Portland schooner with sea serpent tale to tell

Loren Coleman's post on Cryptomundo about a historical sea serpent eyewitness account is worth a read! Crewmen on the Portland schooner Edward Waite landed in Philadelphia and told their story to the press.

From the Plattsburgh [NY] Sentinel, May 30, 1884: "We were so much interested that I forgot to call the captain, who was below asleep, but all of the watch saw the thing as plainly as I can see the schooner there in the next dock. It was a sea serpent and no mistake." The complete article, with description of the monster, is here on the Cryptomundo page. Thanks Loren!

Bones in the mossbed - what next?!

A group of 10 biologists performing a field study on a type of wetland moss were surprised to find human remains suddenly appearing within the scope of their survey. Photo by Kate Collins of the Bangor Daily News shows the view from the scenic overlook on Route 9 in Aurora where fragments of a human skull were discovered on Monday, June 25.

Biologists stumble upon human skull, jawbone while studying moss
By The Associated Press wire report
June 26, 2007 01:22 PM

AURORA — Maine State Police have launched an investigation into a human skull and jawbone that a group of biologists stumbled across while studying moss samples in rural Hancock County.

The remains were found last week near a scenic lookout off Route 9 in Aurora, said spokesman Stephen McCausland. They belong to an adult male and are least two years old and possibly older.
...
[full article here: Source]

But that's not all... another article, this time in the Bangor Daily News, mentioned that this is the SECOND such event of human remains being found in Maine in recent weeks.

The skull found in Aurora was the second discovered in eastern Maine last week, according to police.

McCausland said another human skull was found in Milbridge last Wednesday by a surveying crew that was doing work on a private way off Rays Point Road.

"That one appears to have been buried and there was some wood nearby to indicate that there was also a coffin," he said. "It’s looks like it was a case of a burial site that was disturbed."

The skull in Milbridge appeared to be much older and was of less concern than the case in Aurora, according to McCausland.
[full article here: Source]

Crime spree group was in Maine in 2006

A group of assorted drifters who were recently brought to ground in Wisconsin spent part of their travels in Maine. Authorities are now attempting to track their activities over the last few years. The dirty deeds culminated recently in the murder of one of the group and the torture and imprisonment of her 11-year old son. Police discovered this when following up tips about a separate case of child abduction that had been connected to the group. Reportedly the group wound up in Wisconsin because they wanted to see snow.

"Larry Hartle, who lived with his wife, Sandy, next door to Sisk and Clark at 2005 Elm Ave., said Clark told him she operated an online sex business and read Internet horoscopes. He said he found that odd, though, because Sisk and Clark were always asking to use the Hartles’ phone and computer." [Source]

"Hahn said the group, with Sisk, traveled to Maine and purchased airline tickets to Alaska in November 2006. They didn't make that trip and instead arrived in Wisconsin in January. [Source]

"Hahn said investigators were trying to piece together the group’s activities and whereabouts across the country. 'We could have victims from all over in different parts of the country. Fortunately, it ended here,’ he said." [Source]

Explosive crime caper!

Back in February I posted on the upswing in daring thefts of catalytic converters (read article here). But recently two Maine youths went on a stealing spree at a New Hampshire junkyard that caused some unexpected alarm.

Junkyard owner tells of scramble to find thieves who unwittingly took an explosive primer
By CLYNTON NAMUO
New Hampshire Union Leader Correspondent
Saturday, Jun. 23, 2007

MILTON – Few people know better than junkyard owner Roger Libby the sort of weird things that are left in old cars.

So when Libby, a former ammo supply sergeant in the Army, found what appeared to be a small explosive primer in a car last week, he thought little of it and slid the charge, which looks like a shotgun shell, into a catalytic converter he was working on. He figured that he'd deal with it later.
...
Tuesday morning, Libby, who said he is a former Milton police officer, discovered the catalytic converter in which he stored the explosive primer had been stolen, along with 41 others. He and his business partner, Eddy Parret, sprung into action, trying to find the valuable car parts, not to mention the lost explosive.
...
Libby and Parret next checked with nearby junkyard owners, one of whom said kids driving a Chevy pickup had tried to sell some catalytic converters.

From there, Libby and Parret said they were able to track down at least two of the kids, both of whom confessed and told them where the parts were taken, allowing police to trace them to Madbury and Haverhill.
...
Libby declined to name the two youths who confessed, saying only that one was a minor and one wasn't, and both were from Maine.
...
[full article here: Source]

A 'Bloodless War'? Check the books!

Ever wonder about mention you might have heard of "Aroostock's Bloodless War" over one of Maine's northern boundaries with Canada? Well, there's a great writeup about it over at the Strange Maps blog, complete with .... you guessed it .... a MAP!

Don't neglect to scan through some of the comments on the post, many of which are equally interesting.

While you're there, take a moment to pop over to another important Maine cartographical landscape -- Stephen King's Maine! Strange Maps did their second post ever on it -- yeah, Maine ranks up there.

Pet caskets booming business in Albion, Maine

Mainers have long been lauded for their ingenious use of knowhow to make a buck. This April, Matthew Dow of Dow's Wood Products made a splash on the AP wire when an article about his personal business venture arrived in the media. His idea? Custom-made caskets for Mainers' beloved pets. And why not?

Visit the Dow Wood Products website here.

Click here for a complete interview with photos Source

UFO in Vassalboro, Maine?

A letter to the Kennebec Journal raises the question! Is there anyone else out there who saw something interesting on the night of June 16th?

Regarding a possible U.F.O. in the sky on Saturday night (June 16) at 9:45 -- I saw a very bright light overhead moving slowly west to east over Vassalboro.

The light lit up the sky enough to catch our eyes and then, as we followed it moving slowly, it suddenly took off at an amazing rate of speed, faster then anything we've ever seen.

Did anyone else, curious or crazy, report this?

Robert Bryson
Vassalboro

maine02465[at]msn.com

Original article here.

Weekly Photo: Davy Crockett of Maine

Our last photo was of factory workers coming out of the old Calderwood Bakery on Pleasant Street in Portland, changing shifts way back in 1937.

Here is another photo, courtesy of Abraham Schechter, who runs the Portland Public Library's Portland Room. This time our photo is a Munjoy Hill photo, taken in 1955. Who is our intrepid young explorer, our young Davy Crockett? What did he discover about Portland during his reconnoitering mission? Is his perch still there today? Click on the photo for a larger version to inspect details.

Haunted Boothbay Opera House

The Ghosts of the Prairie has an interesting entry on the Boothbay Opera House:

The Boothbay Opera House
Boothbay Harbor, Maine

The Boothbay Opera House building was originally constructed back in 1894 and for many years, it housed the local headquarters for the Knights of Pythias, a fraternal order in line with the Freemasons. Later on, the building was turned into a theater and has hosted every story of entertainment imaginable for this small Maine town, including minstrel shows; plays; movies; town meetings and basketball games.... and if you believe the stories, it has also played host to a ghost.

No one knows who this resident spirit may be, although some have an idea, but he is said to haunt the second floor room that was the meeting place of the Knights of Pythias. Since 1949, visitors to the building have spoken of a strange presence in the room. It is usually said that the piano that is located here will play by itself, as if some spectral piano player is manipulating the keys. Different witnesses also recounted the same thing happening in 1957, during a town celebration and again in 1977.

Some believe that the ghost may be that of a man named Earl Cliff, who played the instrument for programs in the theater in the early 1900’s, but no one really knows for sure.

Boothbay Harbor is located east of Brunswick, Maine on the southwestern coast.

© Copyright 1998 by Troy Taylor
[Source]

Other mention of this haunted location online include a 2004 mention on a chatboard by member Gislebertus of an EVP from an investigation there: "The best EVP I ever heard was a tape I heard while we were investigating the Boothbay Opera House. The guy was from the New England Paranormal Assoc. played it and in the background you could hear everyone in the background talking about things that had been going on in the house... It was very informal and the people were sitting about 10 feet from the recorder. All of a sudden you hear this male voice go "HEY" clear as a bell and louder than the other people in the room. They didn't hear it at the time, it needed no enhancement as it was clearer than the other voices. When he played it, it freaked out one of my students so badly she had to leave."

Hail to the Chief

You might notice him as an anomaly on the landscape, while speeding north on I-295 between Yarmouth and Freeport- and surely you've had a detailed look while tooling along Route 1 which runs exactly parallel to the highway. Minutes north of the world’s largest rotating-and-revolving model of the globe ("Eartha," at the Delorme Map Company: http://www.delorme.com/about/eartha.aspx ), stands the Freeport icon everyone calls The Big Indian. PC language notwithstanding, he’s always been “The Big Indian,” and for us locals, The B.F.I. More often than not, the “F” is for “Freeport,” particularly in the company of children.

Driving by the Big Guy,

and considering the marketing circus that Route 1, Freeport has become, you might wonder how long he’s been standing guard as it were only a smoke signal’s puff away from Staples Cove and the Harraseeket River. Indeed, he is a landmark in our common knowledge: “Goin’ to the Muddy Ruddahh? If you pass The Big Indian, ya went too fahh,” or “Take a left at The Big Indian.”

The 40 foot statue isn’t a Maine native, but was commissioned by the owner of the old Casco Bay Trading Post, a moccasin-selling business which occupied the Freeport site back in 1969. The owner, Julian Leslie, had sought out the Pennsylvania sculptor of the 12 foot tall raincoated fisherman at Brown’s Motel in Boothbay Harbor, to have the Indian statue fashioned. Even in transit to Maine, The Big Indian made news. En route from Pennsylvania to Maine, on the New Jersey Turnpike, the flatbed truck hauling the Indian drew so many picture-taking and gawking commuters the State Police had to make the driver pull over and continue the trip after dark. Lying on its back like a sleeping giant on a rolling semi, a New Jersey State Police Chief phoned Leslie saying, “Your Indian created the biggest traffic jam on the New Jersey Turnpike.” (Portland Evening Express, 6/23/89).

The property- and The Big Indian- have since changed ownership several times. In 1989, when the retail area was owned by Levinsky’s clothing store, Phil Levinsky had the sculpture restored. The B.F.I.’s facelift included structural reinforcement and a repainting using weatherproof marine paints to bring back the Indian’s bright colors. The restorers even had to pull arrows out of the beleaguered Indian that had been shot by Bowdoin College archers. As the social landscape shifts in southern Maine, The Big Indian has seen it all- once standing in front of a Native American goods store, to clothing outlets, to a ski equipment company, and now an image-marketing firm.


(Remember: Big Indians appear closer in mirrors.)

Mystery Beast on the loose again?

Loren Coleman wonders, meanwhile a second lethal attack occurs...

Here is the first article from the Portland Press Herald:

Killings of sheep blamed on dogs
A coastal Maine farmer puts his losses at $10,000, saying several ewes were intended for breeding.
By ELBERT AULL, Staff Writer
June 4, 2007

Police said they believe a group of dogs is to blame for an overnight attack that killed more than a dozen sheep this weekend in Wiscasset.
...
Farmer Lee Straw left the carcasses out near the road Sunday while he waited for an insurance company official to photograph his losses.

"It's kind of too bad that people have to look at them, but if they'd keep control of their dogs, they wouldn't," said Straw, who runs Straw's Farm in Newcastle.

The sheep were part of a flock of around 30 at a pasture on West Alna Road.

Straw said he got a call around 5:30 a.m. Sunday from a West Alna Road resident who said the sheep were loose on his property.

He drove to Wiscasset from his farm in Newcastle and discovered the rest of his sheep running loose, along with several carcasses.

Only a couple of the 15 dead sheep showed signs of having been eaten, usually a telltale sign of a coyote attack, Straw said.

"These were just chewed up and left," he said.

The attacks were the worst for Straw in three years. He said he lost 17 sheep to a group of dogs in 2004, but police never found the dogs.

Police, along with Straw and the pasture's owner, said they believe a group of area dogs either jumped or pushed over the farmer's electric fence and went after the sheep. They said they do not believe the attack was the work of coyotes because few of the sheep were eaten.

"It has to be dogs, and more than one, because one wouldn't do that much damage," Officer Kathy S. Williams said.

Williams said no one in the neighborhood reported hearing the overnight attack, and police have no suspects.

She said the dogs probably toppled the fence, which delivers an electric shock on contact, to enter the pasture. She said the sheep were valued at around $2,000.

Straw said he believes the canines jumped his 4-foot fence. He said because about two-thirds of those killed were intended for birthing lambs, they would have been worth $10,000 over the course of several years.
...
[Click here to read full article: Source]

And here is the second article, from this morning:

Farmer loses 14 more sheep to dog attacks in Wiscasset
Police and game wardens try to discover whose dogs are responsible.
June 5, 2007
By ELBERT AULL, Staff Writer

The second dog attack in as many days decimated a flock of sheep in a pasture in Wiscasset on Monday, said police and game wardens.

West Alna Road residents found carcasses scattered throughout the neighborhood after the attack, which killed 14 sheep in the same pasture where more than a dozen sheep died the night before.

"Somebody has to know whose dog it is," said Lee Straw, 52, of Newcastle, a farmer who owns hundreds of sheep.

Police and game wardens spent much of Monday searching for clues to help find the dogs that are suspected of killing 29 sheep since Saturday night.

Investigators took hair samples and sent one carcass to a lab to measure bite marks.

Jeff Hunter, who lives about 50 yards from the sheep pasture, discovered the carcasses during a morning walk.

"I was having my coffee and cigar and I found another sheep dead next to my driveway, in a ditch," Hunter said.

He looked toward the fenced-in pasture on Bob Horne's property on West Alna Road and saw another carcass.

Hunter called Horne and the warden service. "What I saw was ugly," he said.

Investigators believe that a group of dogs, not coyotes, are to blame for the killings, said Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Few sheep were eaten, and coyotes attack prey for food, police said.

Straw, who runs a farm in Newcastle, has kept a flock of ewes on Horne's property for the past five years.

The flock trimmed and fertilized Horne's 30-acre field in return for the free stay.

It was an arrangement that ran smoothly until this weekend.

"We've never had this kind of kill on my fields," he said.

Horne said he checked on the flock after Sunday's Red Sox-Yankees game, which ended around midnight. The sheep looked fine, he said.

When morning came, Horne said, he and Hunter found carcasses "all over the neighborhood."

Straw said he believes that the same group of dogs was involved in both attacks.

He said that if investigators identify the dogs, his insurance company will likely seek damages from their owners.

Straw lost 15 sheep in the first attack and 14 in the second. The attacks whittled his flock on West Alna Road from 30 to just one.

Many of the sheep were pregnant ewes. Straw said they could have produced offspring and goods worth $20,000 during their lives.

Straw buried most of the carcasses on Monday, except two that had not been found and another that was sent to a laboratory.

On Sunday, he left a group of carcasses from the first attack near the road while he waited for an insurance official to catalog his losses.

Straw and Horne covered those carcasses with a tarp on Sunday night. He said he regrets not watching the flock overnight, with rifle in hand. He and Horne thought foul weather would deter predators.

"It was raining, and we thought we had them in a tight area," Horne said.
[Source]

Lisbon Woman Owns Indecipherable Book

Viviane Dyer bought a weird book at a Farmington Falls auction in 1968. She's had it examined by academics and theologians, and no one can figure out what language it's written in.

"Rest milady!" wrote A. Baillargeon, in a 1983 response to Dyer. His letter was postmarked from the Vatican. "This semantic usage is impenetrable to all but long-bearded (Indians) who have toiled a lifetime in deciphering these languages."

Baillargeon told Dyer an archivist identified the flowing lettering as an obscure Indian dialect. Since his response, however, other scholars have said it's derivative of ancient Greek or perhaps a Slavic tongue.

Pere Raymond Giguere, a Dominican priest in Montreal, analyzed the text in 1980. His correspondence included conclusions the text is possibly Russian, but with the additional possibility of African origin.

Giguere's experts, to no avail, analyzed the book against 576 languages in which the British and French Bible Societies publish, he wrote. Its symbols seem to be derived mostly from Latin characters, the experts said, but with an apparent alphabet of 31 unique letters, as opposed to Latin's 26. [Source]

Weekly Photo: Going home from work

Our last photo was of a street sweeper in Portland, standing at the top of Forest Avenue where it meets Congress Street. If I'm correct, this corner is not much changed, and until recently housed a leather goods shop.

Here is another photo, courtesy of Abraham Schechter, who runs the Portland Public Library's Portland Room. This time our photo is of another downtown Portland street, this time taken in 1937. Workers are coming off their shift at this old Portland food-producing company, traces of which remain on and in existing buildings even today. Click on the photo for a larger version to inspect details. Can you tell which sloped street this is? Hint: It is not a one-way street, though it crosses one that is.

Bigfoot in Buckfield

Michael Raymond plans to shoot a movie about Bigfoot this summer in Buckfield. Tentative title: "Big Stuff."

Imagine a movie by "Sixth Sense" creator M. Night Shyamalan, only with laughs, he said.

Raymond came up with the idea for his story, set on Buckfield's Streaked Mountain, last year.

He wrote a short screenplay and immediately began imagining whole scenes, using his mountaintop home, barn and fields as the location.

He plans to shoot the film over four days this August or September. [Source]

Zombie Kickball II Report

Well, I made it to Zombie Kickball this year. And boy, I am soooo glad I did. It was a hoot. Click on any photo here to see a larger version. Here your intrepid reporter finds herself face to face with a terrifying creature clearly wearing a bathrobe and slippers. Imagine my relief that I escaped -- I heard that earlier in the afternoon she had been documented chewing on some of the spectators' dogs, a rare variation of zombie appetite I have never seen before.

When I arrived, there were many people gathered, some zombie, more not, an ice cream truck, and some police. The police were there, it turned out, because some irate Little League parents had called them, fretting that their children would be terrorized. The cops came, surveyed the scene, including the small children who were participating in the zombie kickball teams (who were certainly not scared at all), and came to the very intelligent conclusion that there was no reason for them to do anything to stop the event -- and the fun commenced.

The teams shambled and lurched their way about the playing field. The zombies ran the gamut from not-very-zombie-at-all to terrifying. There was a woman with blue hair, crazy sunglasses and purple boots who "Arrrrrr!!!!"ed ferociously in a very pirate-like manner. There was a ballerina in a wheelchair. There was a fellow with his face all wrapped up and his legs draggling behind him. There was another fellow who was lying facedown at the corner of the chainlink fence outside the field when I arrived. Later he dragged himself onto the playing field, where he lay facedown until after the game, when two attendants hauled him bodily to the site where the group photo was being taken.

Throughout the game, a brave band of the undead rattled along on their instruments alongside each play, with surprising skill.

These are but a few of the marvels that I saw at the second annual Zombie Kickball held here in Portland. Last year's looks like it was pretty amazing too. There is video of it here on YouTube. I can only hope that there will be plenty of footage from this year's, too!

I took a ton of photos, many of which are online here on my Flickr.com site. Thanks, Zombie Kickball, for making this a truly memorable Memorial Day weekend!!!

All photos by Michelle Souliere, (c)2007.

Woman Claims Mutant Beast Was Her Pet

Doreen Madden of St. Petersburg, Florida, says that the Maine Mystery Beast killed by a car in Turner last year was her pet dog Woolfie. Cryptomundo has the scoop.

Madden said she took Woolfie to visit friends in Maine and left her there while she made a quick trip back to Florida. The dog, left with a family at Worthley Pond, northwest of Turner, ran off. Madden was unable to find it when she returned to Maine.

She placed an ad in a newspaper and on Craigslist, hoping to be reunited with her pet. But Woolfie was never found, and Madden returned to Florida.

Later, she heard about the media frenzy back in Maine when the strange animal was found along Route 4. She learned that DNA tests had revealed the animal was a dog, after speculation by some who suggested it might be something more exotic.

“It is without a doubt in my mind my dog,” Madden said. “A friend of mine had seen her picture in the paper and said it was her.” [Source]

One problem: she says her chow was female, but DNA tests showed that the beast was male.

We want... A SHRUBBERY!!!

Are the Knights Who Say "NI!" here in Maine? Either that, or one stingy tree thief made off with a bunch of plants that were destined to be sold to support local educational programming in Farmington. Story from the Lewiston Sun Journal.

Plants, trees disappear from soil, water district
By Ann Bryant , Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007

FARMINGTON - A variety of plants and trees were taken from the Franklin County Soil & Water Conservation District on Park Street sometime Monday night.
...
Thompson inventoried the items Monday night before leaving around 6 p.m., but did not notice anything unusual until Tuesday afternoon, when she thought there should be more plants, she said.

"Someone took their time doing it as it did not seem to be a random grab or vandalism," Thompson said. "Pear trees were rearranged and moved around very neatly so that it wouldn't be noticed and whomever took the plants did it in a proportionate way as only certain amounts of different items were taken," Thompson added.

The total items taken, she said, included 20 blueberry bushes, 50-plus high-bush cranberry bushes, three Bartlett pear trees, 23 gray dogwood and a small pot of chives.

"There is a security light in the area," she said, "and the odd part is there is a utility pole across from the office that has been run into very recently and has a fresh wound. Someone may have damaged their vehicle while they were taking the plants," she said.
...
[click here to read full article: Source]

Double Dipstick Prize

The Bangor Daily News had a real piece of genius on display. This guy doesn't know when to quit. Text in italics is my emphasis.

Alleged burglar nabbed twice in 24 hours
The Associated Press
Monday, May 14, 2007

BANGOR, Maine (AP) A 23-year-old man was arrested for burglary Friday night just 15 hours following his release from jail for two other burglaries, police said.

Edward Turner of Hermon and his roommate, Donald Searway, were arrested late Thursday after police found firearms and jewelry in their car and home that were reported stolen from homes in Levant earlier in the day, according to Maine State Police.
Turner was released on bail Friday morning, but it wasn't long before he was back in hot water.

Bangor police arrested Turner at 8:45 that night when he was spotted with a backpack that contained numerous pieces of jewelry that still had price tags on them and were attached to jewelry display boards.

Turner was charged with smashing a store window at Downeast Coins and Collectibles and snatching the jewelry from a display window. He is also accused of breaking a window at a pawn shop across the street, but police say he couldn't get into the store.
[Source]

Zombie Kickball Returns from the Dead!

Yeah, you thought it might never happen again. You glared into your mirror, pulling your hair out and grimacing, thinking to yourself, "God, how could I have missed it?! What is WRONG with me?!!" And then the unimaginable happens. The once in a lifetime event RETURNS. You, my dear friend and lover of all things zombie, are given a SECOND CHANCE.

Zombie Kickball II - Details (READ THIS!)

Eastern Prom Kickball Field.
Portland, Maine
Be in costume or be consumed!

OK, imagine it . . . Memorial Day Weekend on the Eastern Prom, sailboats criss-crossing Casco Bay . . . young lovers, lazing on the grass . . . the smell of backyard BBQ's . . . the sound of children frolicking on the playground . . . and several dozen shambling, undead converging on the Prom for a knockdown, drag-out game of Zombie Kickball!
What better way to celebrate the unofficial beginning of summer?

Sunday, May 27th, 1:00pm sharp, on the Eastern Prom kickball field!

If you don't feel like playing k-ball, you can still help fill the Zombie Bleachers. Last year we had about 30 folks show up, this year we're shootin' for 100. Sky's the limit, Zombie Cheerleaders, Zombie Drum Line, Zombie Hot Dog Vendor . . . bring it!
Now, forward this to anyone you know who might participate, the more zombies, the better ZKII will be.

Need inspiration? Read these tales of other recent Zombie gatherings around the continent:
• Zombies Mob Posh Vancouver Mall: http://flickr.com/groups/vancouver_zombiewalk_2005/
• San Fran Zombie Flash Mob: http://flickr.com/photos/ioerror/sets/685972/
• Zombies attack Austin Americal Idol auditions: http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/08/30/zombies-crash-american-idol-auditions/
• Zombies vs. D&D kids in Montreal: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pumpkin/sets/538104/

Need Zombie makeup help? Try here (or rent a George Romero movie):
• http://zombies.tomwalsham.com/costume.html
• http://www.zombiepubcrawl.com/makeup.php
• http://www.terror4fun.com

If you missed it last year's fun, you can see some of it online: Zombie Kickball 2006 on YouTube, or take a peek at Jeff Boulet's photos on Flickr.

Lurch your way on out, it's bound to be fun.

Photo by Jeff Boulet.

USPS Not Going to the Dogs in Maine

Well, the results are in, and Maine has the 4th fewest postal carriers bitten by dogs each year. Who knew? This article in the SeasoastOnline newspaper from New Hamphire explains...

Letter carriers' risk of dog bites lower in Maine
By Associated Press
May 17, 2007 6:00 AM

WASHINGTON — For a mail carrier looking to escape dog bites, New York City is the place to go, and Maine isn't so bad, either. California, however, is the place to avoid.

The New York metropolitan area recorded no dog bites of letter carriers last year.

At the other end of the scale, the Santa Ana, Calif., area led the nation with 96 bitten carriers, and three of the top five spots for carriers to get bitten were in the Golden State.
...
"Every animal needs to be protective, but its up to the customers to keep them trained," he added. "Here in California they just seem not to do it."

Some customers try to introduce their dogs to the regular carrier, but that still leaves the substitute carrier vulnerable, he noted.

Carriers are trained in how to defend themselves, he said, and are discouraged from petting or getting close to dogs.
...
In 2006 some 3,184 letter carriers were bitten by dogs, the agency said, down slightly from 3,273 the year before.

After the New York metro area, next safest was Alaska with 2 bites, followed by Honolulu, 3 and Maine and Montana with 9 each.

Following Santa Ana's 96 bites were Houston, 94; Sacramento, 82; Los Angeles, 77 and South Florida, 71.

[for full article click here: Source]