Md. poised to outlaw “inadvertent bear feeding”
March 27, 2008
This’ll teach you not to leave garbage on your front porch in Garrett County.
State wildlife regulators are about to adopt a regulation that would outlaw feeding of black bears — even if you don’t intend to.
The rule would penalize citizens (no report on how) for failing to remove bird feeders, garbage and other “attractants” after one warning has been issued.
DNR says the regulation is vital to reduce situations where bears become threatening to human safety. Last year, there were over 60 complaints that bears were snooping through people’s trash.
JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor
Sphere: Related ContentDiamond in the rough
August 13, 2007
As I watched a babbling brook flow down the side of Saratoga Street last week, I had to fight the delusional urge to grab my rod and reel and “get my fish on.” Fishing, as others call it, is not exactly a city-centric activity, but with Diamond Jim out there, it’s all I can think about — other than the seemingly sorry state of Baltimore’s water mains.
Mr. Jim, as I call him, is a specially tagged striped bass and part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ 2007 Maryland Fishing Challenge. There are 20 impostors and 1 Diamond Jim released, with a cash prize between $10,000 and $25,000 — depending on when he’s reeled in — for hooking the real deal. Anglers can read rules and requirements, how to enter, and even see a picture of a “Diamond Jim” tag on DNR’s Web site.
And as far as the downtown log flume (or waterslide, whichever you prefer) is concerned, I hear the Bureau of Water & Wastewater is working on the nation’s largest urban Slip & Slide , with the added thrill of weaving between those always-patient city drivers.
-FRANCIS SMITH, Special Publications Assistant Editor
Sphere: Related ContentFor the birds
August 9, 2007
Remembering that Mayor Sheila Dixon has dubbed the first half of August the “311 Community Challenge,” I decided to call the Baltimore city services hotline Monday evening when I strolled past a deceased pigeon lying upside-down (re-enactment) on the sidewalk in Charles Village.
After a short hold, a woman picked up the phone and informed me that sanitation workers are “not going to come all the way out there to pick up a dead bird.” If I wished to throw it in a trash can, she said, they would pick it up eventually. Or, could I wait for a street sweeper to come?
“So,” I asked, “it can just rot in the street as far as the city is concerned?”
The 311 woman told me that it’s like a rat dead in the street. Of course they’re not going to run all over town to pick those up, but if I was concerned about avian illnesses, I could call animal control.
-ANDY ROSEN, Daily Record Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentA cat fight
August 7, 2007
An Associated Press story about the feud between defenders of feral cats and lovers of shorebirds nesting in Cape May, N.J. — the self-styled “birding capital of the world” — comes as no surprise to this summer resident of the nation’s oldest seaside resort.
For the past nine years, my wife and I have “summered” near Cape May, a National Historic Landmark city, so designated for its many historic, Victorian-era houses that have been converted into pricey bed-and-breakfasts. (I should point out that our summer “residence” consists of a 24-foot by 7-foot pop-up camper that we keep permanently parked at a campground in Cape May Court House, the county seat.)
According to the AP, cat lovers and birders are at odds over feral cats roaming free along the Jersey Shore, where they prey on, among other unlucky animals, piping plovers — a small shorebird that is considered threatened by the federal government.
Among measures being considered to control them are requiring cats to be licensed, prohibiting free-roaming cats, and prohibiting abandonment of cats and feeding of wildlife, including feral cats.
This brings to mind the late Oscar MacDonald, locally known as “The Cat Man,” who for 17 years fed the feral cats inhabiting a small park situated on the Delaware Bay. He was there, every day of the year from 2:30 to 10 p.m., including Christmas, feeding the feline residents of the park from bags and cans of cat food that he brought in his aging Ford Taurus station wagon.
According to the Cape May County Herald, a free and widely read newspaper, MacDonald spent his own, meager funds on cat food, assisted by donations from individuals and from an Acme supermarket that supplied some of the food, gratis. Friends said MacDonald, who was unmarried, loved cats but could not keep pets in the small apartment in which he lived.
When he died in April 2007 of cancer, a memorial service was held at the park, attended by more than 30 people — and by the cats that he tended, most of whom, afraid or wary of people, watched the service while hiding in the grass nearby. The Cat Man was cremated and his ashes were spread in the tall grass, so he could be with his beloved feline friends forever.
-Paul Samuel, Associate Editor
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