Alcohol Miniature Bottles = Litter

Fireball Cinnamon Whisky (so spelled) is a billion dollar a year business. It’s an acquired taste: cheap whiskey plus water (the end product is only 33% alcohol), sugar and cinnamon. As a brand, it grew from an obscure history. Dr. McGillicuddy's Fireball Whiskey was one of many flavored alcohol products under the McGillicuddy brand, which had originated with Seagram in the 1980s, then sold to the Sazerac Company in 1989. Fireball was renamed 2007 and provided with the red, fire-breathing dragon label image and the slogan “Tastes Like Heaven, BURNS LIKE HELL.” Fireball is currently the best-selling liqueur in the United States. However, at The Whiskey Wash, a whiskey review site, it was ranked fourth out of five among cinnamon-flavored whiskeys (Jim Beam Kentucky Fire, first). Fireball’s description including “…intensely chemical aroma…distressingly viscous and alarmingly sweet… very little in the way of whiskey flavor.”

"FIREBALL Cinnamon Whiskey" These
miniature bottles hold 50 ml = 1.7 ounces.

Fireball appears to also be the most likely to be littered alcohol miniature bottle in the United States. An observant walk through the streets of Maynard will spy empty miniature bottles – also known as testers, shooters, minis and airplane bottles – with a distribution mostly not too far from the liquor store where they were purchased. From talking to store owners, buyers are typically adults who buy several of these small plastic bottles at a time, and need to be deterred from starting to drink before they are out of the store.

Why not just buy a pint, a ‘fifth’ or a ‘handle’? A good guess is that people who are not supposed to be drinking where they live want something easy to conceal, something that can be drained and dropped, or else tossed out a car window. One specious argument made for sale of minis: “A key driver for the growth of the global spirit miniatures market is the fact that they prove to be an ideal choice for consumers looking to reduce their alcohol intake.” Or basically, you can’t drink what you did not buy. A saving grace is that these now-plastic bottles do not contribute to the broken glass problem. A ‘fifth,’ by the way, used to be one-fifth of a gallon, now defined as 750 milliliters. A ‘handle’ is a half-gallon (or now, 1.75 liters), so called because the bottle has a handle to make pouring easier to control.

The origin of miniatures – as glass bottles – appears to have had its start after the end of Prohibition, when people were being offered taste-size samples of brand-name spirits after years of drinking illegal booze. In the 1960s the airline industry found that minis could be doled out to passengers with minimal spillage, with each bottle containing a controlled amount of liquor. Alcohol was often free. These days a mini will set you back $5-8 dollars. Can you bring your own booze (BYOB)? The answer is do not try to sneak drink you own – this has led to people being arrested at flight’s end. A few airlines are experimenting with BYOB, with the caveat that their staff have to be asked to open and serve what you brought. Hotels got into the alcohol miniatures business with mini-bars in the 1970s, and for a while found that profitable, but most have phased out the hard liquor, leaving overpriced snacks, non-alcoholic beverages and small bottles of wine.

Back to miniatures and littering. Can this problem be legislated away? In April 2015 the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, banned the sale of spirits in bottles smaller than eight ounces. In October of that same year a judge overturned the law based on interpretation that only the state has legislative authority over liquor sales. Maine is in the middle of tackling this problem. Sales of miniatures exceed 10,000,000 per year (40% Fireball). In 2017 the state legislature passed a bill requiring a five cent deposit. The obstinate Governor LePage said he would rather ban the sale entirely, claiming that minis fostered drunk driving, than create what in effect would be a new tax. New Haven, Connecticut is considering a deposit law, but may run afoul of state jurisdiction. In Massachusetts, a few towns have passed an outright ban, and the state legislature is considering a state-wide, five cent deposit law.  

NOTES
Visit this site for a scathing evaluation of five cinnamon-flavored whiskies.

https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/american-whiskey/blowing-up-fireball-cinnamon-whiskey-reviews/

Nason and Summer Street Intersection

The intersection of Nason and Summer Streets was for decades a business hub for Maynard. This column is an exploration of the history of the four corners, including major fires in 1921, 1936 and 1955. The intersection is currently occupied by a park, a rentable hall over an exercise business, an apartment building and a hair salon under a fraternal society.

Maynard Hotel (burned 1921), Click on any photo to enlarge.

What is now the east end of Memorial Park, across from the end of Glendale Street, was the site of the first hotel in town, built in 1867, thus predating Maynard’s creation by four years. It opened as Glendale House. The name is claimed to have been taken from the “Glendale” wool blanket made at the mill. Street named after the hotel. Later renamed the Maynard Hotel and operating under that name until it was destroyed by fire on January 29, 1921. As not actually on the corner, there were buildings between the hotel and Nason Street. An 1875 map shows two houses owned by Mrs. Brooks. A later map shows other buildings labeled “lunch” and “upholsterer.”

After the hotel fire the land was bought by the town. Memorial Park was dedicated on November 15, 1925. More memorial plaques were added after subsequent wars. For a time, there was a public bathroom facility, built during the Depression as part of many federally funded work projects. The park is undergoing another metamorphosis to include a permanent performance platform (summer band concerts and other events) and a handicap-accessible ramp from the parking lot to the park.  

Riverside Co-op (burned 1936). First showing of a movie in Maynard
was here, November 1902.  Photos courtesy Maynard Historical Society.
Building behind it was Intl Order of Odd Fellows, now site of China Ruby.

The corner west of the park was occupied by a four-story wood frame building owned by the Riverside Co-op, built 1882. Prior to that it had been empty land owned by T. Brooks. The first floor was occupied by the cooperative, second floor used 1885-1918 by the Maynard Library, later Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Third floor had a hall where town meetings, graduations, rallies, dances, basketball and other types of social activities occurred, including the first moving picture shown in Maynard, November 1902. The fourth floor had a banquet hall.

The building was severely damaged by a fire on January 30, 1936. It was rebuilt as a two-story brick building for the Knights of Columbus. KOC moved out in 2015 and Celia T’s, a rentable space with kitchen and bar facilities, moved in. Underneath is now Anytime Fitness, a franchised health and fitness club, open to members 24/7/365. It replaced an auto parts store.

The northwest corner was once occupied the Gove Bakery, later identified as the Cocco building, empty for many years, then demolished in 2003 for the construction of Jimmy MacDonald’s first apartment building. Hezekiah B. Gove started the bakery circa 1870; his son George N. Gove operated it into the late 1920s. Horse-drawn wagons delivered bread in Maynard and neighboring towns. Definitive information is lacking on how the building came to renamed, but it appears that it was the property of Marge Cocco, wife of Thomas Cocco, Maynard business man and Board of Selectmen member in the early 1970s. For many years the corner building hosted a candy/convenience store that went through several names: Gramo, Cox and Veleno. This was a popular stop-point for children attending Fowler and Roosevelt Schools. Next to it on the north side was a two-story building – restaurant? – and then the northernmost building, one story, Kangas Shoe Repair. All gone.

W.A. Haynes water trough (1904)

Between Gove’s bakery and the railroad was the extensive animal feed, lumber, brick, cement, horse carriages (and later, automobiles) business owned and operated by W. A. Haynes. This extended north along the tracks as far as the site of the current Cumberland Farms gas station. A 1939 Sanborn Map Company map in the possession of the Maynard Historical Society shows a smaller complex of buildings, named “Seder & Gruber Hay & Grain.”

Darling Block before the 1955 fire

The northeast corner was the Darling Block, after owner William Darling, built circa 1870. It was a three-story, wood frame, with a wrap-around porch and mansard roof (much like the Maynard Hotel). The Priest family operated Central Market, which occupied the bottom floor. An early tenant was the Maynard lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, meeting there until relocating to 100 Main Street in 1888. The building had also been host to meetings of the local chapters of the Independent Order of Good Templars and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. These were all fraternal beneficial societies, offering members services such as life insurance and burial benefits. IOGT and AOUW were temperance (anti-alcohol) organizations. Freemasons did not drink at meetings, but might tipple on their own time; their definition of ‘temperance’ was and is that members, as a cardinal virtue, should ‘temper,’ i.e., manage and practice restraint of their behavior in all things.

At some point in time the Fraternal Order of the Eagles (FOE), which had established an Aerie in Maynard back in 1908, bought the building and occupied the second and third floors. The first floor was four store fronts facing Summer Street. At the time of a March 13, 1955 fire these were occupied by Goodrich Cleaners, Messier Photo Studio, Lawson’s Shoe Repair and the Beacon Press. The FOE had the building rebuilt as two-story cinderblock. Masciarelli Jewelry took over the first floor after the rebuild. The building now hosts Flawless Hair & Spa downstairs, upstairs spaces used for Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and other functions.

Maynard Fire Department (horse power until 1914)

If you’ve been keeping count, that’s three fires for four corners of the intersection. Fires also took out the entire corner of Nason and Main Streets, the Riverside Block (Gruber Bros site) and five school fires. As to why Nason Street is so named, William Gutteridge’s 1921 history of the town states that it was named after Reverend Elias Nason of Billerica in homage of a popular lecture published in 1875 called “The Model Town of Massachusetts.” Summer Street is by far the older of the two, construction and naming lost in the mists of history. The oddity for that one is that it becomes Pompositticut Street once it crosses into Stow. But then, before being incorporated as a town in 1683, Stow was known as Pompositticut Plantation, so in colonial days the road was named after the place it was going to.  

Berries, Red; Birds, Red!

A robin’s red breast is an “honest signal” of mate attractiveness. In males, an indication of good health. In females, that she will product healthy eggs. While their black and brown feathers are colored by melanin, the same pigment that colors our skin and hair, the red is recycled from red berries. Late December is a great time to woods-walk in search of berries, obvious against winter’s white and dark tints. The species we see locally are winterberry, Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, burning bush and Oriental bittersweet.

Winterberry berries stay until robins or cedar waxwings
show up. Click on photos to enlarge.

Winterberry is a native, deciduous (leaf-shedding) relative of holly. Berries are round, clustering at branch tips. Cultivars are available from nurseries. Like holly, there are male and female plants, so at least one male is needed in a planting if the female plants are to have berries. Cardinals and other non-migrating birds don’t eat winterberries. In past times, when robins migrated south, these shrubs would retain the berries throughout the winter – hence the name. Now that flocks of robins stay the winter the berries rarely make it through January.

Japanese barberry is an invasive, naturalized from ornamental plantings. Sales now banned in Massachusetts. In wooded areas, barberry is a low, thorny shrub festooned with oval, red berries. It displaces native shrubs. Deer avoid eating it because of the thorns. Burning bush, also an escaped ornamental, is also banned in MA. It forms dense thickets three to nine feet tall, with small, rust-hued berries. Multiflora rose has modest white flowers in spring, branch-ending clusters of small, dark-red berries in fall. Together, these three can dominate a forest understory.

Winterberries covered with ice

Last/worst is Oriental bittersweet, a woody-stemmed, vining invasive that can blanket treetops with a haze of red/orange berries. It is a tree-killer. If there is any on your property, cut the stems as close to the ground as possible. While many bird species will consume multiflora rose and burning bush berries, winterberry and bittersweet are left for the robins (and the occasional flock of cedar waxwings). Examples of all five can be seen along the Assabet River Walk trail, which has signed entrances at Colbert Avenue and Concord Street. As a bonus, there is a decorated spruce tree 1/3 mile in from the Colbert Avenue end.

Back to birds. The addition of these invasive plants provides enough forage that some robins choose to not migrate south. Males especially, will remain here, to be closer to territory they intend to claim in the spring. These are not the plump and placid birds of summer. Rather, they move about in jittery flocks of 15 to 30 birds descending on winterberry like raucous starlings. Cardinals do not migrate and do not winter-flock, but they do eat other types of red berries and incorporate the color compounds into feathers (males more than females).

Robins do not always migrate, instead staying north as long as
there is food. This photo taken in 2011, winterberry bush.

From the plants’ perspective, birds eating berries is a means to making more plants. This explains why fruits and berries undergo veraison (turning color) when they do. Once the seeds are ready, the pulp becomes sweeter and the skin colorful, as a ‘please eat me’ signal. It is the reds, yellows and oranges of these skins – courtesy of compounds called carotenoids – that robins, cardinals, orioles, basically any bird of reddish feather, incorporate into feather color. Goldfinches get their yellow the same way. Insectivores such as red-headed woodpeckers get their share from plant compounds those insects ate.

Color matters only if an animal (or its predator) can see color. Insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles and birds see color, perhaps better than we do, including ultraviolet hues we cannot see at all. Birds are caught in a dilemma – be a brightly colored male to secure a mate, but then be at more risk of being seen by a predating bird or snake. Females, meanwhile, evolved more toward camouflage colorations that allow them to stay on the nest without being detected. Some species, such as mallard ducks, molt twice a year, the males brightening up for mating season, then going drab for the rest of the year.

Male Mallard duck in courting/mating colors.  

Most mammals have poor color vision or none at all (marine mammals), a theory being that during millions of years of early evolution mammals were mostly nocturnal, eyesight giving up color-detecting cone cells in favor of dim-light functioning rod cells. The old-world primates from whom hominids descended in effect re-invented color vision about 35 million years ago, the better to see ripened fruits and berries. Color blindness is far more common in men than women. One theory was that in the hunter-gatherer era, men needed to see movement while women were looking for ripe fruit, but the reality is that the genes coding for color vision are on the X chromosome, so that women who inherit one mutated X chromosome and one normal will not be afflicted, whereas men, who have only one X chromosome, are.  

Oh, and yes, a “dishonest signal” is lying, to either dissuade predators or fool potential mates. The tasty butterfly that has evolved a wing pattern and coloration similar to a different species that is distasteful is an example of Batesian mimicry. People who color their grey hair are just hoping for the best.

The genesis of this column was a 2009 observation that robins were no longer migrating south for the winter, to then become harbingers of spring

Norway Maple - Invasive Species

Norway maple as an urban and suburban tree is so well established that it feels counter-productive to proclaim that it is an invasive species. It is. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts prohibits the import, sale, trade or propagation of Norway maple trees. The ban dates to 2005, when the Massachusetts Invasive Plants Advisory Group proposed an initial list, last updated February 2017. From Mass.gov: “The Massachusetts Prohibited Plant List prohibits the importation, sale, and trade of plants determined to be invasive in Massachusetts. This ban also covers the purchase and distribution of these plants and related activities, and includes all cultivars, varieties and hybrids of the species listed.” The rules do not affect existing Norway maples already within the landscape, only bringing in or creating (from seed) new trees.

Norway maple cultivars offered by garden supply businesses
include varieties that have 'copper' or purple leaves. In this
photograph, the dark leaf came from a sun-exposed part of
the tree while the green leaf was from deep shade.

Worldwide, there are more than 100 species of maple trees (genus: Acer). Most are native to Asia. Here in New England the native species we see are red silver and sugar maple. In leaf, there is a nice mnemonic to remember which is which: each leaf has three lobes if r-e-d or five lobes if s-u-g-a-r. Leaves on silver maples – also known as swamp or water maples - have five lobes, but this species thrive best near or in wetlands, and so differentiates from sugar maple. Norway maple leaves also have five lobes, but differences in the leaf stem and bark help us tell the difference. For sugar maple, a snapped stem seeps clear, whereas for Norway maple, white. Sugar maples also have a more shaggy bark. In the fall, the native species color up in the orange to red spectrum, while Norway maple leaves lean toward yellow/orange.   

Three differences make Norway maple a yard bane compared to red or sugar maple. Seed production is more prolific, meaning that all summer one will be pulling seedlings out of garden beds. Branches are more likely to break in storms – due to weaker wood – and so more time playing pick-up-sticks. Roots are very close to the surface, to the point of stunting or stopping any grass, weed or groundcover plants underneath. As roots extend sideways roughly as wide as the crown of the tree above ground, this can create a large area of bare earth under the tree.     

The winged seeds are called ‘samaras’. Why? I don’t know.  The term describes all tree seeds that are incorporated into a flattened, papery casing so that they are easily windblown. Much like oaks and beech trees, heavy maple seed production occurs every two to three years. Interestingly, for sugar maples good sap yield in early spring presages a strong seed year, but then sap production is reduced for the spring following that strong seed year, suggesting that the trees have only so much carbohydrate reserves to either create seeds or promote growth. Samaras tend to detach from their stems on windy days, which promotes better dispersal.   

Norway maples have a long history in North America. Credible reports date the introduction to the mid-1700s for New England, perhaps a century later for the west coast.  During the mid-twentieth century urban and suburban plantings of Norway maple trees were common, especially as a replacement for the loss of American elms from Dutch elm disease. With adequate sunlight, adult trees can be 40-50 feet tall and equally wide. The species is tolerant of poor soil and a range of water conditions from drought to wet soil, but fares poorly as a sidewalk installation tree as it prefers to establish a wide, shallow root bed. Lifespan is short compared to native species. Yard, park and cemetery plantings done 50-70 years ago show their age in increased loss of large branches from storms followed by slow replacement growth.

As to why designated invasive in Massachusetts, seeds from suburban plantings are wind-blown into bordering forests. There, due to its shade-tolerant nature as a seedling and sapling, Norway maples out-compete native species. The dense canopy it creates combined with its shallow root system means that forest diversity declines. The loss of understory plants cascades into a less hospitable environment for insects and the animal species that prey on them.

Conservation agents for Massachusetts cities and towns may consider establishing an anti-invasive plants program, but the reality is that killing mature Norway maple trees – the most effective way to stop seed production – is lower on the list than addressing faster-growing/spreading invasive species such as Oriental bittersweet and Japanese knotweed.

Previous plant winners of this column's "Invasive Species of the Year" are in a September 2012 item at www.maynardlifeoutdoors.com. Future candidates include Japanese barberry, purple loosestrife…

Eastern Coyotes have Wolf Genes

One hundred years ago Massachusetts had no wolves - they had been hunted to local extinction. Coyotes were not here yet. Their natural territory was mostly west of the Mississippi River. During the middle of the last century coyotes started appearing in upstate New York, and as time went on spread to the New England states. Today, most town woods, parks and golf courses have coyotes in residence. Sightings are common within Boston city limits. Estimates are that there are 5,000 to 10,000 coyotes in Massachusetts. But are these western coyotes migrating east, or something else entirely?

Eastern coyote, Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA (internet download)

The answer – something else. Anyone who has visited the southwest knows the coyote as a 25-35 pound predator and scavenger more comfortable in open country than woodlands. What we have locally are coyotes, more on the order of 35-55 pounds. Their coats are thicker. Their jaws are wider and stronger. Typical coat color is a grizzled gray but can vary from creamy blonde to red or nearly solid black – the same color range seen in wolves. In the vacuum left by the absence of wolves, they are the apex predator. Although much of what they eat is still small game and fresh roadkill, they are successful hunters of deer.

Grey wolf, average adult weight 90 pounds (internet download)

As it turns out, our local coyotes are coyote-wolf hybrids. DNA analysis confirms that coyotes migrated from the mid-west northward into Ontario and Quebec 80-100 years ago, where they mated with remnant populations of red wolves. Small numbers of these coy-wolves crossed the St. Lawrence Seaway to New York, either during winter ice-over, or perhaps on bridges. This fast-spreading, east-spreading population has been referred to as a “hybrid swarm.” Purebred “western” coyotes also moved east across Ohio and western Pennsylvania, but more slowly, and without the size change. Earlier arguments that what we see in the east are coyote-dog hybrids does not stand up to examination. Genetically, the animals are about 30 percent wolf, perhaps with a trace of dog genes. Coyotes and wolves mate in late winter for spring litters, plus males actively partake in feeding and caring of pups – two traits not seen in dogs.

Western coyote, average weight 25-35 pounds (internet download)

What does it mean that wolves, in the form of these coy-wolves, are in New England?  Hunting pressure by coy-wolves is beginning to slow the runaway deer population. Ditto the Canada geese population, although purebred coyotes manage that just as well in the midwest. Pressure is also increased on the feral cat population, and probably wild turkey, rabbits, opossums, woodchucks, etc. In suburban and urban areas the culprit tipping over garbage cans is more likely to be coyotes than raccoons.

Being a good neighbor to your local coy-wolf means not putting food outside for your pets. Or for that matter, your pets. Letting a cat out for the night is bad odds for getting that cat back in the morning. Walk your dog on a leash, especially in the woods. At home, a five-foot fenced yard should be enough to protect your pets, chickens, and other animals. Coyotes and coy-wolves are less adverse to living near human habitat than pure wolves, but they still tend to be shy. Although preferred hunting time is late evening and early morning, a coyote hanging out in broad daylight is not necessarily a sick or rabid animal. Still, peace of mind recommends reporting to the police, who will forward the information to an animal control officer. A recent item in the Stow police blotter had an officer reporting to a daytime coyote sighting, and chasing it away by throwing snowballs.

Grey fox, average weight ~ 10 pounds
Note long tail relative to body size
Click on photos to enlarge

Winter coyote sightings will usually be of individual animals. In spring, coyotes pair up for mating, and then raising the pups. From mid-summer into fall sightings can include one or both parents with the pups along for hunting lessons. By fall the family unit can resemble a wolfpack, as the youngsters are nearly adult size. Dispersal occurs in late fall, with the now-adult animals wandering many miles to find a territory not already claimed by a mated pair, and then find a mate. More people hear the yipping of coyotes than ever see one.   

Jonathan G. Way has spent years studying coyotes in eastern Massachusetts and elsewhere. His book, Surburban Howls, is a great read. He is trying to establish a no-hunting, coy-wolf wildlife refuge on Cape Cod. He also operates www.easterncoyoteresearch.com as a very informative website.