Mark the date! Evergreen Lodge #53 and Ivy
Green #36 are having their annual Dinner/Show at the Epsom American
Legion Hall on Short Falls Road on Friday, Oct. 7th and Saturday,
Oct. 8th at 6 pm. Dinner includes appetizers, salad, roast beef,
turkey, veggies, rolls, dessert and assorted beverages. Show follows
the dinner. Proceeds benefit further hall restoration and other
projects. For reservations call Vickie 736-4707 or 496-1877.
On Wednesday, September 14 the Epsom Public Library will be showing
the film “Me Before You” at 1:30 pm. JoJo Moyes wrote the book
as well as the screen play. It tells the story of a small town
girl who forms an unlikely bond with a recently paralyzed man she
has been hired to care for. The viewer follows the growing
friendship makes this a “feel good” movie.
American
Legion
Post #112
Spaghetti
Supper
Saturday, September
10th
4:30-6:30 PM
Adults $8, Vets $7,
Children Under 12 $5 Garlic bread, salad, desserts, coffee, juice,
water.
Raffle will be drawn.
Epsom Youth Athletics Association will be holding a Family Fun Mini
Golf Tournament at Chucksters in Chichester on Sunday September 25th
from 5pm- 7pm. You can sign up for the event by downloading
the registration from our website
https://sports.bluesombrero.com Look forward to seeing you
any questions please contact Shannon 731-8730
Epsom Food Pantry
Good morning everyone.. Well fall is just around the corner. Kids
are back in school, so we need to get ready to help with their
lunches. Right now peanut butter is very light on our shelves.
We also need Rice a Roni, strawberry jam, sweet snacks, soup of all
kinds, paper goods, and anything else that strikes your fancy.
I would like to thank Planet Aid for their
outstanding contribution, George’s Carpet and Care Pharmacy for
allowing their container to be in their business. I must also thank
the Library for all their support. They keep a basket in the entry
for food and they help Ken with copying some of our forms. This
combination of help, along with the volunteers, makes our Pantry a
success. Thank you one and all.
Until next time,
Priscilla
It’s Way Too Hot For Our Moose
Submitted By Eric Orff, Wildlife Biologist
It’s official NOAA has declared July the hottest one on record
following a record setting June.
It is a well know fact that our warming
winters have contributed to a significant decline in moose numbers
across New Hampshire over the last decade and a half that this
state’s moose population has declined from about 7,500 moose to
closer to 3,500 today. Most folks attribute much of this decline to
our shorter winters causing an uptick in the winter tick numbers
that are literally killing off our moose, especially the calves.
According to Fish and Game Department moose biologist Kris Rines it
is the lack of snow in April, when the female ticks drop off to lay
their eggs, and a late winter with no snow in November when the baby
ticks are seeking moose, that is the root of much of the problem. No
snow when females lay their eggs in the spring means lots of baby
ticks. No snow late fall going into winter gives the baby ticks much
more time to get on a moose. Last fall there was no snow on the
ground up north until late December giving the baby ticks an extra
month and a half to find a moose. As a result according to the
ongoing UNH/Fish and Game moose study there was an average of 42,000
ticks on each moose. Moose calves cannot support those numbers and
81 percent of the moose calves died last winter along with nearly 25
percent of adult cows.
But winter moose mortality really only
tells half of the story as to why our moose numbers are down half of
what they were 15 years ago. Yes our shorter winters are a big
factor but so too are our ever warming summers. The fact is moose
stop feeding when temperatures reach the high 70’s. And do moose
feed, some forty pounds of browse a day. Lets put it this way. If
you filled your bathtub with leaves and twigs a moose would eat it
all in a day, or make that a night.
And this summer’s high temperatures have
no doubt further impacted our dwindling moose herd. Just the other
night while watching the ten o’clock news I could see that almost
statewide temperatures were still in the 80’s. At these temperatures
moose cows cease to feed. As it already Is, because of our warmer
summers, adult cow moose body weights are down causing a significant
reduction in moose calve births. The percentage of cows giving birth
to twin calves was down to only 11% when the 2002 to 2005 moose
study was conducted by Fish and Game. In the last three summers of
the current study NO twinning is now taking place. And the calving
rate has declined from 75% of adult producing calves in 2002 to only
54% last year and 60% this year. So this summer’s heat wave lasting
weeks with temperatures at 80 degrees at ten o”clock at night will
only further reduce cow weights and future reproduction.
We really have a double whammy on our
moose population. Fewer moose calves are being produced by our
underweight cows and a much higher death rate is killing off the few
calves that are born. In fact the most recent population model that
I saw presented by one of the moose study scientist predicts that
given the current winter mortality factors, AND the loss of
reproduction due to warmer summers, our New Hampshire moose
population will essentially be gone by 2045. That’s right, in less
than 20 years moose will be gone from this state save for a remnant
population. How sad of a legacy we are leaving our grandchildren.
We all must do our part to address climate
change. Through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the EPA’s
Clean Power Plan we can cut carbon and make a difference. Each of us
can in some small way help save our moose for the future
generations. Please do your part.
Epsom Public Library September
Youth Events
Touch A Truck: Saturday,
September 10th at 10am-1pm at the library. Get on board with
vehicles of all kinds! Join us for a hands on opportunity to
explore different community trucks, cars and work machines,
including, fire trucks, police cars and construction vehicles!
Raffle tickets for the Lego high speed train set, Minecraft
Nether fortress set and Tonka excavator will be available for $1.00
each or 6 tickets for $5.00. Refreshments will be available!
For more information call 736-9920 Story Time/Stuffed Animal
Sleepover: Thursday, September 15th at 6pm. Children are invited to
bring a stuffed animal, wear pajamas and enjoy stories, songs and
make a name tag for their animal. The stuffed animals will spend two
nights camping out at the library. Children and their families are
invited to pick up their animals on Saturday morning, September 17th
at 9:30 am, enjoy breakfast and see what their stuffed animal
friends did during the campout. We will be having special guest,
children’s author, Ellen Stoll Walsh, who wrote and illustrated
Mouse Paint, Mouse Count and many other favorites. She will discuss
her newest book, Where is Jumper? and will have books to sign.
The library will be taking book orders prior to the event. Please
call the library to preorder a book. Reservations are required for
the sleep over/breakfast. Please sign up at the circulation desk.
Story Times: Mondays 10am, Tuesdays 1:30pm
and Thursdays 3:30pm September themes include apples, squirrels and
fall. Children listen to stories, sing songs and do craft
activities.
Lego Club: Thursdays at 3:30pm everyone is
welcome!
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