Hey, Jack. 5:09 a.m., huh? I've been up a couple of hours myself writing - not the comedy yet - something else.
Thanks for the varmit update. Any word on how much the new coyote removal fee will be?

Out where I live a box of 22 Long Rifle ammo is really cheap.

Outside of city limits, with always open season on varmints, we don't wait for Animal Control to mosey by, we ARE our own animal control.

In the inner city, if you were to like try shooting at say a coyote, you have a significant chance of not only hitting the coyote but also the sweet 80 year old grandma living right next door. So, just a little difference for you between city slicker and country environs. Know your environs. Externalities greatest in the inner city where the commies tend to live, and externalities lowest in the country where the Laizze Faire folks tend to live. Can't fault the rural folk too much, though, as high density inner city living drives the commies so insane they start imagining global like externalities like man made global warming and urban sprawl.

I lived off of 31st and NE Fremont for four years and saw coyotes weekly during my pre-dawn/first light dog walks. This isn't really news to anyone who walks or jogs the neighborhood in the early morning although the first time I saw one on the very busy corner of 33th and Fremont, I admit I was a bit taken aback! There are many hiding places along the Alameda ridge and many delicious cats for coyotes to feast on. : )

Maybe the coyote will be hit by the street-sweeper as it sweeps up the leaves.

Sounds as in Bob Clark's neighborhood sweet little 80 year old grandmas are running with coyotes. Senior segment of the PETA folks I spose. Only in Portland.

Bill McD, "varmint," not "varmit." Unlike "pundit," which is so often rendered as "pundint." The time change messes with us in ways we do not comprehend and can only endure.

Speaking of varmints and pundits, this blog mirrors mainstream media (MSM) in its silence on the continuing theft of WaMu by the House of Morgan -- a tale on the verge of decision. Steve Berk, a DC trial attorney, offered this succinct though limited perspective on the "deal" last Friday:

"Now here’s the really outrageous part: over the following days, JPMorgan and the FDIC negotiated the terms of the WAMU purchase despite the FDIC’s claims to other banks that terms were non-negotiable. On September 26, 2008, JPMorgan purchased Washington Mutual’s $188 billion in deposits and a coast-to-coast presence from the FDIC for $1.8 billion AND SIX PAGES OF INDEMNIFICATION RIGHTS AGAINST FUTURE LIABILITIES AND LOSSES."
http://www.thecorporateobserver.com/2010/11/articles/social-policy/jp-morgan-buys-wamu-examiner-says-no-bad-faith-but-something-still-smells/#comments

The comments are also worth reading.

Meanwhile, JPM's Dimon told the FDIC in September that it wants $6B in public funds to reimburse JPM for taking $308B in WaMu's assets for $1.888B. The FDIC's Sheila Bair has already said that she wants to split WaMu's tax refunds from the years prior to the seizure of the solvent bank, beginning with a gift of $2.1B to JPM, despite such distribution of tax refunds being against the FDIC's written policy.

For those who still believe the mythology about WaMu being a basket case of "toxic assets" in September, 2008, refer to the footnote on page 36 of the 365pg Examiner's Report released on Nov 1st:
"WMB was not undercapitalized in March 2008 and, in fact was well capitalized even at the time of seizure."

The court-appointed Examiner, Josh Hochberg, buried several essential facts in footnotes because he did employ subpoenas and depositions to obtain actionable information from the uncooperative JPM and the censorious FDIC.

Bankruptcies can be mind-numbing. This one is of the utmost importance to anyone who still believes this society is governed by rule of law, not varmits.

The city wants you to know if you remove your own coyote - and have the pictures to prove it - you will be refunded the coyote removal fee provided you fill out the right forms.
Of course, you also have to bring the pelt to a meeting of the city council.
If someone would like to set a trap for a coyote on a public road, the local residents are required to move their cars or they will be towed. Thank you.

Regarding the comment about pet poodles on the earlier thread:

What burns my backside about Multnomah County Animal Services is how the county commissioners defer to the management even though there is much documentation from many sources that they do not do what they say the do "Protect People and Pets".
When I left Portland three years ago, there was an entirely different set of commissioners, but they seem to be like interchangeable cogs in the wheel driving the political machine, caring about employees unions, re-election, and ignoring facts, such as the well-documented fact that MCAS has long been affiliated with animal users, which is a conflict of interest when it comes to protecting pets. A few years from now, the current set of commissioners will have faded into obscurity, but not the perpetual motion machine. Might someone consider being man or woman enough to make history?

How much is the bounty on the pelts of kiddie hall commissioners?
And is there a bonus if you bring in Sam's "pelt"?

"Stop this cavalier bantering about of my name, you blockheads!" -- Lucy Van Pelt

"....the well-documented fact that MCAS has long been affiliated with animal users, which is a conflict of interest when it comes to protecting pets."

Could you expand on that a little bit, Cynthia? I am completely unaware of this issue. Thanks.

I just saw a coyote on NE Ridgewood b/w 23rd and 24th. I called Mult. Co. Animal Services and reached a classic bureaucrat. I was told "I don't think we deal with issues like coyotes, you should call the Dept. of Fish & Wildlife."

NEPDX, was it headed for the stairway up to the Ridge? Were you able to gather scat or spoor? A digital snap?

An interesting body of research on urban coyotes can be found on the WWW.

Some conclusions: They are everywhere. They travel about 7 miles around town every night ( based on capture, tag w/transmitters, release, monitor studies). All attempts at eradication fail; every one removed or killed is replaced by a brother or sister waiting at the municipal border crossing.

We live among wildlife displaced by civilization. Very, very rarely one goes crazy and hurts a human, but much more rarely than humans hurt humans.

Peucellier, your conclusions suggest that it's time to (re-)introduce wolves to control the coyote population, as has been done in Yellowstone.