Redwood Estates

The Redwood Estates community solved an over-population of feral cats last year with a successful spay-and-neuter program. Working against time, many hard-working volunteers successfully reached all feral cats known in the community. The cats were spayed, neutered, chipped, vaccinated, and returned to their colonies.

Between abandoned cats and the feral- cat population, this has been an ongoing situation for many years in Redwood Estates. Our group was encouraged by the success of getting the feral-cat population under control last year.

This summer, during the cat-breeding season, we became aware of a few feral mother cats with liters of kittens in the . If you are aware of any feral cats and kittens that need to be spayed or neutered in Redwood Estates, call Cindy at 408-438-3693. We plan to do another trap- neuter-return program to keep the feral cat population in check.

Lago Lomita Vineyards Here it Comes: Veraison! Robin Porter Grape clusters start out looking like a handful of green peppercorns in your pepper grinder. They are tiny and don’t look like they could develop into full-grown grapes.

The cells start to divide and expand early in their growth. One by one, they increase in size, still tart enough to rival any Sour Patch Kids™ candy. Then comes the onset of the ripening of the grapes, called veraison. Slowly, the green grapes start turning red and purple, and then change into deep purple. More than color changes occur during this time. This is when the natural sugar levels in the berries start to increase.

The increased sugar also triggers an increase in size. Sugar can increase to around 25 percent during this phase. All the aroma and flavor components start to develop now as well. These color, flavor, and sugar changes lead to the construction of one of the biggest and best bird buffets the mountain will ever see! While we can see the color change in the vineyard, the birds are drawn from other parts of our mountains to the PG&E lines at Lago Lomita (and other mountain vineyards). There they perch. The number of birds will grow daily, the closer we get to harvest, until the power lines are filled wing- to-wing with birds of all types.

We humans regularly walk the 14 miles of grape trellis rows, gathering baggies of grape samples and bringing these back for real chemical analysis on our kitchen table. This data always correlates to the number of birds looking down and caw-ing out to us: “Not ready yet.” They know.

C.T. English LEOs Senior Help with Technology Tech & Teens Emily Asheghian Tech & Teens is a new mountain program launched by the C.T. English LEOs Club to provide technology assistance to seniors. If you are a senior citizen looking for help with your phone or computer, or just a chance to socialize with teens, our volunteers will be in Room 21 at C.T. English Middle School, 23800 Summit Road, from 2 to 3 p.m., on the following Wednesdays: October 1, 15, and 29, November 12, and December 3.

We are happy to assist with your technology questions. Tea and games will also be provided. We hope to see you there! Photo by Robin Porter Dr. Zibaee, DVM U N D E R N E W O W N E R S H I P ! 23291 Summit Road • Los Gatos, CA 95033 • (408) 353-1113 www.summitvethospital.com