Monday, November 27, 2017

Monday Mischief or Mayhem


So we have a tale of mischief to tell you today.  We will let you decide who or what is causing the mischief or maybe the mayhem for Mom.


So why are we showing you this photo of Angel Ciara and Lightning?  Try to focus on the tree in the background behind the one with the pretty pink flowers.   Mom forgot to take a more recent photo of the tree before it met its fate.



More Angel Ciara? - Yep, this tree, Mom says it is a juniper.


Ah - snow, glorious snow. But still focus on that tree - if you look closely, you can see some little berries mixed in with the snow.


That brings us to the present - where is THAT tree???

Mom and Dad had some men come here on Saturday - they were only about a week or so late - and they chopped down that big 25 foot tree.  You see, it was full of some little berries that looked very much like blueberries.  But NOT blueberries.  They were very hard and there were thousands of them, literally.  The birds used to devour all the berries, but they didn't seem to come so much this year - maybe they figured out what Mom found out online about these berries.


So the big tree crashed to the ground, and even though Mom asked the guys to put a tarp under the tree BEFORE it fell, they didn't.  And the berries spread everywhere.  Mom was so busy worrying about all the berries that she didn't get any pics of the fallen tree. 



Mom spent a lot of time on her hands and knees picking the berries out of the grass one by one. She swears there had to be 87 bazillion of them. She didn't come anywhere near getting all of them. But she was determined to get as many as she could. And why would she do THAT?  


The toxic parts of the "Blue Star" juniper are the berries, needles and stems. Juniperus species are in the toxicity class two. This means they possess a minor toxicity that will most likely not kill your dog, but it will make him sick if he ingests the plant parts. Vomiting and diarrhea are symptoms of ingestion.  So that explains why Misty was sick about two weeks ago, and Timber was VERY sick on Thanksgiving Day.  Lightning was never sick, but he had been very quiet for a few days.  How did Mom figure out we were eating them?  Aside from some pretty bad vomiting and nausea on the part of Misty and Timber, there was concrete physical proof.  We don't have any photos as evidence, but you know what they say - what goes IN must come OUT!!!  

Mom and Dad decided that the tree HAD to go. And now we just need to hope that the guys who came today to bag our leaves managed to scoop up the remaining berries.



So who do you think was mischievous?  The previous owners for planting that tree?  The tree for producing those berries? The birds who didn't want to eat them?  Dad for giving us REAL blueberries and making us think those tree berries were blueberries?  Or US???  Mom says she thinks it was all of those things that just brought her lots and lots of grief and mayhem.

Mom, if you give us some of those pumpkin bears in your paws, we promise we won't eat any more berries and you won't have to worry any more.

Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber


31 comments:

  1. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH NO. MY WORD AND OH MYS STARS. I'M SO SORRY TO READ ABOUT THE THANKSGIVING ILLNESS...THAT IS THE WORST AND TO BE ON A HOLIDAY.
    BLESS YOUR LITTLE HEARTS MISTY AND TIMBER. LIGHTNING YOUR MUST HAVE A STRONGER TUMMY. Your sweet mom on her hands and knees trying to pick them up.
    My goodness
    I REALLY THINK PEOPLE SHOULD INVESTIGATE TOXICITY OF PLANTS BEFORE PUTTING
    THEM IN THEIR YARD. A BIPED COULD HAVE EASILY MISTAKEN THEM FOR BLUEBERRIES TOO. 2ND FAULT LIES IN THE TREE GUYS NOT PUTTING A TARP DOWN.
    I hope and pray the guys who came for the debris today were able to get up the remainder
    Hugs madi and mom

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  2. My goodness, poor Mom, but I sure am glad that she saved you all from the evil berries!

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  3. Hari OM
    Oh heck - not just you, but kids could also think these were blueberries!!! Juniper is lovely in the forests, but they don't need to be in gardens. Oh my oh my.. I's just so glad you all are okay and mum was ON TO IT... Yaaay for mums. Hugs and wags, YAM-aunty xxx

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  4. You poor babies! And poor Mom and Dad. So sorry you all had to go through that. Hope everyone is feeling better now.

    Thank goodness the tree is gone.

    Take care.

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  5. So happy no one was SERIOUSLY ill. That tree had to go. We only know about the juniper berries used to make gin and put in game meats. Didn't know there were toxic ones. Hope all those berries are out of your yard soon!

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  6. Such pretty berries to khause such delikhate issues!

    Of khourse, it is the birdies fault fur not eating their share!

    Hugz&Khysses,
    Khyra&Holly

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  7. That's the first thing we noticed was the beautiful pink flowers on that tree. We had no idea that Juniper berries were bad news! Mom would be out there with the shop vac and vacuuming the lawn! We sure hope all of those nasty blue berries gone!

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  8. So sorry you guys were sick and Mom had to do all that work picking up the juniper berries. Too bad she couldn't vacuum them up!

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  9. Yes, juniper berries are bad. We also learned about nandina berries. There used to be six bushes in the yard with beautiful berries. When the pups were born, Dad dug them all up and moved them outside the fence. Now the peeps can still see them, but we dogs can't get to them.

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  10. Your poor Mom - so much work and she had to be SO worried. I didn't know that about junipers - we are glad we just non-berried spruce trees in our yard.

    Abby Lab

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  11. We are so happy no one was seriously ill. All I know about juniper berries is you put them with game meats or vodka. Didn't know there were toxic

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  12. We hope those berries are gone from your yard. That is no fun to get sick from something in your yard.

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  13. OH NO! Shyla started eating juniper berries while we were in the desert. They were from Utah Juniper trees. Now I need to research them. She didn't get sick so maybe they're okay.

    I'm glad that your mom was SO smart to figure out why you got sick and got rid of the evil tree. It's definitely the fault of those previous owners. No one should ever plant anything poisonous to dogs! How could they? ;)

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  14. oh no! Hope the berries are all gone now. people should be careful what they plant around homes. We have some kind of vine plant that we have a hard time getting totally rid of, It has red berries that we do not want the pugs eating.
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  15. Wow...we are so glad your Mama learned about those berries and got the tree taken down! Mama is really allergic to Juniper pollen so we try not to live anywhere near them!
    xoxo,
    Jakey, Arty & Rosy

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  16. I'm so glad your mama became a treasure hunter and gathered all that blue berries what are NO blueberries... we had the same with an aucuba, the berries and the leaves are poisonous and my smart dad cut it and dragged the branches with the berries through the whole garden... the mama felt like cinderella who had to find the peas and lentils in the ashes...

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  17. Ahhh, that is very interesting....as I (Leah) am very keen to scoffing whatever I find on the ground and the tree at the front of my house does have berries suspiciously like those berries. That could explain thingys happening here....maybe the cotoneaster is getting the blame in error?
    Hope you are all feeling much better now that tree has gone and the juniper berries have gone to make gin fur my Mum!!!!
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  18. I bet the peeps who had the house before had no idea what PROBLEMS they were starting by planting that juniper but indeed those berries look TEMPTING. No fault of yours gang for giving them a try but just see how ICKY you felt afterwards? Glad that tree is gone.....and hopefully the "residual berries" too! There are more pawsome snacks to be had from those TREAT BAGS - believe me!

    Hugs, Teddy

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  19. Thank goodness you found the cause, I feel so bad for you! There are a number of dog flus going around though...Dakota threw up twice this past Sunday...I put him on boiled chicken and rice (after fasting him for about 15 hrs) and he ate that for 24 hrs, just weaning back on to his regular food today, so maybe it wasn't the berries after all, but better safe than sorry! DakotasDen

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  20. Wow, that is really scary. So glad the Woos are all right. Poor Mom picking up all those berries. But she saved you three Woo's lives.What a scary thing to go through. Sure sending lots of hugs and like I said, so glad the Woos are all right.

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  21. OMD! It's grreat that your momma figured out what the cause of you getting sick was. I think that tree was VERY mean to make those berries that look JUST like blueberries to fool you Woos!

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  22. Oh dear, gotta get rid of those! Did the lawnmower suck them up?

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  23. Oh my! That's pretty scary! It's sad when trees have to come down but there was no other option with that tree because of those berries! We're glad it's all gone so none of you get sick from it again!

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  24. I am so sorry you got sick. This was Mother Nature's fault. She plays tricks. I hope all those berries are gone. Sometimes a shop vac on the grass can bring up bad things that are unseen. Your mom will just have to explain to your mother why she is vacuuming the lawn

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  25. Thank goodness the Woos are all ok now.
    I can't imagine 3 pups all sick must have been very
    scary for you. Can you suck up the berries with
    a shop vac? Oh we still have 87 million leaves
    from our tree in the backyard to rake up. ugh.
    xo Astro

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  26. Oh my goodness, definitely a chain reaction with everyone playing a role. They do look very much like blueberries. Glad you were able to figure out what was making everyone sick. My back hurts just thinking about you picking them all up one by one. Ugh!

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  27. That is truly a sobering tale (hey, aren't juniper berries used to make gin?).

    Woofs,
    Tommy

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  28. Oh my Woos good news on our blanket of golden leaves....the are all in the
    natural area in the back and will live there unraked.
    MOLMOL
    Hugs madi and mom

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  29. Oh my! Our mom knows of some of those trees around here, so she now knows to look out for them...because I like to scarf up everything I can find!

    Kiki

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  30. hello woos its dennis the vizsla dog oh hay wow wot a meen tree preetending to hav blooberreez wen reely it had nightlock berreez!!! wel maybe not nightlock berreez but stil nuthing yoo wood want to eet!!! gud riddanse bad tree!!! i am shoor yoo wil all be feeling better for a gud long time now that it is gawn!!! ok bye

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  31. Wooo well done to your detective mom, what a crazy tree wanting to make dogs sick. Pleased it has gone and you guys can continue to eat blueberries without being worried about mixing them with juniper berries.

    Khumbu and co

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