Grapevine GPS, and no satellite radio?

Grapevine
GPS, and no satellite radio?

As more moose have taken up residence in the state, and crossing busy highways is not the forte of the hoofed and antlered behemoths, the state is going to start tracking them in the hopes of determining where nature’s path and man’s highway intersect.

There are currently more than 100 moose living in Connecticut, according to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Between 1995 and 2006, the agency documented 13 accidents involving moose on state roadways.

The DEP plans to study the state’s moose population by collaring up to 10 animals with satellite tracking beacons.

The Federal Highway Administration endorses the concept of “critter crossings” to channel animals into overpasses or tunnels where they do not pose a risk to the critters themselves, or to speeding traffic.

In Alberta, Canada, such an approach is credited with cutting deer and elk road kills by 95 percent, according to researchers at Montana State University. Florida has built a series of tunnels along Alligator Alley to protect the Florida panther; as Virginia has expanded roads, it has installed larger culverts for the use of small animals.

Maine averages 700 incidents annually in which automobiles strike moose, resulting in 200 injuries and three fatalities each year. The state has experimented with low-tech solutions such as piling large rocks at known crossings, slowing animals about to enter the road and in theory giving motorists more time to respond. The state has also tried high-tech gimmicks such as detecting a moose’s presence with infrared sensors, setting off flashing road warnings to alert drivers.

Fifth most-interesting new business name:

Wedding Crasher Candids, 5 Ferris Drive, Old Greenwich.

(A security firm that takes photos of all uninvited guests.)

Fourth most-interesting new business name:

LawyersForLess.net, 6 Garden Place, Greenwich.

(Less than the public defender’s office?)

Old folks, new tricks

With a business plan to teach senior citizens how to use e-mail, Brien McMahon High School junior Max Bernstein walked off with a $1,500 first place prize in the Fairfield Countywide Business Plan Competition at Norwalk Community College.

Bernstein was up against students from the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering in Stamford; Norwalk High School; Stamford High School and Westhill High School in Stamford.

Bernstein discovered from his earlier work at the Osborne Community that many older residents are not only computer-phobic but also somewhat isolated. His business would set up older citizens with an email account and teach them how to keep in touch via the Internet, even to the point of installing a camera on the computer so the user can have video communication.

The contest was sponsored by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Third most-interesting new business name:

The Enchanted Teapot, 73 Cedar St., Norwalk.

(It’s what Lewis Carroll drank from before penning “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”)

Second most-interesting new business name:

Monsterbrew, 380 Old Long Ridge Road, Stamford.

(It, of course, begins with all the normal ingredients before fermenting into a monster mash.)

The most-interesting new business name:

Snip-Snaps, 1051 Long Ridge Road, Stamford.

(Proof that you did have that vasectomy.)

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