Readers get three mini-columns for the price of one today, all for shelling out a hard-earned 75 cents:

* When we think with our hearts and not our heads, it can be a messy proposition for all involved.

I tried to explain this to Little Man, all 5 1/2 years of him, this weekend as we were helping his mother finish up around the garden one afternoon. He and I stood over a large moth, one flapping its wings violently as it spun itself around while upside down on the ground.

One of the moth's wings was torn to shreds. Fight as he might, the little guy (not to be confused with Little Man) wasn't going anywhere. I explained to Little Man that I was about to put the bug out of its misery.

"What are you going to do?" he asked me.

"I'm going to step on him and kill him," I told Little Man. "He won't live like this. He'll just suffer until he dies. We don't want him to be in pain all that time for no reason, do we?"

He looked at me quizzically.

"No," he said, but he still wasn't sold.

Seems Little Man isn't alone in the world when it comes to understanding the effects -- both positive and negative -- of human interaction with the natural world around us.

The Maine Wildlife Park has already this late spring taken in six deer fawns and three moose calves from concerned people who think the animals have been abandoned in the wilderness. Only one of the nine, it turns out, actually had been abandoned.

"Young wildlife is often 'kidnapped' by well-meaning people in the mistaken belief that they have been abandoned," Lisa Kane, the education director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, reported in a release issued this week. "The mother-young bond is very strong in mammals and birds, and parents will return given the opportunity to do so with out human interference."

Often parents in the wild will leave their young behind during the day while they forage for food, returning two or three times to check up on their young. But while the parents are gone, for example, a fox might wander too far from its den or a bird might stumble to the ground while attempting first flight.

In each case, the parents would come back and search for their young without any human interference.

Here's what you should do if you encounter young that appear "abandoned" in the woods:

* Fawns: If you encounter a fawn, leave it alone. As soon as fawns are able to keep up with mom, they travel more with her as she forages for food.

* Squirrels or raccoons: If a nest of squirrels or raccoons must be disturbed (for example if a tree has been cut down or fallen), leave the young in the den part of the tree and leave them nearby in a protected place. The mother will in all likelihood come back and transport them to a new location.

* Birds: The same is true for a bird's nest. Put the nest and nestlings into a nearby tree, supported in a basket or other container that has drainage. The mother robin or blue jay is probably right around the corner and will return to feed the young and care for them until they can fly on their own.

"But in most instances, if you come across any healthy young wild animal or bird, leave it alone," Kane's report said. "The mother will come back to care for it, as long as humans move a distance away to let the family reassemble. If you have pets, put them inside your home or leash them so they can't disturb the young wildlings."

* The fourth annual Spring Running Festival is slated for Saturday at Old Fort Western along the Kennebec River in Augusta.

The festival, quite simply, is a celebration of the region's collaborative efforts to help restore the Kennebec River back to a vibrant part of our outdoor community. At the heart of the river's resurgence -- and perhaps the best sign of ecological quality of life -- is the return of the spring herring runs. Alewives, blueback herring and American shad are all now back in the river in abundance.

The festival runs from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., and it feature exhibits from Trout Unlimited, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, Maine Rivers, the Maine Sea Grant Program and the northeast chapter of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association.

The festival is free and welcomes the public at large.

For more information on the festival and the events that are part of it -- including a presentation on the history of the river following a chowder dinner Friday night at Le Club Calumet -- visit www.SpringRunning.com.

* So, it's officially on.

When you get a text message from your friend to remind you that he's already turned in four rounds of disc golf in the last week or so and proudly informs you that he's averaging about four strokes over par for those rounds, he's talking smack.

That's some smack that I'm willing to tackle. Apparently, so are the mosquitoes -- who haunt the woods on a disc golf course like it's Myrtle Beach for insects.

And so, too, are the athletes among us apparently tackling the sport.

Typically, disc golf is reserved for relaxation time. Large groups, taking their time to play a round that, on a good day, lasts little more than an hour for 18 holes. It's an easy-going game, both in its play and in its clientele.

On Monday, while sneaking in 27 holes of my own over at Quaker Farm Disc Golf in Fairfield, I ran into two men who were running the course while playing. As in, run up to the tee box, toss your disc and run after it.

Repeat.

For the entire course.

Didn't I feel lazy, even with virtually nobody else on the course as I worked hard to practice shots and make sure I was taking care to improve my game.

It just wasn't happening.

Now I'm in training, it would seem, to battle with friends. And mosquitoes.

Maybe I'll tell my buddy we're going to run the course when we play. We'll see how his four-over par holds up then, won't we?

Travis Barrett -- 621-5648

tbarrett@centralmaine.com