Meadows FireSafe Council Recruiting

The Meadows FireSafe Council (MFSC) is looking to recruit new members to carry-on the great work they have been doing over several years.

While we are wrapping up the work from the 2010 grant, some members will be stepping down. Our heartfelt thanks to them and all the volunteer hours they have put in.

We don't want to see the MFSC go away as it has been instrumental in providing fuel reduction and education to our neighborhood.  Their efforts and relations with all parties were very beneficial to us during the Station Fire evacuation and recovery.

We need some dedicated new members that want to continue the effort.

If you are interested, please contact me either by providing your contact info in a comment to this post, email me at gstanton@sbcglobal.net or call 626-644-4760.

We'll hold a meeting and talk in-depth about the effort and invite new members.

Thanks,
Greg

Bear Resistant Trash Cans

A note from Alice Wessen about bear resistant trash containers:


If you live in an Altadena area where you feel you need a bear resistant trash container (I do not dare say "proof") please contact Athens, our new franchise for trash collection and request one.

Be sure to list your address so they can verify your area is within the Altadena franchise area.

http://www.athensservices.com/contactus.asp

Bears generally do not go for landfill or green waste trash. But if you are putting out what I might call 'enticing trash' with food scraps and such, and you are regularly seeing your trash hit upon by bears, please be sure to contact Athens at the link above and ask.

We do not want to habituate bears to eating trash. Not good for them.

Bear pic

Here's the first pic we've gotten of the younger bear.  This was taken from inside a house on Risinghill at 10:30 last night.

Great Pyrenees an Option for Critters?

Interesting info on the Great Pyrenees from a Meadows neighbor:


"There is much talk about bears and mountain lions and how to deter them. I thought neighbors should know about the many Great Pyrenees dogs available for adoption which could serve as wonderful pets while deterring the wild predators with which we all choose to live in harmony.

"They are bred to be livestock guardians and as such their instinct is to patrol their property and ward off any threat to their family whether it be human or livestock. My two Pyrs discouraged the young mountain lion from approaching the back of our property on Canyon Dell, so I can personally attest to their ability."


Some resources from GPASC Rescue volunteers.

Many Great Pyrenees available for adoption

Great Pyrenees Association Southern California Rescue has rescued every Great Pyrenees dog that was out-of-time at a shelter, pound or when an owner turned it in for the past 35 years. The dogs come from Southern and Central California and Southern Nevada. The director and volunteers have done a great service caring for them and finding homes for 1000's of gentle giants.

Because of so many people losing their homes and jobs, the rescue is very crowded. We need to find homes for more than 40 dogs in the next 2 weeks.

If you have ever had a Pyr in your family you know the calm love of these gentle giants, their allegiance to the family, their care of children and other animals. Please consider adopting one of our Pyrs.

If you have never had a Pyr, please read about Great Pyrenees to see if this breed is a match for your family:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/greatpyrenees.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyrenees

http://www.akc.org/breeds/great_pyrenees/

http://www.justdogbreeds.com/great-pyrenees.html

http://animal.discovery.com/videos/dogs-101-great-pyrenees.html



Pyr rescue has a few puppies, a number of young dogs 1-2 years, mostly adult dogs 2-6 and a few older dogs 7-9. There are photos and descriptions of each available dog on www.petfinder.com. It is easiest to access this information from the rescue's website:

http://www.greatpyrrescue.org/

You will need to have at least a 6-foot fence surrounding your yard since Pyrs jump lower fences and can wander.

They need daily exercise. They eat as much as a retriever, about 3.5 - 4 cups of kibble a day. They don't need washing as their coat protects them during all seasons. However, they do need to be brushed weekly.

If you know a Great Pyrenees is a good match for your family, please fill out an application on the website, www.greatpyrrescue.org. A volunteer will contact you shortly.

Thank you for considering a Great Pyrenees as a companion dog or flock guardian.

If you know someone who you think would enjoy such a calm, loving, and protective dog, please let them know about this opportunity.

Figs

Dale let me know that he has figs from his backyard and is offering them to anyone in the Meadows.  Dale can be reached at 408-334-8098.

Thanks Dale!

Meadows Garage Sale?

An idea has been floated for having a Meadows-wide yard sale in late September or early October.

We'd do it on a Saturday morning from 7:30 - 1 and everyone could set up their wares in their own yard. We'd then have a map for buyers to go from house to house.

Please let me know if you're interested by either responding to this post with your contact info or email me at gstanton@sbcglobal.net

Bear Aware (continued)

There has been alot of discussion this week about the bears in The Meadows.  And that was meant to be plural. Past posts have talked only about a younger bear, but it turns out there is at least one other older bear, Together, they may be mother and cub. So, thought it worth to post again to keep awareness to it.

The bears have been mostly on Risinghill and continue to go into the trash cans to forage.  They've been seen as early as 9 p.m. in neighbors' yards faraging through trash cans and eating fruit from fruit trees, particularly figs.

So, continued suggestions for living in harmony with our wildlife:

• Don't put your trash out until trash day morning.
• Keep trash cans in your garage if you have one.
• Use double trash bags to minimize the scent.
• Keep pet food inside at night.
• Harvest your fruit. If you have some to give away, let me know and I'll post to this blog to share with neighbors.
• If a bear is near your house, make loud noise (clanging of pots and pans). Bears will usually leave the scene when noise is heard.
• Also, lights deter bears.  Maybe a motion sensor light is a good solution.

Calling the Sheriff may not be a real solution for a couple of reasons.  First, the bears will likely be gone by the time the Sheriff arrives.  Second, it's there policy to respond only when an attack has occurred and we can do plenty (all of the above) to never come near that situation.

Again, we share the land with the animals. Let's do all we can to coexist.

Car Window Smashed

This morning, a neighbor reported that a car window was smashed on Canyon Crest and a laptop was stolen from the vehicle.

As a side note, Altadena Sheriffs have been encouraging everyone to not leave valuables in your car and to make sure the car is locked even if you're at home.  There was a string of car break-ins earlier in the year in Altadena where valuable items were being stolen.

Mountain Lion on El Prieto Monday Morning

A neighbor midway up on the canyon side of El Prieto called to say a mountain lion hopped her fence this morning at around 9:00 a.m.  He was probably a younger one as he wasn't that large. 

He was in her backyard before heading back down into El Prieto Canyon.

Bear Tracking

I'm adding these posts from neighbors just so everyone is aware of where our bear is.  Seems to be it is primarily on Risinghill except on trash night where its been seen on other streets.  A couple of posts have talked about how it heads down into Millard Canyon. 

Would love to post a picture if anyone gets one.

Here's one from tonight:

"On my run this evening at around 9:30PM, on Rising Hill, I unknowingly passed a residence with a bear in the front yard/driveway. After I was up the road for about ten yards, I heard the noise of some animal running, and I turned around to see a bear bolting from the residence into Millard Canyon (the portion of eastern side of Rising Hill where there are no homes). I ran a few yards futher up Rising Hill and turned back and made a few loud clapping noises, hoping to scare the bear, as I passed the open space of Millard Canyon."


"I'm constantly inspired by the natural scenery of the Meadows area."

We agree!