Agriculture
Some interesting information on bats
Bats in your belfry? Not as bad as
?it aounds, if you garden.
1 ; First of all, a little background on
* bats, who are mammals, like you and
I me. Meticulously clean and highly in
; telligent, these gentle animals sel
dom transmit diseases. While sus
ceptible to rabies, they carry it far
Jen than our best friends, dogs, and
r>ot-*o-best friends, racoons.
We are most familiar with evening
* bats like the Big Brown, our most
I common bat, the Pippistrille, a mi
Z grator from the south, and the big
1 gest North American bat around, the
-?reat Hoary.
??. Bats live in communities in caves,
ZltoUow trees, old houses-and belf
" ries, sleeping upside down in convi
- val clusters. All hibernate in the win
? ter, after having mated. The sperm is
restored by the female over winter, and
^fertilization takes place in the spring.
The usual number of babies is one,
?born feet first, a birth position un
* common in mammals.
r* Frequently "maternity" groups
* may be spotted. Hoary bats will
^gather in a big sycamore tree, leav
* ing their young hanging under the
huge leaves while they are out feed
ing.
Unlike birds who flap their wings
up and down to fly, bats "swim"
?-Jhrough the air, curving their bony
Fingers around piece of air and pull
ing their bodies past it.
Bats function through sonar, utter
BEMWD
THE
WEEDS,
JtAN WlNfoiCW
ing tremendous bursts of supersonic
sound ranging as high as 90,000 fre
quencies per second and as little as
one two-hundredth of a second, main
tained continuously while the bird is
in flight. Sounds are broadcast
through the nostrils, and sound
waves are reflected back and picked
up in the ears. So forget those stories
about bats getting tangled in your
hair. If he can zap a mosquito at
30,000 frequencies, he can surely
avoid your big bead.
At dark, bats leave their roosts and
go to a lake or pond where they dip
their lower jaws in the water to
drink. They catch insects in their
mouths, or will scoop them up in their
wings while flying, turning somer
saults to extract the food from the
wing. One gray endangered bat can
eat 3,000 insects in one night, reports
Steve Kovarie of the Green Gazette.
In some parts of the world, bats are
the only pollinators of various fruits
and nut trees, such as figs, avocados,
bananas, and mangoes.
Kovarie states that English gar
dener* are tar more cognizant of the
importance at bats than we. England
alone has more than 10,000 bat houses
So if you are having trouble with
beetles, ants, flies, moths, and leaf
hoppers, order a bat house. I have
two sources. One is the Bat Conserva
tion International, Box 18203, Austin,
TX. 78716. Cost is $32.70 postpaid.
Proceeds are used by the nonprofit
organization to support bat conserva
tion projects worldwide.
Psrris Trail, naturalist from Eden
ton, says he got his from Gus Logan,
at Nixon's Beach outside of Eden ton.
Mr. Trail also has building plans. In
fact, he has Just finished a house, and
is waiting for his first tenants.
He knows a lot about bats. He's the
one that told me about hoary babies
under sycamore leaves. He also told
me about sitting all alone at night in a
deserted farmhouse, armed with a
flashlight with a red light. He fre
quently turned on the light just to see
who was, ah, hanging around, so he
could make notes on their eating and
sleeping arrangements. But Parris
does things like that, and that's why
he knows so much about nature.
As for the rest of us, let's call Gus
Logan, or write the Bat Conservation
people, and we'll have a go at those
English gardeners.
Tips and recipes for strawberries
By JUANITA T. BAILEY
,, Home Economics Ext. Agent
STRAWBERRY TIME
Sometime between 1596 and 1683
, , Izaak Walton said of the strawberry,
"Doubtless God could have made a
better berry, but doubtless God never
did". Even now with all of the other
luscious berries in the world, many
people agree with Mr. Walton. Straw
berries served with cream or short
cake are hard to beat. There are,
however, many delightful ways to
cserve this luscious fruit.
'? Eat strawberries as a fruit course
or on cereal for breakfast. Serve
them as an appetizer, or in salads
and desserts for lunch or dinner. The
flavor and bright color of the fresh
berry has been captured in the freez
ing process to make them a year
round favorite.
Fresh or frozen, strawberries are a
delicious way to get your quota of Vi
tamin C. One scant cup of whole fresh
or % cup sliced, frozen strawberries
will give you the amount of vitamin C
needed daily. Mo6t people think that
oranges and other citrus fruits are
the only source of this vitamin.
Strawberries, cabbage, tomatoes,
cantaloupe and many other North
Carolina produced foods are good
sources of this health protecting vita
min.
Vitamin C cannot be stored in the
body. A fresh supply is needed daily
to: aid in healing wounds, to keep
gums healthy, and to strengthen
walls of blood vessels.
Temperatures of the berries from
the time they leave tht vine until you
swallow them helps determine their
quality. At refrigerator tempera
tures (around 40 degrees F.) quality
changes in a short time and as much
as 20 percent of Vitamin C may be
lost each day held.
To save food value wash and cap
berries just before using and thaw
frozen strawberries in the package.
If fresh strawberries must be pre
pared a few hours ahead, keep them
in a tightly covered container in re
frigerator.
More Berry Handling Tips
Keep cool enroute from the vine to
the freezer
Wash gently in cold or ice water
(This prevents injury to the tender
skin which holds the juice and fla
vor.)
Don't soak the berries in the water,
they will become water logged.
Remove all sand and grit from ber
ries
STRAWBERRY TARTS
l package unflavored gelatin
see strawberries page three
The Perquimans High School FFA and FFA Alumni
would like to thank these supporters of the FFA who
made donations for the recent FFA Chicken Dinner.
One Stop Auto Parts
Charles Ward
Country Corner
Hertford Motor Co.
Farmers Feed & Seed
B. & S. Enterprises Inc.
Hertford hardware
NCNB
Peoples Bank
Jimmy's BBQ
D & W Engineering
Southern States
Towe Motor Company
Cannon Cleaners
Winslow Blanchard Ford
Apricot
Farm Bureau
Albemarle Fertilizer
Larry's Drive In
Perq. Co. Jaycees
* Jimmy Hunter
Farm Fresh
Jackson's Wholesale
Winn Dixie
A special thanks to the people who gave their time
and energy in helping cook the chicken and prepare the
plates.
Mr. Pete Riddick
Mr. Ed Nixon
Mr. Billy Williams
Mr. Walker Rayburn
Mrs. LaClair Anderson
|Mr. Phillip Winslow
Mrs. Helen Hunter
Mr. Glen Twine
Mrs Edith Mansfield
Mrs. Lula Newby
Also thanks to the people who made the cupcakes
Left to right Dena White, Alison Gregory, and Crissy Davenport after a horse show last
Bet those ribbons on the trailer are responsible for their smiles.
4-H club to host horse show on Sat.
-
The Indian Riders 4-H Horse Club
will be hosting the 1987 Northeast
District 4-H Horse Show. This year's
show will be held on May 30, 1987 at
the Hertford Saddle Club Ring at
10:00 a.m. The show class schedule
will begin with Cloverbud
Showmanship for 6-8 year old youth.
Among the 34 classes for the show,
several will include Western Plea
sure, Stock Seat Equitation, and Bri
dle Path Hack. This show, which is
an annual 4-H event, provides 4-H'ers
the opportunity to demonstrate horse
showmanship skills they have
learned over several years of work
ing with horses.
Parents from the Indian Riders 4-H
; 4mm
aub will be operating the cooceatfjwb
stand where visitors and show partic
ipants may purchase lunch and otfcfcr
refreshments. A special thanks tt>
Hertford Saddle Club members who
will be assisting with the show and
for providing their show facility," -
Americans have changing lifestyles
After many years of decline, the
small town is making a comeback.
This revival began in the 1970's with
an abrupt reversal of population pat
terns that had prevailed for genera
tions. Small towns had been losing
residents to metropolitan areas for
some time but according to census
figures, millions of Americans are
opting for a more rural lifestyle these
days.
U.S. metropolitan areas grew by
9.8 percent during the 1970's but rural
and small town regions developed
much faster. With a growth rate of
15.8 percent, they gained more than
8.5 million people.
The U.S. Department of Agricul
ture says samplings done in the U.S.
since 1980 show that rural and small
town areas are still drawing people
through the growth may not be as
dramatic as it was in the 1970's.
Hie USD A also says the surprising
thing about this exodus to rural areas
is that it's occurring in all major geo
graphic sec tins of the nation with the
south and west seeing the greatest in
flux of new citizens.
The experts say this rush for rural
America is caused more by social
factors than economic fluctuatioqs.
Which basically means urban folkk
are just now discovering what rurtfl
folks have known all along about the
many advantages of rural and ssuUf
town living. . ~ ,
V. 1 1
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i
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