This is war.
When it comet to co-existing
with animals, we have enjoyed our
years here on the farm relatively
free of the people-animal conflicts
that we periodically hear or read
about elsewhere.
But, this is war.
Unlike many parts of the state,
we are not plaqued with herds of
deer maurauding our young corn
or gobbling up our alfalfa. (Thank
goodness, because there isn’t
much of either in this almost rain
less summer.) Nor have we ever
unlike our son when he spent a
year in a mountain valley bouse
during his last year at Penn State
watched black bears visit our
fields and flatten large patches of
com.
And, only one pair of Canada
geese settles here at a time. And
they have always remained at the
pond or around the meadow, and
then departed as soon as their
gosling were raised and airborne,
thus posing no problem of any
sort
Rabbits are a bit mote plentiful
this year than in some past per
haps because our bludgeoning fox
population of recent years seems
to have been brought under con
trol by a local fur trapper. The
relatively few bunnies we see hop
ping around the fields, and occa
sionally up through the back yard,
remain just novel enough to be a
pleasure to watch.
Squirrels, which once only
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Owner • Samuel P. Stottzfus
RO 3, Box 331
Pine Grove, FA 17903
could been seen along the edge of
the neighborhood wooded hous
ing development, did move into
the backyard after the extremely
scvcre/blizzard-pronc winter of a
few years back. While they gobble
up sunflower seed from the feed
ers by the pawsful, they are still
too few in number to be a
problem.
We are grateful that there are no
herds of elephants dancing across
our safari grounds, no alligators
have ever been spoiled hulking
around the pond, and we’ve never
had an escaped boa constrictor
turn up in the bathroom or gobble
up one of our pets (Thank good
ness!). Recent news blurbs report
a rash of adventurous boa con
strictors lately, it seems.
But now, this is war.
Sec, there’s this matter of the
garden groundhogs.'
Our groundhog population has
exploded into an army the last
year or two. possibly somewhat a
result of few foxes. A sharp
shooter neighbor keeps his hunt
ing skills honed on these rodents
which can chew up a quarter-acre
of soybeans each and dig tractor
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jarring holes quicker than a back
hoe operator running in high gear.
We’ve spent considerable time
and money on elimination
attempts of these crop-gobbling
pests.
But all our efforts have come to
naught around the garden. And
while the resident woodchucks
nibbled my peas last year, they
have now taken on the really good
stuff. We suspect it has to do with
the dryness of their normal graz
ing grounds, but every tomato that
began to turn bright orange turned
up with a big hole chewed oyt of
its side. Green tomatoes weren’t
off limits, either. One day I draped
the back half of the tomato tow in
plastic netting. The holey
tomatoes disappeared.
For about a week. Then an
occasional chewed tomato turned
up, along the edges of a stalk or a
spot not coveted by the nylon net
ting. Still, I could live with shar
ing a few, and figured I’d wot that
battle.
But his is REALLY war.
Last week, I found the first ripe
cantaloupe in the patch I’ve care
fully tended and handwatered, a
nice, big, fat, juicy one. With half
of it gone and telltale teeth marks
scalloping the remains just as
neatly as if it had been decorative
ly carved. After the third chewed
cantaloupe, I draped more yards of
■net wrap around the melon patch.
When I found the fourth. I
threatened to go ballistic. Unfortu
nately, I’ve never learned sharp
shooting and don’t have time to go
pistol-patrolling through the gar
den round-the-clock.
This is war.
D’ya suppose any of those
adventurous boa constrictors
might have a yen for fresh
groundhog?
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On Rte. 553 Sandy Lake > Pa -
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412-254-4753
HERNLEY’S FARM
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Elizabethtown, Pa.
717-367-8867
SEE YOUR DEALER TODAY!
NICHOLS FARM EQUIP.
Bloomsburg, Pa.
717-784-7731
B. EQUIP., INC.
Waynesboro, Pa.
717-762-3193
Lancaster Firming, Saturday, August 23,1997-B3
Penn State Graduate
Students’ Projects
Get Lift From NASA
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Four graduate students in
Penn State’s College of Agricul
tural Sciences are finding “out of
this world” support for their ter
restrial research projects. The stu
dents have been awarded NASA
Space Grant fellowships for the
1997-1998 academic year.
“I often get the question, ‘What
in the world does your research
have to do with NASA?’,” says
Charles Ruffner, graduate student
in forest resources. Ruffner is
studying how humans affect the
mixed oak .forests of Pennsylvani
a’s Allegheny Plateau by examin
ing long-term climate and vegeta
tion changes. These changes are of
interest to NASA with respect to
current trends in global wanning
and pollution, Ruffner says.
Other students receiving grants
include:
•Carter Miller, graduate student
in horticulture, is examining how
fertilizer use can be minimized for
efficiency while also improving
the ability of plants to grow and
react to environmental stresses.
•Christina Wells, graduate stu
dent in plant physiology, is study
ing underground pests that feed on
tree roots. She is focusing her
research on tree species that are
important to Pennsylvania’s eco
nomy and ecology, such as apple
trees. She also is examining the
protective chemicals released by
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Quarryville, Pa.
717-786-7318
tree roots to defend against such
pests.
•Michael Dcmchik, a graduate
student in forest resources, is
observing the decline of Northern
Red Oak in southwestern Pennsyl
vania. His project focuses on how
soil toxicity from acid rain affects
the decline. He also is examining
how tree regeneration is affected
by limiting deer access to oak
seeds and seedlings, and by
adding agents to soil to offset acid
rain deposits arid improve soil
chemistry.
‘the stipend helps to support
and enable students to pursue
research,” says Geraldine Russell,
assistant director of the Pennsyl
vania Space Grant Consortium,
which is based at Penn State, ‘the
funds can be used to defray the
cost of travel, child care or other
needs.”
NASA provides a total of
$lOO,OOO a year in support for the
fellowship program, which began
in 1989. Of 10 teing
awarded this year, two were avail
able to all University students
meeting the criteria and the other
eight were available to students in
the four technical colleges the
Eberly College of Science, the
College of Agriculture Sciences,
the College of Engineering and
the College of Earth and Mineral
Sciences.
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Roxbury, Pa.
717-532-7261
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BROS.
Quakertown, Pa.
215-536-7523
New Tripoli, Pa.
215-767-7611
Oiey, Pa.
215-987-6257