Bag Limit

This past week, I was driving near the Valley Mall and a big black bird went sailing over the car to land near the fence along I-81. It was a mature wild turkey gobbler. One can only guess what he was doing in that neighborhood. But it makes the point that wild turkeys are now found just about everywhere. Seeing that bird reminded me that Maryland's spring gobbler season is nearly here. The season opens April 18 and will remain open through May 23. The bag limit is one per day, and two gobblers per season if you did not bag a turkey during the past fall season.

Break out the shotgun and stock up on shells, for the first hunting season of 1998 is nearly here. Dove season opens on Sept. 1, and reports from bird hunters indicate that the resident population of birds is at least as good as in past seasons. The West Virginia dove season will once again be a split affair, with the first segment from Sept. 1-Oct. 21 and the second Nov. 16- Nov. 21 and the last Dec. 21-Jan. 2. On Sept. 1, hunting is legal from noon until sunset. Shooting hours for the rest of the season are one-half hour before sunrise until sunset.

After years of talking, planning, committees and legal wrangling, the first modern day bear hunt in Maryland lasted a total of one day. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources closed the season after just one day when 20 bears were checked in on Monday. At the time of closing, DNR officials said it bears taken on opening day might be checked in on Tuesday, but the total had not changed as of Friday, so it looks like 20 will be the official kill. DNR officials said allowing the season to proceed a second day would risk taking more bears than the stated management objective of 30 bears.

A few days ago, I made a trip down to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge near Annapolis, Md. It's getting closer to the spring turkey season, so we kept a sharp eye out for birds in fields and openings as we drove. The number of birds we spotted was truly amazing. We saw large flocks and small groups of birds in every county and in places that would have been amazing just a few years ago. For example, on Route 50 near Annapolis, a small flock was out on a high school soccer field, seemingly oblivious to the morning traffic whizzing by on both sides of the field.

Council sets yard debris pickup limits for town The Boonsboro Town Council on Monday established limits on how much the town will pick up as part of the residential collection of yard debris. There was previously no limit for the weekly collection, Boonsboro Town Manager Jake Jones said. That lack of a limit has caused problems, said Jones and Boonsboro Mayor Charles "Skip" Kauffman Jr. Instead of just leaving out a few small tree branches for collection some residents have left out entire trees, Kauffman said.

"Right at the intersection of Washington Street and Cannon Avenue, right before you get to the Sheetz and McDonald's. In the right hand lane there are metal plates on the road. Why aren't there signs warning people that they are there to slow down?" "Can something be done about the bathrooms that are up at the softball field at City Park? The ladies bathroom is so filthy, there are cobwebs, it looks like it hasn't been cleaned in ages. The handicap stall doesn't even have a lock on the door, it just keeps popping open.

Crows in your craw? By ANDREW SCHOTZ andrews@herald-mail.com Bird brains? Don't believe it. If we could crack the crows' code during their treetop chats, we might hear them derisively calling us "human brains. " The crows might cackle: "Look at those fools trying to intimidate us with sprays and pruning shears and shiny tape and recordings of us when we're upset. "Caw. Pshaw. " If we humans think of it as a turf war, the crows are winning.

NBC25 spotlights Williamsport Watch NBC25 News tonight. They are spotlighting historic spots in Williamsport. They visited the Spring House (oldest in Maryland), Still House, Mansion House, Springfield Farm and Riverview Cemetery, just to name a few. Maurice Snyder, town historian, is a wealth of town information (some good, some not so good) and has been meeting with reporters all week. He is our treasure! 'Reaching For The Moon' Breast Cancer Awareness of the Cumberland Valley's seventh annual "Reaching For The Moon" event at Milestone Farm, home of Don and Jone Bowman, will be held Sunday, Sept.