Newspaper Page Text
October 29, 2008
Reporter
PAGE 5B
Monroe County Outdoors
Pumpkins: Great for Halloween, wildlife
H ave you have noticed that
pumpkins mean different
things to different people?
For a child, pumpkins repre
sent jack-o-lanterns and
Halloween. Homeowners, on the other
hand, consider bright orange pumpkins to
be ideal fall yard decorations. To those
among us that enjoy fine food, pumpkins
conjure up thoughts of pumpkin pie, stew,
soup and roast pumpkin and other food
delicacies. Unfortunately, few think of
pumpkins are being a source of
food for wildlife.
Although the name pumpkin
is derived from the Greek word
for large melon (pepon), early
American colonists, though, are
credited with giving this large,
colorful fruit the name pump
kin. By the time these settlers
arrived in the New World,
Native Americans had been
using pumpkins for genera
tions. They made use of this
native plant was eaten in a
number of ways. Both the
seeds and flesh were consumed. For
example, strips of pumpkins were cut in
strips, pounded and woven into mats.
Additionally, pumpkin seeds were even
used as medicine.
Each year far more pumpkins are raised
than are ever eaten. This is because most
pumpkins are used exclusively as decora
tions. Instead of simply tossing your used
pumpkins into the trash after Halloween
or Thanksgiving, why not offer them up
as a post-Halloween wildlife food?
Small pumpkins can be placed around
the yard for raccoons and other animals
that eat fruits and vegetables. If you want
to be creative, fashion a face on an old
pumpkin with an assortment of
fruits and vegetables such as
carrots and apples. Then sit
back and see which parts of
your creation prove to be
favorites with your wildlife
neighbors. Larger pieces can be
cut up in chunks and placed in
secluded parts of the yard.
These pieces provide food for
late butterflies and other
insects that dine on plant
juices. Pieces of pumpkins
can be mixed with slices of
apples, pears and other
fruits and presented in shallow pans.
Better yet, a pumpkin shell can be cut to
fashion a shallow bowl in which the food
offerings can be placed. At this time of
the year your fruit salad
might attract American
robins, northern mock
ingbirds, rose-breasted
grosbeaks, northern
cardinals, hermit
thrushes, brown
thrasher or perhaps
a gray catbird that
has lingered long after
its cohorts have
departed for their win
tering grounds in Mexico,
the Caribbean and north
ern Central America.
Whether you are creating a jack-
o-lantern or simply cutting up a pumpkin
to make a holiday dish, don’t throw away
the seeds. Many birds find the pumpkin’s
large, off-white, flat seeds every bit as
desirable as sunflower seeds. The list of
birds that relish sunflower seeds includes
a host of backyard favorites including:
northern cardinals, Carolina chickadees,
tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches,
blue jays, dark-eyed juncos, rose-breasted
grosbeaks, purple finches, mourning
doves, and two introduced species the
European starling and house sparrow.
Before sunflower seeds are fed to birds,
they should be dried. Remove the seeds
from the stringy pulp surrounding
them. They should then be placed
on either paper towels or a screen
_ and allowed to dry. They can
^ also be dried in an oven under
■ low heat. Then place the seeds
in bags and store in a freezer
until you are ready to use
them. Pumpkin seeds will last
up to 3 months when dried and
frozen.
Whether you look at pumpkins
as a traditional holiday delicacies,
yard ornaments, scary symbols of
Halloween, pumpkins or food for back
yard wildlife, I think that you will agree
that these colorful fruits have become an
integral part of the tapestry of autumn in
Monroe County.
Terry Johnson is the retired Program
Manager of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife Program. He is cur
rently Executive Director of TERN (The
Nongame Wildlife Section's Friends
Group) and conducts wildlife research and
survey projects, presents programs and
writes about wildlife. Email him at
TJWoodDuck@aol. com.
Bulldogs
continued from 1C
the Woodward 15-yard line.
The MP defense held the
War Eagles, who were forced
to punt it away. Tevin Davis
blocked the punt and scored
a safety for MP. But, the
clocked was down to 2:50
and the Bulldogs could not
come back. An MP intercep
tion with seconds to play
ended the game.
"I'm very proud of our
effort," said Walker. "I
believe we went up there
and played hard. Some peo
ple have certain ideas about
how things should go, but
our kids are working hard
and doing what they can."
MP is currently in fifth
place in region 4AAA.
UP NEXT: Mary Persons
has two more regular sea
son games to go. This
Friday, the Bulldogs face
Spalding County at home.
ZIP IT
IN!
EMAIL
YOUR
The Jaguars have struggled
this year as well and are 3-3
in region 4AAA and still
have to play Jackson after
MP.
The best MP can hope for
is a third or fourth place fin-
sih. The top two spots will
be Jackson and Woodward.
“If we win the next two
and Woodward beats
Woodland, we can finish in
third,” said Walker.
The bad news? That would
mean a road trip for round
one of the playoffs. . . to
either Washington County
or Baldwin.
MP vs. Woodward
TEAM STATS
MP
Wood
First Downs
10
12
Rushing yds.
87
242
Passing yds
84
0
Att-Comp-Int 23-13-
-2 0-0-0
Fumbles-Lost
0-0
3-1
Penalties-Yds.
3-30
2-15
MP
Wood
7 0 0 2 -
14 0 14 0 -
9
28
BULLDOG SCORING
1 Chris Bowden 18 yd. recept.
' team score safety
Individual MP Stats
OFFENSE
RUSHING
Carries Yds.
Jeffry Powers 26 105
Meshari Walton 3 8
Chris Bowden 1 1
RECEIVING
Rec. Yds.
Chris Bowden 8 53
Marquis Perkins 2 23
Malcolm Redding 3 8
DEFENSE
Tackles Assists
Meshari Walton
Chris Bowden
Tevin Davis
Jaderius Hamlin
Garrick James
Chaz Avery
10
8
5
3
3
2
2
1
2
1
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