With summer upon us the risk of encountering ticks, the pesky critters responsible for the spread of Lyme disease, is on the rise. From their site HealthSpiritBody.com comes this word about treating Lyme disease with Stevia, a sweetener and sugar substitute – and without antibiotics: 

Lyme disease is an insidious and complicated disease to treat, both for the allopathic medical world and alternative medical practitioners, due to its rapid shape-shifting abilities. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the United States alone. While ticks exist in half of all US counties, Lyme disease cases are concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest, with 14 states accounting for over 96% of cases reported to CDC.

The CDC says that while 80-90% of reported cases are considered resolved with the treatment of antibiotics, 10-20% of patients go on to develop the chronic form, which is a persistent and sometimes devastating illness that can harm any organ of the body, including the brain and the nervous system.

The culprit behind Lyme disease is Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterial infection proven to respond most effectively to antibiotics doxycycline and amoxicillin. 

However, Borrelia burgdorferi can exist in morphological forms, including spirochetes, spheroplast (or L-form), round bodies, and biofilms.  When conditions are considered unfavorable for the bacteria, it has the ability to morph into the dormant round body, then hide in a biofilm form. When conditions are favorable, however, it can shift back to its spirochete form.

While conventional antibiotics can treat some forms of the disease, they’re not effective in treating ALL forms, often times failing to produce a long-term cure.  But, new research suggests a long-term treatment may be just around the corner.

A recent study published in the European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology revealed that “stevia,” a sweetener and sugar substitute, has been found to terminate late state or chronic Lyme disease.

The study, conducted by researchers from the Department of Biology and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Connecticut, found that stevia whole leaf extract, as an individual agent, was an effective treatment against all known morphological forms of B. burgdorferi.

For the study, researchers examined the antimicrobial effect of four stevia leaf extracts in comparison to individual antibiotics (doxycycline, cefoperazone, daptomycin), as well as a combination of the three.

Lab tests revealed that while one extract was more potent than the others, likely due to its growing conditions and the agricultural practices utilized, all extracts were effective in treating all forms of the bacteria.

In fact, the stevia extract was proven to work against even the most antibiotic-resistant of the bacteria, known as the biofilm. The individual antibiotics, on the other hand, actually increased the biofilm.

While researchers acknowledge that the results need more investigation and clinical trials to corroborate the finding, they’re hopeful these results indicate we’re one step closer to finding an effective treatment for even the most persistent forms of Lyme disease. 

​Fishing report for the week of 6-26-17

With local streams and the Lehigh River running high and slightly muddy in color, the best angling bets right now are at the shore. And for those who would like to try the sport, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission has another Fish-For-Free Day on Tuesday, July 4 when a fishing license is not needed. But all fishing regulations still apply. 

Here is the latest fresh and saltwater fishing report from Bill Brinkman from Brinkman’s Bait & Tackle Shop in Philly: 

Over all the lower Delaware river reports have been far and few between. It seems that most guys have given up on the stripers other than the few guys fishing up at Trenton. These guys are still doing very well on fish 22 to 34 inches with live white perch and eels. Most anglers are drifting from the bridges down to where Route 29 comes to the river. Up at Yardley, fisherman with smaller live eels along the islands has been catching 5 to 8 stripers each morning. These fish have been 21 to 26 inches. And up in the wing dam at New Hope, a few guys have been fishing live eels in the flew catching 20 to 31-inch stripers. Smallmouth bass fishing really picked up before all this rain. JR has been catching 30 to 50 bass with live minnows and Zoom grubs. Charlie, wading at Point Pleasant, has been catching 8 to 12 fish with a walleye here and there. Kevin, up at the Water Gap, told me the shad bite is dead but smallmouth fishing in the fast water has been awesome. He has been catching 25 to 40 fish each trip out with grubs, tubes, spinners and top water lures. One fisherman at Narrowsburg has been doing great with smallies with a few walleyes mixed in. But this past week he picked up a 37-inch striper with a live shiner.

Saltwater fishing has been great all up and down the coast. Last week, good numbers of kingfish showed up from Wildwood up past Atlantic City. These fish are hitting bloodworms and fish bites. And in these same waters, fishing kingfish heads or whole smaller kingfish are catching some 5 to 7-foot brown sharks. Flounder fishing has been very good and the bigger fish are being caught from Shark River up and into the Raritan bay. Bucktails have been working the best. Another good spot for bigger flounder has been the old grounds and the Cape May reef. These anglers are using bigger bucktails with 6-inch gulp grubs and catching flounder 3-8 pounds. Everywhere else the flounder fishing has been good but most of the fish have been throwbacks. Back in Grassy Sounds, one fisherman picked up 35 fish without a keeper. But he did catch five nice weakfish 19 to 24 inches. There are some great stripers still being caught up in North Jersey. These guys have been fishing Mojo Rigs, umbrella rigs and bunker spoons. Mixed in have been some 6 to 12-pound bluefish. The porgy and sea bass fishing off New York and Massachusetts has still been very good fishing top and bottom rigs with clams and strip mackerel. I talked to one fisherman who was flounder fishing in the bays of Connecticut catching plenty of fish with very few keepers. He has been doing best with small bucktails, Gulp mullet or spearing. The few guys heading to the Chesapeake Bay have been perch fishing hoping for the spot run to start soon. The perch have been hitting bloodworms, Fish Bites and strip squid the best.

From New Jersey’s Fisherman Magazine comes this report:

Summer has arrived, and so has the shark season! This weekend, Mako Mania and Mako Fever should put a fine sheen along the surface from the Glory Hole to the Texas Tower and about everywhere in between; big makos have been reported in recent weeks too, from the pair of 537-pounders in this week’s print version of The Fisherman’s NJ/DE edition, to the monster 780-pounder brought in to Montauk, NY over the weekend. While you’re set into that thousand-yard stare and hoping to see a float disappear, keep in mind that trophy striper action inshore off Sandy Hook has indeed been “off the hook” in recent days with fish caught and released up to 57 pounds. Fluke action is heating up, and at least one true doormat has been registered in the South Jersey surf – break out the light bucktails and hit the beach for your chance to score a Dream Boat entry. For yellowfin and bigeye, best bet has been Poor Man’s Canyon of late – but don’t worry, there’s more fish to come. Summer has only begun, and we’re only getting started for the 2017 season!

Those wondering where all the giant stripers have gone, might want to look to the North Jersey coast for trophies like the 62.45-pounder for Capt. Rob Crocitto, or the 51-pounder for Stephen Germann on a trolled mojo. This week’s best trophy action has been from Long Branch to the Rocks, though stripers are still there for the taking in Central and South Jersey too, and plenty of bunker around for livelining opportunities as well. Fluke action has picked up significantly with the warming weather and increasing water temps; good bucktail action can be found in the South Jersey back bays as well as out along the beaches – party boats along the Raritan Bayshore are also doing well. 

With the Cementon Fair soon to open, patrons may be treated by seeing a black bear. No, it’s not part of a fair act, but a wild bear was seen (and photographed) last Wednesday running across Main Street and onto the Cementon Playground property. 

Two weeks ago a black bear was tranquilized and relocated in the Fogelsville area. And before that, another one popped up in Bethlehem. This was preceeded by another in Bucks County. And a friend recently photographed one running through his parents’ property in Bushkill Township, a place you’d expect to see bear since it’s close to the Blue Mountain ridge. 

The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) says bears are out of their dens and looking for food. And this is why we’re seeing this many of late. The agency says bears will eat human food, garbage, bird feed, pet foods, fruits from trees or gardens, livestock feed and as we all know from Winnie-the-Pooh the cartoon character bear who loves honey, they’ll raid beehives. 

The PGC points out that to avoid bear contacts is by removing their food source. And here are their recommendations:

* Don’t put out your trash until the morning of collection day.
* Regularly clean your trash cans with hot water and chlorine bleach or ammonia.
* Clean your outdoor grille after every use and properly dispose of grille grease. Don’t dump the grease out back.
* If you feed birds during summer, you may want to bring the bird feeders including hummingbird feeders, in at night.
* Keep the area around your gardens and fruit trees clean and avoid putting food scraps in compost piles. 
* Store trash, bird seed and pet food inside a building, garage or shed, and keep the door closed. 
* If you have pets, bring their food pans inside at night. Bears generally steer clear of chained or penned dogs. But unleashed dogs that approach bears may be injured or killed. 

This brings up a story told by Gary Alt, former PGC bear biologist, who had a call from a resident in a Pocono housing development who said their dogs killed a bear cub. Upon interviewing the resident and Alt explaining that he could charge them, they replied by saying it was an act of “Mother Nature.” Ironically, a few months later, the same resident called Alt to complain that a bear killed one of their dogs. Alt’s reply to them, “It was an act of “Mother Nature.” 

Since corn crops are just coming up, they’ll be targets for bears especially during the milk stage of corn. If you live near a cornfield, you may see a bear during this period. 

Placing food out for other wildlife may also lure bears to your property. Because the food is predictably available, notes the PGC, bears will visit the area more frequently. And then they’ll be tempted by other food sources in the neighborhood and become a significant nuisance. 

Another point is that congregating bears increases the risk of spreading diseases since bear are otherwise mostly solitary animals. Mange, advises the PGC, is a debilitating condition of the skin and fur that can lead to death as the disease spreads by close animal contact at feeders. 

If coming across a bear on your property, the PGC suggests two courses of action. The first is to make loud noises or shout at the bear from a distance. The second option is to leave the bear alone and clean up the bear’s mess after it leaves. Follow up by making sure you eliminate whatever food source that attracted the bear in the first place. 

If bears are regularly feeding at a site, encourage your neighbors or community to clean up and close the area, says the wildlife agency. And remember, feeding bears is against the law and putting out feed for any wildlife that causes bears to congregate is also against the law. 
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Second only to trout, black bass is the most popular sportfish that Pennsylvania anglers fish for. And beginning June 17, the season for them opens with a creel limit of six and a size limit of at least 12 inches. 

Despite this, most bass anglers wisely practice catch-and-release. It’s not because largemouth and smallmouth bass aren’t good eating, because they are. It’s because they’re more fun to catch-and-release as they can be caught again another day. 

While smallmouth bass are predominately a river and stream fish, they can still be caught in one of Pennsylvania’s 4,000 lakes and reservoirs, most of which contain bass says the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (PF&BC). Of that number and for those new to the area, here are the more popular local waters that hold bass. 

BERKS COUNTY 
Blue Marsh Lake: It’s the largest lake in the county where motorboats with unlimited horsepower can be used. It’s located off Route 222 northwest of Reading and in the area of Bernville.

Ontelaunee Reservoir: Also located off Route 222, This impoundment has to be fished from shore or wading as no boats or watercraft are allowed. This lake probably holds the largest bass of any lake around this and other counties mainly because access is limited. 

BUCKS COUNTY 
Lake Nockamixon: Located between routes 313 and 412 outside of Quakertown, is a large lake with a 10-hp limit on outboard motors. It has an extensive shoreline that contains good fish structure. It’s the premier lake in this county as it contains hybrid striped bass as well. 

CARBON COUNTY
Beltzville Lake: This elongated lake has no power limit for boats and is a popular bass water with Preachers Camp area being one of the hotspots. It’s located off the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike outside Lehighton.  

Mauch Chunk Lake: Much smaller in size (330 acres) as are the bass there. While there are some lunkers, many of the fish are on the stunted size but still fun to catch. Chunk is located on Lentz Trail Road west of Jim Thorpe. 

LEHIGH COUNTY
Leaser Lake: Since it’s coming back from being drained, the only legal keeper fish are trout. And the bass stocked there are still on the mini lunker size. But muskies have been a big hit and they too must be released if caught. 

SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
Locust and Tuscarora lakes: Located west of Barnesville near Route 52, these sister lakes offer 52 acres of fishing at Locust Lake and 100 at Tuscarora. Both hold good populations of largemouths. 

PIKE COUNTY
If you don’t mind driving a little farther, Shohola Lake is prime bassin’ waters in that it’s shallow and loaded with above water structure. It also holds some 8-pound largemouths. This is an electric motor-only lake that’s located off Route 6 between Milford and Lake Wallenpaupak. 

This is but a fingernail summary of some of the local favored  bass fishing waters. But don’t overlook farm ponds. You may be surprised the size of some bass in these small waters. 

WOMEN IN THE OUTDOORS

For ladies 14 and up, Women in the Outdoors is an annual learning experience for those who always wanted to try shooting a bow, rifle, crossbow, handgun, casting a fly rod, paddling a kayak/canoe, cooking outdoors the rustic way, nature identification, camping and more. It will be held this year on June 17 at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club in New Tripoli. 

For ladies who attended in past years, a change has been made in the handgun shooting segment. Instead of firing at close range where self defense shooting is taught, it now has to be done behind the shooting bench. It’s my understanding that Ontelaunee R&G insisted on the change. In a past year, a blind lady from New Jersey shot the course and did quite well under guidance from an instructor, most of which were certified full-time police officers. 

To register for the classes contact Debbie Smalley at 484-651-2174 or check their website at [email protected]. The cost for the day is $55 by Sunday, June 11 and $65 thereafter. For a complete schedule check Ontelaunee.org/women-in-the-outdoors. 

TEAM RIVER RUNNER
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June 14 is also the date for Team River Runner’s hosted kayaking event at Leaser Lake. The event is provided as adaptive kayaking instruction for disabled veterans and civilians. For more details, check TeamRiverRunner.com.

20mm Oerlikon, M2HB, and a Minigun are just a few of the machine guns making their way to PA for the 2nd annual Stone Mountain Machine Gun Shoot June 3-4.

More than 40 machine guns will shake the grounds of The Shooter’s Gauntlet, site of the 2nd Annual Stone Mountain Machine Gun Shoot, as machine gunners from across the Northeast come together to share their love for belt fed guns and freedom. Attendees will have the chance to shoot rare guns, with more still being added to the line. The Stone Mountain Machine Gun Shoot is June 3-4, 2017 located near Towanda, Pa. Tickets are on sale now at https://www.shootersgauntlet.com/machine-gun and start at $25 for a weekend pass. 

Here are just a few of the guns on the line:

20mm Oerlikon  
M2HB
Browning 1919
Browning 1919A4
M16 .223, full auto
M16 9mm, full auto
M60
Lewis Gun
Thompson M1A
HK Model 51
AK47
AK74
SCAR16, full auto                                             
Barrett 50 BMG
Minigun    
                                      
“Our attendees are going to have a blast. The types of machine guns on the line and the experience of seeing these weapons in action all in one weekend is unheard of anywhere else in the Northeast,” said Bob Raimo, owner of the Shooter’s Gauntlet. “We can’t wait for attendees and exhibitors to get here in June, see all of the upgrades we’ve made to the facility, and have an incredible time.” 

The Northeast’s most unique shooting events venue has been completely upgraded and expanded since the inaugural shoot last spring, with larger machine gun and suppressor ranges, a newly covered gun show area, and shooting activities unlike anywhere else, including an assault hike, hand gun zip line, an ‘inversion diversion’ for shooting steel while upside down, and more.  

The Stone Mountain Machine Gun Shoot is co-hosted by the Shooter’s Gauntlet, a one-of-a-kind, 1,000-acre facility located in the endless mountains of Northern Pennsylvania, and the Firearms Industry Consulting Group, a Division of Prince Law Offices, P.C.  

Follow the Shooter’s Gauntlet on Instagram @shootersgauntlet and on Facebook @shootersgauntlet for event updates year-round.  

The Shooter’s Gauntlet LLC is a one-of-a-kind, 1,000-acre facility located in the endless mountains of Northern Pennsylvania that combines the adventure of the outdoors with the ultimate shooting experience. The facility boasts an 1100-yard range, suppressed fire range and a machine gun range. Get captured, and attempt escape, from our hostage house; shoot upside-down on our inversion rack; engage targets while flying down our zip line; shoot under stress against our attack targets, and so much more. 

“Our trained staff works to create an incredible experience; whether it’s a thrill-seeking adventure weekend, group event, serving law enforcement and military training days, or hosting our own machine gun shoots. It’s the place for your next adventure said Beth Meiklejohn, media relations representative for this unique shoot. For more information and directions to the range and area motels if you desire to stay over, go to https://www.shootersgauntlet.com/. 
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