All posts by chasenfratz

A plea for the humane treatment of Wiggles the pet starling

Birds, Conservation, , , , , ,

Wiggles is a disabled human-raised pet starling that was
confiscated by the government in the State of Pennsylvania. You can familiarize
yourself with the story here – https://www.facebook.com/wigglesthestarling/info

The owner’s son has autism and the whole family has been
traumatized by a government raid on their home.

My contribution to the letter writing campaign in support of
Wiggles is as follows:

“I am writing this letter in the hope that it will help the
cause of trying to reunite the tame starling Wiggles with his owner.

I live with two rescued starlings. People found them both at
the age of about five days old and raised them in captivity. Imprinting in
starlings I understand starts at about the age of one week old. Both of my
starlings see humans as their flock. Typically when it’s time for their “out”
time and the cage door is opened, they explode out of it and fly straight to
me. After spending some time with me they take their bath, explore the room a
bit and come back to me at intervals to visit. One or both birds usually ends
up napping on my arm or shoulder after they’ve been out awhile. Although my
understanding is that it’s not typical for starlings to enjoy being petted, my
starling Pooky does like it when he’s in certain moods.

My two starlings are no more “wild” than any other pet bird
you could have. They do everything other more common pet birds do – they play
with toys, they play with their human, they learn to perform certain tasks on
command such as entering the cage when their out time is done and coming when
called, they talk with a vocabulary of dozens of words and phrases and
sometimes use human words in the correct context. Clearly they understand the
meaning of some words I use with them, such as “worms”, “cheese” and “come
here”.

My starlings like the company of most other humans and will
land on them and climb on them. They are even friendly to the vet and vet tech
when they get their annual checkups. Needless to say a wild starling would not
do this and it’s good that they don’t because given the way many people feel
about starlings that behavior would be likely to get them killed or abused
cruelly if they were turned loose outdoors. I do believe that they have a
special bond with the people who raised them even if they do like other humans.
My Dad sometimes watches my starlings for me when I go out of town. From time
to time if I’m away I’ll call Dad and he’ll put his phone on speakerphone so
the birds can hear my voice. They tend to respond with an excited chirp when
they hear it. Once when I came to pick them up, my other starling Attila did
back flips on her perch. It’s hard to say what’s going on in an animal’s mind
but it sure looked like excitement to me.

Recently I went on a four day trip and when I went to get the
birds they both got extra animated and started to sing and chatter. Dad said
that was more chattering than they had done during the previous four days. I
let them out for a time before I put them in their travel cage to take them
home and Pooky snuggled under my chin and let me pet him for nearly an hour.
His usual tolerance for this is about five minutes. I don’t think Pooky would
have behaved this way if he weren’t glad to see me.

It is rumored that a rehabber is currently caring for
Wiggles. If true I hope the rehabber is kind to Wiggles. Even if that is so I
believe Wiggles would be a lot happier in his original home due to what I’ve
observed in my own birds’ behavior and some things stated in the book “Holistic
Care for Birds” by David McCluggage, DVM and Pamela Leis Higdon, an author of
several books on bird care and training. On page 97 it states: “If you used to
work part time but have taken a full-time job, your bird will become
emotionally stressed… If you develop a new relationship with someone the bird
will feel neglected; they know you are diverting some of your love and time
from them.” If those kinds of things can stress a bird, what kind of suffering
is it experiencing by being confiscated by strangers and taken to a strange
place, possibly a succession of strange places, and being in the care of
unknown people who may not even like the bird or care what happens to it? There
are lots of people out there who hate starlings. The thought of our bird being
in the hands of such a person is the stuff of nightmares for starling owners
(literally I have had nightmares about this). In real life when I found my
first baby starling I posted on Facebook that I had found one and what advice
people could give. A couple of ideas were “drown it” or “put it in a plastic
bag and tie it to the exhaust pipe of your car”. Five years later that bird is
sitting on my forearm getting ready to take a nap by singing herself to sleep,
murmuring such phrases as “you’re sweet” and “I love you” as I write this. I’m
sure glad I didn’t take any of that advice!

How many times have we heard moving stories of dogs and cats
traveling great distances and enduring hardships to find their lost owners? Are
starlings less intelligent and have fewer emotional needs than these animals? I
don’t think so and I don’t think any starling owner or expert on birds thinks
that.

The reason so many people have pet starlings is that unlike
native birds, we fear with good reason that to turn them over to a rehabber
could be a death sentence. I don’t have two pet starlings because I desire to
take wild birds out the wild. When I find a baby of a native species I take it
to a rehabber ASAP if I can’t put it back in the nest. In the case of starlings
if we want the bird to live we have no option but to raise it ourselves or
adopt it out if we can’t reunite it with the natural parents. Once we see what
it’s like to live with a tame, human imprinted starling, even though it means
extra work many of us feel blessed to have such a close bond with a member of
another species and we become passionate advocates for the humane treatment of
starlings. I’ve had pet parakeets before and I loved them very much but the
bond between them and me was not quite as close because I did not raise them
myself. In my opinion it is cruel to torment Wiggles’ owner with thoughts of
how he’s being treated. How would you feel if your close animal companion was
ripped away from you and you weren’t being allowed visitation or to even know
for sure who had him and if he was suffering? I feel very fortunate that I live
in a state where I will never have the experience of having my starling family
torn from me by the government. Once due to unfortunate life circumstances I was
separated involuntarily from a pet turtle that I had raised from an egg
and I didn’t know her fate for about 10 or so years. I eventually found out
that the son of a veterinarian had adopted her. What a load off my mind that
was. I had carried that grief and guilt for so many years and it was such a
relief to be able to let it go because she was in good hands.

In 2005 I was reading some accounts of the evacuation of the
area affected by Hurricane Katrina and I read of the mental torment of a woman
who was not allowed to bring her pet along and it was presumed drowned or dead of neglect from being abandoned. I remember the woman was quoted as saying “I hope she forgives me.” I’m crying
just thinking about it. Please don’t inflict this kind of suffering on human
beings for no rational reason. It’s cruel and inhumane to both the human and
the animal.

I’d like to address the issue of whether the confiscation of
a pet starling makes any logical sense. It is understandable to not want to
encourage the import of invasive species into a state. However the “horse is
out of the barn” so to speak in the case of starlings. They were already far
beyond their importation origin on the East coast by the 1920s and have been in
every contiguous US state for many decades. Keeping a starling in captivity is
not going to add to the wild population – rather it does the opposite by
removing the bird from the wild breeding population. My understanding from what
I’ve read on starlingtalk.com and other resources is that starlings are very
difficult to breed in captivity. People who want to breed starlings on purpose
are few and far between and from what I’ve read it’s very difficult to do even
if you really work at it. My two starlings are male and female and have been
living together for three years and I’ve seen no evidence that the female wants
to breed with anyone and if the male wants to breed with anyone his preference
is me (judging by the fact that his singing and wing-waving are directed toward
me) since he’s imprinted on humans! My understanding is that it’s not unusual
for pet birds to prefer their human as a potential mate. So there is not much
danger of increasing the starling population that way. What is the intent of
the law in Pennsylvania against having starlings as pets, if there is even such
a law? Is it for the welfare of the bird? Clearly not, since it’s apparently
legal to slaughter them if you feel like it. Who does it benefit then? I think
Pennsylvania needs to join the other 46 states and show common sense by
considering the starlings’ special status and allowing them to be cared for in
loving homes. In Wiggles’ case he is disabled and could not survive in the wild
anyway even if he was raised by other starlings and had a chance for a good
wild life. Human-imprinted starlings are not wild and do not know how to act
like a wild bird and have a much better chance of a happy life in their own
home with their own family.

We would like to think that government officials who have the power of life and death over animals, whether wild or domestic, actually care about their welfare and not just about showing off how much power they have over us. Please give us hope that you actually care about the animal by reuniting Wiggles with the family who loves him and he’s emotionally bonded with.

Carolyn Hasenfratz

Brentwood, Missouri”

Lots of new projects

Fabric and Fiber Arts, Mixed Media, Rubber Stamping, Upcycling, , , , , , , , , ,

I’ve been keeping busy with lots of new work – here are some samples of some projects in progress!

06-09-14 – Here is what is on my work table –
Using some of the stencil/embroidery fabric experiments to applique onto
the front of a wine bag to upcycle it. One piece is for the front and
one for the back. I’m sewing fabric pieces and ribbon onto pieces of
fusible webbing then will sew around the edges to attach to the pieces
to the front and back of the bag.

06-18-14 – On my work table today – greeting
cards right before all the parts are glued together. Techniques used –
collage, rubber stamping, stenciling. Some of the stencils are
commercial and some are designed and cut by me. Commercial stencils available here – http://carolynsstampstore.com/catalog/stencils-stenciling-supplies-c-45.html

06-22-14 – On my work table today – I cut
these stencils for a Day of the Dead project. Going to experiment with
some discharge paste on fabric.

06-23-014 – Plant trays in progress – doing a
little work on my deck this morning. On Saturday my Dad cut up some
recycled wood for me to make these trays and yesterday I nailed them
together and put wood filler in the cracks. This morning I
sanded them and lined the insides with roof cement. My intention is to
display plants in these at shows and fill in with black gravel to make a
nice uniform appearance. The roof cement is meant to make a waterproof
seal so I can water the plants and not have to worry about damaging
surfaces or putting little saucers under each one which takes up a lot
of room on the table. I want to put folding legs on these trays to
display the plants below table level in front of the tables and I’m
still working out the best way to do that. I was looking in the outdoor
storage closet for some wood pieces I might be able to use for the legs
and saw some folding chairs that came with the condo. In a pinch I could
set the larger tray on two of the chairs until I figure out the legs –
but that gave me another idea – what if I just made two sets each of
smaller and narrower folding legs without seat covers? That would work I
think. Could I put some kind of channel on the bottom to hold the legs
in place and let gravity do the rest? Then it would all fold down for
transport. These trays gave me another idea – what if I made these
without a wide rim but just enough to be level with a ceramic tile
mosaic and designed them to drain instead of hold water? Would make good
garden/patio accessories I think.

Fun with Stencils

Fabric and Fiber Arts, Home Decor, Mixed Media, Tutorials, , , , , ,

Introduction

During the 1970s, my Mom was really into Pennsylvania Dutch style stencils for home decor – I still have some of her old stencil brushes! I myself used stencils for some of my printmaking projects in the 1990s. Recently I’ve been experimenting with different ways of applying inks and paints on fabric, which is an application stencils are very well suited for, along with mark making on walls, furniture, paper and other surfaces. You can cut your own stencils or use pre-made commercial stencils. In this project I’ll explain how to cut your own and show some samples of how they can be used.

Tools and materials

Stencil material

Pre-made stencils

X-Acto knife

Plain paper

Low-tack masking tape

Tracing paper

Pencil

Self-healing cutting mat

Tools for applying the ink such as: sponges, stipple brushes, foam brushes, ColorBox Color Blender, sponge daubers, Inkcessories

Assortment of paints and inks

Water containers including one large enough to hold stencils

Rags

Pallete knife

Pallete (can be plastic food container lid or temporary pallete such as a piece of freezer paper taped down to your work surface)

Freezer paper

Old baking pan or piece of cardboard

Optional – scrap art papers of assorted sizes, colors and weights

Optional – Baren

Optional – brayer

Optional – heat tool

READ MORE

Insect Repelling Incense Sticks

Outdoor Fun, Personal Care Products, , , , ,

My brother likes to grill so I made him some incense sticks to keep bugs away while he’s enjoying time in the backyard. They turned out to smell so good that I’ve been burning a few in my studio just to enjoy the fragrance while I work – I felt more relaxed and creative for some reason! (My studio is not near my pet birds’ cage – don’t burn incense or candles near birds!)

Ingredients: Unscented incense sticks, DPG (Dipropylene Glycol), Citronella essential oil, Litsea Cubeba essential oil, Camphor essential oil, insect repelling essential oil blend (contains eucalyptus, lavender, palmarosa, citronella, rose geranium and rosemary), Neem oil, Rosemary Oleoresin Extract (ROE), Lime Citronella soap fragrance.

Instructions: I took out a shot glass and added one eyedropper each of all the ingredients except the DPG and Lime Citronella fragrance. I filled the rest of the shotglass to the top with the fragrance. I emptied the shotglass contents into a glass measuring cup then added three more shotglasses full of DPG and mixed well. I placed the incense sticks in a glass baking dish and poured the mixture over the sticks then covered with foil and let soak for 24 hours. To dry I poked the sticks into a chunk of scrap styrafoam and let sit out. They burned ok the next day but I wasn’t sure they were totally dry so I let them dry a few more days.

The sticks make a good room air freshener until burned so I’m going to store mine upright in a vase. I had some fragrance mixture left over so I stored and labeled that for future use. I’m so pleased with this first attempt at incense making that I’m going to order some natural ingredients for making incense cones from scratch and phase out the synthetic ingredients once they are used up. The smoke smell mixed with the fragrances is so much better than the fragrances by themselves!

Scrap Soap Bar #1

Personal Care Products, ,

I’ve noticed that sometimes when doing ceramics that scrap glazes can be some of the best. I’ve made some great polymer clay beads with scrap canes and paper projects from scrap paper. I had some leftovers from my last several batches of melt and pour soap so decided to make a scrap soap bar to see how it turned out. I’m really pleased with the results – the colors are nice together and I find the resulting fragrance blend much to my liking – warm and fresh, natural rather than “perfumy”, not too strong. It’s hard to say what it smells like but I would say orange and musk notes dominate.

For complete ingredient list, go to www.chasenfratz.com/soaprecipes

Baby Bird Rescue 2014

Birds, Conservation, Gardening, , , , , , , , ,

Normally when I find a nestling baby bird on the ground, I take it to a wild bird rehabber. In 2009 three baby birds fell out of my neighbor’s dryer vent that I had to deal with differently – they were starlings. I knew what species they were and exactly when they were hatched because from my desk I can see out the patio door. On the building adjacent to my condo there is a little ledge that the starlings use as a staging area where they land before entering the dryer vent. That landing area is in direct view of where I sit while I work. It’s lucky for these birds I knew the species before I brought them in to a rehabber. Why is that? Many rehabbers will euthanize all starlings brought to them because they are not a native bird. They are believed by many to be destructive to other birds and are hated and persecuted by some people. By the time I called the wild bird rehab about my first batch of starlings, two of them had died – now that I know more about them I realize these two were never really healthy and they did not grow much before they died . When I spoke to the rehabber on the phone I was down to one bird and we had bonded with each other. I had been warned that the rehabber might want to euthanize my bird because I had done extensive reading on starlingtalk.com to learn how to care for them and I was made aware of how starlings are usually treated. The rehabber I spoke to seemed eager for me to keep it as a pet and I interpreted that as knowledge on her part that it would be euthanized and she knew it would be better off with me. I’m not 100% sure that my interpretation was correct but I did look on that organizations Facebook page a few days ago and looked through several years’ worth of photos of bird clients of theirs and there was not one starling picture. As common as they are it seems like there should be some if they rehab them, so I’m assuming they don’t. There is another bird rescue organization in the area that deals with raptors and larger birds and they sometimes feed starlings to their clients so I know not to take any there!

So I kept the surviving bird and named her Attila because of her rapacious appetite and we’ve been living happily together ever since. I adopted Pooky in 2011 at the age of three months old and with two starlings to compare to each other I realized Attila is female and Pooky is male. Living with two starlings is delightful in many ways – they are great talkers with a huge vocabulary of human words and phrases as well as environmental sounds and songs I’ve whistled to them mixed with crazy bird noises. They are very affectionate. Often when I’m working at my computer they are out of the cage and climbing on me and if they are in the right mood sleeping on my arm, snuggling against my neck, or in Pooky’s case sitting on my chest or in the crook of my elbow getting petted (Attila doesn’t like to be touched). They are easy to train and with their intelligence, curiosity and rather imperious attitude they are always surprising me and making me laugh with their antics. Starlings are not suitable for people who want a low-maintenance pet. It takes some adjustments in lifestyle to live with one – you can read about the requirements here – Is a Starling Right For You?

I woke up this past Mother’s Day, May 11, 2014 (coincidentally also Attila’s hatch day) not feeling very good because my mother died in 2010 and I had no mothers or grandmothers to go visit. Usually the first thing I do upon waking on a spring morning is open the patio door and look out over the back garden. I’d been watching the starlings nesting in the dryer vent with interest for a week now and enjoying the sounds of the babies calling out. Over the winter I had sent an email to the condo association office to remind them that it would be a good time to block that dryer vent before there was a nest in there again, but nothing was done so the starlings were back. It’s not that I object to the starlings – I love them obviously, and I also love that they eat lawn grubs, Japanese Beetles and tent caterpillars. But I don’t want my neighbor to have a fire in his dryer vent and I don’t want more baby birds to fall out. Well on this morning most of the sounds were coming from the ground, so I went over there to investigate, and sure enough, in the same spot where I found Attila five years ago, there were three adorable one week old baby starlings on the ground.

Normally the best thing to do is put them back in the nest, but I could not reach it – my stepladder is not tall enough. So I took them inside, made them a makeshift nest, fed them, and thought about what to do. Being foster mother to some baby birds on Mother’s Day was a great way to dispel the gloom of having no mother, but for how long? I knew that I now had the knowledge to raise them and take care of them, but could I handle having a total of five pet starlings? I know of people who have larger flocks of starlings than that in their house but they probably don’t live in condos with close neighbors who would not be thrilled with the noise. Attila is not very noisy but Pooky is quite loud at times and one Pooky is more than enough! Luckily neither bird is loud at night or early in the morning which is probably why my neighbors haven’t complained! Then there is the expense – it doesn’t cost much to feed them, but they get vet checkups once a year and for two birds it’s not that big of an expense but five? That’s several months electric bill! So that’s a no. Finding good homes for them would not be easy. It seemed like a better idea would be to try to build a nest box and get the parents to raise the babies in there.

So I looked online for starling nest box plans and called my Dad to see if he had enough wood on hand to build it. Dad is the handy type and has all the tools and usually sufficient supplies around for small projects like this. He said yes so I came over with the plans and he generously did most of the work. I could have done it but it probably would have taken me about four times as long and time was important in this case! I came home Sunday evening with a nice nest box. The next step was to call the condo association in the morning and get permission to place the box (they are very strict about what you can do on the outside of your unit) and to borrow a ladder to get the remaining starling baby out of the nest. It took about 24 hours to work through all the layers of bureaucracy but finally on Tuesday morning the head of maintenance and a helper came over and held the ladder while I climbed up to get the last baby out. It took the whole length of my arm plus a restaurant-style serving spoon but I barely managed to scoop it out. I put all four babies in the makeshift nest and put them in the box then tied the box to my stepladder and placed it near the dryer vent. The maintenance guy put a grid cover on the vent so they couldn’t get back in.

Now came some anxious waiting. By this time the babies had been with me 48 hours. They were already used to me feeding them – they would call out when I came near and their little heads would turn and look at me when I walked by – and accustomed to their new feeding schedule (once every 45 min on Sunday, once an hour on Monday). Believe it or not for the last two feedings on Monday evening they started making noise about a minute before my timer went off. Would they adjust back to being fed by the parents? And would the parents take them back? Several times the adult starlings approached the box with food without going in and I held my breath. Then finally success! After about three hours of steady feeding I declared the operation a success!

I’m writing this on Wednesday morning. I checked the babies first thing after waking up and they look fine and the parents are still frequently feeding them! They should be in the box for approximately another week and a half. Assuming no further disasters it will be a lot of fun to see them fledge! I don’t doubt that most people reading this probably think I’m out of my mind for spending this much effort on baby birds, and baby starlings at that. As far back as I can remember I’ve always been sympathetic to animals that other people don’t like especially if the disdain is for irrational reasons – insects, bats and snakes being prominent examples. Before starlings became my favorite bird, I was most fond of turkey vultures, considered ugly by some but beautiful to me. How much is a baby bird worth? Since I have intimate knowledge of what an adult starling is like, to me they are priceless!

For more information:

Craft Fair Checklist

Marketing, , , , ,

I’m pretty experienced at this craft fair stuff, but I still forget important items now and then. At this past Saturday’s Farmers Market I was organizing the change in my cash box and saw that while I had brought coin and fives, I had forgotten ones! Those are pretty important, luckily I had a 20 on me and I got some ones by buying breakfast from another vendor. I decided I’m going to do something I should have done a long time ago and make a checklist which I will print out and use as a packing guide each time I do a show. In the past I’ve forgotten the cover for my canopy and I’ve been next to a vendor that had to go home because they forgot supports for their shelving and lived too far away to make it worthwhile to go home and come back. Lapses like that can ruin your day. If you check off each essential item as you pack then you can avoid disappointments. Here is my own list – use it as a guide to make your own!

Tables

Table cloths

Wrinkle releaser

Tent

Tent cover

Tent stakes

Hammer

Tent weights

Tarps

Chair(s)

Inventory list

Receipt book

Pens

Cash box

Calculator

Change

Tax rate for locale

Belt pouch

iPhone

Auxiliary battery for phone

Square

Promotional materials

Bags

Boxes

Packing paper (blank newsprint)

Mirror (if selling jewelry)

Signage

Sketchbook

Pencils

Some portable craft item to work on

Hand sanitizer

Tissues

Snacks

Drinks

Sunscreen

Sunglasses

Hat

Rain poncho

Jacket

Roll of orange caution tape

Extra price stickers

Pliers

Wire

Twist ties

Duct tape

Scissors

Masking tape

Paper towels

Oh yeah, and don’t forget the merchandise!

New Raku Fired Pottery Pieces

Art, Ceramic Clay, Home Decor, , , , , , , , ,

Some raku pieces of mine were recently fired and I’m pretty excited about the results. Raku firing as practiced in the studio where I take classes is an adaptation of an ancient Japanese method that can yield some very exciting glaze effects.

Most ceramics are heated and cooled slowly during firing to prevent breakage. Raku firing is different – the pieces are subjected to extreme temperatures during firing. They are heated rapidly then yanked from the kiln red-hot with metal tongs and placed in a pile of sawdust on the ground. More sawdust is heaped on top, which catches fire instantly, then a metal trash can is inverted over the pile to hold in the smoke and create what is called “reduction”.

 

Reduction creates an oxygen-starved environment by overloading the air mixture with carbon. Any exposed clay surface will turn black from the carbon, wonderful effects can be created by leaving areas of the surface unglazed to take advantage. The carbon will also bring out unusual effects in the glazes. For example many glazes containing copper will be green in an oxidation environment but turn red or metallic when reduced. One of the best things about Raku pottery is the unpredictability of how the glaze will turn out. The sawdust covering is variable and random and causes striking “flashing” of colors on the finished piece. There is usually a sort of carbon haze over the glaze after the piece is fired so the next step is to decide how much of that patina to remove. Most pieces look better with as much scrubbed off as possible, some look better with minimal cleaning. Because of this, the patina on Raku pieces can sometimes be fragile and that is one reason why Raku pieces are not recommended for uses that require a lot of washing, such as for food and drink.

Another factor that makes Raku pottery unsuitable for food and drink is that the rather violent firing process usually results in cracking or crazing in either the clay body itself or the glaze or both. The cracks are greatly enhanced by black carbon deposits that bring them into prominence. In Raku pottery, such cracks are not considered a fault unless they threaten the structural integrity of the piece – they are a desired decorative effect that helps instantly give an aged and venerable look. It is not desirable to store or consume food or drink from such a container because the ability to hold liquid might be compromised and the cracks can collect dangerous bacteria. Raku glazes may be softer and thus more prone to leaching chemicals into food than other glazes. Even if there is no lead in the glaze there may be metal oxides or other substances present that should not be consumed. Also, handles and other parts may not be able to withstand the loads that more functional pottery can take and you don’t want to risk burns by filling such a container with hot liquid.

Due to the temperature extremes in this firing process, ordinary clay bodies normally cannot be used in Raku because they will shatter. Raku clay is usually more porous than most due to additives added to withstand the temperature shocks and can be more fragile. Raku pottery should be considered decorative rather than functional, although Raku vessels often make very good planters. Most potted plants thrive with good drainage and porous clay is a good quality in that case rather than a problem.

Here are a few articles to look at if you want more information about Raku:

Two applications that are making me even more outdoors-mad than I am already!

Historic Sites, Outdoor Fun, Route 66, , , , , , , , , , ,

So far in the St. Louis, MO area we’ve had some really nice weather in April which is an intoxicating antidote to the awful winter we just endured. I’ve been finding it very difficult to stay indoors to actually do any work (except in the garden of course!). As if I needed any more motivation to get outside, I’ve recently tried out a couple of applications that really help pump my enthusiasm.

The first is one that a lot of people have heard of but I only discovered it last week. It’s called MapMyRide.com and since I like to hike, ride my bike, kayak and explore the outdoors, there are a lot of things I can do with this app. On my computer, I can plan out a route and then send it to my smartphone. I can use the smartphone app to record an excursion then look at the map later on my computer. Why would I want to do this? I can look at the map in satellite, road map or topo map view and see if there is anything interesting I missed that I might be able to find on a return visit. Some features are only going to be visible on one of these views so to be able to toggle back and forth is a great help. If I want to share my adventure with others I can take screen shots of the maps to make them into a graphic. Topo maps sometimes show old roads and old place names and can be a help when researching an area. For people who like to explore old roads such as Route 66, the satellite view is a great way to find things that are very difficult to see from ground level. For example, this old cut-off piece of Route 66 had to be shown to me by a guide and I didn’t remember how to get there again. Now I think I’ve found it with the satellite map and will be back to see if I’m right.

What if you are in an unfamiliar area and want to find a bike trail? Or you just want to find some new ones in your own area? You can set the app to show bike trails and zoom out to move along your route. When you see some green lines, zoom in to see details about a trail! It doesn’t seem to have a feature for finding walking trails only but most bike trails are also ok for walkers to use so it’s a good start. When you record your workouts, MapMyRide also tracks the calories burned for you and you can enter in your meals to use it as a calorie counter. And all of these features are in the FREE version.

The combination of MapMyRide and the weather had me so amped up last week that I walked 12 miles and rode 5.35 miles on my bike in six days. That’s not a lot for some people but it is for me. I’ve also started logging my miles on another web site also called 100 Missouri Miles, where the Governor and First Lady challenge you to match their active miles. It includes running, walking, hiking, geocaching, rolling, cycling, paddling, riding, swimming and skating. Missouri residents can use this site to motivate themselves to keep up with other active people. You also get badges when you reach certain goals. There are also features for finding interesting trails and events. A great way to enjoy the “Best Trails State” in America!