People, Places & Events

Kiwanis members create fruit baskets for seniors
Monitor Photos/Kerry Yancey

Cedar Creek Lake Kiwanis members change focus from children to seniors as they prepare Christmas gift boxes with fruit at their Dec. 19 meeting. ABOVE: Kiwanis members Denise York (left), Dr. Jeanne Caillet, Carol Eubank, Paula Kimball and Marian Tillery put gift boxes together for delivery later in the day. BELOW: Barbara Caudell (left), Shannon Steakley, Lisa Hudgens and Darenna Buchanan prepare fruit baskets at the Lakeridge RV Park’s community room.

Hunter education instructors needed
Special to The Monitor
ATHENS–The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) will be conducting a free hunter education new instructor training workshop 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7, in Athens.
The department will be training new applicants and currently certified instructors in skills trail, live firing exercises and home study procedures.
The training puts fun and exciting activities into the learning experience.
Students will benefit by going through actual hunting simulations and by making their own decisions regarding responsible actions using “shoot-don’t-shoot” scenarios.
Every Texas hunter born on or after Sept. 2, 1971, must successfully complete a hunter education course.
The hunter education program’s goals are to reduce hunting-related accidents and violations, promote safe, responsible and knowledgeable hunting and enhance hunting traditions and values.
Hunter education provides instruction in Texas hunting regulations, wildlife management and identification, conservation, ethics, firearm and hunting safety and responsibility, and outdoor skills.
By understanding hunting through education, hunters and non-hunters alike will help make a bright future for the sport. Now is the time to become involved!
To register, please contact: Heidi Lyn Rao, TPWD Hunter Education Specialist, at (281) 534-0126 or heidi.rao@tpwd.state.tx.us

Pet Talk
No Fleas, please!
By Joan B. Guertin
Special to the Monitor
CEDAR CREEK LAKE–Few things stop fleas in their tracks better than a good freeze.
Not that I have problems with the pesky critters, except when I travel to a new area or a dog show. So, I stay alert for the comfort and health of my dogs.
I am not a big fan of spot-on flea controls. Anything that advises the wearing of rubber gloves when applying bothers me. After all, I am putting it on the dog’s skin!
Anyway, my daughter, the groomer, called to tell me that many of her clients are not getting good results with the spot-ons. It could be due to several things.
First of all, nature’s way of giving all things a chance at life is to allow for mutation. This means what has been working may now not work as well as the pests have built up an immunity.
Then again, it is possible that the product is not being applied properly. I hadn’t used these products for many years so I asked a friend to let me read the information on the box.
I vaguely remembered being instructed to bathe the dog, to remove the dirt, then wait 24 hours for the natural oils to recover before applying the product. The product was distributed throughout the coat via the oils.
Nowhere in the directions was there any mention of this. A call to the customer service line led me to a helpful young lady who said that since people didn’t follow the directions anyway, they had been eliminated.
No wonder the product hasn’t been working well. Just some food for thought!
I personally prefer using a more natural approach to flea control.
All my dogs take brewers yeast, garlic and pure apple cider vinegar in their food daily. It has worked for me for years.
When I moved to Texas three years ago, I began adding diatomaceous earth to my flea-control regiment.
This is a marvelous product that wrecks havoc on pests! It is powdered seashells. I have even used it around ant hills, including the fire ants, with great results.
Food grade diatomaceous earth can even be sprinkled on the dog’s food and on the dog. I sprinkle in the kennels, crates, on the dogs and over the hay in the dog houses during the winter months.
It is an inexpensive product which I get at the Agriculture Supply on State Highway 243 in Canton. This, along with the supplements in their food, keep my critters free of fleas.
When I travel to dog shows, there is always the possibility of attracting a few new pests. For this I use a quick-kill pill called Capstar.
I give it to my dogs just before returning home, so we don’t transport any unwanted critters. This is available at Friends of the Animals in Gun Barrel City.
Many people use foggers in their home to eliminate fleas. If doing so, be sure to spray under the furniture and into corners before setting off the fogger in the center of a room.
Otherwise, it will get all the open surfaces, but not those covered by furniture.
If you have an infestation, it will take at least three applications to eliminate the problem.
Most good flea products used for premise control will kill the live fleas but not the eggs. Look for a product containing an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR). IGR’s will kill the eggs and live fleas. However, nothing kills the insect in the cocoon stage.
Although adult fleas lives about two to four weeks, they can lay thousands of eggs!
When I lived on a large acreage in California, I used an IGR spray from my house and kennel to about 20 feet out to create a perimeter.
Even if the dogs went beyond the treated area, once they returned the treatment took care of any fleas they may have picked up.
Even though I feed to prevent fleas, I still examine my dogs daily to insure they are flea free.
A very fine flea comb helps with this. Inspect the underbelly of the dog and watch for black flea dirt specks or a live flea. Comb it out and drop debris into a soap and water mix or into alcohol.
Also, when bathing the dogs, rinse with undiluted apple cider vinegar. The acidity appears to help in repelling nasty pests, and it helps disinfect bites or irritations.
Great resources for flea control products can be found on the Internet.
My favorite is Revival Animal Health at www.revivalanimal.com  or (800) 786 4751. Others are: PetEdge.com, (800) 738-3343 or Drs. Foster and Smith at DrsFosterSmith.com, (800) 826-7206.
Also, see www.grapplepetproducts.com , a Canton-based company on State Highway 64. They carry natural shampoos and other products to keep your pets clean and healthy!
And pray for that freeze that will equal the playing field this year for both us and our pets!