Bird feeders are more tempting than pic-a-nic baskets
As reported by WMUR in a June 21 online article, this is the time of year — late June and early June — when you are most likely to have a close encounter of the bear kind, especially among chicken-owners. In a related June 17 press release from NH Fish and Game, wildlife biologist Dan Bailey pointed out that many New Hampshire homeowners accidentally entice bears onto their property. “Despite the current abundance of natural foods,” Bailey wrote, bird feeders “represent highly tempting food to bears. Black oil sunflower seeds are higher in fat and protein than any other food a bear can find in the wild.”
QOL score: -1 for the people, the bears and the chickens involved
Comment: Experts recommend protecting poultry from bears with electric fencing. “Biologists from Fish and Game and U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services loan out over 100 electric fences each summer to protect poultry from bear damage,” the Fish and Game press release read. “The other purpose of this loan program is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the equipment to help convince poultry owners to make this investment for themselves. Shooting bears and other wildlife that are attracted to chickens is a cyclical approach rather than a long-term solution.”
The strawberries are dry
WMUR reported in a June 22 online article that the state’s ongoing drought is affecting this season’s strawberry crop. “Despite recent rain, some farmers in the Granite State are struggling with their strawberry crops this year,” the article read. One farmer was said to have reported that “the combination of dry soil and hot days is making things tough. To deal with the challenges, the farm says they are increasing their prices and relying more on their irrigation system.”
QOL score: -1
Comment: According to the National Integrated Drought Information System (drought.gov/states/new-hampshire), almost a million New Hampshire residents currently live in an area of drought.
Pollen, achoo
A June 16 online article from NHPR reports that despite thick layers of yellow pollen covering cars and outdoor furniture, this year’s pollen count is about the same as it was last year. NHPR quoted An Huynh, an allergist and clinical immunologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, who said that while total pollen levels are not much higher in recent years, some people with allergies are being exposed to pollen from trees and grass simultaneously. “Right now some people are just getting it much worse than other times of the year or their previous years.”
QOL score: -1
Comment: The NHPR article read, “Overall, Huynh says, pollen counts have been increasing over the last two decades by about 20 to 25 percent.” Visit dartmouth-health.org/articles/pollen-really-worse-year
QOL score last week: 48
Net change: -3
QOL this week: 45
What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?
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