Kendra Ruminer's Two Cents of Real Estate

Take A Peek At Los Alamos, New Mexico

Month: May 2021

Bear In Mind…

May 31, 2021 /

If you’ve been paying attention to social media lately, you might have noticed that we’ve had more than a few bear sightings recently. Bears in trash cans in Quemazon. Mama bears and cubs hanging out in Rendija. Potentially another Mama bear and cub crew peeking into backyards along the edge of Bayo Canyon. It’s almost certain you’ve got bears on the mind!

So, how do we live side by side with bears wandering around in our backyards? It’s pretty certain that we can’t just wave them off with a simple, “shoo!”. In my last post I talked about motion sensor sprinklers to keep the deer from snacking on your favorite plants. Since bears aren’t likely to bother your plants, I suppose you could try rigging your trash cans with motion sensor sprinklers, but there are easier ways to make your property unattractive to bears.

According to NM Wildlife authorities, the most common bears seen in Los Alamos are New Mexico Black Bears. These bears can live up to thirty years and the females only mate every two years. They’re also very attached to their home territories, which is why there is less than a 30% chance of a successful relocation. The best way to keep a bear from becoming a nuisance is to never let the nuisance behavior get started.

Bears & Your Trash

The relationship between bears and your trash is a pretty strong one. Strong as in they LOVE nasty things that have a strong smell. That does include pet food by the way. If we’re in spring bear season, it’s not a good idea to leave your dog or cat food out where the bears can get to it.

Bears are repeat customers. They’re creatures of habit. Don’t let them get started on the rounds in your neighborhood. If you spot one or hear that one has been spotted, then the best move you can make is to prevent them from getting addicted to your trash!

Keep your trash cans secured.

If you live in a high bear traffic area such as Quemazon or another area with cliff side access, get in contact with Los Alamos County Environmental Services in order to get yourself equipped with a bear proof trashcan.

Another good thought is to keep your trash cans secured until the morning of trash pickup. Don’t put them out the night before. That’s just asking for a bear to come rummaging for a midnight snack.

Bird & Deer Feeders

Ever think to yourself that certain souet bird foods are stinky? Well, the bears think that too. Even seed feeders can be attractive to a hungry omnivorous NM Black Bear. During bears season, bring in any feeders intended to provide a snack for animals like squirrels, birds, and deer. Don’t let your bird feeder become a pit stop on a local bear’s food route. Remember, these bears spend their entire day going from one snack spot to another. The idea is to make the loop not worth their time.

Feeding the Bears

The last thing that you should EVER be doing is intentionally feeding bears. Think those cubs are adorable? Feeding baby cubs creates nuisance adult bears. Cubs learn to expect handouts. Expecting a handout means a cute baby bear becomes a serious grown bear problem. And, just so you know, it’s illegal to feed bears.

So next time you hear about a bear sighting in Los Alamos, remember that living alongside the wildlife is part of what it means to live here in Los Alamos County. And don’t forget to do everything you can to set some boundaries for our bear population to avoid the collision of urban sprawl and curious hungry bears. And if you have any questions, give me a call!

No-No-Bambi!

May 18, 2021 /

Gardening in Los Alamos isn’t the easiest of tasks. Our topsoil isn’t terrific. Our growing season is notoriously short. And don’t forget the weather tends to be unpredictable at best. These things never stop me from trying though. I LOVE to garden! I enjoy being outdoors digging in the dirt and begging my little green sprouts to grow. In 2020 our garden managed to produce a massive crop of the strangest looking cucumbers you’ve ever seen! Not only were they more yellow than green, but they tasted awful! However, a friend of mine diced them up and fed them to her chickens. Apparently the chickens LOVED them. Since the taste of the cucumbers didn’t bother the hens or affect the eggs, I call that a win! But one thing we’ve always had pretty good luck with is our jalapenos. Until this year…

Considering the unseasonably cool weather we’ve been having, (can you actually say that when it’s perfectly reasonable to get several inches of snow in May?) I finally got around to planting my garden last week. It felt good to get the plants in. Normally our dogs spend quite a lot of time in the yard, but less than a week after my garden was planted, we spent a day in Albuquerque and left the dogs inside.

Let’s just say Bambi went hog wild while my dogs were helpless to intervene.

This is what was left of my garden…

See the telltale hoof prints? Ugh! Who knew that mule deer would eat jalapeno plants? So, with my recent garden failure in mind, I’ve set out to find more information on how to keep deer out of the garden. Here’s what I’ve discovered:

All Deer Are Not Equal

What I understand from doing a bit of research on the topic is that different deer herds like different plants. This is not limited to breed of deer either, just because we have mule deer in this part of the country and you might have dealt with white tail deer somewhere else, that has nothing to do with successfully keeping them out of your garden.

For example, what the Bayo Canyon deer avoid might be completely different than what works to ward off the deer who live in Urban Park. However, most experts universally agree that if you can populate your garden with fuzzy, spiny, or strong smelling plants, you’ll have a better chance of convincing the four legged snackers to go elsewhere. Deer don’t like leaves that are furry. They also don’t like strong smelling plants. They avoid herbs like sage, thyme, lavender, and even dill. Things that are tough to digest like Elephant Ears are good deer repellants as well.

Even if you don’t want to choose your plants based on what deer dislike, you can sprinkle a few things throughout your garden just to try and get Bambi to browse elsewhere. For example, the next time I plant my jalapenos, I’m going to stick some strong smelling oregano plants right alongside them.

Unfortunately, Bambi Jumps Pretty Well

Fencing for deer can be costly. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when you’re attempting to nudge Bambi to take his case of the munchies elsewhere.

Privacy fence, cinder blocks, and coyote fencing are excellent deer fencing. Deer can jump upwards of 8ft to clear a fence, but they don’t like to jump into an area where they can’t see a landing spot. While it isn’t likely to keep them from hurdling into your yard if they’re fleeing a predator, they aren’t going to come browse your garden if they can’t see what’s on offer.

Double layers of fencing are unattractive. According to some animal researchers, deer have less than perfect depth perception. They don’t like the appearance of layered fencing. So if you have a chain link fence or other see through fence, try fencing individual sections of your garden with some kind of mesh netting on a wood frame. Even the brightly colored orange plastic mesh fence wrapped around some T-posts could do the trick. While not the most attractive way to decorate your yard, it could well save your garden from Bambi and his buddies.

Rock barriers are strikingly effective! Hoofed animals like deer do not like uneven, rocky terrain. If you have a terraced yard or even sections of your yard where you have xeriscaping, you might consider adding some larger porous rocks as a decorative and effective way to suggest to Bambi that he might break his spindly legs if he attempts to eat your plants. The rock barriers have to be a combination of wide and tall in order to truly deter the deer. Think rock walls at Bandelier National Monument. Perhaps not 8ft in height, but at least waist high and too wide for a human to step across without climbing.

Treat Bambi Like a Naughty Kitty!

That’s right! The number one suggested method for convincing deer that your garden is NOT the local farmer’s market is to use a motion sensor sprinkler. Most sources seem to agree that a taller model is better than a shorter one because it doesn’t get triggered by every bit of waving foliage and the spray manages to clear the plants and hit Bambi right in the nose. It is also suggested that the battery operated version is better than the solar option simply because the spray of water is more powerful. Deer aren’t all that easy to scare these days. If you want proof of that you can either check out the deer trotting down Diamond Drive or go take a peek at the Sportsman Club in Rendija Canyon where it isn’t unusual to see the buggers hanging out on the archery field watching rifle and shotgun practice across the dirt road. Their expressions are almost amused instead of afraid. Suburban life has changed them for good. But a nice blast of water is enough to make me want to turn and run. Seems like it should work nicely to tell Bambi NO!

If you’ve got other ways to save your garden from our local deer population, I’d love to hear them! The research I’ve done so far seems to suggest that nothing works forever and sometimes you have to switch it up in order to keep on top of the issue. But that’s part of living in Los Alamos County isn’t it? Wildlife abounds and unfortunately they’re not shy about sharing the amenities! Drop me a line if you’ve got deer repellents to share and don’t forget to give me a call if you’re ready to find your forever home in Los Alamos! I’m your local real estate expert and I love to talk about life in Los Alamos!

What’s the Deal with Group Housing?

May 12, 2021 /

There are a lot of imaginative things about Los Alamos. The names applied to housing developments in the 1950’s didn’t reflect this at all. If you’ve ever heard your neighbors or friends talking about their Group 11 or their Group 12 or anything all the way to Group 18, you might have scratched your head and thought that they were talking about housing somehow related to a research or other employment group at the Laboratory. As if perhaps the homes in Group 11 were originally designated as the living quarters for some mysterious Grp 11 at LASL back in the day.

Surprise! That’s not the case at all! Groups of homes designated by numbers 11-18b are actually named that way because they were planned and constructed in groups. And just so we’re clear, it doesn’t matter that half of some are located in one part of the community and the other half or third or two thirds are located in another. The point was that they were planned and the building was executed at a certain time in our Los Alamos Housing History.

As for the numbering system. There is no concrete answer to that. However, at the time the Group 11 buildings were proposed in 1948, there had been ten previous housing styles available over the years. With military precision, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the recently formed Housing Policy Board (HPD) determined that Group 11 was a functional name for the next phase of homes. 351 buildings were constructed, which increased the housing availability in Los Alamos by 584 units. Let’s just say that the residents of Los Alamos in the 1950’s were no less excited by the addition of nearly six hundred new dwellings than the current Los Alamos County residents are about every single housing development coming along in the modern era. Housing has always been an issue in Los Alamos!

Floorplan courtesy of Craig Martin

For the first time in Los Alamos Housing history, families with only one child could apply for and even be granted a home with three bedrooms. Sometimes its hard to imagine what it was like for people living here in the early fifties, but having an extra bedroom for an office or just to house guests was a luxury most families wouldn’t have dreamed of expecting in their home.

The most unusual feature became one of the most attractive though. In the two-bedroom duplex model, the main living area sat below the grade level of the rest of the dwelling in order to create a “sunken living room”. These homes looked a lot like their other Group 11 brethren, but this feature set them totally apart. These homes can still be found in and around some of the oldest sections of North Community in and around Urban Park on 41st, 45th, 46th, and 47th Streets as well as on Sycamore Street and west of Aspen School on 35th & 36th Streets. The key to spotting a “sunken living room” home is the recessed front door nearly hidden in the front wall of the home.

Floorplan courtesy of Craig Martin – Unit on the Right includes “Sunken Living Room” feature.

The oak flooring was super popular in the Group 11 homes. Less amazing features included metal cabinetry that tended to keep the contents a bit on the soggy and cold side. The porcelain sinks in the kitchen were less than easy to maintain and the exterior shingles were a mix of wood and asbestos. All in all though, most of the locals thought these homes were a giant upgrade from what they’d been living in before.

Floorplan courtesy of Craig Martin

The Cerro Grande fire took 30 of the original Group 11 buildings. These were not nearly as hard hit as some of the others such as the Group 12 units, of which we lost 72 buildings. Still, it is important to realize that as much as we might scratch our heads and feel as though these aren’t the most attractive option for a home here in Los Alamos, the Group homes are serving just as vital a part in our community life now as they did when they were built over fifty years ago.

If you’re even a little bit interested in the history of Los Alamos Housing, you can find Craig Martin’s wonderful book, Quads, Shoeboxes and Sunken Living Rooms on sale at the Los Alamos History Museum’s website. The book actually contains a field guide to Los Alamos Housing that can be just as useful for identifying the various group homes as an Audubon Society book can be at identifying birds. After all, the process is pretty much the same!

And if you’re ready to get out and identify YOUR next home in Los Alamos, give me a call! I love to talk Los Alamos Housing and Real Estate!

A Little Bit Country

May 1, 2021 /

Los Alamos County is so very unique in the available housing options, but never is this more obvious than when you make a left turn off State Road 4 onto Piedra Loop in the White Rock Subdivision of Pajarito Acres. 3-5 acre lots populate the hilly terrain. Homes come in all shapes and sizes and small barns and enclosures house everything from horses to goats and anything in between. The trailhead of the Red Dot trail sits on the canyon side of the winding black top road. It is as it was meant to be: country living in Los Alamos.

Photo Courtesy of Fusion Aerial

It all began in 1962 when a group of Los Alamos residents began chatting about the possibility of owning larger lots on the Southern side of White Rock. Unfortunately, the Atomic Energy Commission had a contract with building E.I. Noxon that prevented other parties from developing White Rock for a period of three years. This meant that the country loving residents had to wait until that expired in 1963 before petitioning the AEC to release land for a “acreage-type development”.

As with all housing developments in White Rock, there were difficulties in building because of the basalt that lies beneath this entire area of the county. In fact, the original Pajarito Acreage Development Association had a bit of a kerfluffle with the FHA regarding septic tanks. Thanks to the basalt, the FHA refused to insure mortgages on homes in Pajarito Acres. The future residents tightened their belts, accepted the additional cost of $2000 for a sewage system, and built a sewage lagoon not far from where the Red Dot Trailhead currently sits. By March of 1965 there were two families living in the development and by summer there were 18 more. In the beginning, they didn’t even have a water system. It was finished by August of 1965 and residents have never looked back.

The current Pajarito Acres Homeowner’s Association is made up of residents from only Pajarito Acres. La Senda is another development entirely. In fact, it might interest you to know that the land where La Senda sits was once fated to become a an area of dense residential condos and even apartments. The second “acreage type development” hadn’t been selling quite as quickly as Jemez View Development had hoped. Only two five acres lots had been sold and the company applied to the planning and zoning committee to have the valuable tract of land between White Rock and Pajarito Acres rezoned.

In a complete reversal of a more than forty year trend, there wasn’t a dire need for housing in Los Alamos County. The residents pushed back, finally making their opinions into a ruling from the planning and zoning committee and preserving the mixed residential/agricultural use for the remaining 134 acres of La Senda.

These days there is no doubting the wonderful country style living available in Pajarito Acres and La Senda. The Pajarito Riding Club operates a small equestrian facility located at the corner of Piedra Drive and Piedra Loop. The club website is a great resource for trail maps for not only Pajarito Acres and La Senda, but also has links to LANL trail maps that you might find interesting.

Photo Courtesy of Brian George

Trails in both subdivisions are open to whomever would like to walk, ride, run, or hike them. If you prefer pavement, the streets are wide and smooth blacktop with plenty of hills and curves to make it an enjoyable trek. You can reach Piedra Loop about a quarter of the way around by heading down Sherwood Blvd until it dead ends in Pajarito Acres and don’t forget that you can find the Red Dot Trailhead about halfway around Piedra Loop. The trail offers some really spectacular views of the Rio Grande Valley.

And if you’re interested in taking a look at a home in Pajarito Acres, give me a call! I might just have something you’d like. After all, when it comes to living in Los Alamos County, I’m your local real estate expert!

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