Straight up questions.

[GarlicEater]

I don't know if they actually remove homeless people from Irvine, but it's hard enough to live there if you have money, I'm sure it's unlivable if you don't. Gotta walk MILES to go anywhere, nothing but expensive but blah-quality stuff in vast malls, traffic that will KILL you if you are walking, etc.

Irvine is lifeless. Good place to go if you want to mummify ahead of your time. Maybe it's the safest city but they tend to have these really bizarre murders and suicides and various forms of psycho violence there.

Maybe there are no homeless people there because the homeless people have taste.

 

[PineappleMama]

Quote:
Red eared sliders. My Bro had one when he was a kid. Now there are laws on the book that you cannot sell any turtle (and/or tortoise?) that's shell is less than 4" wide. For some breeds that means you can't sell them period, but for many it just means you can't sell them when they're uber young. That was the case with the sliders. TONS of people would get the cute baby turtle, fit in your little son's hand, isn't he cute... and then flip out when they finally figured out that that bad boy would end up as big as a dinner plate, or bigger, and would need a HUGE tank. If you go down to the botanical gardens in Ft Worth the pond is overflowing with them. WAY more than would naturally occur, limited food and all... but it's a free place, anyone can walk in, and dump a little turtle into a pond already filled with them and no one is the wiser. Or into your local creek, lake, etc. So, to prevent that kind of thing they now sell only ones that are 4" wide, so there's no mistaking that it won't stay a cute tiny little critter. Not that that stops morons from dumping animals, but I like to think maybe it helps some.

 

[annageckos]

Quote:
There were most likely red ear sliders. Turtles are illegal in some states, like NJ. And the sale of turtles with a carapace length of less then four inches is illegal to sell unless it is for 'educational purposes'. That law started after the red ear sliders became really popular. From what I understand it was because a turtle under four inches is the perfect size for a small child to put into it's mouth. Honestly, I think that law is stupid. Some parents can't or don't watch their kids so make it illegal for everyone to own a smaller turtle.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

I seem to remember someone (pet store owner?) telling me they can give you a disease of some sort? salmonella?

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

Quote:
True, to a point, but I have had various reptile and amphibian pets for over 20 years now and have never caught salmonella from them.... Most likely because my folks believed in teaching us to wash our hands when we were done handling whatever "pet" we had at the time (ie turtle, iguana, skink, newt, snake, frog, etc)

 

[PineappleMama]

Quote:
Yeah there's that too. Most kids aren't the least afraid of a teeny tiny turtle and will hold it and pet it and call it George... and then not remember to wash their hands and get sick.

 

[Laurajean]

Quote:
Oh god, I cringe when I hear "homeless" being categorized as "bums". There are bums among the homeless for sure, but many of the homeless are not bums. Please be more compassionate....

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Quote:
I hope not, because I catch worms and feed them to the chickens

 

[Moochie]

I am very compassionate about the homeless. Well, I call them hobos and hobos are automatically cool to me. I saw one at 4 corners here in Cali with a dag and a shopping cart full of Advil! Odd, I wondered how the dog was fed.

 

[caspernc]

yeah, only in sourhern CA. Los Angeles is so great. We only found wonderfull people there.