VETERANS CORNER: Help available to veterans who are at risk for suicide

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Veterans Administration facility at Togus. (Internet photo)

by Gary Kennedy

Well here we are again. It has been a nice summer and a beautiful September. We have a lot of rain but we have need of every drop of it.

Some information has come out on the veteran side of things. As you all know some of us belong to groups and some of us just receive information via media, correspondence and just word of mouth. One interesting but troubling piece of information that I received this week was veteran suicide rates. It was stated that there are between 17-50 veteran deaths due to possible suicide daily. It was explained that the variation in numbers was due to the fact 17 deaths daily were definitely suicide but the other 33 were by drug overdoses which weren’t clearly suicide but were most likely.

By VA standards of measure that is more than likely or beyond a reasonable doubt. It breaks my heart to see this happening to our vets; especially when there are many avenues available out there for help. I believe we aren’t doing our job of outreach. Veterans can be very lonely and weary individuals. Some will reach out to us, and for others we just need to be ever vigilant and watch for signs. Often veterans will not reach out for help. We need to be always on the lookout for tell tale signs which indicate that a person might be considering to harm themselves.

Most of us don’t understand what goes through the mind of a person which causes such devastating feelings of hopelessness. This can be so all consuming, overwhelming, that even the fear of our Creator doesn’t come into the problem. We need to be ever vigilant regarding the veterans in our lives whether they are family or friends. If you suspect a person might want to harm themselves you need to become involved. If you can be of personal help, give it. If you can’t do that then you must contact someone who can. A life can depend on it and all life is precious in the eyes of our Creator. Also, the one thing that most of us don’t think about is the wife, husband and/or children. Where will this loss take them? Sometimes the family is the last to know. However, the impact could be devastating. We are all part of the problem as well as the solution.

If you don’t have the number for a suicide watch line, get one and put it on your fridge, or in your phone. Most of these sad situations can be avoided with a little help. I speak for and about veterans but this could be anyone in a deep and lonely place. Some of us watch veterans at this time as the world is in a sad and dangerous place. Many veterans have fought for their country and are now having feelings of remorse. They don’t understand how we could possibly be heading in the wrong direction. They carry the burdens of a never ending conflict.

The mind can play strange games on one’s self. If you don’t know where to turn call the VA at 623-8411 and press “0” to get to a live person to guide you to the correct place, or you can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255, press #1. Our doctors use to send us to the gym and pool which was built more than 75 years ago for this, as part of physical therapy. If you would like to read about the VA’s history you can find most of this at the Winthrop library where a good deal of the old information is stored/archived. Currently, the gym and pool are being rented out to VA employees. I believe they are charged $45 for this use. Some of us are working on getting these places back. Give a token of your support by getting involved.

The VA priority pathway has seemed to have changed from the welfare of disabled veterans and their care to that of employee retention, through perks. The canteen is still open and some veterans do meet there weekly. Some of us are working on more veterans well being programs and places. Vets always feel better when they are together. A sign of V.A.’s genuine concern would be to give veterans a place to meet so as to become part of the solution through fellowship. Priorities need to be examined. Your word needs to be shared.

If you have any thoughts, ideas or opinions, please share them with me and we will see what can be done. Your word carries a lot of weight. It is said, “God helps those who help themselves”. Brothers and sisters let’s be part of the solution and not the problem. Stay safe and God bless you and yours.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Waterville historic district – Part 6

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Reuben B. Dunn, center, and family.

by Mary Grow

Subpart one
– biographies one –

Dunns, Milliken

This article is planned as the first of a three-part subseries in which your writer introduces readers to some of the businessmen (and other people) mentioned in the previous weeks’ descriptions of Waterville’s Main Street Historic District, and sometimes to members of their families.

The arbitrarily-chosen subjects are arranged by birth order, oldest first. This week, please meet two men born early in the 1800s: Reuben B. Dunn, and several family members; and Dennis Milliken, with a bit about his son-in-law.

* * * * * *

Reuben Barnes Dunn (Dec 23, 1802 – Sept 9, 1889) was the man after whom the R. B. Dunn Block at the south end of the east side of Main Street, mentioned in the Aug. 25 article, was named. Two sons, Willard Morse Dunn and Reuben Wesley Dunn, were also well-known Waterville residents.

Reuben B. was born in Poland, Maine, and married his successive wives there: Emeline Davis in 1827; after her death in 1833, her sister, Eliza, in 1834; and after Eliza’s death in 1837, in December 1838 Lydia Richardson Ayer (Aug. 11, 1815 – April 5, 1900). Lydia was the mother of Willard and Reuben W.

Edwin Carey Whittemore’s Waterville history says Reuben B. was a country schoolteacher in 1820; a country storekeeper in 1821; a buyer and seller of timberland, lumber, clocks, threshing machines, hardware; a manufacturer of “scythes, axes and other agricultural tools” from 1841 until his death; railroad promoter in the 1840s and Maine Central Railroad president until he retired in 1870.

Reuben B. and Lydia moved from Poland to Readfield in 1841 and to Waterville in August 1850. Willard M. and Reuben W. were born in Fayette, the history says.

An on-line site says R. B. Dunn founded the Dunn Edge Tool Company in January 1840. It produced “scythe blades and edge tools.” Incorporated in 1856, it was sold in 1921 to Seymour Manufacturing Company; Seymour sold it two years later to North Wayne Tool Company. It closed in 1967.

By 1892, according to Reuben W. Dunn’s (perhaps self-interested?) chapter on Waterville manufacturing in Whittemore’s history, the Dunn Edge Tool Company’s scythe plant “is said to be the best and most conveniently arranged in America,” and the “axe shop is not excelled in convenience or efficiency by any of its size.” The company could produce annually 15,000 dozen scythes (180,000) and 6,000 dozen (72,000) axes, sold all over the United States and Canada. Reuben W. was the company’s “treasurer and manager”; his brother Willard was president.

The Dunn company was one of many early manufactories in the western part of Waterville, which became the separate town of West Waterville in February 1873 and was renamed Oakland in 1883. Manufacturers used water power from Messalonskee Stream, a smaller, more manageable source than the Kennebec River.

Whittemore suggested that Reuben B. Dunn and/or his sons were involved in other West Waterville businesses; and multiple sources credited them with bringing Amos Lockwood to Waterville to build the Lockwood Mill complex (see the Aug. 25 issue of The Town Line). Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County history identifies Dunn as the financier behind Mill Number 1 and the first president of the Lockwood Company.

In 1869, Whittemore wrote, Dunn donated $15,000 of the $18,000 needed to build the Methodist Church. Kingsbury says Dunn’s gift was $14,000 of $16,000.

Reuben B.’s older son, Willard Morse Dunn (May 11, 1845 – March 23, 1917), went to Maine Wesleyan Seminary, in Kents Hill, and started his business career in 1866 as a salesman in a Boston “cloth store.” In 1869 he moved to Auburn and joined a shoe manufacturing company. From 1873 he was active in organizing the Lockwood Company; he was still a company director in 1902, and was “interested in” other mills as well as president of Dunn Edge Tool Company.

Willard Dunn served as Waterville postmaster from 1879 to 1885 under Republican President Rutherford B. Hayes; he was replaced during Democrat Grover Cleveland’s first term and reappointed in 1889 by Republican Benjamin Harrison (this position was mentioned in the Sept. 29 history article).

Dunn was still postmaster in 1902. Redington called him “one of the most efficient postmasters the city has ever had,” and wrote that both he and assistant postmaster J. F. Larrabee were highly regarded by the residents they served.

On Dec. 31, 1873, Willard Dunn married Alma Burbank Lowell (Oct. 4, 1851 – March 25, 1936) in Waterville. Willard and Alma had one daughter, Mabel Esther (Nov. 24, 1882 – March 4, 1980), Reuben B.’s granddaughter.

Mabel Dunn married Burnham native Herbert Carlyle Libby (1878 – 1965), who graduated from Colby, Class of 1902, and wrote Colby Stories As Told by Colby Men of the Classes, 1832 to 1902 (1900) and Yarns for Boys (1908).

Reuben B.’s younger son (Mabel Libby’s uncle), Reuben Wesley Dunn (Feb. 8, 1847 – Nov. 11, 1927), attended Maine Wesleyan Seminary (and became a trustee in 1877) and graduated from Colby University (as it was briefly titled) in 1868. He was teacher/principal at Corinth Academy for two years before going into business.

Like his father’s, Reuben W.’s business career was varied. An on-line site and Whittemore’s collaborators list: cotton mill agent in 1880; “visomess agent” (any reader who know what this title means, please contact The Town Line), 1870-1886; “in the department store business” with Lorin A. Presby, 1884-1891; “connected with the Lockwood Company” and other mills, including president of Madison Woolen Company from 1894 to1898; president of the Somerset Railroad, 1897-1907; treasurer and manager of Dunn Edge Tool Company after 1897.

Reuben W. married Martha S. “Mattie” Baker (Jan. 21, 1848 – July 22, 1915) on Aug. 19 or Sept. 2, 1873 (sources differ).

Martha Baker Dunn was a novelist and a contributor to “leading literary magazines.” Her two novels are Memory Street: A Story of Life (1900) and ‘Lias’s Wife: An Island Story (1901); an on-line site adds a book titled Cicero in Maine: And Other Essays (1905).

Whoever described her in Whittemore’s book praised her “depth of insight, clearness in portraiture and true feeling, sometimes veiled in humor,” and wrote that readings of her unpublished stories were “a delightful feature” of the Women’s Association and Women’s Literary Club programs.

As mentioned above, Reuben W. wrote the chapter on manufacturing in Whittemore’s history. Martha wrote the chapter on social life.

* * * * * *

The Milliken Building, at the corner of Main and Silver streets, now occupied by the Silver Street Tavern.

Dennis Libby Milliken (Feb. 1 or 4, 1804 – Oct. 28 or Nov. 2, 1879) was identified in the Sept. 15 article in this series as the prominent banker in whose honor the 1877 Milliken Block on the south corner of Silver and Main streets was named. A Scarborough native, he married Jane Larrabee (born about 1804, and died after her husband) in that town on May 7, 1829. The couple had two sons and two daughters.

In 1830, at the age of 26, Milliken joined Jacob Southwick, of Vassalboro, in the lumber business. When the family moved to Waterville is unclear.

Whittemore’s history says Milliken served in the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate, but does not say when, nor what town he represented. That information precedes the information that he was a member of the Governor’s Council under Democratic Governors John Fairfield (who served non-consecutive partial terms, 1839-1841 and 1842-March 1843) and Edward Kavanagh (Fairfield’s successor for the rest of 1843) and Republican Governor Lot M. Morrill (1858-1861).

In 1856, Milliken became president of Waterville National Bank, chartered in 1850 and first located in the second story of the north end of the Ticonic Block (Ticonic Row), described Sept. 15. He remained in charge, overseeing the building of the new brick bank that became the Milliken Block, until the bank closed in 1879.

Horatio Bates, who wrote the chapter on banking in Whittemore’s history, said Waterville National Bank “was well managed and paid good dividends.” When it closed, stockholders got the full value of their stock and a 20% dividend.

By the 1860s Milliken was prominent in Waterville affairs. Whittemore listed him among those chosen to address an April 20, 1861, public meeting called “to take action concerning the rebellion” in the southern states. He was a non-combatant in the Civil War; General Isaac Bangs listed him (and R. B. Dunn) among Waterville’s “prominent older men” who supported the Union cause whole-heartedly.

Bangs (March 17, 1831 – May 30, 1903) was a Civil War veteran and businessman who wrote the military chapter in Whittemore’s history. He married Dennis and Jane Milliken’s older daughter, Hadassah Jane, on Oct. 20, 1857.

(Why the name Hadassah? No explanation. Her brothers were George and Edward; her sister was Mary; and her father is listed among organizers of Waterville’s first Unitarian Society in 1863.)

Bangs became Waterville National Bank’s cashier in 1861 and resigned in 1862 to join the army; he was on the bank’s board in 1879. In addition to banking, he was in the granite business and had interests in mills.

After the war, Milliken invested in building the first dam across the Kennebec and developing water-powered mills. His 1868 grist mill was one of the first two industries using the Lockwood Dam. His business career included an undated stint as president of the Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad.

He served as a trustee of Waterville, later Colby, College from 1859 until his death.

Main sources

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Whittemore, Rev. Edwin Carey, Centennial History of Waterville 1802-1902. (1902).

Websites, miscellaneous.

EVENTS – Lithgow Library event: Singer/songwriter Karen Grimshaw

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Karen Grimshaw is a singer/songwriter and member of the Hallowell-based band, The Blenders. Inspired by her rural Kansas roots and a childhood spent listening to her parents’ diverse record collection, she crafts songs that blend folk, blues and country into intimate stories about love and life. Whether she is singing her own songs or songs that you already know and love, Karen delivers them with a pure and melodic voice that connects to the heart. She will perform on Tuesday, November 1, from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. As with all of Lithgow’s events, this event is free and open to the public. Lithgow Library is located at 45 Winthrop Street in Augusta. For more information, please call the library at (207) 626-2415 or visit our website at www.lithgowlibrary.org.

Northern Light offers schedule care online and skip the hold line

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Tim Lacrone

WATERVILLE, ME — On September 21, 2022, all Northern Light Inland Hospital Primary Care practices introduced patient online self-scheduling, a new appointment scheduling option that has been rolling out statewide since June when the online self-scheduling option went live for screening mammograms.

“It’s a great new option for our patients to schedule primary care appointments online,” said Tim Lecrone, director of Inland medical practices. “Our patients have busy schedules, and this allows much more flexibility for them to plan and make their ap­pointments. We’re very excited about this new, convenient way for people to manage their healthcare schedule.” Inland’s Northern Light Primary Care practices are located in Waterville, Oakland, Unity, and Madison.

Community members are still encouraged to call any practice to make an appointment if they prefer, not all appointment types can be scheduled online. Currently, primary care and pediatrics self-scheduling options include: new patient, sick/urgent care for established patients, annual wellness, and nurse visits (including blood pressure checks and vaccinations).

The new scheduling tool can be found in the MyNorthernLightHealth patient portal or at NorthernLightHealth.org using the Schedule Now buttons on the home page. Mammogram schedules can also be found at NorthernLightHealth.org/ScheduleAMammogram – patients do not need a provider’s order to schedule a screening mammogram.

Online scheduling is one of many new online tools added to Northern Light Health’s offerings in 2022. A new, virtual walk-in care service, paperless registration and appointment check-in, patient education, and care management tools having come online throughout the summer and will continue into fall. Hospital leaders say patients and community members have been asking for more ways to access care, stay connected with their providers, and keep their health on track. Online scheduling is the next step to improving the patient experience and increasing access to care.

EVENTS: 26th annual Maine International Film Festival opens submissions

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The Maine Film Center has opened submissions for the 26th annual Maine International Film Festival (MIFF). The Festival, scheduled for July 7-16, 2023, will be hosted at the Paul J. Schupf Arts Center, which will be the new home for the Maine Film Center, in downtown Waterville.

For the second year, MIFF will offer Tourmaline Prizes, named for Maine’s state gem, which are juried awards recognizing the best Maine-made films of the festival. On the closing night of MIFF, a $5,000 prize will be awarded to the best feature film, and a $2,500 prize will be awarded to the best short film. Filmmakers interested in submitting work should specify that their film was made in Maine in their submission forms. (Films that tell stories about Maine but were not at all produced in Maine are not eligible for the prize).
Films meeting these qualifications may be submitted for 50 percent off normal submission fees. To receive a discount code, email miff@mainefilmcenter.org. Please allow up to three business days for a response, particularly when approaching a submission deadline.

This year’s submission deadlines are:

Earlybird Deadline: January 3, 2023

Regular Deadline: February 18, 2023

Late Deadline: March 18, 2023

Extended Deadline: April 4, 2023

For more information visit MaineFilmCenter.org.

SMALL SPACE GARDENING: Harvest, store and preserve herbs from the garden

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English Thyme growing in the garden. (photo courtesy of MelindaMyers.com)

by Melinda Myers

Keep enjoying your homegrown herbs all year round. Harvest throughout the growing season and include them in garden-fresh meals. Then preserve a few for the winter ahead.

Snip a few leaves or leaf-covered stems as needed. For the same intensity of flavor, you generally need two to three times more fresh herbs than dried except for Rosemary which has an equally strong flavor fresh or dried. So, if the recipe calls for one teaspoon of dried parsley use one Tablespoon (3 teaspoons) of fresh parsley leaves.

Continue harvesting herbs as needed throughout the growing season. And don’t worry about harming the plant because regular harvesting encourages new growth which means more for you to harvest. Just be sure to leave enough of the leaves intact to maintain plant growth.

You can remove as much as fifty percent of the leaves from established annual herb plants. This is about when the plants near their final height. You can remove up to one third from established perennial plants that have been in the garden for several months or more. Harvest when the plant has formed buds, but before they open into flowers for the greatest concentration of flavor. This is the perfect time to harvest herbs you plan to preserve.

Use a pair of garden scissors or bypass pruners for faster and easier harvesting. Make your cuts above a set of healthy leaves to keep the plants looking good. Then, preserve the flavor and zest of herbs with proper storage and preservation.

Store thin leafy herbs like parsley and cilantro for up to a week in the refrigerator. Place the stems in a jar of water, like a flower arrangement, and loosely cover with a plastic bag. Keep basil out of the fridge to avoid discoloration and others on the counter for quick and frequent use.

Wrap dry thicker-leafed herbs like sage and thyme in a paper towel, set inside a plastic bag and place in a warmer section of the refrigerator.

Freeze sprigs, whole leaves or chopped clean herbs on a cookie sheet. Or pack clean diced herbs in ice cube trays and fill the empty spaces with water. These are great for use in soups and stews. Store the frozen herbs and ice cubes in an airtight container or baggie in the freezer.

Or bundle several stems together, secure with a rubber band and use a spring type clothespin to hang them in a warm, dry place to dry out. Make your own drying rack from an old embroidery hoop, string, and S hooks.

Get creative and use some of your herbs to make a fragrant edible wreath. Use fresh herbs that are flexible and easier to shape into a wreath. They will dry in place and can be harvested as needed.

Speed up the drying process in the microwave. Place herbs on a paper towel-covered paper plate. Start with one to two minutes on high. Repeat for 30 seconds as needed until the herbs are brittle.

Store dried herbs in an airtight plastic or glass jar.

Keep enjoying these fresh-from-the-garden flavors throughout the remainder of the season. And consider preserving a few for you, your family, and friends to enjoy throughout the winter.

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” DVD instant video 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.

China planners postpone action on “solventless hashlab” application

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by Mary Grow

A bare quorum of the China Planning Board took no action at the Sept. 27 meeting.

There was one application on the agenda, from Bryan Mason, to change the use of a shipping container at his 1144 Route 3 property. Mason wrote that he intended to use it as a “solventless Hashlab.”

He was not at the board meeting, and acting board chairman Toni Wall declined to act in his absence.

There is useful information on the web about solventless hashlabs, Wall said; but she thought Mason should be present to answer questions about his specific plans.

Codes officer Nicholas French reported briefly on the select board’s amnesty for projects done without a required permit (see the Sept. 29 issue of The Town Line, p. 3). He said he needs to complete only three more courses to become a fully certified Maine Code Enforcement Officer.

Board members did not act on the minutes of the previous meeting, because only two of the three had read them.

They did not schedule their next meeting. Due to the Oct. 10 Indigenous People’s holiday, the select board has preempted the usual second Tuesday planning board meeting night; the select board will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11. A second meeting room is available, but China’s LiveStream program cannot broadcast two simultaneous meetings.

After post-meeting discussion, planning board members decided their next meeting will be Tuesday evening, Oct. 25.

China emergency committee to meet

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by Mary Grow

The China Emergency Preparedness Committee is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, in the portable building behind the town office. Committee members will continue review of the town’s emergency preparedness plan, recommending changes and updates they think are needed.

TEAM PHOTOS: Winslow Youth travel soccer

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Winslow U14 boys travel soccer team: Front row, from left to right, Evan Gaskey, Logan Wentworth, Michael Paules, Rowan Tibbetts, Evan Hayes and Caden Giroux. Back, Head Coach Joshua Giroux, Carter Calvo, Peyton Stewart, Isaac Allarie, Evan Barlow, Renton O’Toole, Eliott Stepp, and Assistant Coach Chris O’Toole. Absent from photo, Mahe Barbin. (photo by Mark Huard, Central Maine Photography)

Winslow U9 boys and girls travel soccer team: Front row, from left to right, Natalie Rossignol, Isabelle Theobald, Tarrah St. Jarre, Cara Blaschke, Carter Laplante, William Mitchell and Peter Small. Second row, Emery Fossa, Elliot Giroux,Griffin Smith, Tobey McCabe, Sawyer Damren, Cedric Carey and Jordan Garay. Third row, Justin Smith and Mario Fossa. (photo by Missy Brown, Central Maine Photography)

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Bobcat makes presence known in the area

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This bobcat was recently photographed strolling through Phil and Joann King’s yard, in Palermo. (photo by Phil & Joann King)

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

I recently received an email from Phil and Joann King, of Palermo, telling of a sighting on a bobcat in their yard. They live on the Hostile Valley Road, and the bobcat casually strolled through their property during the night. They say he glanced through the sliding glass window and strolled up to the garden. According to them, he seemed completely unconcerned.

Bobcats are common in Maine, some, obviously, more visible than others. They tend to be solitary and generally travel only at night.

The bobcat, Lynx rufus, also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca, in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, Red List since 2002, due to its wide distribution and large population. Although it has been hunted extensively both for sport and fur, populations have proven stable, though declining in some areas.

It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby (or “bobbed”) tail, from which it derives its name. It reaches a total length (including the tail) of up to 50 inches. It is an adaptable predator inhabiting wooded areas, semidesert, urban edge, forest edge, and swampland environments. It remains in some of its original range, but populations are vulnerable to extirpation by coyotes and domestic animals.

The small tufts on a bobcat’s ears are difficult to spot at even moderate distance.

Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it hunts insects, chickens, geese and other birds, small rodents, and deer. Prey selection depends on location and habitat, season, and abundance. Like most cats, the bobcat is territorial and largely solitary, although with some overlap in home ranges. It uses several methods to mark its territorial boundaries, including claw marks and deposits of urine or feces. The bobcat breeds from winter into spring and has a gestation period of about two months.

The bobcat is thought to have evolved from the Eurasian lynx, which crossed into North America by way of the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene, arriving as early as 2.6 million years ago.

The adult bobcat is 18.7–49.2 inches long from the head to the base of its distinctive stubby tail, averaging 32.6 inches; the tail is 3.5 to 7.9 inches long. The adult male bobcat is slightly larger than the female.

The species’ range does not seem to be limited by human populations, as long as it can still find a suitable habitat.

The bobcat is active mostly during twilight. It keeps on the move from three hours before sunset until about midnight, and then again from before dawn until three hours after sunrise. Each night, it moves from two to seven miles along its habitual route. This behavior may vary seasonally, as bobcats become more diurnal during fall and winter in response to the activity of their prey, which are more active during the day in colder weather.

The bobcat is able to survive for long periods without food, but eats heavily when prey is abundant. During lean periods, it often preys on larger animals, which it can kill and return to feed on later. The bobcat hunts by stalking its prey and then ambushing with a short chase or pounce. Its main prey varies by region: in the eastern United States, it is the eastern cottontail and New England cottontail, and in the north, it is the snowshoe hare. When these prey species exist together, as in New England, they are the primary food sources of the bobcat.

Bobcats are also occasional hunters of livestock and poultry. While larger species, such as cattle, and horses, are not known to be attacked, bobcats do present a threat to smaller ruminants, such as pigs, sheep and goats.

The adult bobcat has relatively few predators. However rarely, it may be killed in interspecific conflict by several larger predators or fall prey to them. Cougars and gray wolves can kill adult bobcats, a behavior repeatedly observed in Yellowstone National Park. Coyotes have killed adult bobcats and kittens.

Diseases, accidents, hunters, automobiles, and starvation are the other leading causes of death. Juveniles show high mortality shortly after leaving their mothers, while still perfecting their hunting techniques. The bobcat has long been valued both for fur and sport; it has been hunted and trapped by humans, but has maintained a high population, even in the southern United States, where it is extensively hunted. In the 1970s and 1980s, an unprecedented rise in price for bobcat fur caused further interest in hunting, but by the early 1990s, prices had dropped significantly.

Stories featuring the bobcat, in many variations, are found in some Indigenous cultures of North America. In a Shawnee tale, the bobcat is outwitted by a rabbit, which gives rise to its spots. After trapping the rabbit in a tree, the bobcat is persuaded to build a fire, only to have the embers scattered on its fur, leaving it singed with dark brown spots.

The Mohave people believed dreaming habitually of beings or objects would afford them their characteristics as supernatural powers. Dreaming of two deities, cougar and lynx, they thought, would grant them the superior hunting skills of other Tribes. European-descended inhabitants of the Americas also admired the cat, both for its ferocity and its grace, and in the United States, it “rests prominently in the anthology of … national folklore.”

Grave artifacts from dirt domes excavated in the 1980s along the Illinois River revealed a complete skeleton of a young bobcat along with a collar made of bone pendants and shell beads that had been buried by the Hopewell culture. The type and place of burial indicate a tamed and cherished pet or possible spiritual significance. The Hopewell normally buried their dogs, so the bones were initially identified as remains of a puppy, but dogs were usually buried close to the village and not in the mounds themselves. This is the only wild cat decorated burial on the archaeological record.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What’s the diameter of a basketball hoop in inches?

Answer can be found here.