'Friendly Trapper' gives the all-clear

Rain on Easter Sunday means rain on the following seven Sundays, he said.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Waiting for that last blast of winter?
Don't worry, says Harold Bailey of Canfield. Winter is over.
Go ahead. Dig into vegetable gardens. Fire up the lawn mower and take off the snow blade. There will be no more snow.
Bailey, known as "The Friendly Trapper," is sure of his prediction, but said though groundhogs and woolly bear caterpillars are fun folklore, they aren't much help. He prefers to keep an eye on the clouds and his weather stick for more accurate signs, he said.
Always full of advice, he didn't offer many details of his cloud and weather-stick forecasts, but said he knows by these indicators that winter is gone.
Bailey said his weather stick stands straighter as weather improves.
"Now it's standing straight up pointing to the sky," he said. "It's perfectly fine to plant lettuce, carrots, beets, parsnips and radishes."
Watch the weather Sunday, Bailey said. If it rains on Easter Sunday, it will rain seven Sundays in a row.
Other forecasts
Predict the weather for the next year by watching for fog in August, he said. For each day in August that there is fog, there will be the same number of days of snow the following winter.
Bailey uses onions to forecast weather for the next year. A Christmas Eve tradition in the Bailey home is to slice six onions in half and place half in each of the holes of an egg carton. Mark one space for each of 12 months, then put a teaspoon of salt on each onion half.
Look at the onions Jan. 6. The onions where the salt has disappeared will be the wet months of the following year, he said. Bailey said his weather predictions have been true in eight of the past 10 years.
Bailey retired as a state-licensed nuisance-wildlife trapper in the 1980s, and has become a local legend. He said everywhere he goes people stop to talk to him and ask advice.
"The phone just rings and rings. You can call, but you might have to wait," he said, laughing.
He offers advice about removing pests from homes and businesses, and is often asked to identify animal tracks. He said he has been asked by local hospitals to identify bites on people in local emergency rooms.
Approaching his 78th birthday, he is more popular than ever, and requests for his homespun advice are coming from greater distances.
Canadian radio personalities call once a month for telephone interviews and question and answer sessions. He also appears regularly on local television and answers countless questions on radio shows.
He's also a public speaker and is arranging transportation for a trip soon to Columbus where he expects to speak to a crowd of about 5,000. Last year he spoke to about 7,500 farmers in Ontario, Canada.
Unwanted pests
Bailey said he typically gives a short presentation to clubs or schools or convention groups, then answers questions about inexpensive ways to rid home and garden from unwanted pests.
Although Bailey recommends using chemicals to ward off or kill some pesky insects or rodents, he tries to use as few chemicals as possible and uses inexpensive, natural ingredients whenever possible.
He said he develops many of his remedies and pest-repelling techniques by experimenting.
A few spoons of hot sauce in a gallon of water sprayed on plants and shrubs will keep deer away. Bailey discovered, however, the technique doesn't work on strawberry plants. Ohio State University Extension officials in Columbus treated a patch of strawberry plants with the mixture as an experiment, and found the fruit absorbs the hot sauce.
"That one didn't work," he said.
Many of Bailey's homespun tips are listed in his book, "The Friendly Trapper." Another book, "Every New Broom Sweeps Clean," is a biography of Bailey written by Wendy Drescher of Leavittsburg, a public speaker and former school nurse.
Tips and Bailey's schedule of appearances are on his Web site, www.thefriendlytrapper.com.