In my neighbourhood...

Dog snatch from gator's mouth
Sydney Morning Herald
May 30, 2006 - 1:01PM
A man took his dog for a run near his Florida home and ended up prying the pooch out of a 2.13-metre alligator.
Michael Rubin took Jasmine, a six-month-old golden retriever, and his other dog, a border collie named Frisbee, on a run at a construction site near his home.
Rubin thought the area was far from the alligators that prowl the nearby Everglades.
During the morning walk, Jasmine ran ahead of Rubin to the edge of a pond on the site. Rubin heard a yelp.
He ran to help his dog and saw her head in the mouth of the alligator. He jumped in the muddy water, which reached his neck, he said, and began beating the beast with his fist.
He said that when that didn't work, he grabbed on to his dog as the alligator started to take it underwater.
"I thought she was dead," Rubin said after the ordeal.
"But, at that point I wasn't going to let him have my dog."
Rubin yanked at his dog, finally prying her from the alligator's mouth. He then rushed her to The Coral Springs Animal Hospital, which confirmed Jasmine was treated for cuts and puncture wounds.
Jasmine was in a good condition, but quite sleepy, and was sent home with pain medication, Rubin said. Frisbee was not injured in the attack.
"She was very lucky," he said of Jasmine. "And I was very lucky."

Kentaro called 5 minutes ago to tell me to look this one up on the internet as he had heard it on the radio. I was pleased to see that SMH has cottoned on to this news even before the local newspapers. This is one of the fortunate tales, as most end in gator poo.

What flavour Pocky are you?

what flavor pocky are you?

Just had to do this quiz. Pocky was a sweet part of my life in Japan, and continues to sugar-coat my existence here in Florida as a best-seller at the Morikami.

Fugu, Iguanas and Herons, Oh My!

On Sunday we headed down to the intracoastal waters of Fort Lauderdale with our 2-seater kayak strapped to the top of Kentaro's Toyota. We always pray that the thin blue straps we use to secure it on top of 2 foam pads are going to hold. Other kayak owners seem to have much sturdier roof-rack contraptions, but we have been OK so far. It's funny to drive around with the kayak though as everyone on the road struggles to not be in front of or behind us.

Kentaro used to live right on the waterways but now that we're in suburban Coral Springs it's a bit of a hike to get there. Just getting the kayak off our balcony, down 2 flights of stairs and up onto the car is so much of an effort that we're tired by the time we get in the car.

But upon our arrival to Wilton Manors Waterways (Wilton Manors is the gay mecca in Fort Lauderdale, hence there are a multitude of trendy restaurants and nice houses), we perk up as it's a gorgeous place to spend a Sunday.

First we search for fishies and crabs (Kentaro goes around turning over rocks to find them) and yesterday we were able to combine efforts and catch a baby checkered pufferfish. So cute. Then we let him go and start our kayak trip.

We usually go on a 2 hour course with prime real estate and iguana viewing aplenty. I love just watching the huge lizards but Kentaro likes to poke them with his paddle to make them move. You'd expect such a ferocious looking creature to hiss and attack like a little raptor, but they just waddle away slowly looking for the next hibiscus bush to munch on.

Yesterday we also found a baby heron presumably waiting for its mother in a tree. It couldn't fly so was glued to the spot as we paddled directly underneath it.

We haven't spotted a manatee on our recent kayak excursions though there are supposed to be huge groups of them in the intracoastal waters. Though I am just as happy not seeing a huge dark shape looming underneath, as no matter how many times Kentaro assures me that alligators don't swim in saltwater, I figure that there's always a first. Every day here there is news of another alligator attack and I don't wanna join the statistics!

There's an alligator report on TV right now, being followed by a pre-hurricane season special report, announcing that for the next 12 days, shutters, flashlights, generators and batteries will be tax-free.

Where am I living?

It's raining bread!

Hallelujah say the little birdies and squirrels which scamper around on the ground and wait every morning for me to throw them a piece of bread and the seeds which didn't make the cut for Goma and Shio, spoiled little buggers that they are.

It is nice to be able to enjoy some wildlife that isn't vultures right on my doorstep. My favourites are the Blue Jays and Red-head Woodpeckers which brighten things up as the parrots in Australia do.

And all over the area are beautiful white herons. I was recently sitting in Kentaro's parked car for 10 minutes and allowed to enjoy a one-man show of a heron on a dragonfly eating rampage. I have never seen anything like it. This sleek little birdie went to town on the dragonflies with such precision and gusto that I was whooping and cheering him on as dragonfly after dragonfly got gobbled up without even knowing what was happening.

On the topic of Florida birds - Did you know that wild flamingos are pink because they eat carotene-containing shrimp and that in captivity those shrimp are often substituted with carotene-rich veggies like carrots, beets and red peppers? If they didn't eat them they'd turn white! Wayyyy! But most zoos these days apparently opt for some additives in the bird pellets. Hmm I wonder if I could turn my cockatiels pink...

Such are the interests of my life.

How American Are You?

You Are 41% American

America: You don't love it or want to leave it.But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over.On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead...And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch!

How American Are You?

Lucky I don't have to take the Citizenship Test - I'd probably fail! Today marks a quarter of a year in Florida, woohoo!

Headline Blues

Just watching the news here makes Kentaro and I depressed. Every day. I'm not talking about news of the war in Iraq, natural disasters in Bangladesh or people starving in Africa. It's the local news that chills us to the bone because it's literally in our backyard.

I have had the thought a few times of posting on this blog the daily headlines to give others an idea of the kind of stuff that happens here, but then I'd be bringing y'all down too.

Fort Lauderdale and Miami (and the surrounding suburbs) have a combined population equivalent to Greater Sydney, but in a typical week or even month back home there wouldn't be a fraction of the heinous crimes that occur here in one day. Murder, rape, hit-and-run, drive-by shooting, fraud is the typical morning news report of the previous night's events. And the scenes of these crimes are all around us, not making for a fuzzy feeling as I'm eating my breakfast bagel. Oi.

But then you look at the people here and the crimes don't seem as surprising. I used to watch Jerry Springer and wonder if those people were actors, and if not where in the world they could walk around as accepted members of society. Eureka!

In speedy end-of-ad disclaimer voice: Of course these generalised views do not apply to all the people I have encountered here and there are certainly exceptions for example all the lovely people I work with and all friends and family in the States and yes I also realise that South Florida is probably not an accurate representation of the United States as a whole in terms of the moral quality of its citizens and no I am not depressed so don't worry, simply alarmed, befuddled and confounded.

Aloha

Tonight we went out to a Hawaiian-themed restaurant called Mai Kai in Fort Lauderdale and did the whole pina pina, mahi mahi, rabu rabu thing. What the world needs now is more Hawaiian-themed restaurants.