By Dana Lichtstrahl
Our agreements are something we humans look to, to “depend on.”
So as a Princeton resident who lives off Nassau Street, I was wondering if this spring we might, as a community, agree on, and be able to depend on 9 a.m. as the time a power-tool can be turned-on during the week and 10 a.m. on weekends. Currently power-tools are tuned-on anytime a person wants to use one. Usually around 8 a.m. in my neighborhood—any day.
This may seem an insignificant request to consider, yet “sound-noise” (versus visual-noise, etc.), can be extremely intense and discordant to one’s whole system—perhaps in the background for many, yet for some, very much in the foreground, heard and noticed and very much a disruption to anything they may be doing the moment a power tool is turned-on.
There is also the consideration that we just don’t all function on the same work-life schedules. Some of us sleep until later in the day, because of working later at night. And not only do some of us need (or like to) sleep later, but in my neighborhood, off Nassau Street, we live close together. It’s a huge difference when these tools are used here, versus on a 5-acre lot in the suburbs—on five acres in the heart of Princeton there could easily be 100 residences; disruptive sound potentially effecting greater numbers of people. And a small patio or deck often functions as an outdoor room, especially in lovely May. Yet when the noise is too great, many go inside, evacuating nature to find relief. Sad.
Considering community as we make individual decisions is beneficial to all, and forming win-win agreements ensures their true sustainability over time. Perhaps instead of beginning with our power tools in the morning, we could save that part of the project till later in the day. It’s something to consider for sure.
While we’re considering that, can we also consider banning squirrel alarms?! You know those little white plastic units you can buy at hardware stores, take home and plug into any inside or outside electrical outlet, or use with batteries? They have them for mice too. Their sound is used to deter the animal from your home and yard; protecting your garden, trees and roof from damage. They are similar to the deer whistles some of us attach to our car bumpers to deter them from the road while we’re driving on it. However, the intensity of the squirrel alarm’s high-pitched frequency can cause incredible discord to the human system as well, although only meant for another animal. Do we really even know if any of these “alarming sound waves” are effective in doing what they say they do? With only a little online research seems proof is still up for grabs.
One post reported, “High-frequency sounds have minimal effect on squirrels. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Lancaster County advises that the products are ineffective at repelling rodents, while the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program notes that squirrels quickly become used to sound repellents. Sound repellents may work well for short-term garden use, but they likely won’t provide a long-term solution.”
I do realize an alarm seems like a more humane alternative to a trap, and certainly more convenient than wrapping your roof in chicken wire to keep out rodents. Yet if our solutions toward ridding animals from our property also rids humans out of their back yards and into their homes, we’re way off the solution-track, as a community, aren’t we? Maybe living in Squirrel Town there really is no keeping squirrels off property. They are simply everywhere. Maybe an acceptance to some sort of “squirrel-co-habitation” is necessary in order to keep the peace (literally) between us humans? If you live off Nassau you really live in “Squirrel Town.”
Possibly this online post reports a better solution, “If squirrels are digging up the beds, lay a sheet of 1/4-inch mesh hardware cloth over the soil to prevent digging. You can also cover vegetable plants with mesh cages or floating row covers to keep the squirrels from plundering your harvest.” And this was good information, “Bird feeders near garden beds will draw the pests to the area, so place the feeders away from problem areas, use squirrel baffles to keep the rodents away from the seed, or remove the feeders entirely. “Or maybe a win-win solution is waiting to be found and brought to everyone’s attention… Ideas?
I’m even wondering if “disruptive sound” may be connected to our Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)…Ugh.
We will all thrive with win-win agreements, so how about we all agree to consider squirrel alarms as an “unsound-solution,” as actually worse than the “problem,” and power-on our power tools after lunch?
Dana Lichtstrahl lives in Princeton, facilitates motivational workshops for adults, offers a public speaking curriculum for kids ages 7-17, teaches ESL, and has authored three books, with her newest, a fiction romance, Jackson’s Love, available on Amazon. Websites: danalichtstrahl.com; speakology.us.
