Evening star., 1947-08-04
This and That
By Charles E. Tracepeu.

Here's reader who wants to pin blue
rlooons on the common sparrows for catching
and eating japanese beetles
He is right. They do excellent service, and
tnelr example has set other birds to eating
the nuisances
Starlings, grackles and thrashers do the
best they can, but few of them equal the
little sparrows at this Job
None OF them can keep up with DDT, how
ever. as beetle destroyers
This correspondent gives a graphic descrip-
ton of the sparrows at work: "They run them
down and knock off their wings. then eat
the goodies legs and ALL"
Here Is another writer who wants us to
recommend sunf1ower seed as rat bait
And he, too, is right.
This column has stated many times that
practically all seed-eating birds and most of
the small animals love these big, meat packed
seeds.
If any sort Of poison is to be used against
rats, 1t might be mixed with s,lnfiower seeds.
But here again, there are better ways of
getting rats than poisoning them. Red suuill
gets them, and does not endanger birds and
small animals so much
Squirrels. belonging to the rodent family,
are as ford OF sun1ower seeds as any bird.
Kind hearted persons who put out mixed
seeds and grains must not grow red in the
face II the squirrels come, because they, too,
like such foods.
The dog days." so-called, are the DAYS to
remember to keep the bird bath filed
Too often even the best intentioned people
forget this proSaic task
Yet there is no aid that can be given birds
at any time of the year, to excel this one Even
food is not so essential, since birds mostly are
able to pick up their own living, in some man
ner. But warm winds, cold winds and jostling
birds, manage to clean out many baths.
| 1t is amazing how a couple of robins can
pn1nty bird ha FAY ,,oiy, ho
OF sparrows, or even few starlngs, likewise
are able to splash all the water out.
So some human hand must see to it that the
bowl is filled and kept filled, even If this re-
quires several inspection trips day.
| Bird baths ought to be swept out, too. as well
as kept filled.
They get very dirty what with algae, dirt
| blown in and foods "dunked" by some of the
birds. notably the starlings.
Nothing makes a bath fouler than soaked
| bits of bread.
| Even that shy bather, the cardinal, will come
! to the clean BATH
| Those persons who say they have never seen
cardinal take BATH ought to try this method
| of keeping the old bird bath as clean as DOS
| sible.
| Not too Clean of course-the wild things
neither understand nor like human utraclean-
| liness.
SCc IiilS lay oiu buI pdGlliuS III SuNkGIl
| bath among the flowers
What does he knew about germs?
The water smells weedy. and no human be-
ing would dare to take a drink of 1t, but this
old turtle finds it just to his liking.
He sithers in and sinks his shell completely
beneath the water.
He sticks out that odd head and looks around
with satisfied air.
Surely the great serpents OF the days when
man was young must have had much the same
look in their eyes.
Eating, bathing, breathing-these and other
standard actions of life and living link us all
| together in a chain which could be golden If
man, the one creature distinguished by know
| ing good from evil. would make it so.
AS 1t is the chain of life is rusted in spots,
| much tarnished in others Who Is going to do
| anything about it? As it is, man seems to have
| adopted the most simple of animal actions
| fghting-as his own peculiar province. Will
he ever grow up? At this writing 1t appears
doubtful