18 » Herald & Lantern 29 August '84 V — f " "

Tolz Could Give Beach To Lower

By E.J. DUFFY CAPE MAY BEACH - Realtor Herman Tolz said Friday that he will "seriously consider" any official Lower Township request that he donate his bayfront beach to the municipality. That request hasn't been made, but Township Manager James R. Stump confirmed that he informally talked over the possibility with Tolz last week when they discussed removal of decaying Horseshoe crabs from the privately-owned beach. More than 130 local residents petitioned Mayor Robert Fothergill this month, asking for at least an annual cleanup of the beach where thousands of crabs have been rotting since they came ashore to mate and lay eggs this past spring. Waving the petition during last week's council meeting, Councilman Joseph Lonergan echoed residents' complaints that the crabs pose an unsightly health hazard. Oceanfront beaches are routinely cleared by resort governments in the summer months, but most of Lower's bayfront ^is privately owned and rarely, if ever, cleaned. But Lonergan and othe& don't buy the argument that /here's nothing township officials can do about the crabs. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND," he told his colleagues last week. "If we can make people cut their gfrass, why can't we have people pick up Hbrseshoe crabs?" Councilman Robert Conroy suggested cleanup "incentives" for bayside beach owners like "some sort of tax break." Solicitor Bruce Gorman advised council that a public health nuisance could be regarded as something offensive to residents in its vicinity.

"We'ro not going to do the cleanup," Stump told council, adding, that the township might "take some sting out" of the chore by taking "some of the labor out of it." He told about 20 petitioners who attended last week's meeting that he would inspect the beach and take up the matter with the beach owner or owners. "If you do one area, you should do the whole beach," Stump said after his inspection "It's a big problem. Almost ail the bay is covered with them. It's not just an isolated area." He contacted Tolz about the crab problem and in the course of their conversation fhey discussed the possibility of the Re*]Mr donating his part of the beach to the township. t TOLZ. WHO LIVES ALONG the Delaware Bay, said he owns, through one of his corporations, the beach from Cox Hall Creek north to Delview Road. He offered that 14-block stretch to the township when he subdivided his property more than a decade ago, he said, but nothing ever came of it. \ He wouldn't realize any tax advantages by donating the beach to Lower, he added, since laws prohibit construction on it and therefore it has little real estate value. If he does donate the beach to the township, Tolz continued, "I would like it to be kept in pristine shape." Stump didn't want to speculate on whether council would accept the donation if Tolz offers. A lot of things would have to be considered, Stump said, including municipal responsibility for the beach. IF THE TOWNSHIP DID ACCEPT the donation, it would likewise assume respon-

sibility for the annual Horseshoe crab hassle, at least along the Tolz tract. That means Lower employes could remove the crabs from that stretch of beach. Another 6V4 miles along the bay, and more than three miles of private beach along Lower's oceanfront, would remain outside township cleanup control, however, unless routine beach maintenance were mandated by ordinance. "If you do one section, are you going to do the whole area ' " the township manager asked Friday. Besides the task of collecting the massive number of dead crabs, the township must consider where cleaning equipment would be able to enter and

leave the beaches, Stump said. "Only - select equipment" can be used on the sandy shorefront, be noted. "My thought is, we should have an annual program to cleanup these crabs," he continued. t Asked who would assume the respon sibility and expense involved, he said he thought the job should be done as a "community-township" project, adding that he "can't speak for the township" until he talks the matter over with council. Last week, Stump said he was trying to organize a cleanup for this year with donated equipment and labor, the latter perhaps supplied by the county jail. "The beaches will be cleaned up this year," he concluded.

Medicare Covers Home Care

Although home health care has been covered by Medicare since it began in 1965, it is often overlooked by people who are considering their health care options, Del Brooks, Socie-ly-ijpdGnty manager in (Wildwqod, said recently. ^Hfljne health care was developed-as an alternative to inpatient care in a hospital or skilled nursing facility. This coverage is for persons who do not need full-time inpatient care, but do have an illness or injury which prevents leaving home. Brooks said. People who need parttime skilled health services in their home can receive them from a home health

agency which takes part in Medicare. Such an agency is a public or private organization specializing in providing skilled nur$ZK services and other heiSfi care services to patients in their own homes. WHEN ELIGIBILITY conditions are met, home health care can be covered under both hospital insurance and medical insurance. Medicare now covers unlimited home health care up to the approved charge limits. When home health care is covered, Medicare can pay for part-time skilled nursing services, physical therapy, and speech therapy. If one of these services is needed, Medicare c$n also pay for part-time services of an occupational therapist, home health aide, or medical social worker, as well as for medical appliances furnished by the agency. For more information about home health care under Medicare, get in touch with the Wildwood Social Security office, 136 E. Spicer Ave. The telephone number is 800-272-1111. BROOKS ALSO warned that those who receive monthly supplemental security income (SSI) checks, must promptly report changes that could affect eligibility or amount of payments. Failure to do so could result in an overpayment and a fine of up to $100. Following are some things that must be reported to Social Security (most can be handled by phone ) : Change of address — Do this even - if checks are deposited directly in a bank or other financial institution. Change in income — Report any increase or decrease in income from working, other government

i benefits, support or ' alimony, gifts, and other : sources. i Change in resources — | Let Social Security know of i purchase or sale of real i estate, a car, life insurance. stocks and bonds, burial plots, or other resources. Also report changes in any individual or joint bank accounts. CHANGE IN your household — Report if the number of people living in household changes because of a birth, death, marriage, divorce, separation, or other reason. You enter or leave an institution — Notify Social Security if you enter or leave a hospital, nursing home, halfway house, jail or prison, or any other institution. If you leave the U.S. for 30 days or more — You are not eligible for an SSI check for any full month you are outside the U.S. Your disability improves — If you get SSI checks because of disability or blindness, report if your condition improves or you start working. If you have any questions about S§I and what to report, contact any Social Security office. ■■■-*7— r—

•.vim ...-.rj i, American Heart Association • • SMIL «— iw dont give these signals a second thought. ACT IMMEDIATELY. These signals may be me warnings yourJjody g^es you of a heart 4Rack And by ignonng ihem-^Ki could be risking serious Pro«ems Remember each year 350.000 Americans die from heart macks before reaching the hospital WAHMIMO SIGNALS OT A HEART ATTACK 1 An uncomfortable pressure fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of your chest behind the breastbone 2 The sensation may spread to your shoulders- neck or arms If it lasts tor two minutes or more, you could be having a heart attack 3 Severe pain dizziness faint - mg. sweating, nausea or shortness of breath ijiay also occur, but are not aMiys present

■ T i dm Ft = SHARE THE COST f : OF UYMG. i : GIVE TO THE AMERICAN \ CANCER SOCIETY.

Crab Builder. Lover t

By DIXIE L. ANDERSON By all rights, the little Fiddler Crab should be called the 'builder'' or the "architect" crab, for this clawed creature prefers a dry home to the wet of the depths, and is a clever constructor. While the Fiddler Crab is a good swimmer in shallow water, it prefers beachdwelling, and spends most of its life in the sand and salt marshes on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The Fiddler, an exhibitionist personified, is referred to by its French nickname as "le crabe Enrage' " or, "the angrycrab. ' ' Angry for sure is the male Fiddler with his large claw in the right, and his small claw on the left. He uses this large, over-sized claw instinctively for three purposes: 1) To entice his female counterpart, 2) To fenci off other male Fiddlers and predators, and 3i To communicate WATCHING a village of Fiddrer crabs can be one of the most amusing parts of a seashore vacation Hundreds of the heavyhanded (the left or the right) crabs scurry hither and thither as they fight, build, design, com municate and perform the ritual of courtship They seem fearless, and as you bend towards them, the better to see them, they take exception and, without apparent thought as to your giantness and their smaller stature, go through the motions of attack Their claws raised, they gesture towards you menacingly, and you can almost hear angry words of war cries resounding through their tiny villages They are obviously telling you. "Get lost, buster!" The Fiddler Crab is a small species in the crusta cean family, measuring 1 '2 inches wide and just one inch long, k has a square shell that tapers to the back, and eyes on stalks that give them a wide range of vision, for protec tion. It is colored a graybrown and its claws show red spots where they are jointed. THE FEMALE Fiddler Crab has two srhall claws at the front of her four sided, square-shaped carapace, and with these she eats and digs her home The male, whose large, courting-fighting claw can measure three inches in length, can eat with only his smaller claw, but he digs with both. While they are sometimes cannibalistic, the Fiddlers are general!; -

particular about their food, selecting from small and microscopic beach dwellers, algae and fermenting plants. The construction of the Fiddler's home is energetic as each crab, male or female, digs its own private abode above the high tide line by making burrows in the sand. The crab begins by patting together balls from the sand as it pushes the grains away from the beginning hole. THESE SAND balls are rolled up and set asid»-aS' the crab digs into trfe cool, damp sand or mud. The borrows are two inches wide and can run as '^eep as 30 inches. The entire house of the constructing Fiddler is ingenious indeed At the lower, deep end of the burrow, a tunnel is dug at a side-ways angle to run another five or six inches, and at the end of this tunnel is the domicile of the old angry Fiddler It is a small oval room where the crab stays during the high tide activity on the outside While the tide is 'out.' the Fiddler crabs play, running along the beach in their little side-ways gait, the male holding his large claw in the air aggressively, as they eat and enjoy the outdoors As high tide approaches, the little sand balls they have laid aside are pulled behind them to close the hole or door to their home while they scurry to the comfort of their living room SCIENTISTS HAVE not been able to determine where the special radar comes from that tells the Fiddler Crabs i when the tide it out, bdt somehow they know, and they emerge to repair the open ings of their burrows, and eat and play on the beach Courting time brings the males of the Fiddler family together to perform and compete for the affections of the small-clawed females The boys dance, waving their big claws, as enticingly as possible, to attract a wife. Fights break out between the males as they hone in on the same female and the beach is filled with dancing little brown males who are either fightiiT, fuedin-, dancin' or courtin'. THE FEMALE chooses her suitor, and without a hint of scandal, accompanies him to his burrow. There she spends only one day. and then she says "Goodby, see ya later honey," and returns to her own home.

In a short time, she lays thousands of eggs that she has carried in a pouch located in her abdomen, and in just two weeks, the babies hatch. They are tiny and green, and must molt several times before they are fully grown and ready to start their own digging for a private domicile. There are three species of Fiddler Crab: the Sand Fiddler, which usually lives on the <beach, just beyond the high tide line, thjj'Mud Fiddler and the .Brackish Water Fiddler, who share mud-flats and overlap into one another's territories THE FIDDLER Crab is capable of regenerating parts of its body, but an unusual fillip to this capability is the re-growth of the male's large fiddler claw. If he loses his right (large) claw a new small one will develop on that side, while the opposite left-handed small claw will grow to reach the threeinch size of the original claw that was lost from the other side Hence you have a right-handed and a lefthanded Fiddler Crab in all the villages. It is suspected by scientists and biologists that the large fiddle claw is capable of sending mesages to , other crabs by simply waving it in the air. So far the only words in the language that have been determined by these experts are "love" and "hostility." If you get the chance, get yourself to a mudflat, where in this region you are most likely to find a Fiddler village. Go at low tide, and hopefully if you can find some of "le crabe ^Enrage", you will be treated to one of the funniest shows of your life. You will be able as well, to appreciate the architectural abilities as you laughingly watch the antics of the large-clawed, sidescurrying males while they enjoy the sun and cavort among their peers and their prospective female conquests. Senior Meet OCEAN VIEW - The Dennis Township Senior Citizens Club will meet I p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5 at the Ocean View Fire Hall. For further information, call Ellen S. Sharpley, 624-0884.