and prehensile tale. I was thrilled to have seen him then and haven’t spotted one since. Their main defensive weapon is their powerful and sharp claws.

Capybaras
Capybaras are the biggest rodents, the size of a small pig. Ugly as shit. They are furry and have pig-like snouts. They reach a height of two feet. Some people claim to have seen them here in Merida, but maybe it’s an urban legend. I hope so. They live in groups of 20 to 40 animals. They eat fruit and like to gnaw on hard objects, like nuts or your wooden furniture. They sound totally disgusting. From http://library.thinkquest.org, “Capybaras have white bumpy glands on the top of their snouts. Their glands ooze out white, oily fluid. When they mate, the male rubs the fluid from his glands onto plants. and then rubs the smell onto his own body to show who is boss.”

Capybara - from johnnyslick@wordpress.com

Other Wild Animals
Outside the metropolitan area, the Yucatan hosts white-tailed deer, jaguars, spider monkeys and other fast-disappearing species. As the forest areas are decimated by development gone wild and by hunters continuing to kill the animals, these creatures are loosing their habitats and are seriously endangered, as are many of the animals on the list above. Pronatura Yucatan works to conserve the delicate ecosystems of our area and has succeeded in establishing protected zones here and in other parts of the country.

Last, but not at all least,

Merida’s Feral Cats

Ever been to Rome? An estimated 300,000 feral cats rule the entire city, eating garbage, rodents, and whatever they’re fed by cat-loving citizens. The city council of Rome has decided that the cats are a positive element, and points out their ancient heritage.

Here in Merida we have a rich and varied feral cat population. These cats are not cuddly and cute, even though they look like they might be. I and my friend Louise, who lives nearby, have observed that generations of cats of the same color and type inhabit the same territory for years at a time. Louise, for instance, introduced orange cats to our area about fifteen years ago, and they’re still here. In the cooler weather, if you go up on the roofs of houses in Centro, you can often see the family groups lying around in the cool dusk, taking in the sunset. The families are proprietary about their turf and fight outside cats.

There is a group of cats who own our roof and back yard, outside the gate. Sometimes one emerges as halfway friendly and allows me to pet him/her. Right now, all my cats are intensely feral and stand-offish. I just have to admire them from afar.  I call them my Unrewarding Pets, as indeed they are. Not everyone has this experience. Deb, in Santiago, has adopted no less than six of these creatures, which are all happily lazy and domesticated in her house. The cats in her neighborhood are double the size of mine, a different strain, perhaps.

We average seven and a half cats at a time at our house. We’ve had as many as 13 and as few as 5 in the past few years. I feed them out in the back, beyond the gate, twice per day and they’re always ravenous. I also put out water. Life expectancy of these cats varies from kittenhood to about two years. At that point, they disappear and are presumed dead. I’m guessing they either have fatal encounters with other cats or other creatures, get run over, or get poisoned. The ones who remain are here at literally every meal, so if one is missing for more than a day, I know we’ve seen the last of him.

A few times a year, there are kittens. The cat named Stupid, in particular, is prolific. I know I should trap them and take them to Planned Pethood for sterilization, but I haven’t as yet.

Most of my cats have names. Stupid, the eldest one, earned her name by giving birth to her kittens in a hanging planter. When I heard frantic squeals, I went out and found a tiny kitten dangling from the planter by his umbilicus, which was tangled in the plant. I cut the cord. His name is Gus and he isn’t grateful. Here are some pictures of our Unrewarding Pets, aka The Dreadful Kitties.

I welcome additions and corrections to this article.

I’m still not widely marketing this because I have to fix some format issues. I’ve been busy with my blog, www.gorbman.com, which is gathering a readership and I’m hoping that the two entities will feed into each other as time goes by.

Amazon sent me an update on the eBook contractual agreement today. It looks fine, but it says to check that you accept it, and then does not provide a place to check. And it says that if you DON’T check your approval, they’ll take your book down within 30 days. I’m sure this will work out. Very sure. Quite sure. Sure enough.