Jan Ian Balzer

That's a monster of a project! In my opinion before starting a funding project, there really should be a working concept outlined. Else it even feels more promising to contribute to buildtheenterprise.org who try to construct an open source spacecraft or new launch methods.

Note that the Outernet system is both offline, reactive (information like hazard forecast might not reach you in time due to low data transmission) and 1-way. You can't call for help and you can't download an permaculture ebook that you might suddenly need (because it's one-way => you only get the data that is sent to you - it'd be pretty cool if they'd know you are in trouble and need a survival book a priori, but unfortunately we never know beforehand when we are in trouble or in need of tsunami data or whatever).

Don't want to be the showstopper, but don't you think those funds put into planting food forrests in poor countries might help lessen our planet's sufferings more?
Consider how expensive it is to maintain such a system - and it's easy to manipulate like every system where content is controlled at some point/location.

As an alternative Amateur radio already exists, make the certification and then request the information you need from other amateur operators around the globe - or use the moon for data transmission, half the planet can see it at any time in infrared ...

Thank you for this detailed and exciting to read message, Geoff! I liked reading it and it will definitely help me further
as I was already very worried about the complication with dogs - especially as my love (and me too) could not bear loosing the dog (still less than a year old) in such an attack. Okay, it's not easy to loose the Llama, too, but I think a Llama will not tempt us that much to see it as a pet - as you already said.

Now I still have to figure out if the Llamas have a special relationship to goats (or bigger animals) or if they would try to protect smaller animals like chickens too.

Did you have the younger dog as addition to the Llama in the beginning? When the Llama was still young I mean? Or did it start protecting the goats quite immediately?


edit: I just realized I missed several postings, have to read through, probably stopped after the first page ...

Susan Monroe wrote:It is bait in a sense.  For instance, if you have chickens and raccoons:  put the proper amount of that Lithium chloride in a dead chicken and let the raccoon eat it.  The Lithium chloride is not detectable, and it makes the raccoon sick and nauseous. It happens fast enough so the raccoon makes the connection between his sickness and the chicken, so it doesn't want to eat chickens again.

Sue

That sounds quite good. It should explain it all. Perhaps you overread it, Leah. As long as it is not tastable it will work. The question always is how to prepare it in that a way that it works.

And if an individual coyote or horde of them will be forced away by another horde, you have to be prepared for replaying the scenario - but how? And of course, you have to get all the potential predators to get a bite of that sick making stuff.

Perhaps the more general solution always will stay one Llama or two dogs?

Any further research on this topic in the meantime? I mean if it will work with more than one Llamas, too?
And don't the Llamas need more fooed than the dogs? Hence more spendings? (i'm not certain on this point at all)

many regards, Jan