Mixing snakes, beggars and Flipper By Tom Brooker News-Chronicle - Tom Brooker is on vacation this week. We are reprinting a previous "Ask an Editor" column. Lots in the mailbox this week, so let's get right down to the questions ... Arnold P. of Green Bay kicks things off with this practical inquiry: "They're building a house right across the alley behind me, and now I find my back yard just crawling with snakes. Short of dynamiting the building site, what can I do to stop them critters from coming into my yard, and how do I get rid of the ones that are here?" Answer: That's a really creepy question, Arnie, but fortunately you've asked the right guy. The first thing you have to determine is what kinds of snakes you're dealing with. If they're pythons, anacondas or coral snakes, I'd just sell my house and not say anything about them to the new owners. For all other brands of snakes, try wild boars. They'll root out any sidewinder going. Once the yard is snake-free, it's pork-brats time in the neighborhood. Make sure to send me an invite. A simple question from Ferona K. in Lena: "I'm just shocked at how badly Madison has deteriorated. My family and I went there last week and all we saw were seedy people and beggars. There was a holdup right in front of our eyes! Can't something be done about this?" Answer: You should be ashamed of yourself. To generalize about an entire town based on what you saw in one, degenerating neighborhood, Ferona, is patently unfair and, to be blunt, bigoted. To get a better picture of the real Madison, you need to stay away from the State Capitol and its denizens. Sure, those begging lobbyists, heisting lawmakers and skudzy caucus staff members give the entire city a black eye, but you have to be broader minded. To wrap it up, there's this great question from Blackie H. in Pound: "I see you picture yourself quite the historian. What, then, is your take on the fate of "The Lost Dauphin" and how is it that the park dedicated to this local legend has simply disappeared?" Answer: While some historians believe De Pere pioneer Eleazer Williams to be "The Lost Dauphin" - the eldest son of Louis the Something who supposedly escaped execution in France and took up residence here under a pseudonym - other historians with equally impressive credentials have debunked this. I'm solidly with the debunkers. My research shows Williams was sent out by his wife to bring home a loaf of bread and a quart of milk. He left his adopted New York home in search of these staples, followed by a number of Oneida from that neck of the woods, they being equally in need of nourishment and believing Williams knew the way to the nearest 19th-century version of Seven-Eleven. Anyway, they all finally acknowledged the hopelessness of their quest when they got to De Pere. Willliams, not wanting to face his wife's wrath, decided not to go back home. The Oneida likewise stayed here rather than face certain ridicule, not to mention that New York, at the time, had outlawed bingo. The Williams park on Lost Dauphin Road south of De Pere has just been allowed to fade into obscurity based on the recent DNA tests that show the Lost Dauphin was really Flipper. Brooker is editor of The Green Bay News-Chronicle. You can ask him anything through e-mail ([email protected]), or write to him at P.O. Box 2467, Green Bay, 54306.