Good Question 'Reply All': The Deer Opener, Stretching & Streets
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Scott from Plymouth wanted to know: Why do we like to stretch after a good night's sleep?
According to Dr. Paul Mellick, a physiologist at the University of St. Thomas, we stretch because it feels good, but scientists aren't exactly sure why.
The speculation is that when we stretch, we increase the blood flow to the brain, which stimulates muscle contractions. That, in turn, increases some endorphins. It's the same benefit we'd get from a short walk.
Jeanine from Alexandria asked: Why is the deer opener on the second weekend in November? Isn't it usually on the first?
By law, the deer opener is always the weekend closest to Nov. 6, which would be the second weekend this year.
The Department of Natural Resources says that's because, when the deer population was much lower in the 1970s than it is today, the DNR wanted to protect the females to increase the population. They identified the weekend closest to November as the beginning of a period when male deer became easier to hunt due to the breeding season. At this point, with the larger deer population, that date doesn't matter as much anymore, so Nov. 6 has become something of a tradition.
Tyler, a second grader at Otsego Elementary, asked: What's the difference between streets, roads and avenues?
According to MnDOT, there are no hard and fast rules, but a street is generally a right of way between private residences and usually seen more in cities and towns.
A road is generally a right of way between two or more points, like towns. The city or county that builds and maintains the roadway names them.
In Minneapolis, for example, the roadways were such a mess in the 1800s that a commission was created to require roadways that run North-South be avenues and roadways that East-West to be streets.
