sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia Birds , Squirrels Make Yard Battleground

In my side yard, there is a running battle which has no apparent winner in sight. I put feed in the feeder for the birds. The squirrels come to get it and they eat the stuff as fast as I seem to get it out there., * Some of the bigger birds get after the smaller birds. Some of the smaller birds could care less. They get in

to get their share of the feed. Some birds ignore the squirrels and others sit and wait for the leftovers, not wanting a confrontation. Sometimes the squirrels themselves provide the hostility. They get into arguments over the food. The bigger ones do not always win. I CHASE THE squirrels

at times, but soon recognize the futility of it ! all. After being told off a few times by chattering squirrels, and most of the time being ignored anyway. I have stopped trying to keep them away from the feeder. I won't let the squirrels get to me as they have to a friend of mine. A non-hunter, his first approach was to ignore the squirrels in his feeder. The next step was to create what he thought were •squirrel-proof bird feeders. They didn't work. He learned a lot about squirrels while watching them out-fox him in his efforts to stymie their foodgathering efforts. His squirrel prevention devices got more elaborate, and more expensive He got bird magazines which advertised the gqdgets and sent for them. He is a mildmannered man. given to little profanity. He definitely is not prone to violence. IT CAME AS a surprise to me. sitting in his kitchen enjoying a sandwich, to learn that he was capable of both. He not only is able to swear like a trooper, but he is also capable of becoming violent. We were halfway through lunch when he tore loose with a string of profanity I had never heard before He leaped up. grabbed a trash can lid and a big ladle, began pounding on the lid and screaming ear-blistering oaths as he ran out the door and onto his back porch. When his Indian dance was completed and his sanity returned. I realized that he had been chasing the squirrels which were at his first feeder again BY WAY OK apology, he indicated that his frustration was not that he objected to feeding the squirrels. He did that anyway. His anger was a no used because these little furry animals were making a fool of him. as well as the people who were still selling him the squirrel-proof

bird feeders. He recited a litany of woeful tales about plastic feeders that the squirrels had chewed up to get at the feed inside. He had lined trees with sheets of aluminum. He replaced wooden poles on feeders with pipes. He hung the feeders on wires. Nothing seemed to work for him and he admitted to being one step away from positive, direct action. The only things saving the squirrels were the fact that he lived in a tight residential neighborhood, and where discharging a firearm was not only illegal but out and out dangerous, and that he didn't own any kind of a gun. A TRAP WORKED to catch the squirrels, but he was convinoed that when he took the squirrels to a woods a short distance from his house, they came back anyway. Besides, it took too much of his time to be engaged in trapping and transporting squirrels. Besides, he said, they got downright nasty at being hauled away from their free and readily accessible lunches. I have only one of the two above deterrents in my battle with the squirrels. But what I do have going for me after 20 years of a squirrelinspired cold war is a definite resolve that I will not let these little furry creatures get the best of me. So far. I have succeeded. Let the birds fight the squirrels. CAPE MAY COUNTY is blessed with a plentitude of birds Noted birder Roger Tory Peterson deems Cape May County to be one of the 12 best birding areas in the world. The success of the Audubon weekends over the years and the masses of birders who visit the Jersey Cape all year long are proof enough that there are lots of birds here What is a birder <or bird watcher as they used to be called)? Some are really into it. They maintain birding check lists and spend countless hours looking for and listening for birds they have not spotted before to fill out their check lists. They charter boats to go to sea to see pelagic birds. They spend hours in blinds. They spend lots of money on optics and cameras to see and to photograph AS IS TRUE of a lot of things, there are the dedicated and the casual. I am at the low end of the casual range. I suppose. I see birds all the time. I watch them at my feeder, while I am driving, or while I am out in the woods or on the boat. Save for a concern as to whether they are legal prey when I am hunting (quail, woodcock, pheasant, grouse, or ducks ) . I just see birds. Occasionally I will delve into my outdoor books library for a bird identification book to see what a particular strange bird might be called, but that's an exception. IT SHOULD surprise few people that birding is a popular pastime. It is estimated that over half of the people in the United States watch birds at some level.

The number of birds is estimated in the billions. Birds add color to an otherwise drab landscape in the winter months. People who feed birds help conserve wildlife, and they can enjoy watching the fruits of their labor. Over 62 million adults in the United States feed birds, according to figures released by the Department of The Interior. That's one third of the adult population in this country. They spend an estimated $517 million just in direct sales for bird feed. Here are some bird feeding tips: THE TWO MOST popular seeds for birds are the black sunflower seed and the white proso millet seed. They should be put out separately. Striped surrflower is popular. Niger (Thistle) is favored by some of the smaller birds such as the goldfinches. Suet will draw woodpeckers and other interesting birds. Cracked corn and other seeds are lower down the scale of acceptability for most birds, but will serve. If you start to feed birds, remember that they become somewhat dependent on you for a food source, particularly in bad weather. You have to keep at it once you start. LATE WINTER and ear ly spring are crucial times. The birds have a tough time scrounging up a meal at that time of year. Most natural food has already disappeared. Summer plants have not yet started to produce a food supply Hoiv you feed the birds is also important. Elevated tubular feeders will draw cardinals, blue jays and chickadees if they are stocked with sunflower Ground-feeding birds such as cowbirds and mourning doves prefer white proso millet placed on or near the ground. Keep your feeders clean. Shelter them from rain and snow. Using unpopular seeds will attract squirrels and rats. Try to keep some unfrozen water near the bird feeder each day. IF CATS ARE a problem in that they might attempt to stalk the ground-feeding birds, erect a large mesh chicken wire fence around the feeding area to give the birds some time to fly if a neighborhood pet is after them. The fence will also deter the animals. Birds can also be a source of frustration. Pigeons are a nuisance. Ask any farm boy who watched tons of hay being discarded after it was dirtied up by roosting pigeons who found their way into the barns. Ask anyone who has had a rooftop adopted

by a flock of pigeons. The cooing noise in the early a.m. is bad enough, but the pigeon manure is worse. An unnamed friend had the problem in his back yard. He bought fake owls on the premise that the pigeons would stay off his roof. The pigeons didn't. He tried a box in his eaves and that would not deter them. He finally gave in and decided to trap them He caught a few, put them into a burlap bag, and took them about a mile from his house. After he released the pigeons, he returned home to give it another try. Several trips later, after having trapped a couple of dozen pigeons, he believed ^hat they were flying back faster than he was able to drive back. SINCE ALL pigeons look alike, he couldn't tell. Finally, he daubed a couple with some spray paint. Sure enough, they were back. The battle was a draw until he finally gave up. Now the pigeons own his roof and he tolerates them. Speaking of squirrels. I was. just reminded that I owe them a couple of getevens for the past two summers. Each year. I plant peas in my garden. Each year, the squirrels wait until the peas get about an inch or two above the ground, then they pull the little plants up to eat the remnant of the pea around the roots. RABBITS GET my leafy vegetables. I solved part of the problem by making the garden so big that the numbers of plants defeat the rabbits. The squirrels, however, got all my peas two years in a row. A ( Page 20 Please > CROITOR FEED ft COAL School House Lane C.M.C.H. 465-7365 BIRD SEED 25 LB. MIXED S.4S SO LI. MIXED 10.10 25 LI. SUNFLOWER OILED $1.40 SO II. SUNFLOWER OILED $15.85 25 LB. SUNFLOWER STRIP $9.25 50 LB. SUN FLOWER J\ ^ STRIP SlI.OSj^ tmmSm Mt JmHBI NON.-FW. SAT.*] 4-12 « l-S 4-12 |

Cape May County — — [ ALMANAC I JANUARY. 19X6

MOON PHASES/POSITIONS The Moon's effect on the Tide it greatest when closet! to Earth (In perigee) and when in direct alignment with Sun A Earth tfull i new moon phases) On and about these dates, low pressure systems and/or strong winds ( depending upon direc lion) mav mult in flooding and/or extremely low tides Moon Phase* last Quarter .3 New Moon 10 First Quarter li Full Moon 23 Apogee 19 Perigee N TIDE TABLE Computed for Cape May City beachfront, for other areas, see Correction Times DATE HIGH I.OM a.m. p.m. a.m. p.m. 1 Wed 10 59—11 44 4 27- 5:10 2 Thu 11:50- 5:23- 6:00 3 Eri 12:35-12:45 6:29- 7:01 4 Sal 1:34- 1 45 7:42 - 8:04 5 Sun 2:36- 2 53 8:51- 9:04 6 Mon 3:41 4 05 9:54- 10 00 7 Tue A Mr 5:09 10:53-10:57 8 Wed 5:43- 6:09 11:51- 11:54 9 Thu 6 34- 7 02 -12:47 ' ID Fh 7 25- 7 52 12:51- I 40 II Sal 8:14- 8:41 1:46- 2 28 ' 12 Sun 9 00 9 29 2:36- 3:14 13 Mon 9:48-10:20 3 23 3 58 14 Tue 10:37— 11:07 4 09 4 41 15 Wed II 23-11:55 4:58- 5:23 16 Thu 12 08 5:49 6 08 17 Fh 12 40- 12 53 6 42 7:00 18 Sal' 1 27 1 43 7:42- 7:51 19 Sun 2 16- 2 38 8 41 8 42 20 Mon 3:12- 3 38 9:35- 9:33 21 Tue 4 10- 4:39 10t27 10:23 22 Wed 5 03- S:32 11:16-11:10 23 Thu 5 51 6 20 12:06 24 Fri 6:33- 7:02 11:58-12:53 25 Sal 7:13- 7:42 12:43- 1:35 26 Sun 7 52- 8:22 1 30— 2 : 16 27 Mon 8:31— 9:03 2:11— 2:53 28 Tue 9:13- 9:4$' 2:S2- 3:29 29 Wed 9:55-10 31 3:34- 4:06 30 Thu 10:41— II 18 4:17- 4 45 31 Fh 11-30- 5:10- 5 31

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate times of high Ir low water for your area by adding or subtracting the following number of minutes for each tide phase in the Tide Table. U)W HIGH Great Egg Harbor Inlet Plus 12 plusio Ocean City (9Ui St Bridge > plus 35 plus 22 Corson Inlet i bridge i plus 21 plus 7 Sea Isle City i Ludlatn Thoro Bridge i plus 66 plus 43 Sea Isle City Beach minus 2 minus 21 Tow rise nd Inlet plus 21 plus 4 Seven Mile Beach plus 15 0 «. Stone Harbor (Great Channel Bridge* plus 43 plus 40 Hereford Inlet t Anglesea > plus 19 0 Wildwood Beach Minus 2 minus 17 West Wildwood (Grassy Channel bridge) plus 46 plus 43 Cape May Harbor plus 1 minus 4 Five Fathom Bank plus 11 plus I Cape May Point plus 46 plus 34 McCrie Shoal plus 28 plus 22 Delaware Bay Bayshore Channel (Bay-Canal Junction) | plus 47 plus 36 Miami Beach i plus 75 plus 61 Dennis Creek Entrance plus 114 plus 97 Brandy wine Shoal Light plus 77 plus 52

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