Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 23, 1993                   TAG: 9308230055
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FALCONS' WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

A: They're presumed to be alive and well - somewhere.

There is one pair of peregrine falcons nesting within the city limits this year. However, they're not from the little flock released last summer, said David McCutcheon, the falcon project coordinator at Mill Mountain Zoo.

The six young birds released here were seen often around the valley last summer, but five of them migrated south in October, as expected.

The sixth, named Amelia, didn't adjust well to the wild and was taken to a wildlife refuge in Weyers Cave. With her problems cleared up, she's now training with a falconer and will be re-released, McCutcheon said.

The ones that migrated have not been heard from - either from falcon watchers who trap migrating birds to check on their identification bands, or from any reports of dead birds.

McCutcheon said the birds' apparent survival makes last summer's project a success.

There was never any guarantee - only a hope - that they would return to Roanoke.

For the 54 businesses, from law firms to barbershops, that kicked in $8,000 for the falcon project, McCutcheon said the payoff comes from Roanoke getting its name in several publications and from successfully contributing to the reintroduction of the peregrine falcons, who were native to this area but disappeared in the 1960s.

The prospect that the falcons would kill or chase away Roanoke's pigeon population was never a top priority of the falcon project, McCutcheon said, although downtown businesses held out hope.

One of the nesting falcons spotted this summer probably was a falcon that had been observed in Roanoke last year even before the six youngsters were released. That one apparently has mated, McCutcheon said. One of the pair is banded, but the mate probably is not one of those released last year because those birds should not be sexually mature for a couple of years, McCutcheon said.

Threads of money

Q: I noticed on 1990 series paper money there is a plastic strip embedded into the money. It's on the left end when the president's picture is facing you. Why is that strip in the money?

A: That vertical line is there to discourage counterfeiters who use color copiers.

The strip is a polyester thread, and if you look closely at the back of the bill it spells out the denomination in small print: "USA ONE" or "USA TWENTY," for example.

Color copying machines can't reproduce that tiny detail, according to the Treasury Department's Bureau of Engraving.

A Secret Service spokeswoman said the thread's in currency made since 1990, but she cautioned that the public shouldn't rely on the thread to decide whether a bill is genuine.

For one thing, plenty of currency made before 1990 is still in circulation. For another, it won't come as much of a surprise when an inventive counterfeiter using technology develops an imitation of the thread.

Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.