SCOTT SHALAWAY A bag of briefs about bugs, bark and birds

Several times each year, letters and follow-up notes to earlier columns pile up on my desk. Individually, they don't warrant an entire column, but as a package, they make interesting reading.
West Nile virus (WNV) dominated headlines last summer, but as disease-transmitting mosquitoes disappeared with fall's plunging temperatures, news organizations have lost interest in the disease.
According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the total number of human cases reported in the United States through Dec. 3 stands at 3,775; 216 people have died from WNV.
That compares with an Aug. 8 case count of 113 and a death toll of five. If we have another wet spring and early summer next year, look for WNV to return to the headlines.
The toll on wild birds remains unknown. Hundreds of hawks, owls, crows and blue jays succumbed to WNV last summer. The number of small birds killed by the disease is simply unknown.
Watch your feeders this winter to estimate whether bird numbers are down. So far, I have not noticed fewer birds in my back yard. In fact, as I write this, I can count eight blue jays, a dozen cardinals, the usual mixed flock of chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and woodpeckers, and about 30 mourning doves.
Lady bugs
I first wrote of invasions of exotic lady bugs, or more correctly lady bird beetles, about six years ago. Since then, their maddening numbers have made them a bothersome pest each fall.
This year they have been conspicuously absent. I have received no calls or letters about lady bugs this year. And only on one warm sunny day in early November did they appear at my house. What a pleasant relief.
Oh, sassafras!
A number of readers, including Lanny Burke of Metamora, Ill., enjoyed my recent sassafras column and reminisced about drinking sassafras tea as a child. Many asked for the recipe.
Root-bark tea is made by simmering several pieces of young sassafras root or root bark for about 20 minutes, then allowing the concoction to steep for 30 minutes more. Experiment to find the strength you prefer.
Beware, however. Safrole, the oil found in sassafras, is carcinogenic and banned by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Although historically popular as a "spring tonic" for all kinds of ills, the treatment may be more harmful than the ailment.
But the Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs by Steven Foster and James Duke reports that "the safrole in a 12-ounce can of old-fashioned root beer is not as carcinogenic as the alcohol [ethanol] in a can of beer."
For the birds
Reader Nancy Avington, no address given, enjoys the comical antics of mockingbirds and asks what foods attract them. Mockers are not known as seed-eaters, but the ones that visit my feeders have developed a taste for a variety of shelled nuts.
Mockingbirds, like robins and bluebirds, are primarily fruit eaters and can be tempted with raisins, craisins (dried cranberries), and sliced apples and oranges. And of course, live foods such as mealworms will surely pull them in.
Joe and Marilyn Marchick of Pittsburgh ask that I republish the homemade suet recipe I have printed a number of times. "The Internet has a bewildering number of suet recipes mixing everything from peanut butter to saffron to hamburger, and we're going to try ones from sources we consider to be the best," they write.
Here's a recipe for No-melt Peanut Butter Suet, which I originally received from Martha Sargent of Trussville, Ala. It's easy to make, and birds love it.
The ingredients include one cup crunchy peanut butter, two cups "quick cook" oats, two cups cornmeal, one cup lard (no substitutes here), one cup white flour and one-third cup sugar. Melt lard and peanut butter, then stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into square freezer containers about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut to size, separate blocks with wax paper, and store in freezer. Or press softened mixture into holes in a suet log.
sshalaway @aol.com