Editor, Times-Union: When we think in terms of an endangered species, we generally have vague visions of an exotic creature living "somewhere" away from here. However, we have fish and mussels, which appear on the imperiled list, in our Tippecanoe River.
Among the most interesting animals calling the Tippecanoe River home is the American eel. Although in some literature that name is used to denote any eel living in rivers within U.S. borders, the true American eel is that which is associated with Indiana's Tippy River. This particular eel begins life in the southern part of the Sargasso Sea, an area of the North Atlantic Ocean which is heavily covered with floating seaweed and extended down to the Bahamas. It is in the Bahamian area of the Sargasso that the American eel is spawned.
Starting at the Mississippi River, the female leaves the Gulf's salt water to migrate up fresh water rivers until it reaches the Tippecanoe. It spreads out along the length of the Tippecanoe and spends the next seven to 20 years here. After that undetermined period of time, the eel migrates back to the mouth of the Mississippi to choose a mate and make its way to the waters of the Bahamas to spawn and die.
Although it is difficult to get a good estimate of the eel population, it is believed to be declining at a rapid rate. (Fish counts are conducted with the use of an electrofisher, but eels usually do not stun with the fisher.)
Knowing that this animal makes such a concerted effort to seek out our Tippecanoe River, we should do all we can to keep the river clean and inviting. To do this, we must keep toxins and other pollutants from entering not only the river itself, but all the streams which flow into it. The Tippecanoe River is considered one of the 10 most important rivers in the entire country.
For more information about the American eel, contact the Nature Conservancy or Indiana's DNR.
Madeleine Fisher Mentone
Accident Coverage
Editor, Times-Union: I am horrified of the things that keep making front page of the newspaper. What am I talking about I am sure you are asking? I am talking about tragedies. I am not asking you at all to stop educating the public on accidents that have happened. What I am asking for you to stop doing is putting it on the front page with a huge picture.
If you want to tell us about it, then please make it front page without the picture.
I am mostly referring to the picture of Nichole Brandons' accident. The family is grieving enough and getting the paper and having to see something like that only makes it worse. Do you have no heart? I know what it feels like to lose someone that means so very much to me. I was lucky that her death wasn't publically announced.
If you wanted to put it in the paper, why didn't you just put it further back in the pages?
It's not only accidents but also fires and tragedies like that.
These people know what have happened and have lost so very much and for them to be seeing something like that only adds insult to injury. I bet you never thought of that. Nothing that anyone can do can bring back a loved one or change the fact that they have lost everything in a fire, but you can do something about not making them feel worse.
Tiffany Wells, via e-mail Warsaw
Adversity
Editor, Times-Union: God has created all of us for a purpose.
We plant flowers for our enjoyment.
He has planted all of us for His enjoyment.
Sometimes the greatest adversity can lead to the greatest opportunity.
A man, who, as I understand it, worked for a company for 30 years, got laid off. He felt terrible. He did not just lay around. He and some other men got together and started a business their own. Today it is known as The Home Depot.
If you have had adversity - shake it off.
Again, as I understand, a man had a mule that he liked very much. It fell in a 40-foot well. Too deep to rescue him. To get him out of his misery, he decided to get a load of sand and bury him. He began to shovel sand on the mule. Each time the mule would shake it off. Each time he shook the sand off, the mule became closer to getting out of the well. Finally, when enough sand came, he walked out of the well.
Keep doing right - even if mistreated. Don't get buried in the sand. Shake it off.
Read the story of Joseph in the Bible. Sometimes God uses adversity to get one into a new zone. When the load gets too heavy - ask God to carry it for you.
"Even to your old age, I am He. And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear. Even I will carry, and will deliver you." Isaiah 46:4.
Leslie E. Swanson Winona Lake
Driving
Editor, Times-Union: Warning for all drivers! Especially the young drivers, watch out for corners where corn is growing too close to the road. It is hard to see if there is anyone coming. If you are driving along a corn field, watch out for cars on side roads that can't see you.
As school starts, please drive carefully.
Concerned grandparents Perry and Linda Hathaway Claypool
Animal Control
Editor, Times-Union: Tuesday evening my husband and I were visiting with friends at the Center Lake Park in Warsaw. A large retriever-type dog and a setter-type were running loose. The park officer caught the female. A gentleman came and took the dog. The people said it was animal control. I am a little upset as the dog was put into a cage with no protection from the sun or heat.
I am not an animal activist, but I was raised on a farm to take care of the animals properly. The animal control man was not mean or abusive to the dog. He loaded the dog without hurting it, but there was no shelter for this animal. The temperatures were in the 90s. I am not sure of the laws of Indiana, but I really think that he should have had a topper of some sort. Maybe this is not his normal truck as it looked very old, but he still should have shelter for those animals that he hauls.
People in the park did say that the animal control man was not the usual one.
