Page 16 - SUSQUEHANNA TIMES February 25, 1976
Abe Lincoln appears
on Grandview stage
Mrs. Kern's 3d grade class at Grandview presented a play
about Abraham Lincoln last week.
Photo below shows Abe (Brett Floyd) chatting with a
citizen (Kim Funk).
Brett Floyd and Kim Funk
9 x I
x fe
kak Y
he ? :
BW IER
Brett Floyd, without his Abe Lincoln beard, recites
Gettysburg address.
¥
How to get close to foxes on winter nights
by J. L. Biesecker
Plans for a winter fox hunt
have recently been discuss-
ed around the crackling fire
of Red Fox Lodge. As we sat
in the glow of the fire, from
red cedar logs, reflected in
our amber mugs our plans
were laid. Old Red Fox, who
gave his name to the lodge,
grinned down at us from his
spet on the wall.
Discussion of the use of
an electronic predator call
reminded me of my first
predator call. As a lad of 1S,
I sent off several hard-earn-
ed dellars in answer to an ad
in Sports Afield. Weeks
later a small package con-
taining a four-inch plastic
tube arrived. According to
attached instructions the
noise emitted by the tube,
when blown, would sound
like an injured rabbit.
After memorizing the
instructions, my brother and
I set out on a bitter cold
black February night, armed
with a flashlight, a 12 guage
double-barrel, and great
skepticism about the pos-
sibility of success. As we
settled on a stump in the old
fence-row behind the house,
we faced into the night
breeze and took turns
blasting the squels of our
wounded plastic rabbit into
the blackness. Suddenly a
pair of glowing night eyes
appeared, their bobbing in-
dicating that an animal was
running towards us. We
both had the same thought:
Snockie, our dog, had
gotten cut of the house and
was following us.
The animal behind the
eyes materialized in our
flashlight’s beam only 20
feet from us. A very large
grey fox stopped, apparent-
ly as astonished as we were,
then bounded off into the
night with only a shert yelp.
Neither of us remembered
the shotgun, so no bounty
was collected on the fox, but
faith in the ability of our fox
call was established.
Several Red and one Grey
Drawing by J, Le Blesecker
fox pelts were collected with
the aid of that call over the
years, but non was ever
called as quickly or as easily
as that first Grey. Foxes are
intelligent animals with
good skills at avoiding man.
They normally do not
stumble into two boys
sitting on a stump in the
middle of a winter night.
The Red is more intelli-
gent than the Grey and
much more common in this
area. There are other dif-
ferences between the two.
Reds generally have a better
pelt with longer fur and less
odor. However, this does
not mean that the Reds
smell good-try sniffing one
on a wet day. Both are
roughly 40 inches in length,
including the 12-inch tail on
the Grey and the 16-inch
very bushy tail on the Reds.
Both are omniverous with
vegetation making up as
much as 15% of their diet.
Although they eat insects,
birds, and almost anything,
else, rodents are their main
dish. Greys prefer rabbits
while Reds dine mainly on
mice; in fact, wildlife
biclogist say that the Red
Fox is probably the world’s
greatest destroyer of mice.
As you move about
through the woods during
the day chances of seeing
old Red Reynard are pretty
geod, since he is less
nocturnal than his Grey
brother. If you should be
lucky enough to see one,
notice the sharp hazel eyes
that intently study all the
possible mouse hiding
places. Perhaps you will be
fortunate enough to see the
quick crouch and spring
which carries the flash of
rusty orange and black down
on an unsuspecting mouse.
As my brother and I found
on that night twenty years
ago, use of a predator call at
night greatly increases
chances of seeing Reynard
first-hand. Whether you
want to collect a pelt, a
photograph or just a
memory, I would recom-
mend going out on a winter
evening to call one of our
local Red or Grey mouse
catchers.
(CANKER Hig,
the
Trixie Greiner at the piano
Michelle Lambert (left) and Heide Bednarzick playing their
flutophones
’
Waiting for Abraham Lincoln to appear on stage are, from left to right; seated- Yvonna
Melton, Michelle Lambert, Traci Smith, Heidi Bednarzick, Mike Brubaker, and Don
Zielke; standing- Dianna Arndt, Tina Keiser, Audra Markley, Tom Warren, Dena
Darrenkamp, George Keyton, Bryan Balmer, Noel Ho, Kay Risser, Doris Glesser, and
Keith Wilson.