Hi all - we are coming up on our 3rd Day of Action, Wed July 17, with a Virtual Balloon Release all day on Twitter. We can all release blue latex balloons/no strings from anywhere - they all fly to the same sky. If you want, draw pictures (I like to satirize the frowny faces on the pain chart) or write notes on your balloons before release.
As weeks go by, there continues to be no signs that animals are interested in eating the balloons I put in my yard
There's even some walnut & peanut shells, showing that the squirrels our neighbor feeds have been around, but show no interest in the balloons.
I decided to add an experiment yesterday, what happens to latex+food grade coloring (same recipe as 1921) if submerged in sea water. I mixed 1 pint of my hard, hard tap water (turns clear shower curtains opaque in 3 months, lots of calcium & magnesium) with 4 1/4 tsp of sea salt. I popped and tore up 2 balloons that had been inflated for weeks - they were already easy to tear by hand.
First thing I noticed was the balloon bits float. This morning, after 15 hours of soaking, they are even easier to tear. And again, no signs of animal interest.
One other thing, the batch of balloons that I put in the cavity of a cinder block were sticking together a bit, and their colors spreading onto each other.
More news as it develops!