Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-03-26

Don't ever do it, cautioned Sam.
He's another friend"
WHAT exclaimed Bin. "A wood
pecker kills trees
mo. ne doesn't. said sam. HE saves
trees A woodpecker never Dores q hole
in a tree for fun. He's after worms or
making himself a home. and he makes
his home IN dead trees. When he
bores into a green tree he's after a
worm every time. and be always gets
him. The hole the bird makes will
grow mp. but If the worm stays it'll
kill the tree. One woodpecker will go
over 600 trees IN a day and examine
them for bugs. egg deposits and worms.
1t doctors the tree inside and out |
saw a woodpecker go over nearly ev-
cry tree In our orchard"
well. now. I didn't know that said
Bill. Il been KNOWN woodpeckers all
my life. but ! never paid no attention
to 'em. Guess | won't shoot no more
OF 'em."
ITO tell the truth" Sam went on.
there are mighty few birds or animals
but what do more good than harm. |
believe the common old honse cats kill
more birds and chickens than all the
varmints put together. | think It's a
good deed to kill a cat whenever you
find one. There are two kinds OF
bawks-tbe cooper and the sharp shin
ned-that are bad TO kill birds and
chickens. These two ha wks look alike,
They are small. The females are q
notified brownish color, and the males
are a dull blue. It's a good thing to
kill them whenever you get a chance.
The other hawks and owls don't do
much harm. and they do lots OF good
because they live mostly on rats and
mice and such things. Once In awhile
an owl will bother chickens. but it's
only when It's regular food is scarce.
Its pretty much the same way
about the fox. mink. weasel and skunk
Once in awhile one of these varmints
will get to besbad after chickens. But
we could hardly do without them be-
U they keep down the warns of
ield mice. rabbits. grassnoppers, crick
cts. hornets and wasps.
"Where'd you find ont these things? r.
asked Bill. u know they're true when
l hear you say EN-. but somehow 4
never did think of 'em before"
i've learned a little by reading.'
Sam told him. but mostly by keeping
my eyes and ears open when I'm OUT
In the woods and fields. Sister and !
like to study plants and animals, espe
cially plants. We're going to take a
correspondence course in botany next
year in the state university. Florence
says she's going to be a florist. and
want to know all about plants. so
can farm"
During the long afternoon Sam and
Bill fshed and talked. every now and
then throwing out a blne cat or a Cog
gle eye to add TO their strings that
they kept fastened to the edge of the
water. 1t was cool and shady along
the creek. Birds sang and squirrels
chartered In the branches overhead.
The two farmers enjoyed the quiet
GOODNESS after the hot days In the field.
Late in the afternoon they wound up
their lines and went home. each car.
rying a long string of fish. Sam sat
on the doorstep In the gathering dusk
and breathed the perfume from the
~honeysuckle that clambered over the
yard fence. He saw the stars coming
out. one by one. and the Don creep
ing up behind a big oak. He heard the
"who-who-who" of an owl away OF on
the creek. Then suddenly stars. moon
and owl all vanished. He smelled
fried fish and heard his mother calling
him to supper.