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st tribune march 7 199cvf23 animalproofing bird feeders can be easy humane art briggsjude correspondent there are many attractions to putting up a bird feeder in your backyard and oddly enough not all of these are some new species of bird life soon to discover your offering of suet seed and peanuts are a num ber of other neighborhood crea tures animals like squirrels rac coons mice rabbits and under cer tain conditions even rats make daily or nightly forays to your obituar agnes barrett dies aged 73 friends and family from the gormley area were saddened recently with the death of agnes barrett a well known local resident who died feb 21 she was 73 born the oldest daughter of the late robert and marguerite millen in 1916 in vaughan township agnes had two brothers arthur and david anda sister edna in 1924 the millen family moved to gormley and farmed at lot 2 on the west side of don mills road agnes attended ss 7 whitchurch school her family attended the mennon ite church now known as the mis sionary church on march 21 1936 agnes was married to george barrett at her parents home they lived on leslie street just south of the town line for a year they moved to aurora for three years and then to oak ridges for six years they then moved back to the millen farm where they farmed for 10 years new home in 1955 they built a new home on a lot they bought from lloyd doner they lived there for 20 years until they retired to graven- hurst in 1975 the barretts had three children joan mrs ivan grove of dickson hill dawna mrs hans koopman of markham and larry of toron to the also have six grandchildren and two great grandchildren agnes cared deeply for people and was always available to help anyone for 10 years she was an efficient caretaker at the mission ary church and had an intense dedication to her 98yearold mou er who is in muskoka nursing home in gravenhurst the barretts maintained their church membership at the gormley church where they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1986 in january 1989 mrs barrett was diagnosed as having cancer she fought the disease valiantly and always felt she would recover she didnt give up until she died mr barrett promised to care for her at home and as her condition worsened home care and the red cross as well the family cared for her until she died rev clarence hunking of kitch ener a former gormley pastor and rev bill cook minister at calvary baptist church in gravenhurst conducted the funeral services on saturday feb 24 at the missionary church rev and mrs peter gibbins sang a duet and mrs gibbins sang a solo at the service pallbearers were kevin koopman ray beare lawson lees doug robertson stan schell and bill houston a memorial service will be held people lose patience with furry fourfooted intruders feederdepending on their specific mealtimes while theres no doubt that house mice and rats must be controlled in a humane way many people believe anything except a bird mat visits a feeding station should be dealt with in a similar fashion consequently the casualty toll of suqh wildlife as red black and grey squirrels raccoons and cottontail rabbits may be growing with each winter season this as a friend of mine pointed out the other day is hardly fair often in our little backyard wildlife world we become for various rea sons too selective hooked like the industrial forester who sees a woodlot only for the timber potential many persons are so- hooked on their bird feeding that they have no room at their outdoor table for anything else one reason that causes such thinking is the high price of wild bird seed and the scarcity of avail able suet watching a blue jay stuff its cheeks with sunflower seeds may be tolerated but if a squirrel or two comes and does the same peo ple quickly lose their patience invariably the unsuspecting squirrel is eliminated by trapping or some other means attracted raccoons are another animal that is attracted to bird feeders and have gluttonous appetites along with the nutmeats and seed they will take down whole bags of suet and carry them away certainly these actions do little to make these blackfaced bandits tops on the popularity polls but just because these animals and squirrels are able to climb to such heights of feasting endeavors they shouldnt have all the wrath of feeder operators brought against them maybe instead we should be thinking about making our feeders animal proof now im not going to say you can do this overnight because quite often you cant for one thing youre dealing with some pretty smart critters out there animals that have had a lot of expe rience at tackling such problems as reaching food in hardtoget places so you start by making a few adjustments and modifications to your feeding shelf if your feeder is hanging from the branches of a tree maybe you should suspend it instead from two trees or poles on a horizontal wire to keep the furry fourfoots off the feeder you must thread three or four pieces of black plastic pipe on each side of the shelfs supporting wire these pieces should be about eight inches in length if your feeder is on a single pole or pipe you will need to wrap this post with sheet tin or make a cone and fasten it under the feeder cone where a feeder is suspended on a single wire from an overhead tree branch a cone should be attached above it needless to say all feeders must be out of jumping reach of squirrels from the nearest tree or building by successfully animalproofing your feeder you will be doing everyone concerned a big favor the birds can eat at their leisure the squirrels raccoons and rabbits can pick up any of the feed thats spilled on the ground and you can rest assured that without an unlimit ed supply the surplus animals will move off unmolested to a better food source s jillll was running out of room and together weve made room for lots more numbers beginning march 1 it became necessary to dial 1 then 416 or 0 then 416 for operator assisted calls when making a long distance call within the 416 area for all of you whove already made this change in dialing procedure we would like to extend our thanks and for those who may not have wed like to extend this reminder this simple change allows us to use existing area codes such as 505 or 713 as new exchanges making more numbers available for you our customers of course your long distance charges are not in any way affected by this change in dialing please remember to adjust your telephones and business machines automatic dialers fax machines and other equipment that may have pre programmed telephone numbers so dont forget to tell friends and family about 416 as we want to make sure that getting in touch with loved ones is as easy as ever at calvary baptist church in gravenhurst at a later date dloldio bell kto3smvms vvv ickrvv