"Shrub Removal"

   "Howdy Folks' I need to explain to the Caledonia population why we have removed the shrubs at the St. Columba Cemetery on Route 5.

   As many of you know as of May of this year I took over the duties of caretaker of the cemetery. Tom Robinson's health kept him from any further activity as caretaker so Neil Alhart asked if I would take the job, and I did. Neil and I discussed the thought of creating and installing a sign for the cemetery. I felt that before the sign project could advance that the shrubs that lined Route 5 had to go first. He agreed with me but wanted to know my reasons.

   Around the first week of May I noticed that we had an unusual amount of Crows in and around the cemetery every morning. I decided to watch them one morning and saw why they were so interested in the cemetery. May is the whelping month (the month babies are born) for most of wildlife creatures. The Crows were interested in the baby rabbits that were being raised in the shrubs, a perfect habitat for them. The Crows also were feeding on the snake population that seemed to be located in the older section of the cemetery. There seemed to be a large amount of the common Garter (non-poisonous) snake in the cemetery and I wanted to find out why. Why were there snakes in the older section and not in the newer section of the cemetery? My investigation took me to the shrubs, the answer was as plain as day. The shrubs were dying from being so close and not trimmed for so many years. In these dying shrubs I found a huge moth, toad and rabbit population. It's the food chain in style. Toads feed on moths, snakes feed on moths and toads, crows feed on snakes, toads, and baby rabbits and moths. The shrubs had to go the recycler.

   The shrubs were closer to the older section than the new. The older section had shade and gravestones to hind under. The gravestones in the new section are installed differently now days. Critters can't get under them.

   I had Father Mickey come to the cemetery and I explained what my thoughts on the shrubs were and he also agreed that they had to go. I told him that I could get someone to help remove them on a volunteer program.

   I called a fellow that I knew would jump at the chance to make Neil’s idea a reality. Don Coyle came to my aid. He (and his backhoe) my grandson Shawn Wolcott and I pulled all of them out in 3 hours.

   I then went to Chris Buckley (Village DPW Chief) for help in taking them to the recycling center to be turned into mulch. He and his crew also did the job in 3 hours.

   Now that the problem area is cleaned up, the critter situation will move on and our cemetery will be back to normal. Please continue to enjoy our cemetery!

   We have future plans for the front of the cemetery (Route 5). I hope to install a split rail fence as a buffer between the cemetery and Route 5. The village also has plans to install a sidewalk from Park Place to Browns Road. A lot of folks are walking or riding bikes to the medical services on Brown Road everyday. This will be helpful to them.

   With this all said and done, l will then go after the dream that Neil wanted to see happen, a sign to identify where our families are resting.

   I will be looking for volunteers to help make this happen, so beware …

"A BROTHER AND A FRIEND"

"HOWDY FOLKS"

   Some of us are so lucky enough to experience a friendship in life that doesn't happen to a lot of folks, yet when it does it is hard to explain why. This friendship happened to me about 10 years ago, knew of this man for a lot of years but I never got to speak to him one on one. I always felt that because of his place in life and his lifestyle, that I wasn't meant to associate with him. How wrong I was!!

   When I went before the Village Board, in the year 2000, to get approval to develop the Mackay Wildlife Preserve, he was sitting in the crowd on another unrelated matter. After the meeting, he came up to me and asked if he and his wife, could go on the walk-thru of the proposed park that the Village Board and I were going to take. I would have never thought that this man would consider such a thing?

   The day came and sure enough he and his wife were there to go for a walk in the woods. After hearing what I wanted to do he said to me, and I never forgot it, he said that he hoped that he lived long enough to see this happen. Now this was a man that just got out of the hospital with a heart issue and was in the process of building a new home just down the street from the proposed park. That was all that I needed to hear. I told myself that he was going to see it happen.

   The day after I received the "ok" from the Village Board, I started to blaze my way into the 26 acres that was going to be Caledonia's Park. Guess who was right along side me; yep it was the man that was going to be "The Brother I Never Had and The Friend That Every One Should Have Had." Together we built the park and dressed it up. I came up with a lot of ideas, but most of them didn't get past the Alhart planning board. We would do a lot of bickering on how things were to be but we always came to a mutual agreement.

   His health started to fail him and his experience on this earth was getting short. Our daily walks in the park were all but done now and if I wanted to see him I had to go to his home. He often said how he missed the walks and talks that we shared together. He taught me so much about Caledonia and the folks that live here.

   I had often wondered why I was given the job of creating the Mackay Park, but I now know, Neil Alhart's friendship was that reason.

   I will miss you my brother! See you on the next trail!

   God Bless
   Barry

May 2008

   "Howdy Folks" I want to say a couple of things about the wonderful award that the Livingston County Environmental Management Council gave to me just last week. The Earth Day Award is just about the best that one can get for caring about our world and its destiny. I received award for not just what I did, I received it in the name of the people of Caledonia! I will not try to name all of you, not enough time or space. You all know who you are. Whatever you did, big or small, together you accomplished a great deal and I am so proud to know all of you!

   As some of you know, l have taken over the job of keeping the St. Columba cemetery in tip-top shape. My right hand went up before my left could catch up with it.

   We are going to miss seeing Tom Robinson waving to us as we go by and honk. Tom, I want to personally thank you for the wonderful job that you did taking care of our families for us. You need to rest now and take care of yourself.

   Some time ago I wrote about the new hobby that I thought might be of interest to some of you. I called it the F.F.F. (flowers for the forgotten). Now that I am in the cemetery everyday, I see many graves that fit into this program, empty-no care. These people belong to someone and are forgotten. For example I received an Email from a lady whose father is buried in Michigan. She can't just go and visit him when she needs to, so she came to the cemetery and found a perfect match for her father, name and all. She was so happy that she planted flowers around the stone. I don't mind taking a few extra moments when trimming around this stone.

   I also have adopted a grave; he is a veteran of both the 2nd WW and Korea. He was in the Army and the Navy. This stone had no flowers, other than the Legions, for the last 2 years. For what this man has done for me, I can spend a couple of dollars for a plant and give it to him!

   Remember Mark Schroeder's dog "Doser" that sadly left us a couple of months ago? I said that the good Lord makes it so we can have more than one dog in our lifetime. Well guess what, Mark has found it in his heart to do just that, he now is the proud owner of "Rosco" the newest member of the Black Street Gang. Rosco came to the recycling center and was officially introduced to me and got his first biscuit, And to make it a double deal, Ron Beach has "Cooper", Rosco’s brother and he also made it up to the recycling center for his first biscuit.

   So much in this wonderful world, all you have to do is look in the right places.

   God Bless
   Barry

March 2008

   "Howdy Folks" This issue will have a lot of new information for you about what is going on in the outdoor world of hunting, fishing, trapping and all else to do with the wild outdoors. I will keep you informed on the new issues and regulations as they come available to me.

   First, the DEC has announced proposed fishing regulations for the years 2008-2010. The changes are quite long and complicated so you might want to go to the following web site and ask for a copy of them:

  www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/42230.html

   Next, the exam for Falconry Apprentice License is coming up soon. This is a hunting sport that is of great satisfaction and is not done by many. Go to web site to get all of the needed info.

   www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/42194.html

   For those that are interested in the prices that the February fur auction brought, they were as follows:

   The auctions are at the Genesee Valley Trappers Club on County Road #32 in Bristol, NY. If you need the directions to the club, e-mail me at bginside_outside@yahoo.com and I can direct you.

    The deer hunting results are in for the 2007 deer hunting season. Hunters harvested approximately 220,000 deer in the 2007 season. This was a 16% increase over the 2006 season.

   The buck (adult male) take increased by 8% over the 2006 season, and the antlerless (females and young males) as a result of the increase of party-permits, in creased by 24%.

   The 2007 muzzleloader take increased by 9% and the 2007 bow-hunting take increased 6% over the 2006 season.

   The 2007 deer season set a new record low with only 14 hunting-related shooting incidents, however there were 5 fatalities this year.

   The Black bear harvest results are also in for the 2007 season. There were 1117 bears taken this season, a 28% increase over the 2006 season of 796.

    As more information comes available, I will get it out to you. 

   "Howdy Folks" According to Webster’s dictionary, a dog is a domesticated mammal related to the wolves and foxes. Over the years man has found a lot of uses for the multitude of breeds that dogs come in. Some uses are not very pleasant but most of us enjoy the few years of loyalty that our devoted pets give us. A lot of times we take them for granted. We forget that they have hearts and feelings too. Sometimes they get in the way, or are creators of messes, have to be fed, sometimes we think of their health and they have to go to the vets creating an expensive bill, but most of us have a special place in our heart for this live, warm, loving creation that God gave us.

   Our pet dogs do a lot with us. They love to ride in our cars or in the back of our pickup trucks. They love to go to the local banks or recycling stations because they know that there is a treat waiting for them there. They love to go for walks in the Mackay Park because they know that they can run with other dogs and enjoy the freedom of the woods. They cannot wait for the kids to get home from school so they can get some kid-attention. They bark when the doorbell rings to let you know that someone is at the door. They want to be near us when we retire for the day.

   The list goes on and on and when the time comes for them to leave our sides, either by sickness, an accident or old age, we find it very hard to accept.

   In my 5 years of working at the Caledonia Transfer Station, I have seen a lot of dogs, new-born to elderly in age, come with their masters every Saturday morning. I have gotten very attached to them and when they do not show up for their "biscuit'; I miss them.

   Such a thing happened to one of "my dogs" just this last week. "Doeser"; Mark Schroeder’s companion for a lot of years, was taken from him. "Doeser" was out enjoying life when he was hit by a car and his life came to an end. I could see it in Mark’s eyes what his friend meant to him. I had to have one of my two Shelties put down a couple of months ago so I can relate to Mark’s anguish.

   One good thing about having a dog as a pet, the good Lord has it fixed that they only live 10 to 20 years, making it easy to have another replace the lost one. Somehow we always find a new spot in our hearts for another "Doeser':

   God Bless
   Barry

December 2007

   "Howdy Folks" It was once said that the pre-winter stage of the four seasons is known to be the saddest of all. Now that the deer hunting season has come to a close, I find that it is time again to go out into the woods and fields and see what man and nature has done to our wildlife friends and surroundings.

   My findings depend on what part of the area that I visit. My first stop was the MacKay Wildlife Preserve and Nature Trail, the first thing I noticed was that the "Sims" tree was decorated for Christmas and that there was three small snow-children standing behind the memorial to Jeff Sims. What a way for Jeff’s children to be close to their father.

   Next I noticed how well the nature trail is being used this winter. We will be removing the sign-in-log this year, and replacing it with a new one. The old one will be going to the big springs museum to be on display. We will also be installing stairs at the gully, thus will make it easier for folks to get in and out of it. A memorial to the "service persons" tree is in the making and will be installed as soon as possible,

   The next area I went to was not as rewarding as the first. Without a lot of effort, I found two dead deer. Both were bucks (males) an 8 pointer and a 10 pointer. I would have felt a lot better if I knew that they were hit by cars, but this was not the case with these two deer. A lazy hunters misplaced shot was the cause of a deer dying a terrible death. An awful end to such a majestic animal.

   The next area was just a wonderful experience. I walked up upon a flock of turkey, most were toms (males). All were healthy and ready for the winter. I also came upon a flock of Canadian geese feeding in a cut cornfield.

   The last area was full of deer that had made it through the hunting season and now they were going into the winter looking very healthy. There were a couple of nice bucks in the bunch. But most were yearlings and 2-3 year old does,

   I have had a wonderful year this year. What with being named Senior Citizen and Citizen of the Year by you wonderful folks of Caledonia. The dinners and the meetings that I have gone to, were second to none. The fact that my book has become a "sell out" is a great satisfaction. So many folks to thank and not enough paper to put you all on.

   One last note, there would be less trouble in this world if more people would take a walk into the woods and talk to the boss above. You will be surprised by the answers that come to you.

   God Bless
   Barry

November 2007

   "Howdy Folks" I have been asked by a few folks a question that I would like to address in this column this month.

   The question is: WHY DON'T YOU HAVE THE ENERGY AND THE EXCITMENT, IN YOUR VOICE, TOWARDS THE PROPOSED LEHIGH TRAIL LIKE YOU HAVE TOWARDS THE MACKAY TRAIL??

   The two trails are very different in many ways. I will start with the Mackay Trail in comparison of the two. The Mackay property was owned and worked by one of the founding families of Caledonia. As the family grew and went their ways, the land was donated to the Village of Caledonia to be forever wild and for the use of the Caledonia people. This trail was put in by folks, from or around Caledonia, with no tax burden on the village budget. It does not go through anyone’s land or cross any highways. Its wildlife population is protected from hunting and its rocks and plants are not to be disturbed. It has become an asset to the Caledonia people at no cost The trail is within the Caledonia boundaries, making it Caledonia’s’, No one made any money putting in this trail!

   The proposed Lehigh Trail will come from another county, through private property, across roads, along power lines and cost taxpayers. The engineers stand to make a good wage by telling you that it will make a boom in the economy of our village. This may be so within Monroe County, but not in Caledonia. If you want to come and visit Caledonia, get in your car, we have good roads.

   We have a group of farmers that take real pride in the land that has been owned by them and their families for so many years. Their families and their families-families have deer hunted for years on this land. As deer-hunting space shrinks, they are protective of this rite.

   I am not against people from other places coming to our wonderful town. We have a lot for them to see, but they do not have to go through our back yards to see it. So I hope that this clears up why I am so vocal on this issue.

   God Bless- Barry

for more information about the trail ...

   First, I will explain about area #1, the North-West quadrant. This area has the most mature Bucks of any. This is mostly due to the fact that the land owners have it posted and have a Deer management program in use. Only select older bucks are taken out of the herd during the hunting season. There are a lot of does, and of these there are a lot of 2-3 year ones. A lot of fawns were lost to predators in this area, mainly the coyote. We have at least 3 coyote dens being used this year. This area has a satellite group using the Spring Street area, including the Mackay Park, because of the water of the Oatka Creek. Water is a problem in all of the areas because of the drought.

   Our second area, #2, the North-East quadrant has a lot of immature bucks and small does. Most does had 2 fawns and a lot of these are not of any size. Land is posted in this area but hunters are not selective in their taking of Deer during the hunting season. Coyotes, again are a problem with the fawns. The Deer herd is of good size, so over-browsing has a lot to do with the health and quality of the bucks. There is a satellite group that visits the Wheatland Center Road area, again to get to water.

   The next area, #3 South-East quadrant does not have as large a herd as the rest. Water is a problem and so is cover for them to hide. A lot of this land is open-fields thus keeping the Deer herd active only at night. The bucks are of good size and so are the does. If you want to be rewarded with a nice buck, you have to go into the heavy woods and swamp and push them around. There are no satellite groups to speak of, because of the open land. After the first shot is fired, during hunting season, most head back into the cover of the big woods and swamp

   The last area, #4, the South-West quadrant has a little of everything. The bucks are of all sizes, we have a lot of does, both big and small. The fawns have had a problem with not only the coyotes but also with all the roads that are in the area. There are a lot of wood lots on posted farms for cover and lots of browse nearby. Select hunting is not practiced in this area, but the larger bucks wise up very quickly and are hard to hunt.

   So that about sums up the Caledonia Deer herd condition. Please do not forget, it is not legal to hunt in the Village of Caledonia. Gun or bow are not allowed to be used within the village limits. If you are lucky enough to have a place in the town to hunt, you should have a very good year this year. Just make sure that you have that all important permission.

   One last thing that I ask of you hunters, most of you will have more than enough doe permits, in the process of shooting a doe, please take that 2-3 year old animal. This way you are practicing good herd management and not shooting that Buck of the Future, because it looks like a doe.

 September 2007

   I knew of a man that was familiar with exotic animals so after my son called me I called him. D.E.C. Investigator Richard Thomas was out to supper with his wife when I called, but as always he came to my aid.

   Having the proper training and knowledge of snakes was what we needed and Dick had both. He picked it up and took it with him, gone from the garden. I bet that the local mouse population is happy.

   It seems that a neighbor was the owner of the snake as a pet and it had been loose for about 2 months. After she contacted the D.E.C., the snake was returned to her, safe and sound.

   I have a lot to tell you about the 4 deer herds that we have in Caledonia. I will do that in my next writing.

   A well established turkey hunter that lives here in Caledonia told me about an happening that he witnessed while calling turkeys this year. He had just gotten on stand and started to call when he heard a noise behind him. When he turned to see what the noise was, he was amazed to see a bobcat stalking a nesting wood duck. Just as the wood duck took to flight, the bobcat caught her leaving her nest. This is natures way, a dead duck, a nest of un-hatched eggs and a satisfied bobcat.

   Bobcats are a rare sight in this area but they are here. They look like a regular house cats but have a short (bob) tail and hair strands coming out the top of their ears. I have to remind you hunters and trappers, bobcats are protected in this area and not open to harvesting. lf you catch one in your traps, if alive, it has to be released and if dead, it has to be turned over to the D.E.C. It is not legal to process and sell the fur in this area.

   Around the last week of June, I received a call from a deer hunter that also lives in Caledonia. As he was coming into Caledonia, on Center Street near Specialized, he saw a small black bear crossing the road and heading East into the village. This was about the same time that there was another bear in Henrietta playing golf. L myself, believe that these two bears were of the same den and got separated going in different directions. When the D.E.C. was notified, they said that they had received a couple of calls about this bear. This bear has been seen in Rush this last week.

   Again, you trappers and hunters, taking of a black bear by any means in this area is not legal. They are protected and cannot be harvested. When you buy your hunting or trapping license, you get a book with maps telling you the areas that you can hunt or trap bears and bobcats. Now that we are getting visits from these animals, the D.E.C. will be watching out for their health. It is very costly not to play by the rules.

   Next time I will tell you about the condition of the four different deer herds that we have in and around Caledonia. Thanks for your time.

   God Bless
   Barry