0
Ss That
A whirling snowflake settles
silently upon the long outer
guard hairs of a cotton tail; a
wild rose distills its fragrance
upoJ the evening air; a king
salmon, who will not taste food
for four months, fights his way
MP an age-old route to cast his
milt at the very spot of his
birth; a sleeping bear gives birth
to an insignificant' tiny cub
which she will nurse for two
months without waking; a white-
By EUGENE BURNS
Ranger-Naturalist i
sun slants in. There you will j
not only find footprints to be
identified but also a record of
the night's romances and trag
edies. While here you will find
where an owl struck down a
kangaroo mouse, there you will
see where a flying squirrel pur
sued an indifferent mate; while
here you will see where a coy
ate pulled down a starved deer,
there you will find where a
grouse slept warmly overnight
in a hole in the snow; and where
branches rest low on the snow,
the winter wind will pen for
you his autograph.
(Copyright, 195S, by
Eugene Burns)
(Released by
MeClure Newspaper Syndicate)
throated sparrow sings a pure
and simple tune from a tangle
of cat-briars . . . and so, another
January with Its abundance of
life is upon us.
Does this hold with the popu
lar belief that January is a
month of death-like inactivity?
Not at all.
To those who. know the out
doors, life goes on with its my
riad activities each month, in-
eluding January, when wild
' roses may bloom in southern
Arizona and black bears give
birth to twin cubs under the
snowbanks in British Columbia
And more. In each square foot
of earth they know that life
goes on in January according to
a time-tried cycle. "Within the
earth, even, roots are very much
alive; above, bare twigs are cov
ered with buds and what a
monstrous error to attribute the
forming of buds to the corning
spring. Already during the prev
ious spring tiny cells were ear
marked; last midsummer they
developed; by August they were
ready formed; now in January,
here they are and making
wonderful food for birds and
mammals as well as giving prom
ise of a year to come. Like
wise, beneath the frozen water
and buried in the frostless soil
and mud there are frogs, turtles,
'and dragon-fly nymphs. Hidden
under decaying logs are fertil
ized bumblebee queens filling
the January arc of their cycle.
Can Find Wintering Birds
Without stirring far from our
own winter shelters, most of us
can find some wintering birds.
Among them, keeping up their
incessant scolding, are the easily
recognized chickadees. Besides,
there are the junco, screech-owl,
bluejay, ruffled grouse, bob
white, prairie chicken, the nut
hatch which always zig-zags up
the trunk of trees, several spar
rows including the singing
white-throated, cardinal, tufted
titmouse, and downy woodpeck
er. Partly, life in January con
sists of deep sleep with wakeful
ness never far off. Turn a frag
ment of rotting log and there
you may find several tightly
curled black .and red-brown
wooly caterpillars. Pick one up,
cup it in your hand, and blow
upon it gently until it is warm.
The temporary warmth will
. awaken it and now in mid-January,
months ahead of its ap
pointed time, it will straighten
out and crawl in your hand.
Lay it down in the cold again
and it will re-curl and fall into
a profound sleep to be awak
ened naturally by May's
warmth.
January offers many such op
portunities for observation. Be
cause of the bare shrubs and
trees, cocoons may now be easily
found, collected and studied.
These may be kept in cages in
doors until they "hatch" and
to reassure yourself of the bot
anizing ability of these insects,
see how each type of cocoon is
resting on a certain type of plant.
Or with trees threadbare, it
is easy to find and study bird
nests some of which you will
find pre-empted by wasps, bum
blebees and even field mice.
Should you find young mice,
sisters will be more advanced
than their litter brothers, and
xeadPy to leave the nest and find
mates a week earlier, thus avoid-ing-inbreeding.
Study Camouflage
Now that snow is king, do
not neglect to study the marvel
ous camouflage of animals in
snow country. Note how the
weasel has shed his summer
dress of brown for a coat of pure
white. All except the tip of his
tail which remains black.
(Should you ask a naturalist why
that tip remains black, I am sure
he will say: "That 80 one
knows.") Yet in the deep south
where little if any snow falls
these same weasels do not
change color, remaining brown
all winter.
' And what better time to study
the snow than January? As it
falls, turning and drifting down
in the hushed air, flake piling
on flake, softening the sharp
contours of rocks, mounding the
top of each fence post, making
trees appear ghostly, and sprink
ling your dark coat sleeve, then
take out a hand-lens and study
the flakes. This I guarantee
of the billions and billions to
fall around you, no two will
ever be exactly alike. e
Then go out in the snow-
floored woods as the morning
Free: By special arrangement
with the editors of the Encyclo
pedia Americana, my panel of
judges will award each week to
the readers who send me the
best true-life nature adventure,
the best nature observation, or
the best question on nature and
wildlife, a complete 30-volume
set of this world-famous refer
ence work in a handsome Seal
craft binding. Each week new
submissions will be considered.
Sorry, I simply can't answer
your ' many friendly ' letters.
Please address your letter to:
IS THAT SO! care Medford Mail
Tribune, Box 575, Sausalito,
Calif.
Taxable Properly
Rules Are Issued ,
Rules to help personal prop
erty taxpayers take advantage
of a new "monthly-average"
method of reporting taxable
property has been issued by the
state tax commission. ..
Under the new law, personal
property taxpayers have a choice
of making returns either on the
monthly-average basis, or on the
Jan. 1 date as in prior years.
The option will give relief to
those who carry a large inven
tory of goods, livestock or mer
chandise on Jan. 1, but a smaller
amount during the balance of
the year.
The Jan. 1 reporting date is
still in effect, with March 2
the deadline. Copies of rules and
regulations are available through
the county assessor's office,
court house, or Commissioner
Samuel B. Stewart of the valua
tion division of the state tax
commission, Salem.
Orange
Grange Council and County
Conference Meeting
The combined Grange council
and county conference meeting
for Jackson county will be held
at Central Point Grange hall on
Saturday, Jan. 14, starting at
1:30 p.m.
The afternoon session will be
devoted, to group meetings of
all masters, overseers, lecturers,
secretaries and the charmen of
the following committees on
agricultural, home economics,
legistlation, and insurance
agents.
Following the afternoon session-will
be a pot luck dinner
at 6 p.m. Hot rolls and coffee
will be furnished. The evening
session will open at 8 p.m.
All Grangers are invited to at
tend in the evening, especially
all Grange officers in Jackson
county. There will be contest
prizes for officers attendance.
This will be the only meeting
of its kind, held this year.
Demonstrations of Grange
work and questions and answers
will also be given to aid Grange
officers.
I.
GETS HIS FAMILY BACK A 15-year-void is filled aboard
the President Wilson as the liner arrives in San Francisco
from the Orient and reunites Nicholas Romanoff, mer
chant seaman, with his wife (lower right) and daughter,
Irene, 15. Romanoff hadn't seen his daughter since she
was six months old. Mother and daughter were visiting
Mrs. Romanoffs parents in Manchuria and were caught
by the war. Both the Russians and then the Chinese Reds
refused them permit to leave Manchuria until recently.
Two Bicycle-Aufo
Accidents In City
Wilbur R. Brogan, 14, of 503
South Holly st., suffered, a frac
tured left leg cind cuts Friday
night when the bicycle he was
riding and a car driven by Dav
id L. Colby, 311 Howard ave.,
collided, city police reported. -
Officers reported the car
struck the bicycle while both
were traveling on Stewart ave.,
during heavy rain. Brogan was
taken to Sacred Heart hospital.
A second bake-car .collision
was reported by police Friday
at Fourth and Front sts., where
a sedan driven by Wanda Mae
Johnson, Beal lane, collided
with a bike operated by Gordon
Roy Lilly, 8, of 4 East Clark
st. No injuries occurred, po
lice said.
A coupe driven by Frederick
W. Combs, 508 Edwards St., sus
tained damage to the left front
fender and front end Friday
when struck by a Southern Pa
cific engine at the Main st.,
crossing. ,
Rh Blood Factor
Discussed At Meet
The problem of erythroblast
osis, an illnes resulting from Rh
blood type differences,, was dis
cussed last week at a meeting of
the obstetrical staff of Sacred
Heart and Rogue Valley Memor
ial hospitals.
In a paper prepared by Dr.
Donald McGeary, Phoenix, he
said the role of the Rh factor in
expectant mothers has . been
known since 1937, and that pro
blems with a newborn baby may
arise when the mother's Rh blood
type differs from that of the
father.
In recent times, medical re
search and understanding have
led to techniques in which the
entire blood supply of the baby
can be replaced." The technique
may now be carried on in Med-
Harrisburg Girl
Killed In Crash
Harrisburg U.R) Delora
Lydia Neuschwander, 19, daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Emory Neus
chwander of Harrisbunrg, was
killed four miles north of here
Friday night when the car in
which she was riding collided
headon with a California ve
hicle. Five other persons were hos
pitalized in Eugene after the col-
lisioin involving cars driven by
Lyle N. Neuschwander, nephew
of the dead girl, and Rival Hurl-
burt of Weott, Calif. Hospitalized
at Eugene were Neuschwander,
Hurlburt, and Hurlburt's wife,
daughter and mother.
Hedrick Students Hold
Pep Assembly Friday
Hedrick junior, high school
students Friday afternoon held
their first assembly preceding
the Grants Pass-Hedrick basket
ball game. President Tony Mon
roe opened the assembly.
Taking part in the program
were the Stingers pep group,
who went through marching for
mations; yell leaders; a ninth
grade skit "The $64,000 Ques
tion;" and majorettes.
ford hospitals and has and will
continue to save lives which a
short time ago would have been
.lost, he said.
The North Atlantic has re
corded 261 known hurricanes in
the last 68 years.
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