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December 05, 1996 - Cows Get Thanksgiving Leftovers, Too6A • The Suffolk Times • December 5, 1996 Cows Get Thanksgiving Leftovers, Too There are still signs of fall on the back hill of our pasture. It came about with the fall cleanup of pumpkins and squash from one of our good local farmstands. After Thanksgiving and the cold snap that froze things up, the sale of pumpkins and squash at our familiar roadside stands fell off in popularity. In their place now are Brussels sprouts and cauli- flower, beets and carrots, the hardy Focus ones that can stand On the first frostbites of the season. Nature usually go up and collect the left- by Paul over pumpkins, Stoutenbargh squash and the wilted cornstalks for my cows, who relish the change in their diet. This year I had help. My grandchildren piled into the pickup to help with the belated harvest. Up to now, I've been able to have the cows out on their dwindling pasture, but their mournful moos told me that their cupboard was growing bare and I'd soon have to get out the hay to feed them. Then came along the offer of the leftover pro- duce and so the work began. I could see why in the olden days farm- ers had such big families; the boys and girls of all ages did their share of work around the farm. Today my grandchildren were being rallied to pick up pumpkins and squash and throw them in the back of the pickup. In no time we were loaded with a wide variety of goodies and as we pulled away from the farmstand I could tell by the weight, we'd gotten quite a load. Back at the pasture, I stopped and wait- ed while anxious hands opened the big wide gate. In I drove. A short way down the field I stopped and let the tailgate drop. Out spilled the rolling colorful shapes and sizes of pumpkins, squash and gourds. As I slowly drove the pickup with the kids in the back they pushed, threw or kicked whatever they could out the back. Soon we had a trail of colorful vegetables leading up the back hill. A few sharp turns started more rolling balls of color. All the noise and attraction soon had the cows over to investigate and in no time they were busy chomping away on this new addition to their diet. There was still much left at the farm- stand so we had to make extra trips and each time a new sec- tion of the pasture would have its neck- lace of colorful veg- etables spread out on the now - withered grass. As we picked up the cornstalks that had been stacked for deco- rations about the stand and nearby trees, we could see where mice had tunneled below. They had struck it rich for we could see where the now -dried bright yellow com had been eaten away. It again reminded me of Robert Bums's poem that had that famous line in it "The best laid schemes of mice and men ... " Rats on the Run It also reminded me of years ago when the Wickham family plant- ed corn for the cows they raised. Each fall the cornstalks, with the dried corn still on them, would be bun- dled up, tied and stacked into shocks in the field. It was a common sight to see fields lined up with these corn shocks awaiting the day they'd be picked up to feed the cows. It was an exciting time for young boys, who watched as the mice and rats ran for cover when the bundles were picked up, exposing their runs and homes. One time there was a dog catching the mice and rats as they scam- pered for cover. Once done in, they would be dropped in pursuit of others. I remember one time the dog was bitten on the lip and he let out a real yelp, swinging his head and tossing his victim high in the air. My cornstalks would be spread out like the pumpkins in the back pasture. They'd be eaten later after the cows got tired of their new diet. It's been three days since we spread out the feast and I haven't heard Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh CORN SHOCKS —There was a time when this scene would have been a more familiar sight in farmers' fields. Today only small bundles of dried cornstalks are used as holiday decora- tions. a hungry moo from the cows since. Horses can get bloated from eating too much. They don't seem to know when to stop, but cows are smarter, or is it their extra stomachs and having to regurgitate their food that tells them to stop eating. At any rate, we now, for a time, have con- tented cows out back. The idea of mice and rats around might seem pretty bad to many but the truth is we all, I don't care where you live, have these little creatures about. The reason we don't see them is that they are smart enough not to be seen, for to be seen is to be lost to a predator such as a cat, owl, hawk or fox. After all, the predators rely mainly on rodents for their food supply. When we put food of one kind or an- other out the mice or rats are usually there to find it, whether it's an open garbage pail or cornstalks or some goodies in your `We had a trail of color- ful vegetables leading up the back hill.' ■ �il� ■ 75 Years Ago Dec. 2, 1921 Observatory Built in Southold: Charles Elmer, owner of the two largest telescopes of any amateur astronomer in the United States, is having an observatory constructed for their housing on his estate near Paradise Point. Mr. Elmer's father is well known in Greenport. He was a compositor for The Suffolk Times 49 years ago. Ireland/England Sign Treaty: The strife between England and Ireland was ended early Tuesday morning by the signature in the Prime Minister's Cabinet room of a "treaty between Great Britain and Ireland" consisting of 18 articles, giving Ireland the title of the Irish Free State and same constitu- tional status as Canada, Australia and other overseas dominions. The question of allegiance, which up to the last moment threatened to wreck the negotiations, was surmounted by per- mitting the members of the Irish Parliament to swear alle- giance to the constitution of the Irish Free State and "be faith- ful to his Majesty the King." Steps to ratify the treaty begin today. 50 Years Ago Dec. 6, 1946 Greenport Boy Headed to Antarctica: LeRoy Walden, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Walden of Greenport, will be a member of Admiral Richard Byrd's Antarctic expedition. Walden, who is an electrician's mate 3 /c, has served in the U.S. Navy for the past 14 months. One of the former Suffolk Times newsboys, Walden graduated from Greenport High School in the class of 1945. He has been a member of the crew of the carrier Philippine Sea since the vessel was com- missioned. Admiral Byrd's flagship, the Olympus, sailed from Norfolk, Va., for the Antarctic this week. Victory Dinner: The victory dinner in honor of the Greenport Rams football team, Suffolk County Champions for 1946, will be held at Mitchell's Restaurant on Front Street on Thursday evening of next week, Dec. 12. 25 Years Ago Dec. 2, 1971 Publishers Start Joint Printing Plant: Five East End newspapers, including The Suffolk Times, will begin printing their publications in a jointly owned central plant shortly after the first of the year. This represents the first such joint publication venture on Long Island, and the participating owners include The Suffolk Times, The East Hampton Star, The Southampton Press, The Hampton Chronicle and the Hampton Bays News. Purchase of an offset press capable of producing between 10,000 and 15,00016 -page papers an hour will be installed on property located on Pleasure Drive, Flanders, recently pur- chased by the publishing consortium. house or garage. None of us are keen on having them as house guests and so traps and bait are put out to eliminate them, but I assure you if you think you'll eliminate them completely from your garage or kitchen, forget about it; others in time will replace them. It's just a matter of keeping after them from one season to another. Mice and Rats Everywhere Just last week I saw a new hole dug in the dirt floor of the barn out back. It's the season for rats and mice looking for win- ter quarters. You can't blame them. Here they can find a dry, warm place with occa- sional spilled food for them to feast on. But no, I'm not keen on rats either, so I got out my old wood -base snap rat trap and baited it. The problem with just putting it out on the floor is that a wandering chick- en might step into it, so I have to cover it over with a box. Sure enough, next day I had my rat. Now some people would bury it but I merely threw it out in the pasture and by the next day our family of crows had recycled Mr. Rat. Not everyone has a pasture to toss their trapped mice and rats in so I suggest you put them in the garbage for that, too, is eventually recy- cled. If our mice find a nice warm place to hole up in the winter, they'll stay active and continually look for something to eat and so these little fellows are always mov- ing about. We had engine trouble with my pickup one day and had it towed to a garage. You can imagine my surprise when the mechanic said I needed a new timing belt with a fancy high price attached to it. What had happened, I asked. A mouse or some kind of rodent had found its way into the timing housing and fouled up the mechanism. My pickup truck is usually parked alongside the woods in our driveway and I guess one night Mr. Mouse was looking for a warm place to stay and found my timing housing an ideal place. Needless to say, when I started up the motor that all changed for me and the mouse. It all goes to show there are many, many things going on about us that few realize. The more you understand these events with their mysterious players, the more likely you are to sleep better during the cold wintry nights ahead when these little creatures are roaming about.