Page 20 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • February 6, 2013 and natural plants. It may be a reach, but bats are good for you. USDA and Audubon also point out that while bird feeders attract the most common species of birds, the best way to attract a variety of birds, and to help those bird species in need, is to encourage the growth of native species of plants and shrubs. The native trees and shrubs provide nesting, roosting, and foraging places for wild birds and are especially important due to the loss of natural habitat due to development, or over-development. Many northwest Bergen County’s communities have set aside impressive amounts of wildscapes, but the birds still need help and they will not get it from outside developers who clear-cut trees and think of “natural beauty” as something that looks like a parade ground. Been there, done that, did not much like it. At ease! Dismissed! The Rutgers University Extension Service also encourages people to plant the most appropriate native and natural plants, and they have agricultural advice on tap for anyone who is interested. The service can also explain which plants will attract butterflies, which pollinate some types of plants. Native plants are winners. They are good for birds, butterflies, bats, ground water, and the atmosphere. Some of the advice in the multicolored folder may be a trifle optimistic. Residents are urged to show their neighbors their natural and native plants, and “challenge” them to grow the same. Sometimes this will work, and sometimes it will not. People with young families who come here for the schools often come here from neighborhoods where cars have trouble slipping between the houses to the garage and they see a lawn as part of suburbia. They often have the idea that a front yard must invariably consist of a couple of flowering shrubs and a manicured lawn and that they have to maintain the property values with a conformist appearance because the house is their single big asset. Telling these worthwhile folks to improve their lives by growing what they see as “weeds” in their backyards and welcoming bats into their belfries may not play well. The vision, however, is glorious. I see people wandering around at sunset talking about which birds enjoy eating which seeds, and looking for Punxsutawney Phil so they can thank him for six extra weeks of nice weather instead of snow and ice. Perhaps that is how Phil can help us. He can remind us, even on a silly level, that the natural world is more important than maintaining some sort of suburban image from the days of “Ozzie & Harriet” when we are draining too much water into the rivers and too much carbon into the atmosphere. Is Groundhog Day silly? Of course it is! Is it any sillier than expecting politicians to defend the environment from eventual collapse? Let’s ask Punxsutawny Phil to settle that one for us. He won’t even have to turn over in his sleep to give us the answer. All he has to do is yawn. Now that we have gone back to politics as usual, who will save us from global warming? Punxsutawney Phil! Punxsutawney Phil and his spouse Punxsutawney Phyllis are groundhogs who live in the Punxsutawney Library in Pennsylvania. Once a year, Phil is taken to a burrow on Gobbler’s Knob in Pennsylvania to do his thing. After some chilling pre-dawn rituals, Punxsutawney Phil emerges from the burrow and looks around to see what all the fuss is about. Legend has it that if he sees his shadow, we can expect another six weeks of frigid winter. Punxsutawney Phil is a celebrity. He has been on the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” has been featured in a film called “Groundhog Day” -- not a speaking part -- and has been given the freedom of England’s City of York. Phil is said to be 123 years old and sustained by magic elixir, but he has yet to go to York. Either somebody told him about the food or he watches “Downton Abbey,” where York is the site of the grim-looking prison where “Bates” is kept locked up after being framed for murder or poisoning his suicidal wife. Many people would like to visit Highclere, the actual Downton Abbey castle. Few would like to visit that prison, which must be a nightmare for the York Chamber of Commerce. Then again, maybe Punxsutaweny Phil thought they said New York. Phil has his own Beanie Baby and an animatronic clone who picks lottery numbers. Now he has to save us. How can he do this? Groundhogs do not live in neatly cropped rectangular lawns. They live on ground covered with natural foliage. If every family had its own domestic groundhog oracle, the reduction of lawn in favor of vegetative diversity would not only keep Ridgewood from turning into Venice every time we have a major rainstorm, but would produce the sort of oxygen by photosynthesis that we need to reduce the carbon imprint. Punxsutawney Phil can do this for us if we offer him a home. Artificial turf cannot do this for us. A publication by the United States Department of Agriculture augmented by the Audubon Society, “Creating a Healthy Yard,” provides a nuts-and-bolts description of how to do this. The top headline on one side says: “Invite Birds, Bats, and Butterflies to Your Yard.” Some people may balk at bats, but face it: Bats do a much better job of reducing the mosquito population than chemical insecticides. I fondly remember spending a couple of warm summer evenings sprawled on the surface of my son’s solar-heated swimming pool waiting for “Bennie the Bat” to show up. When Bennie arrived -- you could see him zipping around over the mildly illuminated pool eating mosquitoes -- it was time to go inside, not because Bennie might bite us, but because he might let some mosquitoes get past him. USDA and Audubon report that a single bat can eat up to 600 mosquitoes an hour. They recommend installing bat houses 10 feet or more off the ground on the side of buildings facing the morning sun, and Audubon provides online instructions. Bats also help pollinate some plants and, by ingesting and egesting fruit, help seed other plants, especially native Can Punxsutawney Phil save us from global warning? The Waldwick Band will continue its 2012-13 Winter Season with a 3 p.m. concert on Sunday, Feb. 10. The concert will be held at the Village School located at 100 West Prospect Street in Waldwick. There is no admission charge. The featured soloists, clarinetists Naomi Freshwater and Natalie McCarter, will perform Mendelssohn’s “Concertpiece No 1.” McCarter, a band director in the Ramapo Central School District, is a freelance musician who performs with the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra, the Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Orchestra, and many area chamber groups. She is a graduate of Ithaca College, and was chosen as the principal clarinetist of the college’s symphony and chamber orchestras. She has studies with Sarah Beaty, Richard Faria, and Michael Galvan. Freshwater has enjoyed a wide variety of musical experiences from performer to educator. As a clarinetist, she has performed at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fischer Hall Waldwick Band sets free concert with the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra and the Montclair Symphony Orchestra, and at the New Music Festival in Gubbio, Italy. Freshwater plays with the Ridgewood Concert Band, the Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Orchestra, the Walton Clarinet Quartet, and as concertmaster of the Waldwick Band. Currently she directs elementary band in the East Ramapo School District. She is a graduate of SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music and the master’s program at Montclair State University. The band, under the baton of music director Edmund A. Moderacki, will perform “Strike up the Band,” “Mooreside Suite,” “Overture to the Bronze Horse,” “Freischutz Quickstep,” “Shenandoah,” “Lemon Merengue,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “Fairest of the Fair March.” Also on the program will be selections from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita!” The remaining concerts in the Waldwick Band’s Winter Season are scheduled for March 17 and May 5. For more information about the band, visit www.waldwickband.org. Letters to the Editor Dear Editor: Our beloved two-year-old boxer recently ran away after being frightened by a repairman. Immediately we notified family, friends, and neighbors. Because Trooper has a microchip, we also contacted Home Again. Fliers were printed and posted throughout Ramsey and neighboring towns with the help of many volunteers. One neighbor, Bert Zevzavadjian, sent hundreds of e-mails to Ramsey and Allendale residents. His quick thinking, the use of social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, and the Home Again service enabled us to get tips on Trooper’s whereabouts. We followed him for over 30 hours, but were always a step behind. The temperatures were frigid, so the sightings gave us some comfort, just knowing he was still alive. Family and friends vigilantly followed Trooper by car and on foot and were tireless in their quest to bring him back safely. We know Trooper traveled as far as Orchard Place in Allendale. In fact, we know he spent most of his 36 missing hours in Allendale. The support of the residents of Allendale was amazing. Our last tracking was on Arlton Avenue, which connects West Crescent to Franklin Turnpike, across from Lakeside Drive in the Country Club. Although people did see Trooper there, he was still scared and kept running. Knowing he was close to home gave us the hope that if we backed off, he might find his way. Residents along Arlton placed food and blankets on their driveways for Trooper. That afternoon, Trooper knocked on our back door! Keeping vigil on the couch, I jumped up, slid open the door, and fell to my knees. Trooper threw his paws onto my shoulders and we kissed and hugged like never before. Trooper is home! Trooper Our heartfelt thanks go to all those from Ramsey and Allendale who searched, prayed, and simply cared enough to help bring Trooper home safely. We are truly blessed to live a community where people came together to make this one happy ending! Sam and Kathy Booth Ramsey