Tucson Daily Citizen (Newspaper) - May 15, 1975, Tucson, Arizona Inside Divorce rate climbing 17 The divorce rate in Pima County is increasing so rap idly that officials predict that by 1979 divorce petitions may outnumber marriages Bisbee looks forward 29 Community leaders in Bis bee say they will push plans to turn the city into a top tourist spot now that Phelps Dodge has decided to close its mining operation there Pros might help if 43 Jerry Colangelo general manager of the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team says college athletics should clean up their recruit ing efforts if they want fi help from the pros Action Bridge 11 Asa Bushnell 30 Crossword Editorial Financial For Better Chuck Ann Regis Movie Public Richard Sal 31 Your Stars 26 Wizen VOLUME 105 NO 116 TUCSON ARIZONA THURSDAY MAY 15 1975 STOCKS 54 PAGES 15 CENTS Daring ship rescue out Two Americans killed 14 missing By Wire Services US helicopters flying after dark in the face of heavy fire today evacuated a Marine assault force from Koh Tang island to complete a successful rescue of the American merchant ship Mayaguez and its 45 man crew from their Cambodian captors A Marine and an Air Force helicopter crewman were killed and many were wounded in the firefight between nearly 200 Ma rines and several hundred Communist troops on the tiny island 30 miles off the Cambodian coast Six Air Force personnel and eight Marines were listed as missing Its all over Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger said when asked at a White House ceremony about the international crisis that began Monday when Cambodian forces took over the Mayaguez President Ford who ordered the military assault when diplomatic efforts failed today indicated the action reaffirmed US leadership in world affairs Three helicopters were de and at least two ers damaged in the original assault at pm Tucson Watch it buster Photo by A Mohave rattlesnake assumes a defensive posture and flicks its tongue to sense approaching danger have poor eyesight and are deaf But theyre extremely sensitive to vibration and small pits in their foreheads sense heat Mo have rattlers are considered the most dangerous variety in this area Relax Rattlers arent that bad By EDWARD STILES Citizen Staff Writer Youre mild mannered and retiring but willing to stand your ground and fight if you have to If youre a man chances are people will respect you They may even apply labels like strong silent type or cool and confident But try being a snake with these same qualities and youre likely to get your head bashed with a shovel Probably no creature in American folklore has been more maligned feared and misunderstood than the rat Mention rattlers to most people and they think of cunning poisonous stalking anyone fool ish enough to venture into the desert Youll get instant reactions like The only good snake is a dead snake or ugly scaley things Most people know two things about rattlesnakes They love blistering heat and theyll attack anyone who gets in their way Neither fact is true according to Merritt S Kea sey II curator of small animals at the Desert Museum Keasey says rattlers are comfortable at tempera tures between 80 and 90 degrees If the temperature rises much above 100 degrees theyll die if they cant escape the sun And when the thermometer falls below 50 they become very lethargic and look for a place to hole up They cant crawl very fast either Keasey adds A dash for a rattlesnake is about as fast as the Related story page 6 average person walks So if you run in the other tion after spotting a rattler theres no way its going to catch you Besides Keasey explains any running the snake does will be away from you Now this isnt to say rattlers arent dangerous A rattlers bite can cause extreme pain loss of limbs even death But Keasey points out theres much more danger in getting into your car and heading for a picnic area than being killed by a rattler once you get there Even left untreated only between one and three per cent of those bitten by rattlers would die says Frank D Retes reptile keeper at the museum When the average rattlesnake senses that a giant creature is approaching its first course of action is to lie silent and hope it wont be noticed If it thinks it has been spotted the snake will coil defensively and probably will start rattling If given an opportunity to escape a rattler will take it Only if approached too closely will it strike and then it may just jab without injecting venom This is called a dry bite This is why some people dont have much of a reaction to the bite Keasey says Its like the jab from a fighter hes warning you to keep your distance About 40 per cent of all rattlesnake bites are dry bites Retes estimates Despite their bad name rattlers are beneficial to man Keasey explains They are great rodent control lers If you come upon a rattlesnake in Southern Arizo nas desert or mountain areas youre an intruder in his home The best thing to do is apologize for barging in and quietly take your leave Related stories page 14 time yesterday this morning Asian Fighting in Indochina for the first time in 28 months the Marines boarded the Maya guez and landed on the island today bringing about the re lease of the 40 Americans and five Thai crewmen The evacuation however was held up until dark by heavy fire from the Cambodians The Penta gon said the risky removal of the troops to the aircraft car rier Coral Sea was completed about 9 am The Mayaguez was reported steaming toward Singapore manned by its own crew fol lowing its recovery Pentagon officials first said the ship was headed for Sattahip Thailand its original destination but the ships owners SeaLand Corp reported later it was bound for Singapore Pentagon spokesman Joseph Laitin said the destroyers Holt and Wilson both steaming less than 1000 yards off the shore of the island would continue a search for anyone left behind The successful nighttime rescue riskier than the one the Pentagon had hoped to carry out in the fading hours of the daylight took place after initial attempts to send helicopters in for the Marines were repulsed by heavy Continued page 6 Force was small operation was textbook smooth WASHINGTON AP It was a textbook helicopter opera tion what the Marines call vertical envelopment tactics with a flavor of a 19th century raid on the Barbary pirates The force was small about 200 Marines and 11 Air Force helicopters But the objectives were small too a US cargo ship captured by the Cambodians and a nearby island of three square miles where US officials believed tie Ameri can crew of that ship might be held captive Three services the Navy Marines and the Air Force joined in this miniature combined arms operation that re in recapture of the ship the Mayaguez but found no prisoners to free The seamen were being held elsewhere it turned out The Cambodians released them as warplanes from the Navy carri er Coral Sea were roaring in to bomb a Cambodian air force base on the mainland coast There was a price It was reported that two Marines died and eight were wounded Three helicopters crashed after being Continued page 6 Ford saw crisis as test of policy WASHINGTON UPI President Ford saw the sei zure of the Mayaguez and its crew as an early test of American policy in the post Vietnam era according to White House officials They said he felt compelled to demonstrate that the Unit ed States still was ready to take strong action if chal Officials said both Ford and Sunshine will foil clouds Wind and clouds May mar our skies But our famous sun Isnt compromised L Luminate The weatherman says the high clouds that have been hanging around for the past couple of days will continue hanging around tomorrow And there may be some gusty surface winds too But there still will he sunshine and the high will reach the lower 90s Yesterdays high was 93 and the overnight low was 60 at this morning The low tonight is expected to be in the Full report pag 33 Enticed by handouts coyotes attack residents By JOHN LANKFORD Citizen Staff Writer Enticed by scraps of food left in backyards or on door steps coyotes which normally shun humans have turned to attacking residents of a huge mobile home park west of Tucson Three attacks have been reported in Tucson Estates Mobile Home Park in the past two weeks one resulting in a girl being forced to undergo a series of bies shots A state wildlife specialist said some of the coyotes in the area which is three miles southwest of Old Tucson and about 10 miles west of the metropolitan area probably will have to be killed to reduce the threat of more attacks on humans Its the residents own fault says Chuck Hanson cura tor of birds and mammals at the nearby Desert Museum referring to residents of the park who have been leaving scraps of food out at night for wild animals I predicted this would happen I talked to a group of people down there Tucson Estates a couple of years ago and warned them about enticing coyotes in from the desert Hanson said The girl was bitten on the arm last week and the antirabies shots were ordered when the animal could not be found Two weeks ago a man visiting the park was nipped on the seat of his pants by a coyote that had wandered near the parks recreation area His skin was not broken so no shots were required Another report indicated that a woman sitting in a wheel chair on her patio was attacked by a coyote that slashed one of her shoes but again the skin was not broken It was re ported that the coyote tried to follow the woman who was being wheeled into her mobile home by her husband after the attack According to reports from Tucson Estates one of the largest mobile home parks in Arizona coyotes have been roaming the streets night and day searching for food Robert Hernbrode a wildlife biologist with the Arizona Fish Game Department in Tucson said the complaints about the attacks will probably mean well have to take kill some of the coyotes He indicated steel traps would probably be used It looks like this the attacks has gone past the point of just talking about it said Hernbrode The people down there Tucson Estates caused the problem by feeding the coyotes The biologist pointed out that feeding coyotes compounds the problem because it attracts coyotes from other areas Normally the coyote population of an area is deter mined by the supply of natural prey But at Tucson Estates you have natural prey the domestic animals cats and dogs plus the fact that the people are feeding the coyotes Hern brode said Hanson and Hernbrode agree that the coyotes are show ing boldness because by feeding them humans remove the animals fear of man up to a point Beyond that point the animals will strike out in fear resulting in attacks like the ones that have taken place in Tucson Estates And who has to pay for this mistake Some little girl and the coyotes says Hernbrode A spokesman for the Pima County Animal Control Ra bies Center says there have been no reported cases of rabies from a coyote bite in years but that a rabies quarantine is in effect in Santa Cruz county because a rabid skunk was found in Amado last month The spokesman said this is the time of year for rabies Hanson says the feeding of coyotes by humans is unnec essary They get all the food they need naturally he said Secretary of State Henry A Kissinger had gone to great lengths recently to tell US allies and potential adver saries that the administration would not permit a US re treat into isolationism That determination these officials said was under scored by Fords decision to use American warships air craft and Marines to recover the Mayaguez and its crew seized by Cambodian forces on Monday The outcome of the three day crisis announced person ally by Ford in a brief nation ally televised statement from the White House last night obviously pleased the dent His press secretary Ron Nessen told reporters that Ford thought it all turned out well Other aides openly dis played pride over the way the situation was handled Hows that for a days work Nes sens deputy William Green er asked one reporter with a big smile Several officials insisted that Ford made every reason able effort to resolve the con through diplomatic channels Nessen said the administration waited with some patience for a response to those overtures before re sorting to military force But presidential aides also acknowledged that Ford and Kissinger agreed from the outset that miltary pressure might have to be exerted rela quickly
