- 1516 Campbell Rd. [HAR]
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Tag: Critters
The proprietor of The Green Bone is hoping to turn this former office warehouse at the far eastern edge of East Downtown into a new home for the doggie daycare, hemp-treat outlet, and espresso stop. The Green Bone currently operates in this still-for-sale building at 2104 Leeland St., 1 mile to the southwest. Its envisioned future home in the warehouse at the corner of Rusk and Paige, which The Green Bone purchased at the beginning of this year, would encompass 3,429 sq. ft. at the corner of Rusk and Paige.
COULD COYOTES BE KILLING THE KITTIES OF TIMBERGROVE AND LAZYBROOK? 
Over the past six years Jennifer Estopinal has recorded the violent demises of about two dozen house cats in Timbergrove and Lazybrook. Their manners of death have typically been grisly — some were beheaded, others bisected, in some cases paws were removed — and on some occasion the cadavers have appeared to have been left on display. It’s all been enough to raise suspicions that a sicko serial kitty killer was at work. There is now a hefty bounty on the alleged predator’s head: four different donors have cobbled together a kitty of almost $25,000 in reward money. But might the killings simply be nature taking its course? Last month a coyote was sighted brazenly attempting to enter the lobby of the Bayou Bend Towers at Memorial and Westcott. More recently, Estopinal and husband Mark saw another of the canine carnivores while out patrolling Timbergrove in search of the culprit. At the corner of Ella and Grovewood (not far from forested W. 11th St. Park), the Estopinals saw and pursued a coyote, watching as it attempted to raid a pet-food bowl on a front porch, then chase a cat, Â then scale a 6-foot privacy fence “with ease.” Mystery solved? Possibly, if only partially, Estopinal believes. “I’d like to believe a coyote is what’s been killing so many cats lately,” she posted in a neighborhood group message board. “I think its possible a few could have been but not all, as there are too many things that have been done that would’ve been impossible for a coyote.” [Houston News; CultureMap] Photo: Mark Estopinal
What should League City expect with the first Houston-area Cabela’s, set to open in a year’s time near the Big League Dreams Sports Park off the Gulf Fwy. and Big League Dreams Pkwy.? All the wonders of wildlife and its stalkers brought indoors, for your perusal and entertainment. That means vast arrangements of deceased but realistic-looking animals mounted in museum-like displays, a “gun library” where you’ll be able to check out the latest in classic, antique, collectible, or just plain hoard-able firearms, an indoor archery range, a fudge shop, and other tourist attractions. Plus, for local flatlanders who may never have seen one, an actual mountain replica. All displayed as it should be, in a big-roofed, fully air-conditioned space not far from Kohl’s and H-E-B.
At 72,000 sq. ft., the store will only be one-third the size of the chain’s behemoth in Fort Worth, but it’ll be bigger than the outposts in Waco and Lubbock. A company press release says the store will feature log construction, as well as other outdoorsy-store mainstays such as metal roofing, wood siding, and stone add-ons.
Photos of Buda (interior) and Allen (exterior) stores: Cabela’s
Outdoors Indoors
How is it that Kyle Naegeli is able to catch so many fish — including bluegills, bass, and catfish — simply by dropping lines into the storm-sewer inlet at the intersection of Carnation St. and Camilia Ct. in Katy? Well, the now-16-year-old has had 4 years of practice fishing in the same sewer, for one thing — as attested to by the many videos demonstrating his more recent exploits, available on his YouTube channel. (His latest bass catch — demonstrating Naegeli’s well-honed long-arm grab technique — is shown above.)
And it doesn’t hurt that the same inlet drains directly into a large pond south of Bartlett Rd. and behind the houses on Carnation St. — where Naegeli regularly fishes as well, and the bass are jumping:
The Fishing Channel
- 5506 Verdome Ln. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: GUIDELINES FOR BOVINE FLOOR DECOR 
“Apropos of nothing, is it normal to have a cow hide rug outside? I wouldn’t have one inside because they are gross, but it seems more egregious to have one outside. I am not sure why though, I mean the original owner of the hide was outside.” [OhMyPie; commenting on Townhome Complex Now Showing Off Amazing Views of Park Its Developers Were Fined for Clear-Cutting] Illustration: Lulu
TURNING THE FERAL HOGS OF BARKER AND ADDICKS RESERVOIRS INTO PORK CHOPS FOR THE NEEDY 
Yesterday county commissioners approved a 1-year contract yesterday with Brookshire’s J&J Packing Co. (pictured at left at 35602 W. Hwy. 90) to slaughter and butcher feral hogs found damaging sports fields and other facilities in and around West Houston’s George Bush Park and Congressman Bill Archer Park and turn them into meat for area food banks. Harris County precinct 3 employees will now be responsible for trapping the hogs and transporting them to the Brookshire plant for processing. “The plan is to trap the varmints in four, 4-acre fenced structures — two in each park — where they can survive for up to several weeks, having grass, water and room to move around,” writes Kiah Collier. “The larger traps will be more effective than smaller ones employees have been using, [Precinct 3 special activities coordinator Mike] McMahan said, because the pigs do not realize they are in a trap and are less likely to panic and warn others. ‘Pigs become very aware of those situations very quickly,’ McMahan said. ‘Pigs are very smart animals.’ But a wildlife disease biologist tells Collier that similar plans tried elsewhere have turned out to be very expensive, and that there are disease risks: “It’s great publicity while it works,” says Brian Mesenbrink with the Texas offices of the USDA’s Wildlife Services, “but the minute something goes wrong, the minute somebody gets sick, there’s going to be all hell to pay. No one thinks about that going into it. They just see the fuzzy and warm side of it.” [Houston Chronicle ($)] Photo: J&J Packing Co.
- 11522 SW Aucuba Ln. [HAR]
- 2535 Glen Haven Blvd. [HAR]
An episode of Animal Planet’s hit show Call of the Wildman that aired 5 months ago featured the show’s star Ernie Brown Jr. (who goes by the nickname “Turtleman”) and his sidekick Neal James ridding a Montrose beauty salon of an infestation of about 20 Mexican free-tailed bats. The escapade filmed in the back storage rooms of the Jazzy Girls Beauty Boutique on West Alabama St. just east of Shepherd was only one of several dozens of purported animal rescues performed by Turtleman “with his bare hands” in the course of the top-rated Sunday night cable TV show, which is now in its third season. In the other segment of the episode, called “Bat Hair Day,” he rescues a raccoon from a cave.
The supposedly cruelty-free “live action” Montrose winged-creature extrication, which was filmed in April, was reported locally in the Chronicle and Culturemap as another quirky Turtleman success story shortly before the episode aired in early August. But an investigation published earlier this week by Mother Jones reveals that the show’s creators had themselves planted the bats in the salon to allow them to film Turtleman and his assistant removing them.
Jazzy Girls Have Left the Building
Eco-conscious chickens and a dog are the beneficiaries of the just-announced award-winning entries in the Houston division of the annual National ReUse Contest, coordinated locally by the city’s ReUse Warehouse at 9003 N. Main St. Tend Building‘s first-place canine riff on the Beer Can House (at top), called the K-9 Can Cabin, incorporates wood framing and siding found at the ReUse Warehouse, cedar fence slats, reclaimed shutters, a glass mosaic forged from the cast-offs of a local stained-glass company, and aluminum-can shingles. Only the fasteners and sealers are new. Taking third place is this chicken coop forged from used doors, windows, and lumber by Smitty Regula. Entertainment is provided by the roof and removable side panels, cut from local political signage.
- Announcement – Our Local Winners In The National Reuse Contest [The Building Materials ReUse Warehouse Newsletter]
- The 2013 TRP National Reuse Contest [The ReUse People]
- 2013 National Reuse Contest [City of Houston]
Photos: ReUse Warehouse
Nothing New
- 922 W. 42nd St. [HAR]
