Red foxes moving to downtown Detroit

[madmom]

By COREY WILLIAMS
The Associated Press
DETROIT -- Keen-eyed anglers or people heading to work near Detroit's riverfront typically spot them, padding quietly in the pre-dawn light through weed-filled lots or in the shadows of long-abandoned factories.

The red fox is carving out a place of its own deep into downtown, joining the ranks of raccoons, skunks, opossum, white-tailed deer and red-tailed hawks finding homes in untended lots, houses and buildings in the rusting one-time car capital. ....

...
Many neighborhoods have so few remaining houses that adjoining lots resemble small prairies and woodlands, and Detroit's extensive freeway system and old railroad connections linking the inner city to less populated areas are now serving as routes for wildlife.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/18/AR2009071801413.html

[Amerigo Vespucci]

1. This is the BIG one, Elizabeth...

...HEY. If it wasn't me it would have been someone else.



:evilgrin:

[MADem]

3. It would have been me! I loved Redd Foxx!

He had a nasty old record out eons before that tv show--what a hot ticket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgYqinSPAvU

[natrat]

73. hey lamont let's go to the parking lot and drink a 6 pack

[slampoet]

91. and me too.

[sutz12]

2. Wow....."Life After People" in real life.

:shrug:

[madmom]

7. That was my thought also. LOL

[Buns_of_Fire]

28. "Welcome to Detroit... Population: 0"

Makes you wonder what future filmmakers and photojournalists (if there are any) are going to make of all this while picking through the remains.

[Brigid]

82. Me, too.

In fact, the original program was on History Channel today.

[GoCubsGo]

58. Mother Nature always reclaims what is hers

Nature never ceases to amaze me at how it can take back from the stupid humans who think they can "conquer" it.

[madmom]

71. I have been saying this for years. I live in NW Ohio what used to be the black swamp. White man

came in a developed it. I see signs that mother nature is trying to take it back. I tell my family that all the time, "Mom wants her land back!"

[ellie]

76. I live in NW Ohio too

You can see the swamp everywhere and I can barely breathe from the humidity and have constant sinus problems. Nature will push us out of it one day.

[madmom]

77. Hi neighbor...I'm about 50 miles from you in Defiance. I know exactly what you mean

about the humidity several years ago we put in central air because of it. My son and his family just moved here last fall from back east and they are all having sinus problems right now.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

66. Or, "Life After Jobs"

Actually, the wildlife doesn't have far to travel. Belle Isle in the Detroit River is linked to Detroit by a bridge. And the island has long been a park, refuge for herds of deer, fox, pheasant, many kinds of animals. The albino white-tailed deer are interesting to see.

At this time, deer hunting is now allowed within city limits. But that doesn't stop the occasional poacher from harvesting some venison.

:hi:

[Brigid]

88. Perfect title for Michael Moore's next movie.

It is interesting, if sad, to see articles about odd effects of the economic meltdown, like this.

[Blue_In_AK]

79. That's what I thought. n/t

[Cirque du So-What]

4. There's probably an abundance of prey

Foxes will eat mice, rats, birds and other small animals.

[LiberalEsto]

9. So do Republicans

"eat mice, rats, birds and other small animals"

[Manifestor_of_Light]

20. Republicans go peasant hunting.

As in "dead peasant" life insurance policies.

:grr:

[surrealAmerican]

21. They mostly just eat their own these days.

[havocmom]

5. the trickster coyote showed them the way

Walking in the wee hours can be enlightening in many 'urban' environments. ;)

[villager]

41. I love those trickster coyotes....

[janx]

61. About five years ago, my friend Beth witnessed a coyote

trotting through downtown Albuquerque with a dead cat in its mouth.

So...yeah. ;-)

[havocmom]

72. 16 years in Tucson (central, not the outskirts) and literally scores of coyote neighbors

Picking daughter up from Christmas job at Park Mall, watched a coyote every damned night, standing at the curb and waiting for traffic to clear so he could beat feet across the street from mall to an open field where I had seen him catch a poodle before (I tried to tell that woman not to let her little dog run off ahead of her)

Trickster will use our creations to get by. In Tucson, the little (usually) dry creek beds and constructed flood control drainage channels are wildlife corridors that allow critters to get across a very large city with minimal risk.

Pools and 'water features' in yards provide more useful habitat than the un-touched desert for many critters. I lived by a racket club with pools, Where they let out water from back flushing was such a grand 'watering hole' that I found all kinds of tracks there all the time. Even mountain lion tracks. IN TOWN.

Walks a couple hours before dawn are amazing.

My sis kept calling Fish & Game re a mountain lion that kept walking past her house. One day it came out of the housing tract across the street from her with a poodle (mt lions much like French cuisine) One time it had a small spaniel. She has big dogs but does not let them spend time alone in her fenced yard. That lion might have cubs every so often! She also had a dog that was a dog/coyote hybrid.

Wildlife is closer than most of us think. I hear there are more deer in the midwest now. And the Trickster like Bambi.

[crispini]

105. Less than six miles from downtown Dallas,

and coyote shows up in my hood all the time. Of course, we are near a major lake with plenty of tributary streams to hunt down. Keep your cats and dogs indoors, people! :D

[Mari333]

6. wow, its like a Will Smith film, nt

[formercia]

30. I thought the same thing.

Roast Possum, anyone?

[csziggy]

8. Foxes mostly live on insects and small rodents

So they should have terrific hunting grounds in a city full of abandoned and decaying buildings. With the medium sized mammals listed, coyotes might start moving in but they are shyer and more leery of humans so they would be spotted less often.

[existentialist]

14. Don't know about Detroit

but I remember reading about coyotes in downtown Los Angeles.

[Taverner]

19. Bobcats have moved into foreclosed homes in LA...

Since there are so many of them - and Bobcats usually stay away from humans...

[csziggy]

36. We've only just started getting coyotes here on the farm

Since the plantation behind us was developed. I think the coyotes had been living there and now are expanding their range since there is less good habitat that direction. I don't mind the foxes, but I worry that the horses that tolerate the foxes have learned to tolerate canines in general and will not protect their foals if a coyote starts to hunt them.

My old mares did not tolerate canines at all. They'd chase down foxes, dogs and coyotes so I never worried. These younger mares never picked it up from their dams apparently and leave the foxes and the stray dogs alone. Now I have to keep an eye out for the coyotes the next time we breed for babies - if we ever do again.

[janx]

63. I used to see coyotes slinking around the peripheries of

fences on cattle ranches in Colorado at calving time (February). A rancher told me that it wasn't the newborn calves the coyotes wanted; it was the afterbirth. :shrug: I have to idea how accurate that is, but the rancher seemed unconcerned about coyotes and calves. I don't know what the outcome would be with horses.

I could probably ask someone around here, though, since there are plenty of horses and coyotes around.

[csziggy]

74. That is probably true - though most of the time the vultures get the afterbirth here

The mares I have now will chase vultures - and once when a bald eagle landed, they chased it!

Chances are the coyotes will not take a chance of getting caught by a horse to get close enough to a foal. They are probably more dangerous to the wild turkeys - there were four or five turkey chicks earlier and only two have survived to close to adulthood. I just looked out the window to see them in the pasture, by the way. We've had years when we had four or five hens, two or three toms and as many as 19 chicks, but not so many since the coyotes showed up.

[havocmom]

89. Sea gulls turn up here at calving time

Here, being eastern Montana. Yep. Seagulls.

edited to add: evidently cow afterbirth is very good eats for lots of critters. Pretty protein rich. Ya don't wanna be too close to the south end of a northbound ranch dog during calving.

[csziggy]

97. The limiting factor is how tough the afterbirth is

The vultures have an advantage there, with their sharp beaks and talons.

And then there was the fun the dogs had the day we gelded six colts...

[havocmom]

106. Evidently there are enough tender bits. Lots of gulls

LOL never though about nuttin day and the hounds

[csziggy]

113. Gulls have pretty sharp beaks - they have to get through fish scales!

[Brigid]

84. Try getting a few llamas, if you have room.

And if they will get along with the horses. LLamas hate coyotes and will chase them away. Ranchers in the West put them out with their sheep to protect them.

[Arugula Latte]

29. We have lots of coyotes in Portland.

I saw two of them walking down our street very early one morning (maybe 5 am?). So cool.

They live in a nearby park.

[rrneck]

10. Better now

than later.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. I'm so pleased to see this!

How very cool, having foxes in the neighborhood!

Plus the added advantage of eating the real pests...

K&R

[The Doctor.]

12. At the same time, it's a city dying right in America.

Still, I do find it rather interesting.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. Of course, that's the down side.

And I regret that Detroit is dying.

But for the foxes...it's a new and cool place to live...

[The Doctor.]

44. Heard they LOVE the monorail!

"Are you a lonely guy? Come to Detroit and meet a real Fox!"

You know... after they beat the Lions, it was all downhill from there.

I got a million of 'em!

[michreject]

17. Until they get too close to my Yorkies

Then they become a stole.

[The Doctor.]

45. The Yorkies wouldn't leave much evidence. n/t

[michreject]

50. I'm always with them outside

We have a Coyote problem. Think 36 gr. Subsonic.

[The Doctor.]

53. -p Then...

Makes sense.

[Lorien]

51. Read the article; foxes pose NO THREAT to dogs or cats

so relax and enjoy nature instead of fearing and destroying it. Hasn't enough of that been done already?

[lunatica]

15. They should demolish the entire dilapidated area and

create a wildlife sanctuary. Maybe even get creative and put some sort of large pond to attract birds

[CaliforniaPeggy]

22. Actually, I think the foxes prefer things the way they are...

It's already a wildlife refuge...

Tearing everything down and starting over would just drive them away.

I like the idea of a lake, though...

:hi:

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. "some sort of large pond"....ummm...have you ever seen a map of Michigan?

Or Detroit? It sits on a river that connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. Above Lake St. Clair is Lake Huron. The Metro Detroit area has scores of lakes, large and small. There is no shortage of bodies of water to attract birds.

[lunatica]

42. thanks for the information

I had not seen a map of Detroit.

I was thinking of the first official bird sanctuary which is in Oakland, CA. Oakland also sits on the shore of a large body of water which is the San Francisco Bay and it has one of the largest ports in the country, but an artificial lake was built and it attracts all kinds of birds. It also attracts people from all around the area to take a walk around the lake during their lunch hour and lots of joggers use it. There's also a children's Fairyland, and concerts on weekends. And the rentals and real estate in the vicinity of the lake are very expensive. So starting a wildlife refuge and a lake makes the area highly desirable and it could help turn Detroit around in time



Fairyland where kids are taken on field trips from school as well as by their parents.

[Arugula Latte]

46. Ahhh, Fairyland. Brings back childhood memories.

My dad used to work at Jack London Square in Oakland. I LOVED that little cabin that they brought down from the Yukon that London had supposedly lived in.

[lunatica]

64. About25 years ago I worked in Jack London Square

I was a waitress in a restaurant named The Grotto. The Square has changed completely. Here's Jack London's cabin. He's one of my favorite authors.

[Arugula Latte]

81. I remember The Grotto...

Did they serve minestrone soup? I have a memory of eating that soup several times in a restaurant near there.

Thanks for the photo of the cabin. Love the sod roof -- very "green," and ahead of its time.

:hi:

[lunatica]

110. It was one of the soups de jour

But maybe you're thinking of the red clam chowder. They had both red and white and both were very popular. The Grotto had customers who had been going there since it opened in 1937. We could tell what day and what time it was by who walked in the front door. It was finally sold and torn down and in it's place is a restaurant named Kincaid's. The whole square has been gentrified, but it's a wonderful place still, just different. The old waterfront and the old restaurants were pretty dilapidated after 60 years.

[beltanefauve]

96. Not artificial

Lake Merritt is a natural estuary, and flows out to the Bay.

[lunatica]

108. Thanks for the information

The banks have been built up into sidewalks and holding walls and a park on one end.

[XemaSab]

103. Both pictures of the lake

barely miss showing the house I grew up in. :hi:

And the lake was a natural marsh that was enhanced into a real lake. There are underground streams under most of the big streets.

[lunatica]

109. I lived a block or two from the lake for a couple of years

It's a lovely place. Thanks for the facts about it being a marsh originally. What they've done with it is wonderful and should be a lesson to other cities. I think they could do that in Detroit and it would people and businesses back.

[XemaSab]

112. May I ask what street you lived on?

I lived on Merritt Ave. :D

[michreject]

16. My 1st thought was Machus Red Fox

Jimmy Hoffa and all.

[cascadiance]

18. And pheasants too... check out these video clips...

http://www.linktv.org/video/2852/episode-9-necropolis-reborn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ7VL907Qb0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCo63ntCxNA

[tilsammans]

86. Great videos! Thanks for posting.

Detroit does have hope. :)

[surrealAmerican]

23. They've likely lived in other parts of the city for a long time.

I know I've seen foxes in Chicago, not downtown, but within city limits.

[cascadiance]

24. I see also that the film industry is being given incentives to shoot films in Detroit now...

Just think about it. You have some ready made "sets" with slight modifications for Mad Max 4 or other films of post-apocalyptic futures there...

http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/film15608.aspx

So it might bring some of the filming of SciFi flicks back in to the U.S. from other places like Canada, etc. that they'd moved to.

[abumbyanyothername]

25. Well this raises the question, what is the future of Michigan?

Is Michigan even fit for human population?

If so, should we think about encourage population of the area in a manner that is sustainable?

If vast tracts of Detroit are abandoned, how about wildlife refuge for some, and urban farms for others? For that matter, how about putting some out of work Detroiters out onto sustainable farming operations?

I just don't see how our economy can be balanced atop an Ag industry that consists of 0.6% of the population (and at the same time be a significant export industry also).

[cascadiance]

26. With the great lakes, you probably have the most inland water supplies there...

I think there's got to he things to do with Michigan in general. Now parts of Detroit have to probably be "rethought" and afford us the ability to figure out how we will change the world in the same way when our industrialization and heavily energy-usage oriented society winds down. It will be a good place to experiment here.

[blue_onyx]

56. "Is Michigan even fit for human population?"

Are you serious? I'm sorry but that's one of the dumbest things I've ever read on DU.

Michigan has several things that give it hope for the future. Michigan has become a big player in the film industry. There are plans to open numerous production studios in the Detroit area, including the $146 million dollar Unity Studios in Allen Park, MI (just outside Detroit).

http://www.michiganfilmproduction.com/city-of-allen-park-to-announce-film-television-studio/

Detroit will also get the facility that will produce the Volt batteries. A123 Systems will also open at least one battery plant here and create up to the 14,000 jobs. There have been numerous other battery companies that have also announced plans to locate in Michigan.

http://www.jennifergranholm.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=11679

We have solar companies like Hemlock Semiconductor and Uni-Solar. A company called Mascoma announced in 2008 that they would open the country's only cellulose ethanol plant here. Energetx Composities LLC which makes wind turbines parts announced last month they will come to Michigan. These are just some of the green energy companies that have chosen to come to MI.

Michigan was recently ranked 10th for green energy jobs but the data was from prior to 2007. Most of the economic developments I mentioned have come in 2008 and 2009 so Michigan's position in the green energy industry has probably improved. Green energy will be a huge part of the country's future economy and MI is well positioned to take advantage of this growing industry.

I can't understand how you would even question whether Michigan is "fit for human population." Michigan has a great future once we recover from this devastating recession.

[abumbyanyothername]

95. And my question is

whether Michigan is habitable in the absence of cheap, abundant, fossil fuel energy.

Because sustainable lifestyles are coming soon to a world near you.

[sufrommich]

104. Why would Michigan be any less sustainable

than any other state?

[abumbyanyothername]

111. I don't know

It was not a sarcastic, rhetorical, put-down question.

It was a serious question about the quality of Michigan soils, the harshness of the winters, the lack or availability of other natural resources, etc.

You seem to have interpreted it in a way that has you defensive when it was never my intent to attack.

I think that smart people all over the world are thinking about the possibility of a post-urban era.

[blue_onyx]

107. That makes no sense

Where are you getting this idea that Michigan is somehow more unsustainable than other state?

[CoffeeCat]

27. Why don't I know what this looks like?

Detroit is devolving into a post-apocacolyptic city, with wild animals moving into abandonded
businesses and homes.

The foxes are only one symptom. Conditions must be really awful for this to have happened.

Where are all of the stories--showing America what has happened to Detroit? I'm sure there
has been a picture or a small story here and there--but Detroit could be Anycity USA in the
future.

We continue to lose more than half a million jobs each month, with no end in sight--despite
the sparkle-rainbow-cotton-candy predictions from some economists.

Detroit was one of the first major cities to tumble, because the auto industry went first. What about
when unemployment reaches much higher rates in urban areas? Or when entire companies or more industries
tank?

This is incredibly important--and I hope Detroit is not ignored. America needs to see what is happening.

[Hestia]

35. A couple of years ago Youngstown city council voted to turn off utilities

to whole blocks of abandoned neighborhoods. The cost of doing saved the town millions. People could buy entire blocks for pennies on the dollar, but the city would not service any block that had no people on it. People had to make the decision to stay and use septic, or more closer into town.

Flint MI is right preparing the people for the same thing. Turning off the utilities and services and letting the abandoned neighborhoods go back to wilderness. Flint's mayor said that the city limits are around 32 square miles and is actually a model for sprawl that has gotten out of control.

I've also read articles regarding cities going back to gravel roads for outlying areas due to the cost of asphalt going through the roof.

There has been several articles about how people are just going to have to start moving back closer to city/urban centers because of the massive costs to service those areas. It costs less to have people do this and actually makes a city more viable to "new growth" (however you define it). We are going to have to start putting our money where our mouths are in that it just costs to much to let cities sprawl to the nth degree, along with energy costs and wasting of water resources.

Besides, houses in the inner areas are usually older and stand up better after retrofitting of weather stripping, insulation and double/triple pane windows. In moving back to the cities, you may actually know who your neighbors are again. Psychologically, it has to be better for people to not be so isolated.

As always, YMMV.

[Hestia]

38. From 2008

The incredible shrinking city

Youngstown, Ohio, has long been on the decline and now is being hit by the foreclosure crisis. Its answer: Razing abandoned buildings and tearing up streets.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: April 14, 2008: 9:57 AM EDT

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNNMoney.com) -- Youngstown, Ohio, has seen its population shrink by more than half over the past 40 years, leaving behind huge swaths of empty homes, streets and neighborhoods.

Now, in a radical move, the city - which has suffered since the steel industry left town and jobs dried up - is bulldozing abandoned buildings, tearing up blighted streets and converting entire blocks into open green spaces. More than 1,000 structures have been demolished so far.

Under the initiative, dubbed Plan 2010, city officials are also monitoring thinly-populated blocks. When only one or two occupied homes remain,the city offers incentives - up to $50,000 in grants - for those home owners to move, so that the entire area can be razed. The city will save by cutting back on services like garbage pick-ups and street lighting in deserted areas.

"When I grew up in the 1950s, the city was at its peak," said Father Ed Noga, who heads St. Patrick's on Youngstown's South Side. "There were kids everywhere and everyone converged on downtown. You went to eat, to shop and to go to the movies."

Today, downtown is positively sleepy and even somewhat derelict. Residents have to drive out of town to shop for clothes or housewares. And while foreclosures have long been a scourge in this city, they have recently skyrocketed along with the rest of the country, up 178% in February from a year ago.

"Abandoned houses here are like rainfall in the spring," said Mayor Jay Williams, "That has gone on for decades."

Growth strategy failed
For a while, Youngstown, with its population at just over 80,000, hoped to return to its boomtown roots, when 165,000 residents called it home.

"We long pursued a policy of growth," said the city's energetic young mayor. "We went after all these things that would make Youngstown a city of 150,000 again."

There were some harebrained schemes.

"A blimp factory was going to put the city back on the map," Williams said. "That represents a whole lot of the promises made and broken. They sound ridiculous now. President Clinton promised a defense facility employing 5,000. We were waiting for a savior."

They never got one. But now, Youngstown's infrastructure-paring strategy may yet become a model for other Rust-Belt cities that must recreate themselves after years of decline.

Already, delegations from smaller, post-industrial cities like Flint, Mich.; Wheeling, W.Va.; and Dayton, Ohio, have come to Youngstown to study the plan.

more at http://cnnmoney.printthis.clickabili...partnerID=2200

[Hestia]

39. From 2005 Rolling Stone: The Long Emergency

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7203633/the_long_emergency

It's main component is peak oil, but has some great advice as to sustainability to bringing people back in closer to cities.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

75. Your link is broken. Would you mind reposting? i'd like to read it. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

47. Portland, Ore., where I live now, has an "urban growth boundary."

It's not perfect, but it has prevented a lot of the sprawl that has blighted other areas. Also, Portland invested in revitalizing its downtown and other urban areas a long time ago, and as a result, city real estate is generally worth more than suburban real estate. There is a lot of "infill" development, and scores of people have fixed up pre-WWII housing in the last couple decades, so there are lots of old neighborhoods that are deemed very desirable.

[Arugula Latte]

31. Detroit is fascinating me.

The first major American Ruin city (if you don't count New Orleans, which will eventually make somewhat of a comeback, although possibly on a smaller scale).

Artists are moving into $100 houses. Community gardens are springing up on abandoned lots. Grand, majestic buildings are crumbling. Foxes roaming the streets ... Wow.

[FarCenter]

33. The auto industry never really gave a damn about Detroit

It has been going downhill steadily since the '60s.

Oh, there were token efforts, like the Ren Center. But the auto industry moved out of Detroit.

[Odin2005]

34. Ghost towns along the highway...

[NWHarkness]

37. Those foxes have always been there

I've seen them since I was a kid, forty years ago.

But, hey, never let the facts get in the way of a good Detroit bashing.

[janx]

60. It's an ANIMAL story--

sure to sell! ;-)

I'm not surprised. Foxes and coyotes and very resilient and adaptable.

[Larkspur]

40. New York City ought to consider inviting the red fox into its borders

Give them rabies vaccinations and set them loose after the city rats.

[Larkspur]

43. Or can we call the death of Detroit "Tecumseh's Revenge"

Tecumseh joined British Major-General Sir Isaac Brock in the siege of Detroit, and forced its surrender in August 1812. As Brock advanced to a point just out of range of Detroit's guns, Tecumseh had his approximately four hundred warriors parade from a nearby wood and circle around to repeat the maneuver, making it appear that there were many more than was actually the case. The fort commander, Brigadier General William Hull, surrendered in fear of a massacre should he refuse. The victory was of a great strategic value to the invaders.

[BlooInBloo]

48. I thought Redd Foxx died.

[Arugula Latte]

49. Here are spooky, beautiful photos of some of the decay in Detroit:

http://abduzeedo.com/27-super-cool-pictures-detroit

[ellie]

78. Nice photos!

I love Detroit.

[Brigid]

83. Wow! That really does look like "Life After People;"

I wonder if this is where History Channel got the idea.

[Liberal_in_LA]

101. cool pics. Living in LA, it's hard to imagine so much empty space

[salin]

52. I worked in Detroit 15 yrs ago. At that time there were an ave. of 3 abandoned homes per block.

This has been a slow, but steady escalation of despair. I used to drive through neighborhoods with slow decay, and be saddened. Decent sized homes - with likely family histories within them - now standing empty and inviting vandalism/vulturism (stripping anything that might have value such as copper tubing.)

Those who think this is a Detroit thing... I now live in Indianapolis - and in core urban neighborhoods there are often at least three empty homes per block. I wouldn't dismiss the Detroit story to soon, it could be the 'cassandra' (future seer) for midwestern, urban cities.

[Brigid]

93. I live in Terre Haute.

It's not exactly rare to see empty, derelict home here either. And it, too, was once a thriving smaller city that has been bleeding jobs since the '60's. Yes, this could be the future for most urban areas very soon.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

54. Dun-dun-den-ah, dun-dun-den-ah-den-ah-dun...

[Wednesdays]

55. K&R

:kick:

[Festivito]

57. Red's ebb and wane over decades in west-side mile-wide parks.

The rabbit population would noticeably rise, then fall to nothing. Five to ten years of increase then a two-year fall. After a fall a a scraggly red fox could be seen as opposed to the well proportioned one seen at the top of his eating cycle.

The rabbits are plentiful again. I imagine red is a happy family man again.

[NashVegas]

59. Y'Know .... Detroit Could Become a Telecommuter's Paradise

Right now, you could buy a decent house for under $20k in some areas. If you can get one on enough land to subsistence farm, you're set.

[janx]

62. For those of you who haven't heard what foxes sound like:

http://www.angelfire.com/ar2/thefoxden/sounds.html

Here is a whole range of sounds. They are usually heard at night or in the wee hours of the morning.

[madmom]

67. OMG, I was listening to these and my cat went ballistic!

[havocmom]

90. My cat just slapped the retriever

Poor dog was asleep, looking around like: huh? wha... cat is stomping mad

[alfredo]

65. Is there still a population of deer on Belle Isle?

Detroit was going feral back as far as the mid 70's, especially around Wayne State. Many abandoned lots were overgrown, dogs had gone feral and formed packs. You walked down the middle of the street so if something, dog or predatory human, is hiding in the weeds. At least that gave you time to pull your gun or knife. I carried a Bedouin dagger.

Only had to use it once, and that was against some of Barry Gordy's punks who were trying to strong arm me. They were trying to shake me down for some weed. I didn't have any and they didn't believe me. They left after they decided that it wasn't worth getting cut for a bit of smoke.

BTW, not all of Gordy's people were thugs, they had some classy people working for him, but his hanger ons were scum.

[thistooshalllpass]

68. Here is what angers me about this the most:

the glut of housing that led to our financial collapse caused so many acres of forests and other natural areas to become developed and now what? They are just sitting there, we don't have the oxygen from the trees and plants that were cut down to build these Mcmonstrosities and the poor wildlife have no homes!

[ellie]

80. Exactly

I fucking hate urban sprawl and the tearing up of farmland for ugly houses when cities are dying. It is the stupidest, wasteful thing.

[Taitertots]

102. So you are moving to Detroit?

You can buy a giant house for under $10,000.

[thistooshalllpass]

69. I live in a suburb a few blocks from the woods now

and the other day I heard a commotion in the backyard. Some kids had seen a fawn next door in the other backyard. I was wondering when this would happen because there have been many sightings lately.

[BreweryYardRat]

70. Eh, red foxes will go just about anywhere that has the right conditions.

Lots of water, lots of underbrush? You get foxes. Doesn't matter if it's in the woods or an overgrown yard. Abandoned houses don't make much difference. Foxes only care about houses if there are dogs in the yard on a regular basis.

There used to be a family of red foxes living in my parents' overgrown backyard. In the middle of Floridian suburbia, along a canal the city didn't bother to dredge. Every house along that canal had people living in it year-round. Foxes eventually moved on, but they didn't give two shits about the people nearby. They stayed out of yards with dogs, but that was the only concession they made to humans.

[Brigid]

85. This might make a good subject for Michael Moore's next movie.

After he finishes the one about corporate greed that he's working on now.

[Name removed]

87. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slampoet]

92. I lived in the wilds of Michigan for 20 years and NEVER ONCE saw a fox. This really is rare.

[Taitertots]

99. I live in Dearborn and see fox quite regularly n/t

[sakabatou]

94. There's a pair of red tail's that nest on my street

I forget when, but they always nest around the same time.

[Tabasco_Dave]

98. If the Freepers try to overthrow the government

we can arrest and send them to Detroit and turn the city into a maximum security prison, just like the movie Escape From New York. Even if it doesn't happen in real life, it would be a cool remake.

[Liberal_in_LA]

100. ha ha... I remember that movie. Detroit doesn't want a bunch of freepers