Weekend Updates

It seems a good time for some blog updates, from oldest to most recent.

In response to my March 24 post, a couple salvaged some metal from their basement, turned it in at Alderman-Dow, and now have $24 they didn’t have before.

The Cove, the Academy Award winning documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, discussed on this blog on April 30, was deemed too controversial for showing by many theaters in Japan. It was banned on a U.S. military base in Japan as well. On June 9, over 600 people crammed into a public hall in Tokyo for the first public showing of the film in Japan since the Tokyo International Film Festival, sparking a nationwide debate over free speech.

It is now two months since the explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana Coast. On May 6, I first posted the link for the Google Crisis Response to the oil spill in the Gulf. Matter of Trust is still collecting hair, but clearly no amount of hair boom by itself will get us out of this mess. There are widely differing points of views about who is to blame and how much progress is being made. You can check out the facts at PolitiFact.com, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winning site of the St. Petersburg Times. The first dead whale has been reported in the Gulf, and concern about how far the spill will spread mounts in light of the May 27 prediction by NOAA of an “active to extremely active” hurricane season. In an article entitled “Gulf Oil Spill: A Hole in the World,” which appeared in yesterday’s Guardian, Naomi Klein compares the disaster to a violent wound inflicted upon the Earth. In this compelling piece, the author, trained in economics, writes, “It's one thing to be told by an incomprehensible chaos theorist that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas. It's another to watch chaos theory unfold before your eyes.”

On a happier note, the trees planted on State Street (May 17) are being well cared for. I saw a water truck there today.

The wind turbine at Phoenix Press (June 5 blog) now has a name. Gus(t) was selected as the winning entry in a contest for New Haven schoolchildren. Runners-up include: Win(d)ston, MELVIN (Manufacturing Energy with a Large & Valuable Impact Now), PEG (Produces Greener Energy), Kilowally, and Urban Blossom.

My post on Marshmallow Fluff (June 8) resulted in a flurry of e-mails from native New Englanders who thanked me for the happy memories it evoked. I was told of readers who had to sneak the treat at the home of a friend since their mothers refused to buy it. I was also reminded that Fluff was an excellent topping for hot cocoa and was outstanding in a sundae when placed under the hot fudge. Those born outside the Northeast didn’t get the post at all.

Which brings me to the Woodchuck Wednesday post (June 16). The last I heard, Woody’s widow and children were still alive and well in Beaver Hills. There have been no woodchuck sightings in my yard. But we did have a very dirty non-avian bather in our birdbath one recent steamy evening. The prints it left behind lead me to think that it was a raccoon, but feel free to draw your own conclusion.

Woodchuck Wednesday

A tale of three neighbors and a woodchuck (Marmota monax, aka Woody) who lumbered over a fence from one yard to another.

In the relatively quiet neighborhood of Beaver Hills, nestled between downtown and Westville in New Haven and known for its fine single-family homes, the woodchuck population is on the rise. Woodchucks (also commonly known as groundhogs as in Punxsutawney Phil, prognosticator of Spring’s return) have been dining in our friends’ gardens for years and are a common sight in Beaver Ponds Park, a few short blocks from their home. Over time our friends have modified their garden to suit Woody’s tastes — planting their tomatoes in hanging pots and in the ground growing only things in which Woody has no interest — primarily raspberries, herbs, and garlic. You see, one year Woody took up residence under their backyard shed, and despite all their attempts to make him feel unwelcome, he decided to call the shed his home.

This Spring Woody had a family, and pickings in this yard were too slim to support them all. Woody climbed some fences, did some exploring, and discovered two adjacent yards full of things he loved — tender veggies and sunflowers. One fine day he left mama and the babies behind to visit the garden next door. The neighbor had been away for two weeks. When he returned and saw the damage Woody had wrought, he became enraged. He owns a shotgun. He was ready and waiting for Woody to lumber over to his side. BAM — a shot heard ’round the ’hood! Woody was no more.

A second neighbor, also a victim of Woody’s passion for local produce, came running over to investigate. He happily took Woody home, skinned him, and cooked him for dinner.

Woodchuck is considered a delicacy, at least by some. In my well-worn edition of the Joy of Cooking (1973 edition) there is a section on “Game” with recipes I have read but never tried, including instructions for cooking woodchuck. On page 454, Irma Rombauer cautions the reader to “remove 7 to 9 small sacs or kernels in the small of the back and under the forearm.” She continues to explain that after “soaking overnight in salt water you can then cook by any recipe for rabbit or chicken.” A recent post “Cook thine enemy” at the Winona (Minnesota) 360 site explains that these sacs are scent glands. The author, Peggy, includes a recipe for and photo of the woodchuck fricasseé she prepared from the woodchuck her husband brought home (as well as photos of the naked and dressed woodchuck meat).

But before you hatch any plans for getting your own fresh “chuck,” you better check the firearms laws in your place of residence. Woody’s shooter did not need a license for his shotgun. But to hunt in Connecticut, a permit is required. Even with a permit, there is a hunting season. More importantly in this instance, there is a 500 foot rule — “It is prohibited to hunt with, shoot, or carry a loaded firearm within 500 feet of any building occupied by people or domestic animals.” The distances are far smaller in this neighborhood.

Unless you want to face criminal charges, I suggest using legal methods to rid yourself of these pests. I have read about how difficult they are to drive away, and I know they are clever enough to avoid Havahart traps (Woody’s eater was unsuccessful there). Since woodchucks have not yet made their way to East Rock/downtown where I live, I have absoultely zero experience in dealing with this problem, but my research has turned up one product that sounds promising. If you don’t yet have resident woodchucks, or if you can manage to drive them from your yard for a short while, perhaps Shake-Away groundhog repellent is the answer. This product is a powder made of fox urine that when sprinkled around the perimeter of your property is purported to have the same effect as if a fox had “claimed” the area as his own, thus creating a “wall of fear” which will keep the groundhog away. This sounds ideal as long as humans can’t smell it, as long it doesn’t require re-application after every rain, and, of course, as long as groundhogs are absent when the product is applied. Otherwise they will be afraid to leave! Good luck to all you gardeners in Beaver Hills is all I can say.

My thoughts on the subject? I sympathize, but NIMBY. I’ve bookmarked the Contech Scarecrow Sprinkler, which “scares away all invading outdoor critters with a blast of water and sound” just in case. It covers approximately 1200 square feet. I’m sure my human neighbors will love that.

And, for those of you pining for woodchuck meat, perhaps you should contact Peggy in Minnesota. She seems to have plenty.