Fowl

Consumers can recognize the difference between frozen food and fresh food, despite efforts by the Department of Agriculture to confuse the issue for the benefit of Arkansas interests that helped Hillary Clinton hit the commodities futures jackpot.USDA upholds a curious legal fiction that frozen chicken may wear the "fresh" label in stores. Despite pledging to review the deceptive policy, the department is still dragging its heels.The USDA has also joined the frozen-fowl flock in a lawsuit to overturn a California law that bars poultry chilled below 26 degrees from being sold as "fresh."

LONDON -- You know something's up in Britain when you learn people are stealing ducks.Not just any ducks either. Collectible ducks: Cuban whistling ducks, smew, buffleheads, Cape shovelers, Barrow's golden eye, South American black-headed duck -- ducks too exotic to be identified.Sixty ducks have already been stolen from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. Private collectors are also losing rare ducks.Wildfowl experts are beginning to worry about organized ducknapping rings stealing birds to order for foreign collectors.

In the current issue of Ducks Unlimited Canada Conservator is an article about the zebra mussel, the tiny striped clam whose presence within a few hundred miles of Prettyboy, Liberty and Loch Raven caused the Baltimore Department of Public Works to restrict fishing boats on the city's reservoirs.City officials feared that anglers would bring the mussel into the reservoirs where it could block water piping systems as it has in the Great Lakes.Officials thought that the clam has no natural predators in this hemisphere.

Nancy Hann of Marston has an unusual extended family. Her pets have ancestors from around the world. What makes them unusual, though, are their webbed feet and smooth feathers.Mrs. Hann is an avid aviculturist. Her pets consist of more than 42 species of exotic birds, some of which are nearing endangered status. New Zealand shelducks, African cape teal, Chilean Magellan geese, Falkland Islands coscoroba, and her favorite, an Australian Cape Barren named "Miss Piggy" because of her grunting, have found refuge in Mrs. Hann's backyard sanctuary.

Zack Fowl came within moments of completing a three-year sweep of county, region and state wrestling championships, but his 5-3 final-match loss to Steve Barwick at the state championships in no way detracted from his selection as The Baltimore Sun's Harford County Wrestler of the Year.An Aberdeen High senior, Fowl finished a four-year career (116-11) by rolling up a 31-0 record going into the state final.Over the three years, his record was 94-4, and he did not lose to a Harford County wrestler after his freshman year.

Zack Fowl of Aberdeen, shooting for a third successive state championship, headlines the 27 Harford entries qualified for the wrestling championships this weekend at Western Maryland College.In the process, Fowl, a Class 2A-1A winner at 103 pounds two years ago, and a Class 4A-3A winner at 112 last year, will be after a third successive sweep of county, regional and state titles, this time at 119 pounds.Aberdeen qualified six wrestlers for the season-ending weekend, although Fowl was the only champion.

Juniors Frank Johnson and Chad Gurrera scored overtime takedowns to earn individual titles and help Aberdeen High School to its ninth consecutive Harford County wrestling championships at Havre de Grace High School Saturday night.Johnson (20-4) got a 3-1 decision over Brian McCarthy of NTC Joppatowne at 130, and Gurrera defeated Fallston's Max Dodd, 7-5. Johnson, a semifinal loser to McCarthy at 119 in this tournament last year, forced the overtime with a point-matching escape.Gurrera got by Dodd, a senior who won at 145 pounds last year.

SYKESVILLE -- Careless fishermen can be the death of Piney Run Lake's wild geese and ducks.Anglers are fouling the lake and shoreline with discarded gear that is lethal to the birds."

Wood shavings cling to his sweater, and sawdust coats his skin. Old scars from carving knives and a recent cut from a drum sander mar his hands.For 12 years, Dan Carson has been perfecting the age-old craft he learned from the masters -- turning chunks of white pine logs into graceful wooden decoys.Today, he works out of the bottom of a restored barn in the Steppingstone Farm Museum at Susquehanna State Park, in RTC exchange for which he demonstrates the craft during the summer.But he prefers the winter months, when he's watched only by flocks of decoys on the floor-to-ceiling shelves lining the stone walls, and there's no need to clean up the sawdust settling under the lathe.

Stuffed Squash1 large Turkish or Hubbard squash or pumpkin12 slices bread ( 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat bread)1/2 cup butter1 stalk celery1 onion1/2 tsp. sage1 tsp. thyme1 vegetable bouillon cube1 tbsp. Braggs Liquid Aminos1/2 cup boiling waterOpen squash. Scrape seeds out of cavity. Prepare stuffing. Place bread slices on cookie sheets in 400-degree oven for 15 minutes to dry out bread so stuffing holds together better. Meanwhile, melt butter in large saucepan. Chop celery and onion, add to butter.