About Me

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Over the years, I've grown to learn that I'm thankful for all things the Lord has bestowed upon me, both in plenty and in want, as I know that even "times of testing" are tools He uses to refine our character and put us in position to better receive and appreciate Him and the good and abundant things He has for us, pressed down, shaken together, and over-flowing. It’s now 2012, a lot has transpired in the last 4 yrs., and I've developed my own photography business that stands on "Quality without Compromise." It's called Sandra Koster Photography, and you can find me at my website, and on Facebook, where I have both a Page and a Group by the same name. My Mission Statement: To bring to you and your families the essence of the moment, those treasures in time that are memorialized by the awesome invention of the camera. There is no part of God's creation, from the moon to the molecule, on land or under the sea, no animal, plant or bug too big or too small for my attentions. From inland, to the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, to the country, to the jungle, to the shores of the tropical seas I pledge quality work, without compromise.

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Shoo!TAGs Update





Hi Y'all, it is now Thurs. July 2, 2009 and I'd like to convey my latest observations regarding these tags for the various animals and myself. The news reports for June have indicated that 6 or so horses have been confirmed in 3 separate counties surrounding my county to have contracted Eastern Encephalitis, and given the initial dry conditions, the intense heat, and now the very wet conditions, we are at the peak of mosquito/fly/flea season in North Central FL.

June 23rd, as last mentioned, I did return the dog tags to Shoo!TAG for them to scan in order to verify the encoding. I am yet to get the results, but they did notify me that they received the tags on the 28th. I'll keep you apprised when I learn more about them, but I'm fully convinced, given the evidence of effectiveness of the other tags, that my dog tags must have been corrupted.

June 28th I bathed both of my dogs, both goats, and my horse with VIP-20 Iodine Shampoo. The mild solution was not rinsed off. I also sprayed the outside of my house, along with the 3 porches, with Indoor/Outdoor house pest spray which says it will kill scorpions, ants, silverfish, roaches, fleas, and the like. While I was spraying around the front porch, in a known "mosquito-ville", I received 2 bites, one to the inside of my right thumb, and one behind my right knee.

Additionally, I spread the Sevin granules along the 12ft. wide security path surrounding the one, one-acre paddock, and lightly spread some Sevin dust on the spot under the tree where Sandy dog lays in the sand.

On June 30th I fully scrutinized the body of my Yellow Tabby, 21 lb. Sorbet. I was very impressed that he did not have even one visible flea crawling on him.

On July 1st, at about 6:30 a.m, I put 2.25 ml of Frontline Plus on Cowboy (60 lb. dog) and 1.5 ml on Sandy dog (40 lbs.). I also sprayed their feet, ears, and hind quarters with an "all natural" herbal mosquito/pest spray called "Beat It", that contains: Citronella, Eucalyptus oil, Tee Tree, Neem, Sweet Orange, lemongrass, & other essential oils blended in Aloe Vera gel and Wheat germ oil.

Around 8:00 a.m., when I went to feed the horse and goats, I saw around 4 flies nesting atop Hertzy's back, and about 6 under his belly. This is the first time in 21 days that the flies have landed on him and stayed so I immediately went to check to see if the tags were still on him. To my surprise, the fly tag was very scratched up, but not the mosquito tag. The scratches were pretty deep. So, I sprayed him lightly with Pyranha fly spray, cleaned off the tags of residue, and went to work.

At around 6 p.m., there were a few flies on him again, but they were slow moving and I swatted them dead.

July 2nd, at 8:00 a.m. I went to feed the horse and goats and no flies were on him much to my surprise. Stacey at http://www.genuineShooTAG.com did say his energy field may have been weak on July 1st, but it may have also been a combination of the scratched up tag, the residues & body oils on the magnetic strip, and the fact that the mosquito tag (which had a piece of scotch tape preventing it from eclipsing the fly tag) had come loose and was covering the good portion of the fly tag, thereby blocking the frequency.

After feedtime, I proceeded to do a "Spring Mucking" of his and the goats stall. I also dusted the mats with a wee bit of Sevin dust to kill the ants that were climbing on my goats feet and biting them. Fresh straw was laid atop the mats.

Around 11 a.m., I recorded a new video using my cellphone since there were about 50+ flies in the stall, swarming inside his feed tub, yet none were on him. When I swished them prior to recording, they all landed on my face, arms and legs, but still only 2 landed on the lower region of his legs. The new video is called Equine Shoo!TAG at 22 days with Scratches.

It is now 7:13 p.m. and I am about to go feed the horse and goats again and will let you know what's up.

Feedtime was uneventful. No flies were on my horse though a zillion were swarming his empty feed tub. Upon putting the new food in, the flies continued to swarm, but none were landing on my horse, signifying that the tags, though damaged, are certainly still working quite well.

All around the feed tubs of the goats, flies continued to swarm their pellets and sweetfeed. Mind you it's about 95 degees outside with high humidity.

It's now 8:25 p.m., and while hanging out with my kids, I received 3 small mosquito bites: one to below the lateral knee, which was very small, one to the inside of the right calf, and one to the outside of the right wrist. All this to say that while the Shoo!TAGs are NOT 100% effective, Lord knows that I'd never be outside in shorts and short sleeves during the "mosquito hours" without the confidence that the damages I were to incur were to be minimal.

See ya next post!

Well, while I was feeding, at 7:00 p.m. I received an e-mail from Stacey Lemire at Shoo!TAG notifying me that while the encoding on my canine tags was intact, nonetheless there was a problem with them as it they had to put them through the reader several times to get positive results on the information. So...hallelujah, as not only are they sending me 2 new tags for both of my dogs, they are also sending me 2 new fly tags for my horse! See...ask and you shall receive, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing!

And by the way, still no fleas visible on Sorbet cat either.

Thank you Lord