Raccoon problems, which we’ve reported on before, apparently persist in Shepherd Park. Discussion on a neighborhood list has recently explored how to keep the critters from feasting on garbage:

Writes one poster:

Currently, a racoon is having his dinner out of my neighbors trash can. It is seldom with a lid and often trash is placed beside it, rather than in it.

If we keep feeding these animals, they will continue to come back. The family will come to feed also and we will suddenly wake up and be surprised that we are overrun with raccoons, rats and the like.

It is really not that hard to put the trash in the container and shut the lid!

This has been going on for over a year and nothing changes, why?

Among the responses:

Rocks can help. So can finking out your neighbor:

Even with the lid on the can a raccoon is still able to get inside. My husband found that out the hard way when he took trash out one night. When he opened the lid, a raccoon looked up at him and then jumped out and ran away. What we have started doing is to put a heavy rock on top so that they can’t open it. But if your neighbor’s trash can is in the alley with the trash beside it you can call 202-727-1000 and say that you want to make a complaint regarding loose trash. But you would have to make sure that the government can get there before it is picked up so that they can see it and give your neighbor a ticket. Enough tickets might get them to keep their area cleaner.

There’s a great future in plastics. And elastics. And Lysol:

Any future upgrade of the Supercans in D.C. needs to incorporate a heavier grade of plastic & a quick-release latch on the front of the cans.

Another short-term solution is to purchase the appropriate length elastic tie-down strap. Stretch the strap from the handle on the rear of the can across the top & secure it to the aluminum upload bar on the front of the can.

Keep the contents sprayed with Lysol aerosol to cover the smell of food products.

Reader’s Digest has a new study that ranks countries and major cities.

On the cities front:

Using different data, we analyzed 72 major international cities and ranked them in terms of being green and livable. The sources included The Millennium Cities Database for Sustainable Transport (2001) by Jeff Kenworthy and Felix Laube of Australia’s Murdoch University, the World Bank’s Development Economic Research Group Estimates, and our own reporting on local environmental laws, energy prices, garbage production and disposal, and parkland.

And D.C., it turns out, scores pretty well, finishing in the top 25. And it’s the second best in the United States—behind New York but ahead of Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, and others.

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

Bush nixes more money for a kids’ health insurance program while the police union weighs in on the age-old question: Keys or feet? (DCist)

Bill’s valuable to Hillary’s campaign. Oh, and white males are a key demo. (Wonkette)

A Berkeley education is now a hell of a lot cheaper. And there’s good news for fans of Imus and/or that post-apocalyptic CBS show starring Skeet Ulrich. (mediabistro.com)

More dispatches on the Shepherd Park message board about life with raccoons.

My neighbor and I captured 3 raccoons in a trap and released them about 5 miles or so in Rock Creek park.. There was a set of five that was noticed. We live on 1600 block of Roxanna Rd

And:

I had a party Saturday evening (7900 block 13th St). We had lots of people talking, music, etc. in the house and backyard. My front door was open and glass screen door closed. I was at the front door talking with 3 other people when I saw a very large raccoon, on my front porch, looking into the house through the glass. I screamed and it ran. Not sure if it was rabid but it did not have a problem coming that close to humans that were making a lot of noise.

A hapless cat isn’t the only animal to pop up on Shepherd Park’s message board.

Reports one poster:

I came face to face (fact to snout?) with a raccoon in my back yard last evening. A neighbor with whom I spoke moments later said she had already called animal control, though she’s clearly too young to be the senior mentioned to Sharon. The creature eventually scurried away. Is there anything else one should do if in the presence of a raccoon?

Among the responses:

My friend scared off a raccoon in her attic using rags soaked in ammonia and dog urine.? I have seen a raccoon in my driveway twice in the past few months, so I’m going to try it.? I’ll tell you if it works outside.

And:

We put moth crystals in the eaves or our attic in the fall to deter raccoons. Moth balls do not work as well as cyrstals since raccoons can manipulate the balls. But better moth balls than nothing.

The first poster responds:

will have to try that as the little bugger nipped at my ankle tonight on my deck. no broken skin or anything, but not a good sign. be on the lookout, folks.

A Roundup of Morning Roundups

Debate on Iraq policy took up more than a third of our collective attention last week, Google’s still number one, and CBS gets busy perfecting its swing. (Fishbowl DC)

Ponzi schemes never get old! (The Ag)

It’s bad to shutter movie houses, even the small ones; FOIA strikes again. (DCist)

From a City Paper restaurant rater:

The only explanation for my behavior (going to the Cheesecake Factory again) comes from this Onion article.

Here’s what a restaurant rater has to say about Thai X-ing after visiting earlier this month:

Step in to the charming and quirky ambiance of Thai-Xing and experience it for yourself. Not to be missed!

I haven’t visited Thai X-ing yet, though Anne Marson’s Young & Hungry column from February makes me curious. If you’ve had a chance to visit, let us know what you think.

And what are your can’t-miss eateries for D.C.?

The Dish: Roma tomato and artichoke pizza slice

The Location: Alberto’s, 2438 18th St. NW, (202) 332-2234

The Price: $4.50

The Skinny: When it comes to pizza, I’ve traditionally preferred toppings derived from fauna (pepperoni, cheese, sausage) to those from flora. Just cheese and pepperoni sounds fine to me, whether it’s before or after 9 o’clock. But the tomato-and-artichoke slice I tried last night from Alberto’s in Adams Morgan—kid brother of the Dupont Circle location, which for now is closed following a fire—may make me branch out a bit more. And not just because I like the geometrical simplicity of its carryout packaging. (Seriously—take a breath and admire the way the slice’s near right angle fits the takeout box. The wannabe mathemetician in me was trying to recall those high-school geometry formulas.) No, the flavor was satisfying. The artichokes didn’t seem to do much other than contribute to the slice’s aura of healthiness, but I enjoyed the flavor imparted by the cool, juicy, and fresh-tasting tomatoes, and I found that the light-but-still-chewy thin crust matched well with the light, summery feel of the toppings.

The latest scuttlebutt around my Mount Pleasant group house is that there may be not just a rat presence in the patio area out back, but a raccoon and possum presence as well.

Maybe it’s just part of the cost of living close to Rock Creek Park. What’s the fauna report in your neighborhood?

What’s the District’s chief exec really up to today?

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2007

No public events scheduled.

The Lowdown: Day two is no time to start cutting class.

There were maybe three of them. I’m not sure exactly what they were, but they looked like drawers from a metal desk, minus the desk. They were lying out in front of a Mount Pleasant residence with a sign indicating that they were free for the taking.

I’ve lived in Mount Pleasant for a while, and I’ve benefited from similar acts of largesse by my neighbors—a stereo, and if memory serves, furniture and some books. And probably some other miscellaneous things. (Hey, who doesn’t like free stuff?) I appreciate the generosity, but I’m not sure how I can use unattached desk drawers (assumming that’s what they were).

But if you’re interested, they might still be there. I think it was the 1700 block of Kilbourne NW.

A poster to Yahoo’s TakomaDC group generated some traffic yesterday when she asked people how they get old DMV registration stickers off their windshields. “Is it just a matter of huge quantities of patience with a utility knife?” she wondered. “These things are a bear!”

Another poster forwarded the following tip, which someone else had sent her a few years back when she’d faced the same problem:

I have had some success with this method. I use a product called Goo Gone (you can get it at CVS or a supermarket). It’s an oily liquid that smells like citrus. I make a pad out of a couple of paper towels and saturate it with the stuff. Then I squirt a lot of the liquid on the sticker itself. I tape the pad to the sticker, so the sticker is soaking in the stuff. I leave it overnight, then leave the car in the sun for about an hour so the sticker warms up. You still have to scrape, but at least it comes off.

I think the DC DMV needs to consult with NASA. If they used the same glue on the tiles on the space shuttle, they wouldn’t have any problems. It’s almost indestructable.

That didn’t keep more advice from pouring in yesterday. Try outsourcing, suggests another poster:

I normally go to a gas station where they have great scrapers for taking off such stickers. It usually takes one of the mechanics less than 2 minutes to get the entire sticker off - I tip them a few bucks and I’m on my way!

Recommends another poster:

You can also try rubber cement thinner. The major brand name is “Bestine” and can be found in any art or arts & crafts store. Essentially you soak the sticker in Bestine and then scape it off. The process takes several minutes, versus the overnight soaking with Goo Be Gone.

I don’t own a car, so I don’t get what the big deal is. Can any drivers out there shed light on this? Just how stubborn are those stickers?

In this week’s City Paper:

• Joe Eaton travels to an Ocean City motel and finds cheap beer and death—but no Russian prostitutes.
• In the District Line, Jason Cherkis reports on Southwest’s backyard-DJ scene.
• In Cheap Seats: Dave McKenna on how even Agawam, Mass., is dealing with Dan Snyder’s parking fees.
• In Show & Tell, Jessica Gould reports on clubs that have attempted to skirt the District’s smoking ban.
• In Arts, film reviews from Tricia Olszewski and Mark Jenkins and Joe Warminsky on longtime Texas hiphop duo UGK’s Underground Kingz.

Plus: News Bites from Young & Hungry columnist Tim Carman, Artifacts, Savage Love, and more.

A Restaurant Rater reports on Mourayo: “Took a friend from Atlanta with sophisticated taste here, almost as a random pick, and he went aw[a]y jealous of our restaurants.”

To see his full report on Mourayo, and for other perspectives, click here.