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SCORES & OUTDOORS – Porcupines: nuisance or ecological necessity?

February 8, 2023/0 Comments/in Scores & Outdoors/by Roland D. Hallee

by Roland D. Hallee

Porcupines. Nuisance, or ecological necessity?

It all depends with whom you talk. I know some people who are overrun by the animals to the point where they are raiding the gardens, and having to deal with their dogs being injured by porcupine quills due mostly to their own curiosity. While others find a use for them.

Simply put, porcupines are rodents. That puts them in the same class, and are actually related, with raccoons, rats and beavers. They are indigenous to the Americas, Southern Asia, Europe and Africa. They are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and beaver.
They can grow in size to be 25 – 36 inches long with an 8 to 10-inch tail, and weigh from 12 – 35 pounds.

The common porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum, is an herbivore, so look out gardens. It eats leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants. They may eat bark in the winter, evidence of which I have seen in many places. The North American porcupine often climbs trees to find food. Like the raccoon, they are mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day.

Because of the scarcity of predators, porcupines are plentiful and are not endangered.

The name porcupine comes from Middle French porc espin (spined pig). A regional American name for the animal is quill pig.

The porcupines’ quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and they are embedded in the skin musculature.

Quills are released by contact with them, or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body. The porcupine does not throw quills, but the flailing muscular tail and powerful body may help impel quills deeply into attackers. The quills’ barbed ends expand with moisture and continue to work deeper into flesh. Porcupine quills have mildly antibiotic properties and thus are not infectious. Quills, however, may cause death in animals if they puncture a vital organ or if a muzzle full of quills leads to starvation.

Once embedded, the hollow quills swell, burn and work their way into the flesh every time a victim’s muscles contract, digging a millimeter deeper each hour. Eventually, they emerge through the skin again, some distance from the entry point though sometimes they spear right through the body.

I have had first hand knowledge of how painful a porcupine quill can be. Many years ago, my children had chores to do after they came home from school. One of them was to make sure they picked up after themselves following their after-school snack. Upon returning home from work, I found a folded paper towel on the counter. I grabbed it to crush it into a ball to throw away when this sharp pain shot through my hand. When I unwrapped the towel, I found a porcupine quill inside, but now imbedded in my hand. It turned out my daughter had brought it home from school to show it to me. She obtained the quill from a “show and tell” session at school.

Because they have few effective predators, porcupines are relatively long-lived. The average life span of the porcupine is 7 – 8 years, however, they have lived up to 15 years in the wild, and 18 years in captivity. A predator needs to learn only once to leave a porcupine alone. Bobcats, great-horned owls, mountain lions, coyotes and wolves, when extremely hungry and unable to catch anything else, may give it a try anyway. The fisher, however, is a skilled porcupine killer. It uses its speed and agility to snake around a porcupine’s rear guard defense and viciously bite its face until it dies.

The remains of the porcupine that died while lodged between the wheels of a camper trailer sometimes this late winter or spring. (photo by Roland D. Hallee)

At one time, however, especially when game was scarce, the porcupine was hunted for its meat and considered a delicacy. A practice that continues in Kenya today. Because they are slow, and can remain in the same tree for days at a time, they are about the only animal that can be killed simply with a large rock. Native people of the North Woods also wove elaborate dyed quillwork decorations into clothing, moccasins, belts, mats, necklaces, bracelets and bags. Because the work was so time-consuming and highly valued, quill embroideries were used as a medium of exchange before the coming of Europeans.

When not in trees or feeding, porcupines prefer the protection of a den, which can be found in rock crevices, caves, hollow logs, abandoned mines and even under houses and barns.

Porcupines are highly attracted to salt. They may chew on any tool handle that has salt left from human sweat. They have even been known to chew on outhouse toilet seats. Road rock salt is very tempting to them, and puddles of water from the snow-melt in the spring are especially luring and could account for their high road-kill mortality rate. They have even been seen gnawing on automobile tires that have been exposed to rock salt.

In Maine, porcupines join a short list of other animals that are open to hunting all year, including coyotes, woodchucks and red squirrels.

So, are porcupines a nuisance, or do they have a role in the grand scheme of things, ecologically?

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the five NFL teams to win only one Super Bowl.

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Top 5 nutrients you need in your diet

February 1, 2023/0 Comments/in For Your Health/by Website Editor

You’re probably not getting enough of these vitamins and minerals. Here’s how to fill your plate with power foods for your body and mind.

You try your hardest to eat a healthy diet (you really do!). That’s a smart habit, since food is the best source of most of the key nutrients your body needs. But you’re likely still missing out on some important vitamins and minerals.

“Americans don’t always eat the right foods,” says registered dietitian Bonnie Taub-Dix. She’s the author of Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table. “We aren’t getting enough fruits and vegetables, which are a great source of many nutrients.”

The good news: It’s not hard to make every meal a nutritional powerhouse. And it takes only a few small tweaks to your meal plan. Read on for a top-5 list of essential nutrients your body needs and the foods that will deliver them.

Nutrient you need: Potassium

Your body needs potassium for almost everything it does. Potassium supports normal blood pressure and helps your kidneys function smoothly. It also supports nerve function, helps your muscles contract and more.

Fill your grocery cart with: Potatoes, broccoli, cantaloupe, apricots, bananas, prunes, raisins and oranges.

Broccoli Cantaloupe Apricots Bananas Prunes Raisins Oranges

Nutrient you need: Calcium

This mineral is crucial for bone health, but there’s a good chance you aren’t getting enough of it, says Taub-Dix. Men need around 1,000 mg of calcium per day, and women need 1,000 to 1,200 mg. Calcium is found in dairy products such as: Cheese, yogurt, milk and calcium-fortified orange juice.

Nutrient you need: Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, so it plays a crucial role in boosting bone health. You need 15 micrograms of vitamin D per day. If you’re a milk drinker, you don’t have to think too hard about it: Cow’s milk is fortified with vitamin D. Many plant-based milk alternatives, such as almond milk and oat milk, are also fortified with D. Other good sources include: Fatty fish, such as trout, salmon, tuna and mackerel (these are the best natural sources of vitamin D), Fortified yogurt and eggs. Eggs

Nutrient you need: Magnesium

There are a lot of important reasons to get enough magnesium in your diet,” says Taub-Dix. Magnesium helps your muscles and nerves function properly, regulates blood sugar levels and blood pressure, and builds bone health. Some of the best are: Nuts, legumes, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, fortified breakfast cereal.

Nutrient you need: Iron

This mineral helps support muscle metabolism and healthy connective tissue. Your body also uses iron to produce hemoglobin. That’s a vital protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body.

Red meat is an excellent source of iron. Your body absorbs two to times times more iron from animal sources than it does from plant sources, according to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. But don’t stress if you’re not a meat eater: You can also get this nutrient from a variety of legumes, vegetables and fortified foods.

Good animal sources of iron are: Red meat, turkey, chicken, oysters. Some top nonanimal sources of iron include: Fortified cereal, enriched bread and pasta, beans and peas, spinach, tofu, dried fruits such as raisins, and broccoli.

LIFE ON THE PLAINS: Working for the extras

February 1, 2023/0 Comments/in Life on the Plains, Local History, Waterville/by Roland D. Hallee

An old sawmill with a rock dam.

by Roland D. Hallee

Life on The Plains in the 1950s and ‘60s was pretty simple. World War II had ended a few years earlier, the Korean War was raging, but I was too young to remember that. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the “man who defeated Hitler” was elected president in 1952, and the country was going through some kind of industrial revolution.

In Waterville, the mills were cranking out products, unemployment was down, and families were growing.

Our dad worked at Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, in Winslow, and brought home a decent pay check for those days. He worked his way up to machine tender, which means he primarily ran the paper making monstrosity of a machine.

At the Sunday dinner table, when he was able to be there since he worked shift work and had to be at the mill sometime, he would go through the process of making paper. Whether it was tissue paper, bathroom tissue, or the base paper that would later be processed into wax paper, it was relayed to us. Three of the four of us would later decide we didn’t want to spend our lives in the mill. One brother, the oldest, became a chemical engineer, specializing in the pulp and paper industry.

Even though our dad provided well for our family, there were no handouts. I don’t ever recall having an “allowance”. We were provided with the necessities, and that was it. Any frills, or “wants” we had, had to be earned. And don’t think we got paid to mow the lawn or shovel snow, those were expected.

So, we went out and got paper routes. That, in itself, was a life experience. Me at the age of 12 years.

For six days a week – no paper on Sunday – we were up at 4:30 a.m., went out the front door to fetch our bundle of papers that had been left by a Morning Sentinel delivery driver. We prepared the papers for each door we would visit. Some were folded in half, some folded into thirds, and even some we “boxed” for throwing up two or more stories in apartment buildings. No need to climb three flights of stairs when you could chuck the papers up there. We had 83 customers spread throughout our neighborhood.

We would load the papers in our wagon, and venture out the door. To steal an old slogan of the U.S. Postal Service, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night would prevent us from our appointed rounds.” And there were days when we would rather still be in bed. On rainy days, we had to make sure the papers stayed dry, or it would affect our tips. Following snow storms, we had to trudge through mounds of snow banks, sometimes sinking up to our knees. It was always dark, because we had to complete our route by 6 a.m. We had to be ready for school by 7 a.m. School started at 8 a.m. in those days, and we walked. We couldn’t be late. And I won’t even go into the battles we had with dogs.

Clinton Clauson

I remember the night Gov. Clinton Clauson died. The papers had been delivered to our house, and we were ready to go when a truck pulled up, took away the papers, and left us in a lurch. A little while later, a new bundle was delivered with the front page story. Some of our customers still didn’t understand, and we barely made it to school on time.

Oh, but in the summer time, it was a different story. It was light early, and we didn’t have to worry about school. I can remember some mornings when, following our deliveries, we would sit on the back steps, and enjoy the aroma of doughnuts and bread in the air. Probably from Bolduc’s Bakery, on Veteran Court.

Of course, delivering the papers was only part of the job. In the evenings, we had to go collect our money from the customers. That could be a challenge, especially from those who were unemployed.

Economics played a large part in our decision to give up the routes when we were about ready for high school. The paper back then was 45-cents a week. People would give us half a dollar and tell us to “keep the change.” Well, in due time, the cost of the subscription went to 47-cents, and the customers still gave us half a dollar, and said, “keep the change.” Besides, there were other opportunities about to present themselves. Going to work at the Sentinel when we turned 16 years old.

With that job, which paid 75-cents an hour, we worked from 1 – 4 a.m., six days a week, and still had to make it to school on time. During this period of working these jobs, I missed three days of school, only because my maternal grandfather had passed away.

But, the lesson was learned. Anything you want in life, you have to go work for it.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: James Garfield

February 1, 2023/0 Comments/in Review Potpourri/by Peter Cates

James Garfield (left), Lucretia Garfield (right)

by Peter Cates

James Garfield

Former 20th President James Abram Garfield (1831-1880) was the last of the Ohio Republican Triumvirate to serve in the White House, following his predecessors Grant and Hayes.

Garfield grew up in poverty on a farm and was the youngest of five children, three of whom died before he was born (One brother James Ballou Garfield died at the age of three in 1829.); only one sister, Mary (1824 – 1884) lived to adulthood, surviving her youngest brother by four years.

Garfield’s father Abram (1799-1833) was born in Worcester, New York, while his mother, the former Eliza Ballou (1801 – 1888) had spent her childhood in Richmond, New Hampshire, and outlived both of her surviving adult children.

To avoid starvation, Garfield and his sister helped their mother on the farm with all of the heavy work and he did not begin his formal education until the age of 18. Being a quick learner, he breezed through college and, at the age of 25 and already an accomplished teacher, became president of his alma mater, Hiram College.

Garfield was also an Orthodox Christian and became a highly accomplished preacher and orator. Listeners felt, as one wrote later, “as if they had been transplanted away from earth to some tranquil, beautiful region of heaven.”

His talent as a speaker served him well when he ran successfully for the Ohio Senate in 1859 and later for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Like his two Ohio predecessors, Garfield served with distinction as an officer during the Civil War.

Ironically, for reasons too detailed to go into, he was elected to the U.S. Senate while still Representative but never served there because, about the same time, he became the Republican candidate for the White House and won by a narrow margin over his Democrat opponent General Winfield Scott Hancock (1824 – 1886).

Garfield’s major accomplishment as president may have been pushing the investigation into fraudulent expenditures in the U.S. Post Office which involved a number of high-ranking fellow Republicans, resulting in indictments and prosecution.

Unfortunately, his presidency was short-lived.

On July 2nd, 1881, the president was at the D.C. train station heading to New England with his two sons when the psychotic Charles J. Guiteau (1841 – 1882) fired two bullets into Garfield, who very strangely was traveling without any bodyguards, as Lincoln’s assassination had been considered a fluke and his successors saw little need for protection.

After two months of being unsanitarily poked and probed, President Garfield died on September 19, and was succeeded by Vice-President Chester Alan Arthur (1830 – 1886).

Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph (1832 – 1918) who was a calm and supportive wife and shared with her husband a love of books. Like former First Lady Lucy Hayes, Lucretia was also a college graduate. They had seven children, among whom two died by the age of three while the others lived to ripe old age.

SMALL SPACE GARDENING: Garden longer with less muscle strain and fatigue

February 1, 2023/0 Comments/in Garden Works/by Melinda Myers

photo by Emily Cates

by Melinda Myers

Keep gardening longer with less muscle strain and fatigue with these pain-free gardening techniques. You’ll not only keep your garden looking its best but also make it a more enjoyable experience.

Keep tools handy to reduce the number of trips from the garden back to your garage or shed. A garden tool bag or bucket with a wrap-around tool organizer works well for small hand tools. Purchase a mobile garden tool caddy or convert a discarded wheeled golf bag, shopping cart, or wheeled trash bin into a tool caddy for long-handled tools. These make it easier to keep them handy as you move from garden to garden.

Store small tools right in the garden. Install an old mailbox in your garden filled with your favorite small hand tools and gloves. Then add a little paint or cover it with a mailbox planter or vine to make it an attractive and functional part of your landscape.

Keep tools clean and sharp. Regular maintenance will extend their life and improve their efficiency. It can also help reduce the risk of spreading disease.

Invest in ergonomic tools when replacement or new tools are needed. They have larger and softer handles for easier, less stressful gripping. Many are designed for the proper positioning of your body to reduce joint stress and fatigue. Longer handles extend your reach and help you retain good posture. Consider purchasing ratchet-type pruners designed to give you more cutting power with less effort.

Use wagons, carts, or old snow saucer-type sleds for moving heavy items to the garden. You’ll need to make fewer trips, reduce muscle strain, and save energy when moving mulch, potted plants, and other items.

Divide heavy loads into smaller increments. You may need to make more trips, but it will be easier on your back and knees.

When shoveling, be sure to stand upright and take small scoops. Remember to pivot your body rather than twisting when emptying the load. Switch sides and take frequent breaks to reduce the risk of muscle strain, and fatigue.

Protect your knees with kneelers or wrap-around kneepads. No matter your age or physical ability you will benefit now and in the future by protecting your joints when gardening. These gardening accessories also reduce the pain and pressure on your joints. Kneelers with built-in handles make moving up and down easier, allowing you to garden longer.

Include a pair of safety glasses in your tool caddy. It is too easy to end up with a stick in the eye when pruning and working around trees and shrubs.

Take time to warm up before digging in. Gentle backbends and lunges are great ways to engage your muscles. Adjust your gardening activities to the weather. If it’s cold, try waiting for the weather to warm. If you are stiff in the morning, try gardening a bit later in the day.

Garden for shorter periods and try to take breaks every 15 to 20 minutes. Consider adding a few benches to the landscape to encourage you to sit, relax and enjoy your handiwork.

Wear gloves to protect your hands from cuts and bruises. Gloves also keep your hands warm and provide support as you dig, pluck and prune. Find a good-looking comfortable pair that you are likely to wear.

Protect your eyes and skin from sun damage. Wear a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen. You’ll avoid sunburns and protect your skin from long-term damage. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water as you garden.

Including these strategies in your gardening efforts can make gardening even more beneficial and enjoyable.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including the recently released Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment TV & radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and her website is www.MelindaMyers.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: It’s time for our annual visit with Woodrow Charles

February 1, 2023/0 Comments/in Scores & Outdoors/by Roland D. Hallee

by Roland D. Hallee

Well, we’ve turned the calendar and it is now February. Time for me to go visit my furry, rodent friend, Woodrow Charles, the weather prognosticating groundhog. Folklore has it that if he sees his shadow, we are in for six more weeks of winter. If he does not see it, we can expect an early spring.

With the mild winter we had seen so far, it looked like the trek to his abode would be an easy one. However, with the snow, rain and ice we have received over the past couple of weeks, that hike could be a difficult one. It was!

After an hour and a half of trudging through the snow and ice, I finally came to the residence he occupied last year, only to find large “marshmallows,” massive hay bails wrapped in white plastic. Now, where did he go?

I took out my cell phone and dialed his number:

“Hello,” came the response from the other end.

“Woody?” I asked.

“Yeah, who wants to know?” was his reply.

“This is your friend from The Town Line,” I said.

“Oh, yeah,” he responded.

“Where the heck are you?”

“If you’re at my old place, just keep going straight through the field and down the path. I’m about 100 yards down on the right.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Down the path I went and found a small tree stump with a green door. I knocked.

“Come on in,” was the answer from the other side.

“Boy, this place is a dump,” I exclaimed.

“Hey, do you know how hard it is to find good, affordable housing these days?” he snapped. “At least I was able to install a heat pump. No place for a wood burning stove.”

He whipped up some tea, and we began to chat.

“Any plans for the Super Bowl?, I inquired.

“No, it’s between Philadelphia and Kansas City, two teams I have no interest in,” he said unapologetic. “As a matter of fact, two teams I have no love for.”

“What about Frank, Butch and Slim, your buddies?”

“Oh, they wimped out and went to Florida for the winter, but they’re in the process of finding a new place down there. Got flooded out from Hurricane Ian.”

“So,” I said, “no prediction on the game this year?”

“Well,” he replied, “you know me. I’ve got to put some money down on someone.”

Following a long pause, and look of concentration on his face, he finally said, “Philadelphia by two over Kansas City.”

“That’s a bold prediction,” I answered.

“Well, like I said, I don’t really care who wins!”

So, I tried to change the subject.

“Do you think you’ll be here for a while, or try to find a more suitable place so you can put back your big screen, smart TV, Alexa, your Keurig, and heated recliner?”

“I’m still looking,” he sighed. “But, it probably won’t be until the weather breaks. I’ll make do with this until then.”

“Speaking of the weather, what do you have for our readers this year?”

“Well, I still can’t use my electronic equipment. No internet, don’t you know. But I have done some calculations on my cell phone and this is what I have–”

I interrupted, “Not going out to see whether your shadow is here or not?”

“That’s old fashioned,” he said with a grit in his voice. “That’s for that fraud, wanna be, in Pennsylvania.”

“OK, I’m sorry.”

He rubbed his chin, and proclaimed, “The winter started out mild and it will end mild. Look for an early spring!”

“That was an even bolder prediction than the Super Bowl,” was my response.

“You can take it to the bank!” he shot back.

So, I bid my farewell for this year, exited the door, and on my way home wondered, “With those two predictions, was he actually starting to lose his mind?”