EAST BRUNSWICK
NATURE NOTES
|
EAST BRUNSWICK
NATURE NOTES
|
|
|
| —
The Back Page — |
| "Sooner or
later every one of us breathes an atom that has been breathed before by
anyone you can think of who has lived before us—Michelangelo or George
Washington or Moses." Albert Einstein
|
| "In
the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; we will understand only what we are taught." (Senegalese proverb)
|
|
Environmental Achievement Award: Website: NJNaturenotes.com, 2006 Association of NJ Environmental Commissions Environmental Achievement Award: Butterfly Park, 2005 Association of NJ Environmental Commissions Environmental Achievement Award: Salamander Crossing Project Association of NJ Environmental Commissions Joint Resolution of the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly: Butterfly Park Environmental Quality Award: Butterfly Park United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Environmental Excellence Award: Healthy Ecosystems New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Enhancement Award: Butterfly Park New Jersey Association of Landscape Architects Outstanding Local Environmental Protection Award: Vernal Pool Protection Plan New Jersey Audubon Society H20 Highlands to Ocean: Vernal Pool Protection Plan Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation |
| GEOCACHING Geocaching* –Treasure Hunt in the 21st Century *geocaching |ˈjēōˌka sh i ng | noun the recreational activity of hunting for and finding a hidden object by means of GPS coordinates posted on a Web site. ORIGIN from geo(graphical) + cache + -ing. Because of the nature of this article, we've given it to a page of its own. Please click on "Geocaching Page" in the index, above, to see the expanded article written by Liti Haramaty. Thanks. PLANET EARTH: A YEAR OF PICTURES LiveScience.com has a wonderful piece with a wealth of visual beauty. This series of photographs and composites is something everyone should see. WHERE DO THEY COME FROM? When you run a website, you sometimes wonder where the people who access your site come from. Tonight (3/7/2006), I decided to take a deeper look at the statistics provided by the service that tracks 'hits', visits to a website. This is what I found for today. With 51 unique visitors and 101 page downloads (so far today), it would seem that the United States is well represented (as would be expected). But, what was NOT expected was that Canada, Israel, Italy and Australia also showed up. Apparently, people in other countries are interested in what this site has to say, or in the information to which it offers access. Also, while 90% of the computers accessing the site use Windows (various flavors [XP, ME, 2000]), 10% were Macintosh computer users. Interesting! To all of you, welcome. I hope you enjoy our website and find it interesting, informative and stimulating. Thanks for visiting with us and please come back. Rich Wolfert We've recently taken notice of viewers from throughout the United States and from many other countries as well. (Many have probably been visiting for a while but this is the first notice we made of their activity. Lets start a list of where some of this website's readers come from. This will be interesting. These are in the order in which I found them (or, at least, in which they found us). STATES (including Washington, D.C.)
1-NJ
2-NY 3-PA 4-CT 5-CA6-TX 7-VA 8-DC 9-IN 10-GA 11-OR 12-KS 13-CO 14-IL 15-OH 16-FL 17-AR 18-ME 19-TN 20-ND 21-MI 22-LA 24-NV 24-RI 25-MN 26-WI 27-ID 28-MT 29-UT 30-NH 31-AL 32-VT 33-NC 34-AZ 35-NM 36-MO 37-NE 38-WA 39-SC 40-MD 41-WV 42-OK 43-KY 44-DE 45-MA 46-AK 47-IA 48-HI 49-SD 50-WY 51-MS Missing states: NONE! Mississippi finally showed up on July 13th. From the time we first began to this tally, it took just about 4 months for all 50 states and the District of Columbia to find our website. COUNTRIES
2006
1-United
States2-Australia 3-United Kingdom 4-Israel 5-Italy 6-Canada 7-United Arab Emirates 8-Uruguay (3/15/2006) 9-Brazil (3/20) 10-Germany (3/20) 11-Ireland (3/21) 12-Russian Federation (3/29) 13-Cyprus (3/29) 14-Czech Republic (3/29) 15-Canary Islands (Spain) (3/30) 16-Philippines (3/31) 17-Lithuania (3/31) 18-Spain (3/31) 19-Poland (4/1) 20-Sweden (4/2) 21-Puerto Rico (we'll count it anyway) 22-Malaysia (4/3) 23-Netherlands (4/4) 24-France (4/5) 25-China (4/5) 26-Romania (4/6) 27-Scotland (4/7) 28-Turkey (4/8) 29-Finland (4/9) 30-India (4/10) 31-Belgium (4/11) 32-Thailand (4/12) 33-Hong Kong (4/12) 34-Slovenia (4/14) 35-New Zealand (4/14) 36-Hungary (4/16) 37-Croatia (4/17) 38-Malta (4/20) 39-Iceland (4/20) 40-Japan (4/22) 41-Denmark (4/25) 42-Switzerland (4/25) 43-Mexico (4/25) 44-Ecuador (4/27) 45-Portugal (4/29) 46-Greece (5/5) 47-Argentina (5/5) 48-South Africa (5/6) 49-Indonesia (5/9) 50-Chile (5/10) 51-Northern Ireland (5/11) 52-Kuwait (5/13) 53-Singapore (5/14) 54-Norway (5/16) 55-Luxembourg (5/29) 56-Peru (5/30) 57-Iran (6/4) 58-Vietnam (6/5) 59-Rep. of Korea (So. Korea)(6/10) 60-Latvia (6/21) 61-Slovinia (6/25) 62-Venezuela (7/21) 63-Bulgaria (7/25) 64-Egypt (8/3) 65-Mauritius (8/17) 66-Mozambique (9/4) 67-Costa Rica (9/14) 68-Syria (9/16) 69-Paraguay (9/20) 70-Anguilla (9/27) 71-Colombia (10/25) 72-Pakistan (10/27) 73-Ukraine (11/2) 74-Jordan (11/28) 75-Brunei (12/4) 76-Lebanon (12/6) 77-Honduras (12/10) 2007
78-Bahrain
(1/8)79-Bahamas (1/13) 80-Jamaica (1/19) 81-Nigeria (1/19) 82-Antiqua & Barbuda (1/29) 83-El Salvador (2/2) 84-Serbia And Montenegro (2/17) 85-Cote D'ivoire (Ivory Coast) (2/27) 86-Saudi Arabia (6/3) 87-Maldives (6/4) 88-U.S. Virgin Islands (6/11) 89-Qatar (6/17) 90-Nicaragua (7/4) 91-Panama (7/17) 92-Guatemala (8/20) 93-Bosnia & Hergzegovinia (9/10) 94-Sri Lanka (10/11) 95-Trinidad and Tobago (11/13) 96-Kazakhstan (11/26) 97-Guyana (12/7) 98-Estonia (12/12) 2008
99-Macedonia
(1/8)100-Georgia (1/25) 101-Mongolia (2/11) 102-Barbados (2/25) ————————
This
is what I see when checking on where our viewers come from.– Rich Website Hits
by Country - 10/29/2006
 Of course, it
changes throughout
each day as does the list below.
Most Recent Hits by City of Origin - 10/29/2006  This is a partial list of hits (indicating city of origin) for the day. FULL MOON NAMES AND LORE FOR 2007 Read this very interesting article from Space.com columnist Joe Rao about how each full moon was named. The native American lore that surrounds each full moon is also included. Additionally, dates for the full moons of 2007 are noted. –––––––
REPRINTED FROM yahoo.com and space.com Jan. 3, 8:57 a.m. EST - The Full Wolf Moon.
Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled
hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or
the "Moon After Yule." In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most
applied that name to the next Moon.
Feb. 2, 12:45 a.m. EST - The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon. March 3, 6:17 p.m. EST - The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. A total lunar eclipse will take place on this night; the Moon will appear to rise will totally immersed (or nearly so) in the Earth's shadow over the eastern United States. The rising Moon will be emerging from the shadow over the central United States, while over the Western U.S. the eclipse will be all but over by the time the Moon rises. April 2, 1:15 p.m. EDT - The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed six days later on Sunday, April 8. May 2, 6:09 a.m. EDT - The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon. May 31, 9:04 p.m. EDT - The Blue Moon. The second full Moon occurring within a calendar month is usually bestowed this title. Although the name suggests that to have two Full Moons in a single month is a rather rare occurrence (happening "just once in a . . . "), it actually occurs once about every three years on average. June 30, 9:49 a.m. EDT - The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon. July 29, 8:48 p.m. EDT - The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon. Aug. 28, 6:35 a.m. EDT - The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. A total lunar eclipse will coincide with moonset for the eastern United States. The Central and Mountain Time Zones will see the Moon's emergence coincide with moonset, while the western United States will see the entire eclipse. Sept. 26, 3:45 p.m. EDT - The Full Harvest Moon. Always the full Moon occurring nearest to the Autumnal Equinox. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice-- the chief Indian staples--are now ready for gathering. Oct. 26, 12:52 a.m. EDT - The Full Hunter's Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals that have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 7:00 a.m., at a distance of 221,676 miles from Earth. Very high tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full Moon. Nov. 24, 9:30 a.m. EST - The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon. Dec. 23, 2:51 a.m. EST - The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also sometimes called the "Moon before Yule" (Yule is Christmas, and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for The New York Times and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, New York. Full Moon Fever The Fallacy of the Full Moon Skywatcher's Guide to the Moon Top 10 Luna-Terms Original Story: Full Moon Names for 2007 –––––––
By the way, note the exact times for each full moon. Yes, the precise time of a full moon may occur during daylight (here). A full moon is defined as the 'moment' when the moon is exactly opposite the sun with relation to the planet Earth. In other words, the moment it's exactly behind the Earth. As the moon is moving all the time, the point when the moon is truly and completely full is momentary. A POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO SQUIRREL PROBLEMS AT BIRD FEEDERS If you have bird feeders, its more than likely that you also have squirrel problems. Usually, squirrels figure out a fast path to your feeder and then monopolize it, preventing birds from getting to your feeder, and preventing you from enjoying the birds. They can consume several days worth of seed in just a few hours. And, they frequently knock enough out of the feeder for their friends on the ground to enjoy. Is there a solution to the problem? Can they be defeated? Many books have been written detailing anti-squirrel strategies. What really works? I can give you some ideas from experience. First of all, the feeder must be isolated, if possible. There are many ways to do this. If you have a feeder on a poll, you can use a baffle to prevent squirrels from being able to climb all the way up the poll. The baffle prevents them from reaching the feeder and, because of its width or configuration, they cannot find a way around it. Defeated in this way, they forget the feeder and look for food on the ground. Keep in mind, the baffle must be placed at least 5 feet off the ground with the feeder above it. Squirrels can jump about 5 feet vertically. OK, what if you've done this but squirrels are still finding their way onto the feeder. More than likely, they jumped from a nearby object onto the feeder (chair, umbrella, another tree, low roof, yard torch, etc. When we lived in Queens, NY, about 20 years ago, we had several families of jet black squirrels in our yard. (These are common in many urban areas. They blend well into the dark tree bark common in urban environments.) I have a wonderful slide (which I should scan somehow and put on the site) of a black squirrel, mid-flight, between a Rose-of-Sharon bush and a hanging feeder. They were over 5 feet apart but the squirrel accomplished this feat frequently enough to keep on trying. The solution, move the feeder to 6 feet or more away. That did it. It was too far to jump. Another solution is to hang feeders from tree branches that are at least 10 or 12 feet up. Use fairly thin wire to hang it but be careful to place a section of old hose or tubing over the branch for the wire to pass through. Without the hose section, the wire will eventually cut into the branch, possibly killing it. Place a baffle several feed above the feeder and hang the feeder at least 5 feet up. Keep in mind that when it snows heavily, squirrels have the advantage of being much higher (due to snow depth) and might then be able to jump up to the feeder. You can use an extension ladder to reach sturdier branches, a step ladder for lower branches, or another pole to help you get any type of large hook over the branch (with the wire already attached). There are plenty of consistently good strategies. Please e-mail me if you need to see what really works (at least so far). I would be glad to show you personally. |
WILDLIFE
REHABILITATORS Browsing through the Internet can lead to some wonderful discoveries hidden throughout the ordinary or trite. Today, I came across a site for wildlife rehabilitators and suddenly realized that we didn't have information about this on njnaturenotes.com.  Why is this important? For some of us, the answer is as simple as seeing an injured wild animal, or watching an immature bird struggle helplessly, and hopelessly on the ground, knowing that it will soon become a welcome meal for a neighbor's cat. (Cats, by the way, are a significant cause of the decline of some migratory bird species. While most of us wouldn't even think once about this, it is a very important problem that can be dealt with. More about this here.) Calling Wildlife Control in your town may be an answer for some. Others might want to help more directly. Over the years, I brought at least 15 birds to licensed rehabilitators (from warblers to Kestrels). (Yes, being licensed is a must if you want to give the animal or bird the best chance of survival.) These wonderful people, often volunteers, will nurse the animal back to health, often over a period of weeks or months. Injuries will be dealt with, with surgery if needed, and licensed vets often volunteer time to help. If the animal cannot ultimately be returned to the wild, then a suitable place for them to live will be found. Taking care of wildlife yourself is not a good idea at all. Few of us can understand that baby birds, from warblers to baby Great-horned Owls, require constant feeding, from dawn to dusk. It it tiring requiring both patience and time. Few of us have an abundance of either of these. Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators have. This is what they chose to do or are paid to do. They are the experts. For information about wildlife rehabilitators in our region, read the appropriate section on this page, please. HELP, I found a baby bird on the ground. What should I do? With spring migration just starting, tens of millions of birds will be coming through our area and many birds will settle here and bring up their young. From time to time, we will find baby birds that have fallen out of nests or tried to fly too soon. What do do? Here is some good advice to these questions. Of course, you can always contact Wildlife Rehabilitators to take over for you. They're experts and know how to feed and care for baby and immature birds. You can find information about these 'saviors' on the Hotlines & Resources page. If you have ever been to San Francisco, chances are that you spent some wonderful time at the Exploratorium, a museum that takes a different approach. The Exploratorium is filled with 'Explainers', people whose job it is to make what you see and want to know easy. This museum was one of the very first to have an on-line presence and what you see it absolutely top notch. This site is worth a visit and is an excellent experience for both students and adults. Satisfy your curiosity and visit the Exploratorium. An excellent article about the Exploratorium from the New York Times (3/29/2006) is here. HOW DO SPIDERS FLY? It has long been known that spiders can cast strands of silk to the wind and be transported, often hundreds of miles. But how this is accomplished has recently been revealed. An interesting article from LiveScience. EXTENDING THE LIFE OF CUT FLOWERS From the Old Farmer's Almanac: Smell the Flowers Extend the indoor life of your cut flowers by putting them in a solution that is one part water, one part clear soft drink (such as 7-Up, Sprite, etc.), and a few drops of chlorine bleach. For more July gardening advice, go to our Gardening Jobs by the Month page. WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED SINCE KATRINA The National Wildlife Federation has a very interesting bit of information on what the federal government has done since the disaster, exactly one year ago. The point of the e-mail I received is to get the government to move on legislation that has been proposed or passed, but not funded or acted upon. It's not enough to talk a good talk. The actions MUST follow. What happened in the South is just an example of a very weak effort and philosophy to bolster up numerous environmental efforts that have been neglected for too long. As reported by the NWF…with regard to Wetlands: in the past year... The Senate recently passed language in the Water Resources Development Act aimed at taking a first step toward restoring the coast, however it (1) still has to be combined with the House version of the bill and (2) is only a drop in the bucket as far as putting money toward real restoration. and Global Warming: In the past year... State and local governments across the country passed legislation to tackle global warming pollution. As for the U.S. Congress, a few bills were introduced, but there was little or no movement forward. and finally, regarding reform of the Army Corps of Engineers: In the past year... The Senate version of the Water Resources Development Act also contained an important amendment that would require large Corps of Engineers water projects be independently reviewed, but without public demand that this be a part of the final bill, it could easily be lost in the closed-door conference session between House and Senate negotiators during September. Please consider signing this National Wildlife Federation Action Letter that is aimed at prodding Congress into committing to positive action. Thanks, Rich Wolfert ALL ABOUT BIRD MIGRATION Do you have a slight interest in birds. Perhaps an intense desire to know everything that you can about them? Here is a wonderful article about "The Mystery of Bird Migration" from About.com. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME Daylight Savings Time is a concept that is about 225 years old. It wasn't, however, implemented until 1915. As we will be turning our clocks back 1 hour very soon, I thought this would be an interesting read for all. HELPFUL HOUSE PLANTS Did you know that common house plants can clear the air in your home of pollutants? According to the National Wildlife Federation (June/July, 1999), the top 10 house plants for this purpose are:
INTERESTING FACT Our area of New Jersey will receive its first frost of the season (on average) by the 6th of November, and the last frost of the season (on average) by about the 8th of April. This gives us an average frost free period of about 211 days. Not too bad. Some plants, however, like pansies and viola can survive deep frosts and may even send out new flowers during a warm period in the winter. Compare us to San Francisco or Miami which have NO frost days, and with Concord, New Hampshire which has 121 days that are frost free. Their frost season runs Sept. 22 to May 23. Brrrrr! QUESTIONS: Please feel free to submit any other questions, articles, pictures or websites to be included on this page or in other sections of this website. GET INTO SPACE (sort of) Have you ever had the yearning (perhaps burning) to go into space and explore where few (or even no one has ever been)? I have (present tense), very strongly. In the early 1980's I was an applicant for NASA's Teacher in Space Program (the Challenger flight). If they called today and said 'get ready for a flight in 6 months', I'd do it with the same enthusiasm I had 23 years ago. Well, now we can…in a way. For many years NASA and the Planetary Society have allow us ordinary people to submit our names to either be inscribed onto a plaque or burned onto a CD that would ride to the far reaches of our solar system…and beyond. Over the years, my name and the names of my wife and daughter have ridden on spacecraft that have traveled billions of miles, and have even landed on some of the bodies in our solar system. Now you can do this, too. Learn about Project Phoenix and how your name can hitchhike to Mars. The "Sign up now" link is about 5 inches down the page. I'll keep my eye open for similar opportunities in the future. Rich MAKING A COMMITMENT TO HALT GLOBAL WARMING From stopglobalwarming.org: New England gets its unique flavor from maple trees - literally. This is the time of year when maple trees are tapped to produce maple syrup, and it's the maple tree that provides the most brilliant colors for that spectacular fall scenery - but Global Warming is changing all that. Maple trees thrive under certain temperature conditions and produce the sap for maple syrup because of specific temperature cycles. In the early spring, the trees generate sap when the nights are very cold and the days fairly mild. The temperature cycling causes the starch in the sap to turn into sugar and rise in the trunk. It's one of nature's delicate miracles - which will disappear if we don't do something to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are making New England winters milder with each passing year. You can visit one business in New Hampshire that's committed to saving New England's sweet legacy, Stonyfield Farm. One of the world's leading organic dairy products companies, Stonyfield has installed a 50 kilowatt (kW) solar energy system atop its 120,000 square-foot manufacturing facility as a way to fight global warming. The solar panel array is the largest of its kind in New Hampshire. FIELD TRIPS Whenever people of like interests get together the question usually arises as to when a collaborative trip can take place to better enjoy that interest. Since you are reading this, you might just be one of those people. Are you interested in birding, nature and scenic photography, astronomy, butterflies, moths and dragonflies, or flowers? Would you be interested in participating in a field trip with others who like the same thing? If so, please e-mail back to let us know. Trips can be arranged to accommodate the most convenient times. If someone were to let us know of a particular field of expertise (or it just might be that ANY knowledge on a subject would seem like a lot to most of us) let us know this, too. Perhaps you could lead such a short trip to a relatively close location. Field trips are a fantastic way to further enhance your enjoyment of nature, science and the environment, and spend some time in the company of nice people with similar interests. PLANTING FOR HUMMINGBIRDS Do you love hummingbirds? Did you know that they are in our region every summer? Did you also know that you can improve your changes of seeing them by adding plants that attract them like magnets to your yard? Here's an article that helps you begin in your quest to see the littlest jewels of the bird world. (Keep in mind that we are in Region 6.) HOW LONG DO BIRDS LIVE? This is a question I have been asked frequently, and I looked for some answers. The Raptor Trust is an excellent source for a diverse range of information and they came through here. Here is a sampling of bird longevity information. SPECIES-AGE (in the wild) Laysan Albatross-42 Arctic Tern-34 Mourning Dove-31 Bald Eagle-29 Red-tailed Hawk-28 Great Horned Owl-28 Brown Pelican-27 Mallard Duck-26 Perigrine Falcon-19 Blue Jan-17 Northern Cardinal-15 America Robin-13 Eastern Bluebird-10 House Wren-9 Ruby-throated Hummingbird-9 Northern Bobwhite-6 Ruby-crowned Kinget-5 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-4 SPECIES-AGE (in captivity) Andean Condor-72 Cockatoo-70 Herring Gull-49 Golden Eagle-46 Snowy Owl-43 Great Horned Owl-38 Canada Goose-33 Cardinal-28 Mallard Duck-20 American Robin-17 European Starling-17 This might make an interesting report for a High School Student. - Rich INTERACTIVE STATE MAP Through other links, I came across an incrediblly valuable tool for examining the state with regard to numerous environmental and preservation criteria, in detail. This map (Garden State Greenways interactive map) is remarkable in how you can look at a broad range of data including: Public and Nonprofit Lands, Preserved Farmland, Municipalities, Detailed Roads, State Trails Plan, Rail Trails and Abandoned RR, Upland Forest, Forested Wetlands, Emergent Wetlands, Ag Grasslands, Beach, Connector, 1995-97 Aerial Photos, and USGS Topo Maps. Select the information want and Refresh the Map. You can zoom into areas small enough to see where your home is, or where local parks and favorite woodland areas are. This could make a very strong case for preserving as much land as possible, and for countering the 'continued growth' mentality. Take a look at this and let us know what you think. Rich JUST FOR KIDS GETTING SLIMED! Ok parents, what happens when your adorable munchkin decides to play with a slug? Well, it IS a good learning experience, but, carries a potential long term problem for you. The slime! What to do. How do you get it off. Your first thought would be to use warm water and soap, right? Don't. Here's the answer. By the way, when my wife and I lived in Queens, NY, it was not uncommon to have (really) hundreds of slugs in our backyard on summer nights…some up to 9" long. I wish I had known this then. Oh, never step on a slug when you're barefoot. Ugh!!!! WINTER BIRD FEEDING TIPS These tips come directly from Duncraft, the folks who manufacture things from birds. I'm not endorsing their line of products, but I certainly like good ideas. I think you'll enjoy and benefit from these. Rich BIRDING FOR BEGINNERS Many might wonder how to get started with this most interesting pastime. About.com has a primer that should help. Of course, you could always join us on a Beginner's Bird Walk in the Spring. |
| CREDITS Many of the graphics used may be… © 1999-2008 www.barrysclipart.com © www.clipart.com © www.coolarchive.com |
| - Top - |
|
– East Brunswick
Nature Notes –
The Back Page Contact us! © 2004-2008 - Richard Wolfert - (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED) |
