Where Did Lake Milton Get Its Name?

“Where did Lake Milton get its name?” a curious patron wanted to know.

We checked the Milton Township website, which includes information on its history. From the website, we learned that Milton Township was originally home to the Erie Indians until the Iroquois Confederacy went to war with them in 1653. Settlers, including Nathaniel Stanley, Aaron Porter, and John Van Netten, arrived in 1803. The town was one of the most sparsely populated in Mahoning County until development of the lake began.

However, not finding any information on the origins of the town’s name, we brought in reinforcements and called the reference librarian at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. The librarian we spoke to was extremely friendly and willing to help. Since she didn't know off the top of her head either, she consulted Ohio Place Names by Larry L. Miller. According to Miller’s book, Lake Milton most likely takes its name from Milton, Connecticut, which makes sense given that it was originally part of the Connecticut Western Reserve.

As it turns out, we have a copy of Ohio Place Names here in the library. Out of curiosity, we looked up Newton Falls and found that it was originally just called “Falls.” The “Newton” was added later, probably in reference to Newtown, Connecticut, though a piece of local folklore credits the name to  Eben Newton, an 1812 schoolteacher.

If you’re interested in knowing where your own town’s name comes from, feel free to give us a call or stop by!

Where Does the Term "Red Herring" Come From?

“Where does the term ‘red herring’ come from?”

A red herring is commonly defined as a piece of information that misleads or distracts from the real situation. You can often find them in mystery stories, added in by the author to keep the reader from unraveling the plot too quickly. Literarydevices.net uses The Da Vinci Code and “The Hound of the Baskervilles” as examples – both contain characters who function as red herrings by behaving so suspiciously that the reader believes them to be the culprit, until the end of the story when they’re revealed to be innocent all along. Red herrings also appear in arguments when a person brings up an unrelated topic in the hopes of turning their audience’s focus away from the actual issue at hand.

According to NTC’S American Idioms Dictionary, the term comes from the practice of using a strong-smelling smoked fish (the aforementioned red herring) to throw hunting dogs off the scent they were following, particularly to keep them from chasing a fox.  However, Michael Quinion’s article on World Wide Words disputes that commonly-held belief. In all his research of fox hunting, the only time he came across anyone using a literal red herring was the mention of hunters dragging one across the ground for dogs to follow so that the horses used in the hunt could grow accustomed to following along with the dogs. Obviously, that doesn’t have much to do with confusing a trail.

Quinion writes that the proper etymology of the phrase has since been traced back to 19^th century journalist William Cobbett. Cobbett claimed that, as a boy, he used a red herring to divert dogs from their quarry. Most likely he had made this story up, but he compared the dogs being distracted from their hunt by the false scent to other journalists being distracted from domestic matters by false news of Napoleon, and the idiom “red herring” was born.

How Do Deer Make It Through the Winter?

"How do deer make it through the winter?” 

Even as hot as it’s been lately, one of our patrons is looking ahead to colder months, concerned for the deer that have to weather them. We found our answers in Leonard Lee Rue III’s The Deer of North America and Way of the Whitetail and the websites of New Brunswick’s Natural Resources Department, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

In the fall, deer begin to grow out their winter coat. Grayish-brown in color, the winter coat is comprised of hollow hairs and a dense undercoat and provides excellent insulation. Deer’s metabolism will also drop, allowing them to get by on less food.

Even with their winter coats, cold winds can chill, and deep snow requires a lot of energy to move through. To avoid the wind and snow, deer in the north will move to wintering areas, also known as deer yards, which can be anywhere from a few to a hundred acres and can draw in deer from all over the area. The most important function of a deer yard is to provide cover, so they’re typically found in swamps and gullies with good stands of evergreens.

While moose will lie down in the snow and use it as a blanket, deer prefer to make their beds by pawing down to the leaves and sleeping there. As another way of conserving energy, they’ll move as little as possible. During a bad snowstorm, they may not even leave their beds – an impulse many of us can understand.

What Do Canada Geese Eat?

“What do Canada geese eat?” 

Canada geese are a common sight in Ohio, heralding the changing of the seasons. We often see them poking around in the grass, but none of us at the Newton Falls Public Library were exactly sure what it is they’re eating.

We went back to our extensive birding collection for the answers and found them in Birds of North America by Fred J. Alsop III, Birds of Lake, Pond, and Marsh by John Eastman, and Birds of Ohio by James S. McCormac and Gregory Kennedy.

All Canada geese are almost exclusively vegetarian, though according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, they've also been known to eat snails, insects, and tadpoles. Geese will graze on land, both on wild plants and on crops and stubble fields, and dip their heads underwater to enjoy aquatic plants. Their diet of choice includes cattail, bulrush, pondweed, grass, clover, alfalfa, corn, millet, barley, soybeans, oats, and wheat.

According to Ducks Unlimited Canada, they spend most of their time feeding – up to twelve hours a day! – and will eat even more before migrations. Females especially will eat more before the spring migration to ensure that they have enough energy to lay and then incubate their eggs.

What's the Difference Between a BMP and a JPEG?

“What’s the difference between a BMP and a JPEG file?”

If you’ve gone to save a picture on a computer, you’ve probably noticed that there are a few different file formats you can use. BMP (short for bitmap) and JPEG (short for Joint Photographic Experts Group) are two of your options, and they each have their ups and downs. We checked Web Design for Dummies and Photoshop 7 for Dummies (which, though it refers to a fairly old version of Photoshop, still has good basic information) to get the specifics.

If you save an image as a BMP, it’ll be high quality and will never degrade. However, the file size will be relatively large, and, depending on the size of your picture, it will be difficult to send as an email attachment or post online.

Saving images as JPEGs produces much smaller files that are easier to email and post online. However, when you open, edit, and resave a JPEG image, it will lose a little of its quality. It’s good to use when saving photographs and graphics with lots of colors, but will cause a more noticeable loss of quality in images with large areas of flat color.

If you’d like to know more about BMP and JPEG, as well as other file formats like GIF and PNG, feel free to come in and peruse our selection of computer books!

How Do Birds Stay Cool?

“How do birds stay cool in the summer?” One of our patrons saw a mother bird who had built her nest in a sunny window. The bird had her mouth open as though she was panting, and was shading the nest with her wings.

 As it turns out, those are two common ways birds cool themselves down. They have their own way of panting, and may also open their mouths and flutter the throat muscles to release heat. They’ll also open up their wings and spread out their feathers to let the air circulate around their bodies. The mother bird our patron saw may have been both cooling down her babies and herself.

We found our answers on the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission website and the Audubon Magazine blog. Both sources suggest installing a birdbath if you’d like to help your feathered friends beat the heat. Not only does it provide a source of fresh drinking water, but it gives the birds a place to splash around. The Newton Falls Public Library has books on birdbaths available, including “Projects for the Birder’s Garden” and Edward A. Baldwin’s “Birdfeeders, Shelters, and Baths.”

We didn't go into all the ways that birds can cool themselves down – turkey vultures have a particularly unsavory way of going about it. If you’re curious, you can find out how in Joey Slinger’s “Down and Dirty Birding.”

Can Dogs and Cats Share Food?

“I have a dog and a cat, and they each like to eat from the other’s food bowl. Is that bad for them?”

While none of us here at the Newton Falls Public Library are veterinarians, we were able to check online and look through our collection of pet-care books, eventually finding the answers in Cats for Dummies and on PetMD. Cats and dogs have different nutritional needs, so although it’s okay for them to have the occasional snack from one another’s dish, according to PetMD, it’s generally best for them to stick to their own food.

Cats need a lot of protein – over double the amount per pound of body weight than dogs or even people do, according to Cats for Dummies. Cats also need to get fat from animal sources, since they can’t manufacture essential fatty acids from plant sources like dogs can. Taurine, an amino acid found in animal proteins, is necessary for cats, and a deficiency can cause serious eye and heart problems. Dog food doesn't have these nutrients, nor does it have enough protein for a cat to be happy and healthy.

On the other hand, because cat food is so high in fat and protein, dogs tend to really like it. Unfortunately, it’s not very good for them either. It’s so rich that it can cause digestive problems, and eating it too often can lead to obesity.

For more information about pet nutrition, David G. Wellock’s Health and Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: A Guide for Pet Parents is available here at the Newton Falls Public Library. If you’d like to try your hand at cooking up your own treats for your pets, Gregg R. Gillespie’s Tasty Treats for Demanding Dogs is available at the Newton Falls Public Library and Liz Palika’s The Ultimate Cat Treat Cookbook is available through CLEVNET.