812-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 8,1986
Raccoon dogs
(Continued from Page BIO)
the Japanese dogs, compared with
56 chromosomes per cell in those
from Finland.
Chromosome Puzzle
The average number of
chromosomes also varies from dog
to dog and from cell to cell within
individual raccoon dogs from
Japan, an abnormal situation for
mammals. The Japanese dogs also
possess from two to five extra
chromosomes, whose function is a
puzzle, and some of the dogs bear
an oddly shaped X chromosome.
• Some reference books have
listed the raccoon dog as nearly
extinct, yet Ward and Wurster-Hill
encountered numerous tales of
Japanese farmers shooting the
animals as pests. In one of the two
research sites, a different raccoon
dog was trapped every night.
• The scant scientific literature
on the dogs reports “fainting when
frightened,” and that’s almost
accurate. Ward reports that
though the dogs were feisty and
hissing like a cat during capture,
“they grew passive and quiet in
our arms, apparently with a
lowered heart rate. It was as if
they were afraid to offend.”
Hoping to unravel some of the
raccoon dog’s secrets, Wurster-
Hill and Ward chose two Japanese
islands Honshu and Kyushu
for their study, which was sup
ported by the National Geographic
Society and Earthwatch. Scientists
presume the animals traveled to
the islands over an ancient land
bridge from mainland Asia.
The study sites, separated by
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more than 1,000 miles of mountains
and water, were contrasting
raccoon dog habitats. Though low
in elevation, the site on northern
Honshu was steeply mountainous,
covered with hardwood forests,
while the Kyushu site was a 3,000-
foot-high platform studded with
steaming volcanoes and thick with
bamboo undergrowth.
The research teams battled
typhoon rains, dense fog, snow,
and always the inky night. “In the
northern site, the innkeepers didn’t
understand what we were doing,”
recalls Wurster-Hill, who is a
specialist in chromosomal studies.
“Instead of going to bed at night,
we put on coats and went out.”
Pursuit Through Bamboo
The scientists spent nearly
sleepless nights hiking vertical
terrain or crawling through dense
bamboo in pursuit of a dog,
regularly checking traps that had
been baited with cooked chicken
heads (a raccoon dog favorite). If
a dog was snared in one of the
traps, the scientists would retrieve
it, transport it on foot to a cabin,
where under car headlights it was
examined, measured, and biop
sied. Skin samples had to be
rushed to an airport by 7:30 the
next morning to go to a laboratory
for analysis.
Meanwhile, the dog was fitted
with a radio collar so it could be
tracked electronically through the
woods. And its belly and legs were
dusted with fluorescent powder so
that as it traveled the un
dergrowth, it left a trail.
In all, 13 dogs were captured,
fitted with collars, and released.
Analysis of data from this
preliminary study is not complete,
but it appears that Japan’s rac
coon dogs are more active during
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I a _
Cornel offers updated vegetable varieties list
ITHACA, NY - Home gardeners
in New York State need look no
farther than their county
Cooperative Extension agents
when it comes to selecting
vegetable varieties for the 1966
growing season.
In addition to existing resources
and their own knowledge of
vegetable crops, these agents have
the 1986 “Selected List of
Vegetable Varieties for Home
Garden Use in New York State.”
Updated annually by Cornell
University experts, the list in
cludes more than 400 varieties of
vegetables that have been proven
in university test gardens.
Instead of browsing through the
thousands of selections offered in
the day than previously believed,
and less solitary. The scientists
would pick up simultaneous
signals of a male and female dog,
indicating they were together
outside of mating season.
The animals seem to have a
loose system of territories for
resting; on Kyushu especially,
each animal remained in a fixed
area, with little overlap. And
though they’re generally seden
tary, one monitored dog wandered
at least 10 miles in 24 hours.
Wurster-Hill and Ward hope
results of the chromosomal
analysis and future field work will
explain exactly where in the dog
family the raccoon dog fits. And,
they would like to discover other
raccoon dog races that bridge the
chromosomal gap, from 38 to 56.
Or, they wonder, has the missing
link magically vanished, in the
style of the tanuki?
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commercial seed catalogs, a
gardener, at a glance, can use the
list to select varieties that have a
good track record in New York
State.
This year’s list was compiled by
Roger A. Kline, a Cornell
Cooperative Extension associate,
and David Wolfe, an assistant
professor of vegetable crops, both
in the New York State College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences at
Cornell.
“We’ve selected these varieties
by testing them, usually two years
or more, in Ithaca and often in
other areas of the state,” Kline
says.
Information about varieties on
the Cornell list was also collected
from Cooperative Extension
agents, commercial growers, and
home gardeners.
This year, several varieties of
Chinese cabbage have been added
to the list, as well as varieties of
bush bean, lettuce, peas, pum
pkins, and radishes, among others.
“By no means are we saying
these are the only ones that will
grow well, but they have proven
themselves in the unpredictable,
sometimes adverse conditions that
New York has to offer,” Kline
explains.
Kline says that the varieties
included on the list are chosen
based on their yield, tolerance to
disease and insects, quality of the
Penns Valley Beef Club recently
selected new officers.
They are: president, Michele
Hosterman; vice president,
Howard Dashem; secretary,
Kerry Long; treasurer, Lori Cash;
news reporter, Beth Korman;
historian, Sherri Strouse; social
chairmen, Niki Myers and Kristi
Myers; program committee,
Michele Hosterman, Beth Kor-
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crop, taste, and other factors
essential for gardening success.
Crops included in the 1986
Cornell list range from common
vegetables such as summer
squash, tomato, watermelon, and
turnip to exotic vegetables such as
chicory, kohlrabi, leek, kale and
several types of hot peppers.
New additions to the list this
year include: “Jumbo” green bush
bean; “Captain Marvel” brussels
sprouts; “Erdeno” and “Brutus”
late storage cabbages; “Spring A
-1,” “Lei Choy,” “Prize Choy,”
“What-A-Joy,” “Two Seasons,”
and “Dynasty” Chinese cabbage
varieties; “Aldo” endive; and
several chicory varieties.
Other new varieties include;
“Burpee Iceberg” and “King
Crown” crisphead lettuce;
“Kagran Summer” and “Patty”
butterhead lettuce; “Red Sails"
and “Lil Sweetie” looseleaf let
tuce; the “Green Towers” cos
lettuce; “Snowflake” snow pea;
“Big Max” and “Atlantic” giant
squashes; “Baby Pam” pumpkin;
“Summer Cross” radish; and
“Taxi” yellow tomato.
For a free copy of the list, con
tact your local Cooperative Ex
tension agents, or send a self
addressed, stamped long envelope
to Roger Kline, Department of
Vegetable Crops, Plant Science
Building, Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY 14853-5908.
man, Sherri Strouse and Kenny
Strouse.
Officers training will be held on
April 29.
Four-H kick-off will be held
March 22 from 7:30 to 9:30 for
younger children and until 12:30
for older persons.
The leader’s banquet is planned
for March 17. The next meeting
will be on April 6.
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