According to the calendar, today’s the first day of spring but you’ve probably already seen and heard signs of that long-awaited season. Surely you’ve heard mourning doves softly announcing dawn’s arrival while crows continue their never-ending quarrels. Woodcock and robins are arriving and, here and there, black ducks are preening in puddles of open water. Maybe you’ve noticed parades of pussywillows celebrating spring’s arrival by marching along the edges of bogs, and March’s warm days and freezing nights have started the pumps that produce sap for making maple syrup.

If you went ice fishing over the weekend, you could have found the getting-gray lake or pond rimmed with slush or water and perhaps you noticed while cutting holes that the ice had lost some of its density. It’s amazing how quickly conditions change. When my fishing partners and I went onto the ice Sunday, footing was firm except for around the edges. But when we left shortly after noon, the entire ice field was sugary and granular. Each granule, of course, acts like a lens that refracts and magnifies sunlight, causing it to penetrate ice like a laser beam.

Warm, sunny days and foggy nights that corrode ice like acid will result in dramatic changes in ice conditions. As you know, ice was treacherous throughout the winter because of mild temperatures and fluctuating weather patterns. Therefore, a thinking man will be judicious in getting onto and traveling on frozen water from now until the end of the ice-fishing season – in this neck of the woods, at least. Look for an early ice out.

A week or so ago, Hampden’s Firearms Ordinance Committee held a public meeting regarding a proposal to expand the town’s firearms ordinance. Because of opposition to the proposal, it was removed from the agenda of last night’s meeting of the Hampden Town Council. Accordingly, another public meeting of the Firearms Ordinance Committee will be held on a date to be announced.

Admittedly, I was among the people who missed the committee’s first meeting. I will, however, attend the next one, as should other concerned residents of the town.

Perhaps you know the proposed ordinance expansion includes a large area contained within the boundaries of Route 202, Route 9, and Emerson Mill Road extending to the Bangor-Hermon town lines. Also included is a portion of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad’s tracks extending south to the Kennebec Road and then east to the pipeline and again south along the pipeline toward Winterport.

Frankly, I see the proposal as a step toward abolishing hunting in the town of Hampden. Obviously, the proposed expansion lines contain large tracts of wooded lands where hunting can be practiced legally under existing state regulations. By all means, as the town’s population increases, hunters must be responsible in selecting hunting areas. But again, in the proposed expansion areas, state law regarding discharge of firearms near dwellings is adequate.

In checking with the Hampden Town Office and the Police Department – I was told there had been no complaints regarding hunting in the proposed areas. Why, then, the need to expand the existing firearms ordinance? Again, I see it as an example of the continuous erosion of the outdoors traditions and cultures that make this state Maine.

If you live in Hampden you know deer numbers are increasing throughout the town. Last fall, if I remember correctly, 10 deer-vehicle collisions were reported in one weekend. Two such collisions have occurred near my house on Route 1A. In fact, I recently missed hitting a deer by about the width of its whiskers.

Obviously, the animals have become traffic-safety hazards in Hampden, as they have in practically every other Maine town where imposed firearms ordinances have effectively eliminated deer hunting. Also, keep in mind the damages deer inflict on property. Hampden residents should think about it and present their positions, pro or con, at the forthcoming Firearms Ordinance Committee’s meeting.