CRITTER CHATTER: Vicious vermin or rodent regulator?

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The different coats of the winter and summer ermine.

by Jayne Winters

You never know what you’ll find in Don Cote’s living room at the Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab Center, in Vassalboro. When I visited him a few weeks ago to decide on a topic for this month’s article, as soon as I walked in, I knew what it would be: weasels. I’ve never seen one in the wild and feel fortunate to have arrived at Duck Pond the same day Don had one that had been captured locally.

My first question to Don was if “weasel” and “ermine” were the same critter, and he confirmed they are. I think many of us associate “ermine” with the fashion industry and I suppose that does sound more appealing than a “weasel coat.” The body fur changes (molts) from tan with white belly in the summer to white in the winter to provide camouflage during the change of seasons; it sports a black-tipped tail year ‘round. The molts are controlled by hormones that respond to the hours of daylight.

Weasels are not only found in North America, but also Europe, Asia, South America and even parts of Africa and the Arctic. They are part of the Mustelidae family, which includes skunks, mink, otters, ferrets, badgers, fishers, martens, and wolverines. Their common feature is the presence of anal scent glands which produce an easily recognized and smelly liquid used for marking their territory and for self-defense when the animals feel threatened.

The two most common types of weasels in Maine are the long-tailed, which can grow to 11-22 inches long with a tail of 3-7 inches, and the short-tailed, which is typically 7-14 inches long with a tail of 2-4 inches. The jury is still out on whether we also have a population of the least weasel, which, as the name suggests, is the smallest, 7-9 inches, including tail which does not have the black tip.

Weasels are slender animals, with stubby legs and short, round ears, only weighing three to eight ounces as adults. They are relatively shy and mostly nocturnal, although they will forage during the day. Their diet mainly consists of mice, voles, shrews, rats, frogs, and insects, but they are also known to kill squirrels, small rabbits, worms, snakes, birds and eggs. A weasel will eat up to two-thirds of its body weight every day due to its a high metabolism (heart rates can exceed 400 beats a minute) and minimal body fat.

They live in underground burrows, often around stone walls, brush piles and old foundations for denning. Weasels are solitary except during mating season and when raising young; they are not monogamous and females care for the pups alone. The female weasel, called a “jill”, will have a litter of four to ten pups in April or May after a nine-month gestation period. After nursing for a few weeks, the pups are fully independent by autumn. Their life span is only four to five years; despite their ability to reach speeds up to eight miles an hour, jump to heights of six feet, and put up a good fight with their sharp teeth, they fall prey to raptors, fox and larger mammals, as well as domestic dogs and cats. In addition, weasels are subject to Maine’s two-month trapping season.

And the weasel at Duck Pond? Don stated he usually gets only one or two a year to rehab and this one had been caught accidentally by a homeowner who was trying to trap squirrels. Upon examination, Don noticed one of its eyes looked infected, so after three days of treatment (always a two-person job!), it was released back into the wild.

Don continues to keep admissions and long-term residents at a limited number by transferring many rescued critters to other rehabbers who have generously offered to assist in their care. Please check these websites to see if there is a rehabber closer to you to help keep critter care at Duck Pond more manageable: https://www.mainevetmed.org/wildlife-rehabilitation or https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/living-with-wildlife/orphaned-injured-wildlife/index.html.

Donald Cote operates Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center on Rte. 3 in Vassalboro. It is a non-profit state permitted rehab facility supported by his own resources & outside donations. Mailing address: 1787 North Belfast Ave., Vassalboro ME 04989 TEL: (207) 445-4326. PLEASE NOTE THE PRIOR wildlifecarecenter EMAIL ADDRESS IS NOT BEING MONITORED AT THIS TIME.

VETERANS CORNER: Remembering the fallen on Memorial Day

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by Gary Kennedy

The last Monday in May is strategically placed as to generate the name Memorial Day weekend. As you can see placing this holiday in this position allows for a long weekend for most of us. Schools, federal and state agencies as well as others will be closed. It is considered a federal holiday. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer. We still consider June 21 official first day of summer. (Season)

Memorial Day was originally referred to as Decoration Day. This being a time for paying our respects to those who died in battle defending the United States of America. President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, New York, as birthplace of this holiday. Waterloo held an event on May 5, thus celebrating the fallen. However, in 1865, a couple of weeks before the end of the Civil War, freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina, held a ceremony giving Union soldiers a proper burial.

The first Decoration Day was observed on May 30, 1868, proclaimed by General John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. Flowers were placed on both the Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, in Washington, DC, with President James Garfield as the guest speaker. In 1868 until this present date approximately 5,000 people gather at Arlington National Cemetery. Flowers were placed on all graves. In 1890 it was recognized by the North and South to pay respect on the same date. This was due to World War I and those fighting in any war. The date of the holiday, if we can refer to it as such, was changed from May 30 to the last Monday of the month of May, thus creating the long weekend.

Since 1950, 1,200 soldiers of the 3rd U.S. Infantry place small flags at each of the more than 260,000 graves at Arlington. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to insure that no flag has fallen. Red poppies are also often placed on the crosses. As I stated last year, the idea poppies was derived from the poem in 1915 by John McCrae, titled In Flanders Field. The poppy is famous from the battles in Belgium and France and is celebrated by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Other key remembrances are the candles that are placed by the Boy and Girl Scouts on the 15,300 grave sites of buried soldiers at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Parks. Also, it is requested that all governors of the United States direct the flag to be flown at half staff until noon on Memorial Day on all buildings both foreign and domestic.

Remember there is a difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial is intended to commemorate those who died for country whereas Veterans Day honors all who have served their country. This is just a little information on a very important holiday. We realize for most of you this is the wonderful long weekend. Just remember the veterans didn’t die to create a holiday. They died because they love God, Country, family and freedom. They were all aware that service to their country could be a one way ticket. And for hundreds of thousands it was just that. So love and enjoy your family, friends and God but take a few minutes to give thanks to the men and woman who made it all possible.

Also, say a special prayer for those brave men and women who are now standing up to the tyrannical hand of those merciless killing the innocence of the Democratic Christian country of Ukraine. My heart and the hearts of many other veterans go out to them as we watch their country and people being destroyed. A braver country cannot be found anywhere. Many people are new to our country so they are perhaps not as passionate about the faith of others but they obviously know what it means to be free or they wouldn’t have come here.

I say a special prayer for the Americans that have left on their own free will to fight along side the Ukraine people. I wish I was young again. May God be with you during this sad holiday. Teach your children well as they are our future and I hope they take it on with a pure, loving and compassionate heart. God bless you and those you have lost. Stay safe my friends.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Substantial moose mortality in northern Maine blamed on ticks

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Female winter tick

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Recent news reports have indicated a high rate of deaths among young moose in northern Maine. Lee Kantar, the moose biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW), said the winter ticks are to blame. The ticks, also called moose ticks, are a worsening problem in the areas of the northern U.S. and southern Canada that moose call home. Infestations of ticks contributed

to a record high death rate for young moose tracked by wildlife managers in rural Maine.

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife placed collars on 70 moose calves in remote parts of the state last winter and 60 of them had died by the beginning of May, Maine Public reported. The 86 percent mortality rate was the highest since the agency started the tracking survey.

Kantar confirmed the majority of overwinter mortality occurs in calves prior to their first birthday in May.

“We have been assessing cause specific mortality of adult cow and calf moose for 9 years with GPS collared animals,” Kantar said. “Winter tick is the primary driver/cause of mortality for calves. The winter tick is a unique species of tick that has a different life cycle than the common ticks known to most people (e.g., deer and dog ticks).”

He continued by saying unlike other ticks that have a multi-year life cycle that involves getting on and removing blood from three different hosts, winter ticks spend their entire life cycle (larva, nymph and adult) on one host (typically moose) and take blood meals off the moose at each stage.

“Adult female winter ticks, in order to produce eggs, take a minimum of one milliliter of blood from the moose,” Kantar explained. “The winter ticks get on the moose in the fall and stay on them until May where they drop off then the females lay eggs and die. A moose can harbor 30,000-90,000 ticks ” According to Kantar, “the amount of blood removed by these ticks causes blood loss, weight loss, restlessness, lethargy, hair loss, secondary bacterial infections and anemia. In cases like this spring, high infestation rates on moose can lead to death in young animals and depress female reproductive rates.”

Researchers have studied the dynamic of winter tick and moose for decades. “Typically losses like we saw this spring occur once over the course of many years,” Kantar continued. “However, in the northeast due to shifts in climate and past moose densities we have experienced multiple years of moderate-high juvenile losses. Moose are wild, free-ranging animals. There is no veterinary labelled, approved treatments for moose.” Moose range over 10-12 square miles. Maine is home to tens of thousands of moose.

“Solutions to ticks must address this large scale problem in a way that does not harm the environment and other wildlife,” Kantar said. “Therefore we are limited in options to treat moose and winter tick. Reducing the density of moose is believed to be one of the only possibilities to determine if winter tick numbers can be reduced. MDIFW is conducting further research on reducing moose numbers in one half of one Wildlife Management District over the next five years to measure moose population parameters (density, composition, mortality and reproduction) as well as winter tick numbers to determine impacts of the program.”

The reported numbers for this spring represent only one Wildlife Management District (WMD 4) and represents only GPS collared calves that had these GPS radio collars placed on them this past January.

“It is highly likely that this mortality rate is representative of the entire management unit, but caution must be used to assume that these numbers are consistent throughout the entire moose range in Maine,” Kantar explained.

“While reducing moose density is counterintuitive to people, the science behind the relationship of disease/parasites and animal density is deeply rooted and widely studied,” Kantar added. Kantar went on to say, with 90 percent of Mainers approving of moose hunting, biologically and otherwise population reduction at this level to determine feasibility is a prudent and important step in combating winter ticks. Longer summer/fall temperatures and weather and subsequently shorter winters allow winter ticks to have more days to get on moose in the fall. Each day the weather remains mild, ticks are getting on moose so the number of ticks continues to grow until weather shuts down the ticks looking for a host. This is why winter tick numbers can increase to the point on a moose that they become lethal. Combating the weather is out of our hands. Maine moose country is predominately private land – there are limitations in scope, scale, resources and practicality in how to best fight ticks.

“Our website has additional information on this,” Kantar concluded.

According to the University of Maine Extension Service, winter ticks are most commonly encountered in fall and winter. Their preferred hosts are moose and other ungulates, including deer, elk, and caribou, and occasionally horses and cattle. Though they can be found anywhere on a host, they seem to prefer the ears, belly, anal region, and under the legs. Incidental hosts include dogs, beavers, black bears, and coyotes. Winter ticks rarely bite and feed on humans.

Although winter ticks are not a threat to human health, they can pose a significant threat to wildlife, moose in particular. Deer and other ungulates seem to easily remove the ticks during grooming. Moose, however, are not as successful at tick grooming and can become host to over 100,000 winter ticks. Heavy infestations on an individual can result in severe anemia, skin irritation, hair loss, and distraction from feeding. The total effect from heavy infestations can ultimately result in death of the individual.

Ticks hide in the leaf litter present in the wooded or brushy areas they tend to populate. When snow falls, it only serves to insulate the dormant ticks, which are protected by the layer of debris. Or, in the case of soft-shell ticks, they survive by staying underground in burrows or dens.

In 2019, the Maine Center for Disease Control confirmed 1,629 cases of Lyme disease in Mainer.

The winter tick has a large geographic distribution in North America. They can be found coast to coast through much of Canada and the United States ranging from the Yukon Territory in the north to along the Mexican border in the south. They can be found in a wide variety of habitats, but are strongly associated with the presence of moose. Winter ticks are found in forested areas throughout the state of Maine, particularly in central and northern counties.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What is the diameter of a basketball hoop in inches?

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Connecting The Community To Fight An Epidemic

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Too many kids take breath-taking risks by vaping—but they can be helped.

by Marcella Bianco

(NAPSI)—According to recent research by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 million middle- and high-school students use e-cigarettes. With the study conducted fully during the COVID-19 pandemic, this places U.S. youth in a pandemic and an epidemic.

Nicotine hurts the developing brain and this addiction can lead to others. What’s more, vaping increases a person’s chance of experiencing complications from upper respiratory illnesses, and some researchers believe a relationship exists between vaping and serious respiratory impacts, such as those from COVID-19. While a network of solutions is required to overcome this epidemic, there are actions people can each take today.

Families play a critical role in influencing a child’s decision-making. Parents and guardians can help keep their kids healthy by having thoughtful, factual conversations about the dangers of vaping. For assistance getting started, parents and guardians can turn to no-cost digital tools from Be Vape Free—a nationwide initiative, built around the evidence-based CATCH My Breath program, that provides standards-aligned e-cigarette prevention resources for educators teaching grades 5-12 and families. Be Vape Free was created in partnership with the CVS Health Foundation, CATCH Global Foundation, and Discovery Education.

The parent toolkit is designed to give parents, guardians, educators, and community members the opportunity to learn more about the vaping epidemic, gauge a child’s risk of trying e-cigarettes and find the best strategy to talk to kids about the dangers of e-cigarettes. Chock-full of facts and research, these resources have just about everything families need to empower students to live a healthy life. With the toolkit, families can answer key questions related to vaping including:

• What is vaping?

• Why do teens vape?

• What do vapes look like?

• What are in vapes?

• What are the effects of vaping?

• What are signs of vaping?

With this informational foundation, parents and guardians can connect with their kids to initiate conversations about the dangers of e-cigarettes based on facts. Together—one conversation, one day, and one student at a time—we can end the vaping epidemic by arming young people with the tools they need to make healthy, smart decisions, and impart lessons that last a lifetime.

Ms Bianco is the National Program Director for the CATCH My Breath youth e-cigarette prevention program. She has 18 years of experience working in tobacco prevention and control with government and non-profit organizations. 

Give Us Your Best Shot! for Thursday, May 19, 2022

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To submit a photo for this section, please visit our contact page or email us at townline@townline.org!

HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU: Pat Clark, of Palermo, caught this Indigo Bunting at a feeding station.

EGGS BY THE DOZENS: Joan Chaffee, of Clinton, snapped this photo of polliwog eggs during one of her recent walks.

RED HEAD: Emily Poulin, of South China, recently photographed this male cardinal.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Former First Lady Dolley Payne Todd Madison

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Dolly Madison

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Former First Lady Dolley Payne Todd Madison

Former First Lady Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768-1849) grew up under very strict Quakers in Virginia chafing at their authoritarianism, and, needless to say, would fall very, very far from that denominational tree. She was the third of eight children born to John and Mary Payne who moved the family to Philadelphia in 1783.

In 1790, Dolley married a lawyer John Todd, with whom she had two sons. It was a happy marriage but short-lived.

In 1793, a yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia. Within four months, it caused over 5,000 deaths, including those of her husband, his parents and their youngest son.

However, in 1794, Dolley was introduced to a 43-year-old Congressman, James Madison Jr., who was a very shy 5-foot 4-inch bachelor but had the help of a mutual friend, the smooth talking reprobate and later Thomas Jefferson’s vice-president Aaron Burr (Both of these gentlemen were discussed in a previous column.).

Pres. James Madison

Unlike her staid predecessors Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, Dolley was one live wire whose personality, consummate charm, flamboyant clothes and generosity of spirit would leave its imprint on the political life of the nation’s capital for decades.

Dolley knew just how to talk to people and put them at ease. While her husband preferred to be by himself in the study and had few social graces, let alone the willingness to learn any, she was the first to have bi-partisan social gatherings; she also held firm to the rule that partying and political shop talk do not mix.

James’s second term may have been made possible by Dolley’s ability to win friends and influence people.

In 1814, the British invaded Washington and burned down the White House and other buildings, but Dolley did remove the painting of George Washington and other valuables in the nick of time.

By 1815, after living in rented houses, the Madisons moved into a newly-rebuilt White House.

One very early photo exists of James and Dolly Madison during their dotage in the 1830s and of her with others towards the end of her life. A quite fascinating daguerreotype has her with the 11th President James Knox Polk and the 15th President James Buchanan at an 1849 social gathering. These can be viewed on Google.

SMALL SPACE GARDENING: Enjoy your garden after dark with landscape lighting

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by Melinda Myers

Enjoy your garden and landscape once the sun sets with strategically placed and attractive landscape lighting. Select the best type of light that complements your garden design and best accomplishes the intended purpose.

Solar powered lighting eliminates the need for outdoor outlets, extension cords or buried low voltage lines. The solar panels charge during sunny days and can be mounted on the light or on a long cord, allowing you to place the solar panel where it gets the most sunlight. Some lights turn on automatically at dusk, others have a manual on-off switch, and a few have a remote on-off control.

Votive and pillar candles are longtime favorites. Set them in a container on the table or line a pathway. Unfortunately, the wax does drip, there is a danger of fire, and the flame can blow out in a strong breeze.

Consider using battery-operated candles instead. These look and flicker like the real thing and eliminate some of the problems and dangers of candles. Look for those with remote controls or timers to make lighting your space hassle-free.

Use these battery-operated candles in decorative holders like the Dahlia Blossom Punched Metal Lanterns (gardeners.com). You’ll enjoy the copper cut lanterns as garden art by day and the intricate light pattern they cast at night.

Pot up your favorite flowers and tropical and edible plants in solar illuminated planters. Luminous solar-powered planters are frosted white by day and can be programmed to display one color or set for color-changing mode. These pots have a ten-foot cord, allowing you to place the pots where the plants will thrive and connecting it to its solar panel in a sunny spot nearby.

Solar torch lights have flickering lights that create a realistic look while lighting a pathway or sitting area. Use one to highlight a special spot in your garden or several to light a pathway, patio or larger space when entertaining.

Prevent trips and falls while also boosting safe access to your favorite outdoor spaces by lighting steps as well as pathways. Look for solar powered lights like Maxsa Solar Ninja Stars that can be mounted on steps, the ground, deck, wall, or other flat surfaces. The integrated solar panels come with a rechargeable battery.

Add overhead glow to patios, decks, or balconies with string lights. They come in a variety of styles to light up larger spaces or highlight your favorite tree. Multicolored waterdrop string lights will add a festive look to any space. Luminites® Solar String Lights feature Edison bulbs that provide six to eight hours of steady or gently flashing modes.

Add some fun, personality or added interest with specialty lights. Outdoor lights like the Twinklelite™ Solar Stake Lights have flexible branches covered with 120 LED bulbs. Twist and bend the branches to accomplish the look you desire. Then wait for the lights to turn on automatically at dusk.

Add some landscape lighting to help you enjoy quiet moments or festive gatherings in your gardens after dark. Select the best lighting options that are easy to use, complement your design and provide the needed lighting in your landscape.

Melinda Myers is the author of more than 20 gardening books, and contributing editor for Birds & Blooms magazine and was commissioned by Gardener’s Supply for her expertise to write this article. Her web site is www.MelindaMyers.com.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Monitor Your Sleep And Easily Detect Sleep Apnea With AI Technology

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Built with industry-leading AI technology, Mintal Tracker is able to detect sleep apnea—no wearable devices needed.

(NAPSI)—Roughly 20 percent of U.S. adults have sleep apnea, and as many as 90 percent of those cases go undiagnosed. The condition occurs when people stop breathing periodically throughout the night, potentially leading to severe health issues.

Conventional methods for diagnosing sleep apnea can get expensive and are known to be uncomfortable, requiring medical professionals to administer tests at a doctor’s clinic or hospital or needing the patient to purchase at-home monitoring devices.

With this knowledge, Mintal—a wellness-focused technology brand—developed Mintal Tracker (available to download for free on iOS and Android), an AI-driven sleep analysis app that doesn’t require any hardware or external devices to generate thorough sleep reports and detect warning signs for sleep apnea.

Detect Sleep Apnea From Home, Free

Leveraging industry-leading AI technology, the Mintal R&D team developed a sophisticated deep learning model that can maintain high accuracy with low hardware performance and storage requirements. Mintal Tracker can analyze your sleep sounds in real time, accurately identifying when you snore and/or display signs of OSAHS (Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome) to generate analysis reports in seconds and enable you to quickly understand your sleep habits.

Setup is easy; you just need to place your phone by your bed, and the app will record and analyze your sleep sounds throughout the night. Through testing, the app was found to be highly accurate in diagnosing moderate to severe sleep apnea, offering a starting point for further medical diagnosis. As such, users call this app “life saving”:

• “An excellent app. Did not expect the level of diagnosis provided. I was really impressed. I will be recommending this app to family and friends. I will also make sure my PCP is aware this app exist. Thank you for a very useful and possibly life saving app.”—Phillip M**, 12/05/2021, Google Play
• “This app help me see that I have issues when I sleep, especially with snoring, that I may have sleep apnea. This is a great app to have if you worry about why you are still tired when you wake up, you may not be getting a good quality of sleep.”—Nay N**, 12/06/2021, App Store
• “I love this because it is the alarm that has worked for me. It really knows when to wake me so I’m less moody… My sleep has only improved in all this time.”—Foran E** 12/23/2021, Google Play

After a night of sleep tracking, the app generates a summarized sleep report highlighting key metrics including how long and how frequently you snored and sleep talked, your risk of apnea and provides sleep cycle analysis and personalized sleep tips, which gives you or your doctor a whole picture of your sleep conditions. Moreover, you can listen to your snoring, dream talking and environment noises in the report.

Finally, Mintal Tracker goes beyond sleep tracking and sleep apnea detection—the app offers users hundreds of soothing sounds, anxiety relief exercises, a sleep encyclopedia and personalized advice for developing healthier sleep habits.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Soprano: Frances Alda; Cellist: Beatrice Harrison; Conductor: Victor Herbert

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Frances Alda

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Frances Alda

Born in New Zealand, soprano Frances Alda (1879-1952) became a big star at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, recorded a batch of Victor acoustic discs including duets with Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) and was married to Met manager Gatti-Casazza for several years.

A two sided , ten inch Victrola (527) features her very sweet singing of two longtime favorite selections, the native American love song, By the Waters of Minnetonka and the spiritual Deep River.

Both sides can be heard via Google.

Beatrice Harrison

Beatrice Harrison

A blue label ten inch Victor from 1924 (45072) features English cellist Beatrice Harrison (1892-1965) playing two charming pieces, David Popper’s Spanish dance To My Guitar and Nicolai Rimsky Korsakov’s Slumber Song from the opera May Night.

Harrison came from an incredibly talented musical family; one sister being a pianist, the other a violinist.

Beatrice attracted the attention of elite musical figures in English society- composers Sir Edward Elgar, Frederick Delius and Arnold Bax, each of whom composed works with her in mind; and conductors Sir Henry Wood, Sir Thomas Beecham (he called Harrison “That talented English lady”) and Sir Adrian Boult.

She recorded Elgar’s Cello Concerto in 1920 and 1928 with the composer conducting and did concerts with Sir Henry Wood several times at the Queen’s Hall in London, including the night before it was destroyed by the Luftwaffe.

Many of her recordings can also be heard via the internet.

Victor Herbert

Victor Herbert

Another blue label Victor record, 45170, has the composer/conductor/cellist Victor Herbert (1856-1924) leading Victor Herbert’s Orchestra in Charles Wakefield Cadman’s At Dawning and Poupee Valsante’s The Waltzing Doll. The ensemble consisted of very gifted musicians who gave beautiful performances on a sizable number of very fragile shellacs under Maestro Herbert.

In 1924, he died suddenly of a heart attack while at the doctor’s office.

Radiex was one of several dime store record labels which sold for a quarter per disc. A 1926 78 release contained a Great American Songbook classic staple, the Harbach/Hammerstein /Jerome Kern “Who” and the obscure but nicely composed “I’m Glad You’re Happy Again” sung the pseudonymous Mister X, whom research has determined to be any one of several singers.

 

 

 

 

SMALL SPACE GARDENING: Use rain barrels to capture rainwater

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by Melinda Myers

Put rainwater to use in your landscape with the help of rain barrels. This centuries old technique allows you to capture rainfall to use for watering ornamental gardens and containers.

Always start with a call to your local municipality. Some have restrictions on water harvesting, but most encourage this practice and some even offer rebates or rain barrels at a discounted rate.

Purchase a rain barrel or make your own from a large, recycled food grade container. In either case, there are some features to consider when purchasing, creating, and adding a rain barrel to your landscape.

Make sure the top is covered to keep out bugs and debris. Some come equipped with a solid lid with an opening just big enough to accommodate the downspout. Others use a screen to keep out debris, while letting in the rain.

Don’t worry about mosquitoes breeding inside your rain barrel. Just use an organic mosquito control like Mosquito Dunks and Mosquito Bits (Summit­ResponsibleSolutions.com) in rain barrels and other water features. Mosquito Bits quickly knock down the mosquito larval population, while Mosquito Dunks provide 30 days of control. They are both safe for people, pets, fish, wildlife and beneficial insects.

Look for one with the spigot near the base of the barrel so water does not stagnate in the bottom. Use the spigot to fill watering cans or attach a hose for watering.

Include an overflow outlet near the top of the barrel to direct excess water away from the house or for connecting adjacent barrels. A downspout diverter is another way to manage rain barrel overflows. When the rain barrels are full, this device diverts the water back to the downspout where it is carried away from your home’s foundation.

Elevate your rain barrel on cement blocks, decorative stands, or similar supports. This provides easier access to the spigot for filling containers and speeds water flow with the help of gravity. A water pump will boost water pressure for a nice steady flow of water.

Dress up your container with a bit of paint suited for outdoor use on plastic surfaces. And don’t worry if you are not an artist, you can hide your rain barrels with some decorative screens or plantings or upright shrubs, perennials or ornamental grasses. Just make sure you have easy access to the spout for retrieving water.

Start your conversion to rain barrels one downspout at a time. You can capture as much as 623 gallons of water from 1,000 square feet of roof in a one-inch rainfall. This can be a lot to manage when first adjusting to this change of habit. Disconnecting one downspout at a time allows you to successfully match the use of rain barrels and other rain harvesting techniques to your gardening style and schedule.

The choices are many, making it easy for you to conserve water and grow a beautiful landscape.

Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including The Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening. She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” 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 was commissioned by Summit for her expertise to write this article. Her website is www.MelindaMyers.com.