REVIEW POTPOURRI: Years without a first lady

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Thomas Jefferson

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Years without a first lady

Christine Sadler’s delightfully gossipy, but well-researched 1963 book America’s First Ladies tells us the following about the years of Thomas Jefferson’s occupation of the White House:

“Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) and the country, too, apparently, rocked along quite well without a First Lady for the eight years beginning in March of 1801. The third President, however, did have to call on Dolly Madison, the wife of his Secretary of State [and later 4th President James Madison (1751-1836)], to ‘assist with the ladies.’

“Jefferson was a widower of nineteen years standing when he moved into the President’s house with his exotic flower plants, his fiddle, and his mockingbird so tame that it hopped up the stairs behind him to sing during his midday siesta.”

His daughter Martha Randolph did step in at times and she and her husband Congressman Thomas Mann Randolph lived with her father at the White House, as did his other daughter Maria Eppes, also married to a member of Congress, John Wayles Eppes.

Martha gave birth to five sons and seven daughters, making Jefferson the President with the most living descendants. Her oldest son Thomas Jefferson Randolph would be the joy of his grandfather during old age while the youngest, James Madison Randolph, was the first baby born in the White House. The other three boys were also named for prominent Americans.

Jefferson courted controversy because of what was perceived as his tendencies to play politics and his worldliness. Unlike Washington and John Adams, he was not a committed Christian and, when he was elected President, there were rumors of elderly women in Connecticut burying their Bibles in the backyard.

In addition, Gore Vidal’s very colorful historical novel Burr, which is told from the point of view of Jefferson’s vice-president Aaron Burr, recounts how Jeff­erson, who preferred hosting dinner parties of one to five guests, would converse about subjects of interest to the guests.

Aaron Burr

In the interest of providing context for these dinner party conversations, I need to mention the following items.

Burr was the grandson of the famous preacher Jonathan Edwards, whose sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a classic of early American literature and still frequently taught in college courses.

The vice-president was also a notorious womanizer who commented that his grandfather sought glory in heaven while he sought it on earth (Burr was tried for treason when he attempted to gather an army to invade Mexico and declare himself Emperor but was miraculously acquitted. And, of course, his most famous act of notoriety was killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.).

Thus, when Burr himself was invited to dine with the President, Jefferson wanted to hear about Burr’s escapades with the women. In Burr’s words, “If my grandfather Jonathan Edwards was the guest, Jefferson would have been talking about the Book of Samuel.”

Jefferson also amassed a collection of 6,000 books, which became the basis of the Library of Congress.

Finally, after Abigail Adams died in 1818, her husband John Adams and Jefferson began a correspondence in which a range of subjects, including the comparisons of translations of Greek and Roman classics, would become the Adams/Jefferson Letters; pony express riders were making very quick trips on a weekly basis between Quincy, Massachusetts, where Adams lived and Monticello, Virginia.

And both men died July 4, 1826. On his death bed, John Adams expressed his hope that Jefferson was okay, not knowing that the latter had died three hours earlier.

SMALL SPACE GARDENING: Enlist nature’s help for managing garden pests

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by Melinda Myers

Put away the harsh chemicals and work in concert with nature to manage pests in the garden. Create an inviting habitat for nature’s pest controllers to enlist their help with your gardening efforts.

Lady beetles, praying mantis and other beneficial insects feed on damaging pests like aphids. Just tolerate a bit of damage and wait for the good guys to move in and clean up the problem.

Grow a few plants to attract these and other beneficial insects to your landscape. Dill and its relatives attract parasitic wasps, coreopsis brings in the aphid-eating lacewings, and milkweed attracts lady beetles as well as monarch and other butterflies. Add some hyssop to attract the pirate bugs that eat thrips, spider mites and leafhoppers. Then plant members of the aster family to attract spiders that eat a variety of insects.

Invite songbirds into your gardens. They add motion and color to the landscape and help manage garden pests. Most songbirds eat a combination of fruits, berries, seeds, and insects. Their diet varies with the season. During spring and summer, they eat lots of insects and spiders when they are plentiful, easy to catch and an important part of their hatchlings’ diet.

A birdbath will help attract them and beneficial insects to the garden. Select one with sloping sides for easy access to the water. Add a few seed producing flowers like black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, salvia, coreopsis and more. If space allows, include a few berry producing shrubs like dogwoods and evergreens for shelter.

Leave some leaf litter under trees and shrubs and in the garden for toads that dine on slugs and other insects. Include a shallow pond or water feature. Even a shallow saucer filled with chlorine-free water is effective. Place rocks in and around the water for added toad appeal. Purchase or make your own toad abode from a ceramic or clay pot. Place it in a shady location near a garden filled with protein-rich insects. Set it directly on the soil and elevate one side with stones or use a cracked or broken pot that provides an entryway for the toad.

If you can’t wait for nature’s help, look for more eco-friendly options. Knock aphids and mites off plants with a strong blast of water. Trap slugs with shallow cans filled with beer. Trap and kill aphids in yellow bowls filled with soapy water.

Use barriers of floating row covers to keep pests like cabbage worms, Japanese beetles and bean beetles off plants that don’t need bees for pollination. These fabrics let air, light and water through so just loosely cover the plants at planting, anchor the edges and allow the plants to support the fabric.

Use these fabrics to help manage squash vine borer and squash bugs. Cover squash plants at planting. Remove the fabric as soon as the plants begin flowering for bees to pollinate the flowers. Only use this method if these pests were not a problem in this area of the garden the previous growing season.

Remove and destroy, smash, or prune out pest-infested stems as they are found. Enlist the help of young gardeners. Teach them the difference between the good and bad bugs in the garden. Then show them how to pluck, drop and stomp the plant-damaging pests. They’ll burn off some excess energy while helping maintain your garden.

If you decide to intervene with a chemical control, look for the most eco-friendly option on the market. Always read and follow label directions as these chemicals are designed to kill insects and if misapplied can harm beneficial insects as well.

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.

MY POINT OF VIEW: Mother’s Day manifests itself in different ways to different people

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by Gary Kennedy

Do I need to ask what does Mother’s Day mean? It manifests itself in different ways to different people. For some of us every day is Mother’s Day as we love her so very much. However, others need to be reminded that one’s mother is a very special person. You were born on a foundation of love between two people, mother and father. That is why we set a special day aside just for them; to fortify our relationship and to outwardly express our feelings for them. Some­times it’s great to hear it in a ceremonious manner. This carries the magnitude of this relationship to a somewhat formal level and puts that glow into the relationship.

Mother carried you for nine months and even though she did this with love, sometimes it was difficult. Even so, the result was you and the title Mother came to be for her. Along with this comes copious amounts of laundry, thoughtful preparation for school and sports events. She also laid the foundation for your education and morality. She even made church fun by encouraging you to attend the church events for young people. This helped with building morality and character.

Most of us don’t really realize all that goes into acquiring one of the most glorious titles on earth. God created the Earth and also Adam. I guess most of us are aware of that. God saw that Adam was lonely so he decided to create Eve. As most of us know this cost Adam a rib but I’m relatively sure God was gentle in this extraction. God’s plan was not to only quench Adam’s need for the companionship but for allowing a pathway for procreation. And so it began. Eve became the mother of 28 children although the Bible mostly centers around Cain, Abel and Seth. Geneticists, by tracing the DNA patterns, found through lineages decendents from 10 sons with genetic material from Adam and 18 daughters from Eve’s genetics. There certainly was lots of motherhood there.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in 50 countries worldwide. Some or most use a different day than we do but they obviously remain the same. The entire world loves their mothers but just go about it in different ways. Our date for Mother’s Day is synonymous with Julie Ward Howe who wrote the Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870 which she wrote condemning the senselessness of sons killing the sons of other mothers. Her persistence paid off as President Woodrow Wilson signed into law, Mather’s Day to be held on the second Sunday of May, in 1914. Anna Jarvis is given first credit for their holiday and its reason; war and the killing of our sons.

Women played such a dynamic role in the development of our great nation and nations throughout the world. Women especially, and mothers in particular, have played formidable roles in our history and that of the world. Most women are smart enough to not go near an apple tree, figuratively speaking. The Bible has many examples of Motherhood and in many different situations. Being a mother is the hardest job you will ever love. Times are hard right now but not so hard as to forget about our mothers. April showers brings May Flowers. So without a penny in my pocket I know I can pick some flowers to give to the first lady of our lives, Mother.

So, all I can say from my heart is do your best to make this second Sunday in May an event that will last the mother we love until next year at this time. It’s worth doing forever. Thank you Lord for Mother. God bless and have a happy and thankful Mother’s Day.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: Great customer service on a budget

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Growing your businessby Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to deliver great customer service.

Imagine a barber shop on Main street in your town. This shop is in fact the most popular in town. The barber, Fred, seems to know everyone’s name. He knows all about their family, what they do for a living and most importantly, how they like their hair cut, how often they come in and all kinds of other little things about them.

“How does he do it?” I can hear one of you asking. “He must have a very expensive customer service computerized systems?” Another one of you is thinking. Or maybe he just has an incredible memory for minutia? No, it is none of those things. Do you want to know what he has? Do you wonder what kind of customer retention plan he has invested in?

His shop is always busy. No one has ever seen the shop empty. He has never been seen sitting in his own barber chair reading the paper.

His business is successful. He bought that beautiful old Garland house on Birch Street last year, so he has to be doing well.

Fred seems to know everything about his customers. What they want. What they need. He knows when to offer them that special straight razor shave that he gets premium dollars for. He has a deep personal knowledge of all of his customers and what they want.

Okay, here is his big secret. Are you ready for this? He keeps a three by five index card of each of his customers. He has a set of questions that he wants answered on each of them and then he adds to them as he learns more about them.

The whole system cost him about five bucks a year…and the time and effort and passion for his business that it takes to make it a great and successful business.

And do the customers come back? Oh, do they ever. Everybody likes to be known, everybody has a comfort zone for someone who cares enough about them as customers to learn all they can about them and what they want.

This is the very essence of a good CRM (Customer Retention Management) System. That’s all it takes. A little effort and a few index cards and you’ll have the best CRM system money can buy.

In the end all business is people business, and all great businesses care enough about their customers to take the time to learn, not on what they need, but also what they want. These businesses are what is called Customer-centric businesses. And being customer centric is the very best way to grow your business.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Toxic worm has been sighted in Maine

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Hammerhead worm

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Joro spider that is working its way up the east coast of the U.S., and could arrive in Maine within the next 10 years.

Well, hang on to your hats, because here we go again with a native Asian invader to the state of Maine. The hammerhead worm — a toxic, predatory invasive worm capable of unlimited self-cloning — has arrived in Maine.

The first sightings were reported last fall from southern and central parts of Maine of the hammerhead worm, a flatworm that can range from 8- to 15-inches long and is distinguished by the unique hammer or shovel-shaped head.

“We have a couple of reports of them already,” said Gary Fish, state horticulturist with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. “I don’t think anyone in Maine is up to speed on them,” he said in a news article published in the Bangor Daily News by Liz Baker.

The discovery is bad news for Maine’s gardeners since hammerheads prey on earthworms, which contribute to the health of Maine soil by turning organic materials into useful compost. Earthworm activity also helps aerate the soil, which increases soil nutrients and moisture intake.

The hammerhead worm can prove additionally troublesome because it has no known predators.

The hammerhead worm is native to Asia and has been reported as far south as Florida, as far west as California and now as far north as Maine, according to the University of Florida.

The biology of the hammerhead reads like a horror movie. It does not have respiratory or circulatory systems or a skeleton, and it may or may not have eyes. What it does have is a single opening on its head that serves as both its mouth and its anus. (Sounds like something that is tailor made for an episode of Svengoolie.)

Baker spotted one slithering up her foundation in Lewiston last fall.

In the BDN article, Baker said, “I was fascinated. Totally creepy and strange but I love learning about different species [and] I had never seen anything like it.”

The truly amazing trait of hammerhead worms is that they are basically immortal. Like other flatworms, they reproduce asexually by what is known as “fragmentation.” For example, they leave the tip of their tail stuck to something, and it will develop on its own into a new worm.

That also means if you cut a hammerhead into pieces, in 10 days or so you are going to have multiple new hammerheads — all capable of fragmentation.

They are also the first land invertebrates found to produce the same toxin that is found in pufferfish. In the fish, the toxin is lethal to humans with one pufferfish containing enough to kill 30 adult humans. Little is known about the hammerhead toxin’s effects on humans, but it is believed a person would have to eat a large quantity of them to be lethal. Yuck! Are you kidding me? Who’d want to eat a worm? However, it is a good idea to wash your hands after handling hammerhead worms.

So, what do you do if you spot hammerhead worms, and don’t want to see an entire colony form in your yard?

Because hammerhead worms consume beneficial worms, secrete poisonous toxins, and transmit harmful nematode parasites, they should be removed and dispatched whenever found.

If you spot a hammerhead worm, take a photo. Should you kill hammerhead worms? Yes, but first take a photo and send it to your local cooperative extension service, your state’s department of natural resourc­es. These groups study and track invasive species like this worm, gathering numbers and locations of sightings.

Collect hammerhead worms in a sealable container. If you find a hammerhead worm in your garden, capture it in a sealable plastic bag or some other sealable container. Don’t touch it with your hands; use a stick, gloves, or paper towel to place it into the container. If you do touch it, be sure to wash and disinfect your hands. Placing the worms in a container ensures they won’t be able to get away and makes it easier to apply a solution to kill them.

Apply salt and/or grain vinegar concentrate to the hammerhead worms in the bag, seal the bag, and place it in the freezer for 48 hours to ensure the worm has dissolved. Soapy water, neem oil, citrus oil, boric acid, or pesticides may also work.

Do not cut the worm into pieces. Each section can regenerate into a fully developed worm within a few weeks.

Discard the dissolved worms and sanitize the container.

After a hammerhead worm has been sealed in a plastic bag, treated with salt (or a combination of salt and vinegar), and placed in the freezer for 48 hours, the Texas Invasive Species Institute recommends discarding the still-sealed baggie in the trash.

Alternatively, you can use a glass jar with a lid or any kind of plastic sealable container. Most sources advise tossing the sealed container into the trash, but if you prefer to reuse it, it should be cleaned and disinfected with alcohol or another strong disinfectant.

If you have found one hammerhead worm, there are probably more, so remain vigilant. Examine your garden, particularly in the early morning after a rain when they’re likely to be easily found on the surface.

It’s important to keep an eye out for these invasive, toxic worms. The slimy predators threaten earthworms, which are vital to our ecosystem because they help decompose organic matter and incorporate soil amendments. Knowing how to identify and correctly kill and dispose of these nuisance worms will help keep your garden and your pets safe and healthy.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who holds the Boston Red Sox team record for most hits in a single season?

Answer can be found here.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Vaccines Continue To Be Essential To Our Safety

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Protect yourself and your family from COVID with a vaccine.

By We Can Do This COVID-19 Public Education Campaign

 (NAPSI)—After a few weeks without rain, most people don’t throw out their umbrella. Just because someone has driven thousands of accident-free miles, that doesn’t mean seatbelts should be abandoned. Similarly, health officials encourage people to think about such prevention measures as wearing masks in the same way that we think about our umbrellas. People shouldn’t stop taking steps to protect themselves and others from COVID-19, even if there is a lull in cases.

“COVID changes over time, and what we know about the virus causing it has expanded, providing effective tools for preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and deaths,” said Dr. David Banach, associate professor of medicine at UConn School of Medicine and hospital epidemiologist at UConn Health/John Dempsey Hospital. “It is vital that we continue to layer prevention strategies based on local COVID transmission rates coupled with individualized measures for high-risk populations to reduce the impact of the virus on individuals and the larger community.”

The most effective ways to prevent COVID are simple and widely available to all Americans.

Stay up to date on vaccines. Vaccines and boosters protect people from the worst outcomes of COVID and help reduce the spread of the virus in communities, further reducing risks for the most vulnerable populations. Boosters provide extra protection. Like seatbelts prevent injuries in accidents, vaccines are highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID, but they don’t work if you don’t use them. Vaccination is the best way to slow the spread of COVID and prevent hospitalizations and deaths. COVID vaccines are available to anyone age 5 and older in the United States.

Wear a mask. After vaccines, wearing a mask is one of the most effective ways to help reduce the spread of COVID. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends wearing a mask in public indoor spaces, especially in areas where community transmission is high. A mask should fit closely on the face, covering the nose and mouth, without any gaps along the edges or around the nose. Masks are still required on most methods of public transportation.

Keep your distance. If you are not up to date on COVID vaccines, stay at least six feet away from other people, especially if you are at higher risk of getting very sick with COVID. In areas where community levels are high, it is best to avoid crowded places where it is difficult to stay distanced from others who may not be vaccinated. When spending time with people who don’t live with you, outdoors is the safer choice. Holding gatherings outdoors decreases the chance of COVID exposure.

Layering these proven prevention strategies in line with your personal health risk and current community levels of COVID transmission, is the best way to prevent severe illness, hospitalization, and death. Don’t throw away that umbrella, keep wearing a seatbelt, and stay current on COVID vaccines even when cases are lower in your community.

For accurate, science-based information about vaccines, visit www.vaccines.gov.

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Just a lazy Sunday

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by Debbie Walker

My mind has been interested in odds and ends again this week. I have only had time for quick reads, but I do enjoy these times. It’s a time I can do a little research on maybe just a word I have never heard before or a website new to me. I admit to being behind the times when it comes to YouTube and Roku, new TV channels to me and oh,my! Oh, what I have found there! More neat projects.

There are many things that are common to us so we don’t even think to wonder where they came from originally. My example today is one thing I think we have all enjoyed, the popsicle. Stephani Butler wrote a column for The Country Register titled The History of Popsicles for the July/August 2017 issue. I mean, what’s to think about? It’s just Kool-aide or juice, frozen on a couple of sticks or in a tube.

We got them thanks to an 11-year-old boy, but they actually go back as far as Ancient Rome. Can you imagine what a welcome treat they must have been to people just coming out of the Depression years. Cherry seems to be the favorite flavor (I say orange) however, I can’t imagine why you would want Avacado, Mango chili, or Mohito flavored. I don’t know if those will be available near-by. They are still a cheap treat on a hot day (and for babies cutting teeth).

Have you started cleaning up outside, getting ready for summer or is it too soon yet? People here are busy planting (86-degrees this afternoon). Not me, I am inside writing this afternoon.

When you are ready, I did read a few bits about that. Like bird baths: soak the bowl with 1/3 cup white vinegar to four cups of water. Cover for one hour, then dump and rinse. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant and is non-toxic to birds.

For yellow and brown patches of grass pour 1 can of beer into one gallon of water and sprinkle on those areas. You can have your beer when you are all done.

For weeds and grass coming up around steps and along walk-ways, heat water to boiling and pour on these areas. Kills without harsh chemicals.

I wanted to remember to tell you and remind myself to get some extra dryer sheets. I read to put plant and hummingbird poles in the ground, throw a couple of dryer sheets, also under the feet of any picnic table. From what I read that will keep ants where they belong. You can bet I will be trying that one out.

Also, I have heard quite a few people complaining about flies. I just read to use geraniums to ward away the flies. I will be trying that, too. I want to use pretty, bright red plants.

To finish this off I would like to go back to the first paragraph. I spoke of YouTube and Roku but did not tell you what I find, and when I finish with this I am going to be going to the TV. I am hooked on the sections referred to as hacks for the Dollar Tree store goodies. I imagine you know they actually charge $1.25 now. But people are showing you all these neat things you can make for decorating or gifts. You can’t believe how much there is. Well, I hear it calling my name now.

I am just curious what other things we take for granted without questioning where it originated. Let me know what you come up with. Contact me at DebbieWalker@townline.org with questions or comments. Have a great week!

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Prague Spring Festival

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Yevgeni Mravinsky

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Prague Spring Festival

Since 1946, the Prague Spring Festival has been a renowned annual gathering of top notch classical artists in the Czech Re­public. The An­dante label re­leased a nicely packaged set of four CDs and a hardcover book consisting of broadcasts from 1947 to 1968 featuring 11 great conductors with the extraordinarily accomplished Czech Philharmonic. I offer one anecdote of a fascinating guest Maestro and, due to space, brief comments on the others:

A 1957 Tchaikovsky 4th Symphony had the longtime conductor of the Leningrad Philharmonic, Yevgeni Mravinsky (1903-1988), delivering an especially riveting performance of what has become my favorite symphony by this composer, even more than his Pathetique or 6th.

YouTubes of Mravinsky reveal a poker-faced gentleman using the tiniest hand and finger gestures while drawing the most exciting playing. Just about every other conductor in the profession admired him.

Mravinsky also had the ability to make a piece always sound fresh, no matter how many times he had conducted it before. One player told of participating in 113 performances of the Tchaikovsky 5th under Mravinsky and each one was different from the others in some special way.

Mravinsky also had the longest tenure of any conductor, serving over 50 years as music director in Leningrad, before it changed back to being the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic after the early ‘90s collapse of the Soviet Union.

Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) collaborated with pianist Lev Oborin (1908-1974) in a dazzling 1961 Rachmaninoff 3rd Piano Concerto. The charismatic Stokowski contrasted vividly with the jovially obese and bespectacled Oborin, who partnered in concerts and recordings with violinist David Oistrakh (1907-1974).

Longtime Boston Symphony Maestro Charles Munch (1891-1968) conducted a powerful rendition in 1967 of the captivating 6th Sym­phony of Czech com­poser Bohuslav Martinu, which Munch recorded ten years earlier in Boston for RCA Victor.

Munch preferred minimal rehearsals so as to give the players and himself greater reserves of energy and excitement during the concert itself. His YouTube videos reveal a man who could dance and jump like his younger colleague Leonard Bernstein.

The remaining conductors:

Igor Markevitch (1912-1983) with a blazing 1959 Stravinsky Rite of Spring and who was married to an heiress whose family made millions in the French perfume industry.

The irascible perfectionist George Szell (1897-1970), of Cleveland Orchestra fame, in a gripping Beethoven Coriolan Overture also from 1959. Somebody once commented that Szell was his own worst enemy to which Metropolitan Opera general manager Rudolf Bing retorted, “Not while I’m alive!”

Next, my personal favorite of the Maestros assembled here as one to collect recordings of, Belgium born Andre Cluytens (1905-1967) spent most of his adult years in Paris. He was a radical contrast to Szell, being a very kind man whose death from lung cancer because of his chain smoking saddened so many friends.

He was also incredibly brilliant at drawing exquisite performances and a 1955 Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique is one of five he left us, and all of them on my shelves.

Former Czech Philharmonic Music Director Vaclav Talich (1883-1961) recorded some fine 78 sets of Dvorak and Smetana that were released by Victor Red Seal here in the U.S. and conducts a lovely 1954 performance of Dvorak’s tone poem The Wood Dove.

He was wrongfully thrown into jail just after World War II for so-called “unpatriotic conduct” during the Nazi occupation but was released and exonerated by former Czech President Benes.

Another former CPO Music Director Karel Ancerl (1908-1973) conducts the 1968 very ravishing Smetana piece From Bohemia’s Meadows and Forests.

Ancerl was an emaciated Holocaust survivor when the camps were liberated. Not long after this 1968 concert, he and his wife and children emigrated to Toronto, Canada, just as the Russian tanks were rolling into Czechoslovakia.

Russian conductor Kirill Kondrashin (1914-1981) collaborated with pianist Sviatoslav Richter (1914-1998) in an elegant 1950 Mozart 20th Piano Concerto, although interestingly Richter detested most of Mozart’s music while much preferring the music of his teacher Franz Josef Haydn.

Kondrashin defected to the west during the late 1970s and was forging a wonderful relationship with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam but tragically died of a sudden heart attack on his 67th birthday just after conducting a concert with them.

The most well known Russian violinist David Oistrakh (1908-1974) delivered a powerful 1947 Prokofiev 1st Violin Concerto with Rafael Kubelik (1914-1996) conducting. Kubelik first conducted the Czech Philharmonic at the age of 19. Later he would be music director of the Chicago Symphony, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra of Munich.

CRITTER CHATTER: An April reminder from the wildlife center

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A fawn at the Duck Pond Wildlife Center. (photo by Jayne Winters)

by Jayne Winters

When visiting at the Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab Center a couple of weeks ago, I asked Don Cote if he had any thoughts about what we should submit for the April column. Without missing a beat, he said spring is the time we need to alert people that not all young animals that appear lost or orphaned actually need to be rescued. So, as in the past, I’m going to use Carleen Cote’s words of wisdom from many years ago:

With the return of warmer days, our feathered friends are returning from their southern hiatus and native wildlife are becoming more active. This is an appropriate time for a reminder about whether or not young wildlife that appear to need rescuing really need human intervention.

White-tail fawns are often rescued when they should be left where they were found. A very young fawn will not move until given a signal from its mother. It has no odor, so if it is found by a dog, coyote or other potential predator, it’s by accident, not from a scent. The doe does not remain with her fawn(s) at all times; she leaves to feed herself and may not return for several hours.

If you’re walking in the fields and woods and spot a fawn, don’t immediately assume that it needs to be rescued. Mark the spot where it was seen and leave; return after a few hours or the next day. If the fawn is in the exact same spot, it’s probably safe to assume something has happened to the doe. Contact a game warden or rehabber and follow the advice given.

If you find a young bird on the ground and no nest is found, make a substitute from a berry box or basket; be sure there are holes for drainage and hang it in a tree close to the spot where the bird was found. The adults will respond to the feeding calls of their youngsters. If cats are prowling or stalking birds, especially when there may be young birds in a nest that can’t survive without being fed, the cat should be confined rather than removing the birds. Fledg­lings – young birds that are feathered and out of the nest – need time to master the art of flying. Though they may spend time on the ground, this is not necessarily an indication they need human intervention. Observe whether there are adult birds flying around as they could be the parents, bringing food to the young or coaxing them to take their first flight.

Of course, there are times when rescue is necessary such as when an adult female has died, but her young survive, or when young animals have been observed for some time with no adult arriving to care for them and lead them to safety. If you do rescue wildlife, as cute as they may be, bring them to someone who has the necessary permits and knowledge to give them a greater chance of survival. If you’re in doubt about the need to rescue any bird or animal, or have questions about the critters we enjoy and for which we are concerned, please call a local rehabber or warden.

Don continues to keep admissions and long-term residents at a more practical 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 make 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.

SCORES & OUTDOORS – Moment of truth: did the mice get in your camper?

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Common house mouse

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

This is the time of year that is the moment of truth. To those of you who own campers, and it has been closed up all winter, either in a field, or in storage, you almost dread the first time you open it up in the spring. The question: Did mice get in over the winter? If so, how much damage did they do?

Well, we have friends who all have different theories on how to repel these little creatures, and discourage them from entering your “summer home.”

Some of us rely on old-fashioned, time tested methods – moth balls, dryer sheets, and peppermint. Others have their own concoctions they swear by, and still others strongly believe in the “new and better” mouse trap. You know, the one where you pass a wire through the top of a five-gallon bucket, place an aluminum can through the wire, smear it with peanut butter, fill the bucket with antifreeze and build a ramp for the critter. They walk up the ramp, jump on the can – the can rotates and the mouse falls to its death in the antifreeze, to be preserved for you in the spring.

These pests typically try to find their way in when the weather takes a cold turn. Once they’ve made their way inside, it’s immediately time to start figuring out how to get rid of them. Understanding what these critters like and don’t like can help you better understand how to keep them away.

Are you rolling out the ‘Welcome’ mat for mice? Learn how to put up a ‘No Vacancy’ sign they can’t ignore!

The mouse is a small species that’s found all over the world. This highly adaptive species can survive in the wild, but they thrive when living near people where food, water, and shelter are easy to find. They are one of the most common pests to infest homes and buildings.

Jumping 18 inches in the air, climbing stairs and rough surfaces, and swimming are effortless tasks for these critters.

These pests have poor eyesight. They can’t see colors and they cannot see very far away. However, mice have a very good sense of smell that makes up for their weak eyes. They use scent markers to communicate with other mice and rely on scents to detect predators or other potential dangers. A mouse’s sense of smell is so powerful, it can identify the age and sex of another mouse up to 10 miles away!

The mouse’s small size and impressive skills make them a challenging pest, but their ability to reproduce is overwhelming. They can reproduce before they are two months old and typically have anywhere from 3 – 14 babies per litter. A female can have 5 – 10 litters each year, so do the math. It doesn’t take long for one pest to turn into a large mouse problem.

So now, let’s see what science has to say about it.

Mice have a very keen sense of smell that is much stronger than what humans experience. You can use this trait to repel mice and use scents that mice hate like cinnamon, vinegar, dryer sheets, clove oil, peppermint, tea bags, moth balls, mint toothpaste, ammonia, cloves, clove oil, and cayenne pepper.

If you have ever seen or kept a mouse, you may have noticed they seem to spend an awful lot of their time sniffing at their surroundings. Be it on their hind legs whilst twitching their whiskers, or just roaming around in their cages, their nose is always active. Sniffing is the way mice find food, communicate with one another, and are alerted to a predator’s presence.

Out of all the rodents, mice have one of the best senses of smell. Only second to rats. Mice, in fact, rodents in general, have a sense of smell that is highly developed with an incredible one percent of their DNA being dedicated to olfactory receptors.

The world of smell is also very different for mice than it is for humans, with scents from food, prey, and predators constantly bombarding them with information.

With the influx of scents coming in, you would think that it may be hard for a mouse to make sense of them all and separate what is of use such as food and predator scents from background smells.

However, this is not the case.

During experiments where mice were scent trained to pick out a certain smell from others, they could do so 85 percent of the time. This was even when a large number of background smells were included, although the more background scent included, the less reliable the mice became.

When looking for food, for example, mice use a combination of smell and touch. Their noses lead them to the source of food and their whiskers or paws brushing against it locate it exactly.

Eyesight does not really play a part in food location at all. A mouse’s vision is not particularly good.

With such a highly developed sense of smell, it really is no wonder that our homes and businesses are so attractive to unwanted mice. Any unswept crumbs or dropped food, etc., must be incredibly tempting to them.

Mice, however, do not like the smell of mint, so planting this herb around the exterior of your house can help to keep unwanted visiting mice at bay.

Surprisingly, mice do not rely totally on their noses for their sense of smell. They also have another odor detecting organ called the vomeronasal organ, or VNO, which is located in the nasal cavity. The VNO is mainly used to sense pheromones (Any of various chemical substances secreted externally which convey information to, and produce specific responses in other individuals of the same species) which a mouse can do from up to ten miles away.

Mice also have excellent hearing and will hear you coming long before you see them. In addition, they have the incredible ability to know if something is toxic, unhealthy, or inedible by its taste.

My wife and I subscribe to the moth balls, peppermint and dryer sheets. In our 42 years of camping, we have had mice in our camper on one occasion, the year we didn’t go by our past experience, and succumbed to someone else’s propaganda.

Peanut butter? You may as well send out engraved invitations – and black ties are not required.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Since 1967, one Boston sports team has made the playoffs 46 times (out of a possible 55 years), more than any other team in the four professional major sports. Which team is it?

Answer can be found here.