The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

Turns out the Arlington County Fair Board of Directors voted this year to take the names off tags for security reasons.

“Last year, a number of people expressed concern about seeing people’s names and addresses,” Denise Roller told me. She is the only paid staff person in the Arlington County Fair organization; the fair is run by the non-profit Arlington County Fair, Inc.

Given that 30,000 people perennially partake of this rite of summer, those concerned about the people's privacy were most concerned about children’s. Removing only the names of the littlest competitors proved too much, she said. “The fair is a lot of work” for the all-volunteer staff.

She reminded me a number of times that they are a volunteer organization, and as such, things can go wrong, especially when trying to communicate an idea from a board decision down to the person writing the name on the tag. They were nervous of inadvertently printing a child's name.

Plus, the tags are pre-ordered from a company that provides these sorts of items for fairs. They come with pre-printed numbers and spaces to write in names and addresses—part of the fear was it would take a lot of communication to make sure only the allowable information was put on the tags.

Oddly, even the winners did not get their names on anything official from the fair. Again, numbers only.

Ms. Roller said she hoped they would change that idea next year and give the winner a certificate, not just the nameless ribbon.

My take: put the names back on. I know it’s a lot of work (at least, I can imagine that it must be), but names with neighborhoods, it would seem to me, would be less intrusive while still letting us see who won. Figure out a way to do that.

When kids at the schools win something or other we get their names, and I always like seeing if I know the children. I have two elementary-aged children of my own, and I just do not understand the fears. I just don't see child abusers making the leap from viewing a pumpkin to stalking a child.

I wonder if it would be possible for people to fill in their own tag.

I was very happy to see Lebanese Taverna at the fair—I’d love to see more of the tastes of Arlington (while retaining at least a couple funnel cake and corn dog joints) at the fair.

Desperate joggers, dog-walkers, and stroller-pushing parents will have their rest room back soon. A tree had severely damaged the roof of the Lubber Run Park rest room about a month ago, making the building unusable. The roof is getting repaired and reshingled.

Well, I’m back. This was a much longer hiatus than planned, and for that I’m sorry. One of the reasons for the delay was that I’m trying to reconfigure this blog. I would like to make some money, and to write some different stories. Finding time for all of that is always the concern. In the summer there are kids (and I love getting away on vacation), but then during the school year, I have students, students, students. Finding time is the sticky wicket.

Still, I have some ideas for changes: 1, I am in the process of moving the blog from Blogger to a company called “neighborlogs.” They are out of Seattle, and their business plan aims to bring local advertising to local blogs. It’s a plan that is a long shot, but its heart is in the right place. 2, I’ve finally gotten a tag line: “News Worth Reading.” I’m thinking of it as part fact and part aspiration. The object will be to improve the stories I’m writing, maybe writing fewer but more complete stories.

That’s a couple smallish changes, and time only allows for smallish changes at one time. Many more stories coming down the line. Keep in touch.

Labels: county fair, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:35 AM 1 comments

“Urban natural areas have a different sort of stressors on them,” David Mizejewski said. The impermeable roofs, roads, driveways and parking lots in the area send a lot of water into storm drains which empty into streams like Lubber Run. But overall the streams in Arlington are OK, he said.

“We do have such a great, green infrastructure in Arlington,” he said.

The county supports a program to protect Lubber Run from invasive plant species. The county has three nature centers inside its borders, staffed by professional naturalists. It says a lot about the county government and the citizens who support these, he said.

“You just don’t see that in a lot of other places,” he said. (Gulf Branch Nature Center was saved in the county largely through citizen activism when the county budget was approved just weeks ago.)

Strolling in jeans and flip-flops, he stopped near the rest room building and looked to the hillside that rises behind it. He noticed how much undergrowth the park has, and attributed part of that to the few deer in the county. He said that hillside was the perfect habitat for the mountain laurel that grows there. With the old growth trees, mountain laurel and the oak seedlings sprouting through the dark, leaf-strewn soil, he said,

“We could be in the Shenandoah.”

Lubber Run might not have the invertebrate life—snails and crayfish—of a truly healthy stream, but it does support dace, those minnow-like fish, in the deeper pools of the stream. The streambed is gravelly, rather than silty, which allows plants to grow and fish to spawn.

A pair of mallards was eating and resting in the stream. Near his house, he said, on Four-Mile Run, he has seen kingfishers and great blue herons which means they must be finding something to eat.

“On the whole, these urban ecosystems are in pretty good shape,” he said.

His show which ran a couple seasons, (and can be purchased on DVD) was a “Trading Spaces” sort of show for the backyard. It focused on making-over backyards to attract wildlife. Landowners, however, must recognize the limits to this: they have to plant native plants to attract native animals and insects.

“You need bugs for birds,” he said.

Take the eastern tent caterpillar. It is not invasive, nor is it bad for area trees. It feeds off plants in the rose family, which include a number of fruit trees, such as the black cherry Mr. Mizejewski found in the park, a nice web of caterpillars stuck to the “Y” of a branch.

They might look ugly and leave a few holey leaves in their wakes, but they might also attact the yellow-billed cuckoo. Those birds like the fuzzy bugs.

An employee of the National Wildlife Federation in Reston, he is promoting their new “Be Out There” program which encourages families to spend more time in nature in order to grow healthier and appreciate nature more. He also has a new blog on the Animal Planet site called “Animal Oddities.”

Mr. Mizejewski is not against bringing home wildlife from t he park; his old show often made habitats for critters like pollywogs. But practice “catch-and-release” he said, returning the animals to the place where they were found, and do not keep animals captive too long.

“Parks are hugely valuable,” Mr. Mizejewski said. “They are the community’s backyard.” Parents can teach their children to be respectful of the parks. “It’s for everybody, including the wild animals, including the streams.”

NWF's "Be Out There" program.

Animal Planet's "Animal Oddities" blog.

Animal Planet's Backyard Habitat

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 12:04 PM 0 comments

I have been thinking of them since Friday when my dog and I heard what we thought was a bark, an odd bark, and it stopped my dog, almost. Her gait changed, and she slowed, wary, but ears forward, head up, the point position, if she knew what that was. I called her to me, and she came, but she looked as though she might bolt, on a chase, and at the same time like she might bolt away.

We heard it again, but I was talking to my dog, so the sound wasn’t clear. A dog, maybe, a ways off, in a backyard. It might be upset, or it sees something.

Or it could be—and just as I thought this, I heard clearly, a deep, guttural, hooting.

I’d seen owl feathers in Lubber Run Park over the past month, and then, last week, I spotted an owl in a tree, down near Arlington Boulevard. I shot a picture of the owl with my cell phone, too far from the tree to get a good shot. But it was fun to watch the owl’s head twist around to see me. I’ve never seen a grown, healthy one in the wild.

Last year my dog spotted an injured barred owl hiding itself behind a rock on the shoreline of Lubber Run creek, and we waited until animal welfare came to take it away. And a month or so after that, we saw the cutest little owl at the base of a tree about a foot from the paved path.

We were out early that morning, the sky still dark, and my dog was yanking me down the hill into the park off N. Columbus Street. I couldn’t see what she was so excited about, neck stretched through the collar, straining, until I was just about on top of the poor little thing. The eyes were so wide, and the pupils so large and its body so small that it looked frightened, more than wise. I never knew if it was an owlet that was too afraid or incapable of flight, or if it was a full-grown, but injured owl. Now I’m guessing it was young.

And here we were, just my dog and me last Friday, walking through the woods, stopped by the unfamiliar sound. The sun was just up on an overcast morning, and the renaissance of underbrush was shadowless in that way that happens when the dull light comes from everywhere. Where we stood, with new leaves on the giant, old-growth trees, I couldn’t see the houses I knew were there.

Despite all the dire environmental news, for a moment, the forest, this little forest in dense-packed Arlington, with its towering oaks and maples, felt primordial and verdant, huge yet intimate, as though I could walk forward and see the owl, as though it were calling to me. But of course, it wasn’t.

A startling moment later, a second owl called from behind us, but closer, maybe a hundred yards away. The first called again and it went like that for a minute or more. Call and response, longing and desire, public yet intimate.

During student conferences yesterday I asked the young woman in my class where her boyfriend was, since he had missed his conference that ran just before hers.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I haven’t talked to him in days.”

“Oh!” I said. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” she said, and her eyes looked like she meant it, as though she wisely understood that this was how it goes sometimes, that the odds of survival in this environment are long.

Through the canopy, I saw, just as I was wondering if I’d be lucky enough to see, the second owl, beating the air with desire—thuketathuketathuketa—its voice disrupted by the strain of beating wings and the fierce pounding of its heart.

Labels: lubber run park, owl

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:03 AM 0 comments

The county took the precautionary measure of warning residents to avoid contact with the waters downstream from a sewage spill site in Lubber Run Park. The precaution was meant to allow the normal ecological process in the streams to reduce the potentially elevated bacteria levels caused by the release.

Following several days of stream flow and rain, Arlington County now recommends that residents resume adherence to its normal protective precautions for safe use of its urban streams. You can find information and safety tips on Arlington streams on the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services web site.

Sewage Spills into LR Park Again (Oct. 24)

Sewer Line Failure Pollutes Lubber Run (Oct. 15)

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 1:53 PM 0 comments

Like so much that happens in the greater Buckingham area, the Teen Boat Project in Lubber Run Park came about thanks to caring adults, hard working teens and a little bit of dumb luck.

“We found this old boat that the teens had built” at the Arlington Mill Community Center, Joyce Harris-Gray said yesterday afternoon while a handful of the 25 participating teens painted the gunwales with positive messages. Ms. Harris-Gray directs the Lubber Run teen program.

The boat is a half-dozen or so years old, and was sailed at one point, but Luis Matos said he found it “under the deck” at the Arlington Mill Community Center. No one was quite sure what to do with it. Mr. Matos is working at the Lubber Run Community Center while Arlington Mill is redeveloped.

“They were going to trash it,” he said. But since he grew up on an island, he could not scuttle a boat. They considered a number of options including slicing it in half length-wise and hanging it on a wall.

They said they talked to Carol Hoover, the Lubber Run Center director, about installing it in front of the center on N. George Mason Drive, but she suggested the location inside the park, where a tree had been planted by other teens a half-decade ago. The location at the north end of the park is supposed to be a garden, but has fallen into a bit of disrepair. So, with some Junior Master Gardener Training from the 4H, the Teen Boat Project that turned this dinghy into a flower garden set sail.

Yesterday, while most of the teens set-up the Haunted House at the Lubber Run Center, a handful cared for the boat-garden and the space around the tree.

Over the summer, the boat had gotten a new coat of paint and was hand-lettered with positive messages about staying out of gangs and away from drugs. Recently it was repainted, and yesterday, the teens stenciled on more positive messages. It looks a little neater.

The group, Mr. Matos said, is always looking for donations of plants and seeds. Swing by the Lubber Run Community Center, 300 N. Park Dr., with donations.

Fifteen hundred gallons of raw sewage spilled into Lubber Run stream yesterday morning for the second time in 10 days, only a day after the county issued a statement saying the water had cleared from the previous spill.

Yesterday’s spill occurred during the peak morning hours when sewage overwhelmed two pumps set up to divert sewage away from lines that are being restored with an epoxy-like liner.

Although there are four pumps on site near the picnic pavilion in the park, only two are in operation at any one time, said Dave Hundelt, of Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services. Bringing another on-line is more than just switching a valve. Temporary pipes have to be installed, for instance.

If the relining project were to go on for days or weeks more, the effort would be worth it, Mr. Hundelt said, but A.M. Liner East, Inc., the contractor that is relining the pipes, should be done with the major work today, and the sewage lines can be reopened.

Therefore, the county chose instead to bring out a pumper truck for this morning, which acts as the third back-up pump to take some pressure off the two pumps already operating, he said. He was on-site for the operation this morning.

In the past, county staff has said that the water is cleared after about a week, or some really strong rains. (The forecast for Saturday is about 100 percent rain.)

Last week, a diversion plug was overwhelmed and sent sewage out a manhole.

The contractor should be out of Lubber Run completely by the middle of next week, Mr. Hundelt said.

County's Press Release

County Gives All Clear on Lubber Run (Oct. 22)

Sewer Line Failure Pollutes Lubber Run (Oct. 15)

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 8:33 AM 0 comments

Arlington County has lifted the advisory issued on Wednesday, Oct. 15 for parts of Lubber Run and Four Mile Run.

The County took the precautionary measure of warning residents to avoid contact with the waters downstream from a sewage spill site in Lubber Run Park. The precaution was meant to allow the normal ecological process in the streams to reduce the potentially elevated bacteria levels caused by the release.

Following several days of stream flow, Arlington County now recommends that residents resume adherence to its normal protective precautions for safe use of its urban streams. You can find information and safety tips on Arlington streams on the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services web site.

Oct. 15 story: Sewer Line Failure Pollutes Lubber Run

DES Web Site

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 4:03 PM 0 comments

Just before dawn this morning, a heavier-than-expected flow in a sewer line leading into Lubber Run Park hit and overwhelmed a sewer diversion plug, overflowing a manhole with raw sewage, and polluting the stream near Arlington Boulevard. Arlington County repaired the problem after the contractor, A.M. Liner East, Inc., called in the spill.

“The contractor called us right away,” said Myllissa Kennedy with the county’s Department of Environmental Services. “There still is an investigation going on as to why it happened.”

Residents are advised to keep themselves, their children and pets away from the stream for any activities including swimming, fishing and wading, the county advised in its press release. Although county officials say the problem has been repaired, and the county is working to clean as much of the sewage as possible, nature will have to do the final work, flushing the remaining sewage downstream.

It may take a week or more to return back to normal, depending on the weather.

“What they like to wait for is a couple of good rains,” before health inspectors check the water again, said Mary Curtius, a county spokesperson.

The county likely will absorb much of the cost for the clean-up as the problem was not intentional, and the contractor worked with county staff to fix the problem and clean-up the site at the time of the accident, Ms. Kennedy said.

Since late September, the contractor has been working on the sewer pipes, lining them with smelly, resin-soaked felt tubes, “similar to a sock.” Once the felt liner is in place, hot water activates the resin and the felt becomes a hard plastic, the county’s web site devoted to this project said.

The sewer diversion plugs send the waste through alternate pipes while one section of pipe is being repaired, Ms. Kennedy said.

According to one of the contracted employees, the liner is good for several decades.

The project, part of annual maintenance, is expected to take about a month.

An intentional spill of port-a-potties into Lubber Run occurred last June.

The county's press release regarding the spill.

Arlington's Sanitary Sewer System Web Site (including the special section on Lubber Run).

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 4:26 PM 0 comments

The men have largely been sleeping under the protection of the pavilion near N. George Mason Drive. They can be found on some mornings sleeping on the table tops or picnic benches, with backpacks or bedrolls nearby. Some women walking in or near the park early in the morning have expressed worry about having the men there.

On Friday Sept. 26, Arlington Police officer J. Joy said that he had been in the park to check for homeless men, looking around the amphitheatre, especially under the deck and stairs at the back of the structure. He found no one there, he said, but he found one person in the pavilion.

“We are trying to take care of this problem,” Ofr. Joy said. He, along with officer C. Lutz and others, was in the Lubber Run amphitheatre parking lot, stopping pedestrians (including this reporter) to see if people knew of other locations in the park to check.

According to the police, it is against county code for anyone, homeless or not, to be in the park after hours. Under the county’s “Park Safe” program, the first violation results in a warning, and the second violation bans the person from county parks, a violation he or she may appeal. Third violations can mean arrest for trespassing; that carries a court summons and a fine, generally.

“Only if they show no regard for the officer’s direction of leaving are they taken into a full custodial arrest,” wrote Det. Crystal Nosal in an email. She is the police public information officer.

Phone calls for this story were the first A-SPAN’s Leonard Chari had heard of the homeless men in Lubber Run Park.

In fact, Lubber Run is not even a park that his outreach workers normally patrol. He said nearby residents normally call him if they see homeless men in parks.

“If nobody complains…they go in when no one notices,” Mr. Chari said. “In this instance we haven’t gotten any information.” Mr. Chari is the director of A-SPAN’s Opportunity Place, a program that helps homeless people gain stable incomes and housing.

Labels: aspan, homeless, lubber run park, Police

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 5:00 AM 0 comments

I’m not sure how I feel as I go on hiatus after I post a story about the Design Review Committee meeting tonight.

Part of the mixed emotion is that I know I go back to teaching at Montgomery College in Rockville in the fall, and I have yet to do all I want to do with this website. I had a full school year to get stuff done, how much time did I need? However much I wanted, it wasn't enough.

Despite wanting to continue for another month or more, I still must write a final report on the year-long project around which this web site was based, and I must get my syllabi ready. I’m still reading one of my adopted texts. I just don’t have the time for it all, especially since the kids are loosed on the world in just a couple more weeks—then look out!

On top of that, I have notes and ideas for stories that are only half done—to those people who are wondering where the stories about them are, I will get to them late summer or early fall.

On top of the on top of all that, the walls of my house look terrible. I really must paint. I will be paying attention to the doings of Buckingham, but I don’t know how much I’ll be reporting until the fall draws me back. Enough complaining of lost time, already. I'll see you in the fall.

I took a wheelchair ride last month, and I have yet to put all the notes and recordings together into a decent story. That will come either over the summer, or early in the fall. Sorry, Deb, for the delay (stupid flooded basement).

Another is about the new Buckingham Community Center, the building on the Gates of Ballston property near N. Glebe at N. Henderson Road. I do not know if the discussions about it would rise to “conflict,” but some of the people who use the current space—a pair of connected two-bedroom apartments on N. Henderson Road—are bothered by the fact that the space they will have in the new building is 1,500 square feet less than what they currently have.

Also, the space has fewer offices for private discussions. Connie Sherman, the director of the center, worries about what might happen to people who need to have personal conversations such as those involving AIDS or spousal abuse.

AHC Inc., which owns and is building the center, has made a space they feel is large enough. It has a huge room for community events, a computer classroom, a day care center, offices for the tenants association and for the leasing and management office.

County Board Chair Walter Tejada said there are limited resources to go around, and people will have to make due with what is available.

“Once you get used to something, it’s hard to let go,” he said in a recent interview.

I had planned on putting out a story about this before the center’s opening in July, but it looks like now, I’ll be asking people how it’s going.

I will be a little late to the DRC meeting tonight, but that should be OK as the Buckingham Shopping Center (the intersection of N. Glebe at N. Pershing Drive) is the fourth item on the group’s agenda.

Tonight Georgetown Strategic Capital will move a little closer to razing the Glebe Market and CVS buildings and replacing them with two huge, mixed-use buildings, retail on the ground floor, and three floors of market-rate apartments above.

This redevelopment of the corner does not go before the Site Plan Review Committee Rebeccah Ballo in the county’s historic preservation office told me because Georgetown Strategic is not asking for a zoning or density changes. It will go before the Planning Commission and, as the DRC is part of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board, that board has been and will be involved, too.

County staff confirmed that the budget OKed last month has money in it to repair Barrett Elementary School's playing field. Although staffers originally said the project might get under way in the spring, it’s looking more like summer, but none I spoke with could give me a date. When we spoke last week, the project had not yet been bid.

The erstwhile beaver of Lubber Run still has no clear name, as based upon the survey a handful of you took last week. “Bucky” and “Lubby” tied, with three (!), votes each. “Big Tooth” received no votes.

Unlike Hilary Clinton, I can make THE decision, and say, “enough’s enough,” especially since I’ve seen neither hide nor hair Bucky Lubby since Mother’s Day. Call the beaver what you will, it's over.

My next-door neighbor, Scott Zoeller, called me to the mat last week when I didn’t run his picture and that of the baby robin nesting in the Norwegian blue spruce outside his townhouse. It was a cute little bugger, and has since flown the coop.

Now, Fuzzy, you can say that you are, as my son Harry says, “just a little bit famous.” Are we cool?

As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com --Steve Thurston).

Today's Headlines:

Minigolf It Is

Letter: Redevelopment Means Retail Upscales

Police Notes for Buckingham June 4, 2008

Headlines from Earlier in the Week:

Plaintiffs in School Board Lawsuit Will "Wait and See." (This is a continuation of what has become the saga of the elementary schools overcrowding.)

Letter: "Fantastic" Video Reminds Writer of Visits

Letter: Why Not My Organic Market?

Letter: Nice Picture Show

Yearling Buck Stops in Arlington Oaks

Labels: buckingham center, DRC, environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:54 AM 1 comments

With two votes each, the names: Lubby, Bigtooth (or Big Tooth), and Bucky, are tied in a three-way race.

Voting will continue until next week when the results will be retabulated and a winner, with luck, will be chosen. If the campaign stretches on much more into the summer, beavers everywhere say the infighting threatens to tear apart the park’s wildlife and open up a chance for the squirrels to win.

So, make sure you vote in “Week Two of Name the Lubber Run Beaver” survey. Click Here to take it.

Last week's survey collected 12 responses, spread through a spectrum of ideas. The also rans, with one vote each: Kershplooshie, Chipper, Lucie Moon, Muddy, Hazel, Paco, and Lubber.

Unfortunately, I have not seen any more signs of the beaver, since the initial sighting on Mother's Day (May 11), but maybe it's just really, really sneaky. Vote today; make your voice count!

Name the Lubber Run Beaver

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:36 AM 0 comments

I’ll admit that I do like what I see when I walk or drive through that intersection.

Make sure you scroll down to see the Lubber Run Beaver, and take time to name him/her/it.

Saying “we still have work to finish,” County Manager Ron Carlee, told the county board the five-year CIP focuses on the $747 million to which the county has already committed. This includes 22 major capital projects and 33 neighborhood conservation projects.

“That is a big capital program,” he said, adding later, “We’ve got to finish these big projects.”

The CIP directs the county’s spending on major renovation projects for the next five years, and is funded largely by bonds. At the special meeting which outlined the 2009-2014 CIP, Mr. Carlee cited concerns that the county’s debt level on average would rise too high if they took on too much more debt to fund projects.

Renovations to the Lubber Run Community Center, according to interviews with Recreation Manager Carol Hoover last fall, have almost been funded by the CIP in the past. The 1950s era center is no where near handicapped accessible, as the only accessible floor is the basement level. One must take stairs to get anywhere else in the building.

Arlington Mill, Westover Library and Fire Station #3 are some of the ongoing projects that made the list.

More on this another day.

As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com --Steve Thurston).

Today's Headlines:

Police Notes for Buckingham, May 21, 2008

Headlines from Earlier in the Week:

Name the Lubber Run Beaver

Labels: cip, environment, lubber run center, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:55 AM 0 comments

The beaver “splooshed” in the water twice while I watched and followed it. I have looked since then and have not seen it, though the tracks I saw near where I spotted the beaver, look a little beaverish to me.

I was unable to get ahold of Greg Zell, the Arlington County naturalist, today. He and I spoke of beavers for a story in April 2007. According to him then, the county lets the beavers live if they are not bothering people or facilities, but if the beaver does cause damage, the county will euthanize it. Virginia law says that it is illegal to relocate rodents. Beavers are the largest rodents in North America.

For fun, before the poor thing gets the boot, I say we name the beaver. Put your two cents in on the Name the Lubber Run Beaver Survey. (Many thanks to my daughter Hazel for help in sample names.)

Sparrow Pond Deluxe (April 2007)

Beaver Tracks Images on the Web

Labels: environment, lubber run park

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 12:24 PM 1 comments

Weather.com called for about one quarter inch of rain today, but the National Weather Service already puts the measurement between one-quarter and one-half inch.

If you were wondering, I was walking my dog, so that's why I was out in this mess. --ST

Labels: lubber run park, weather

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 1:27 PM 0 comments

A high incidence of rabies in the county last year ended with two dogs getting quarantined in Arlington Forest a week before Christmas. The two dogs attacked two rabid raccoons. The dog owners, who live on a Galveston Street cul-de-sac between Bluemont and Lubber Run parks, buried the raccoons and later thought to call health officials, the officials said.

The Animal Welfare League of Arlington, which is contracted with Arlington to handle these cases, disinterred the raccoons and sent them to the state laboratory for testing, where they were found to have rabies.

Since the dogs have current rabies vaccinations, they are quarantined inside their own home for 45 days. The couple who own the dogs are undergoing prophylactic treatment. The attack occurred on Dec. 19.

In 2007, Arlington had 19 confirmed cases of rabies infection: one stray kitten, one bat, and 17 raccoons, according to officials and documents.

“The numbers are running high this year,” said Ann Beam, an Administrative Assistant at the Animal Welfare League. She said a high number is not that odd, although the county normally runs six to eight animals. She added, “It’s kind of cyclical.”

Animals found sick or dead are not automatically tested for rabies. If Animal Control catches an animal that is clearly sick, it will be euthanized and held for a couple days to see if anyone comes in to ask about testing, Ms. Beam said.

In 2006, the most recent numbers available, the nation (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico) reported 6,940 cases of rabies in animals and three human cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of cases were in wild animals, with raccoons leading the pack, the CDC reported.

Virginia has had two human deaths from rabies in the last 13 years. The most recent occurred in 2003. Hawaii is the only state that is rabies-free, according to the CDC web site.

Keeping dogs current on their vaccinations is key, Ms. Beam said. A dog that is not current on the vaccination must be quarantined for six months behind a double-doored “don’t touch them” enclosure, she said.

The “old saw” that raccoons do not come out during the daytime is wrong, Ms. Beam said. Especially in the spring when raccoons need food for babies, people might see them in the day. Stay away from wild animals, she warned. Call animal control if you see a raccoon that is “Acting like it really doesn’t know what it’s doing.” Call 703-931-9241.

Animal Welfare League of Arlington

Labels: awla, bluemont park, lubber run park, rabies

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 2:42 PM 0 comments

Not all mosquitoes can become infected with the virus. Only infected mosquitoes can infect birds, horses and humans, according to various sources. The vast majority of people infected show few, if any, of the symptoms which can include fever or other illness, spinal meningitis (a swelling of the lining of the brain and spinal cord), or encephalitis (a swelling of the brain).

The county reported Arlington’s first human case of West Nile Virus infection for the year on Aug. 31. The Lyon Park resident is over 50 years old, the county press release said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Sept. 4, there were four fatalities due to West Nile Virus in the United States. Just over 600 people became ill with fever or other sickness. 280 have gotten encephalitis or meningitis.

According to the CDC web site there was only one report of West Nile encephalitis or meningitis in all of Virginia and no fevers or other illness from West Nile, but a county press release reported four cases for the state so far this year.

By comparison, tens of thousands of people die every year from the flu and its complications.

Mosquitos need as little as a quarter cup of still water (preferably a little dirty) in which to reproduce, and it takes days for the eggs to hatch larvae and then metamorph into the flying insects, experts say. Also, they cannot fly very far, so clearing out even the smallest puddles around the house and cleaning bird baths can help keep the mosquito population down.

According to the county, you can reduce your exposure to mosquitoes by paying particular attention to the following:

Keep rain gutters clean to prevent them from holding standing water.

Labels: lubber run park, mosquitoes, west nile virus

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 7:09 AM 0 comments