Newsletters

October 2013 - Rattlesnake Brook, Painted Turtle, Thistle

WELCOME TO GREEN FUTURES !
OCTOBER, 2013

 

“Better to die on your feet, than to live on your knees."

- Emiliano Zapata

 

“Trust, but verify.”

- Ronald Reagan

WHITE PINE GROVE ABOVE RATTLESNAKE BROOK – Granted stay of execution!

 

Thank you to all that emailed in their “thank-yous” and other congratulatory comments upon receiving the news that DCR had placed on hold their plan to log the low value white pine above Rattlesnake Brook and are, once again, willing to meet with us and other stakeholders to find a way to return the eroded hillside to its former unsullied condition and restore pristine Rattlesnake Brook.

How long this “stay” remains in effect we do not know, but we hope that if it is not permanent it at least lasts long enough to allow a comprehensive plan to be created to not only fill the ruts and gullies with the material that eroded downslope, but also leads to the rehabilitation of that section of Rattlesnake Brook impacted by the eroded material. 

Way back in December, 2012, when DCR’s Bureau of Forestry (BOF) held a hearing at Fall River Heritage State Park to explain and then take comments on their ill-conceived logging plan we asked for only two things. The first was that the logging be postponed until the eroded ruts, caused by illegal off-road vehicle activity and DCR negligence in not monitoring and enforcing motorized rules and regulations, were re-filled with the material that was now at the base of the hill and in the brook. The second request was that before any commercial logging takes place, anywhere in the forest, a long-range Forest Stewardship Management Plan must be in place. The Forest Stewardship Management Plan would be created by the Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve Partners and interested stakeholders.

In the past we’ve been very supportive of DCR’s management of our forests and parks. We were shocked when our comments to their poorly thought out logging plan were ignored or were simply blown-off with idiotic formulaic responses. We want to say here, a big “THANK YOU” to all that sent in comments back in December. Mother Nature is proud of you.

We will be sitting down with DCR officials, shortly, to plan for a full restoration of the hillside and Rattlesnake Brook.

Egregious erosion of hillside and damage to brook where DCR wanted to allow commercial logging of low value pine trees apparently to cover up damaged land.

 

BIORSERVE FAUNA OF THE MONTH – Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)

The painted turtle is a brightly colored small turtle with a maximum carapace (top shell) length of 8 inches. The carapace is dark greenish-black and is smooth, oval with the widest part toward the rear.

Head, neck and legs are olive-brown to black with yellow, orange and red stripes running longitudinally. The underside edge of the carapace is red and yellow. The plastron (bottom shell) is yellow.

Painted turtles are common in almost every body of fresh or brackish water. They prefer still water areas such as ponds, coves of large lakes and slow moving rivers and streams. Large numbers can often be seen basking on logs and rocks in such areas.

These turtles are one of our most aquatic turtle species only leaving the water to bask, lay eggs or on migration to another water body should their home water dry up due to drought or human development. 

Water quality …pristine or polluted …doesn’t seem to matter. Locally, they are our most common turtle and can be found in the pristine waters of the North Watuppa as well as in the less than pristine, brackish waters of the Quequechan River near Battleship Cove.

Like most of our turtle species the male painted turtle has a concave plastron, female plastron is flat to convex. Males are smaller than females and have long nails on their forefeet. They use these long nails to stroke the face and neck of the female prior to mating in early spring.

In our area of southeastern Massachusetts female painted turtles lay their eggs, usually 5 to 6 in number, early in June. Like other turtles they dig the egg chamber with their hind feet in sandy soil in sunny locations. The eggs hatch and young emerge in fall or they may overwinter in the nest and emerge in early spring.

Like most babies hatchlings have large heads. Their shells are round slowly becoming oval as they grow to adulthood.

Painted turtle hatchlings have many enemies. Raccoons, opossums, skunks and other forest omnivores gobble them up. Crows, ravens, herons, gulls and hawks attack from above. Even when the hatchlings make it to the safety of the nearest pond or lake they face predatory fish, snapping turtles, water snakes and even large bullfrogs ready to open their capacious mouths and swallow free turtle snacks.

After their first year painted turtles are large enough …have a hard enough shell …and are wary enough to avoid most predators. 

The range of this most ubiquitous turtle is from southern Canada to northern Mexico and in the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, minus some parts of the dry southwest.

Painted turtles are omnivores eating everything from algae and aquatic plants to fish, frogs, insects and other invertebrates and carrion. 

During the winter, painted turtles hibernate by burrowing into the mud at the bottom of their home pond. When in hibernation oxygen is absorbed through their skin. Unlike most turtle species, painted turtles are cold resistant and if mild weather occurs during the winter these turtles may emerge and forage about until temperatures drop and force them back into their muddy beds.

 

BIORESERVE FLORA OF THE MONTH – European Thistle (Cirsium vulgare)

 

Ouch! …Is that a cactus plant I just walked into? Nope, just a thistle covered from top to bottom with long, sharp spines.

The attractively prickly European thistle is not native to the Americas. It has become naturalized in North America and is found growing on disturbed soil from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico. The European thistle’s original home is Europe, western Asia and north Africa. The commercial artichoke is a domesticated member of the thistle family.  

You won’t find the European thistle growing in a closed-canopy, shady forest. It needs full sunlight and quickly takes advantage of openings in the forest where trees have blown down or logging has occurred. European thistle also favors the edges of roads and old meadow and pasture land.

This thistle is a biennial with its flowering stem reaching up to 4 feet in height in its second year. Stems are broad, deeply lobed and succulent with sharp spines along their full length.

European thistles spend their first year growing in a rosette form and sending down a long tap root to anchor them in the loose, disturbed soil they prefer. In their second year they send up a tall flowering stem bearing numerous flowering buds that open into soft and fluffy 2 to 2 ½ inch diameter, purplish-pink composite flowers. These large flowers are made up of a great many tiny tubular flowers all contained in a spiny green flower cup. Thistle flowers are pollinated by bees, wasps, flower flies, moths, butterflies and other insect species attracted by the copious nectar the flowers produce.

Seeds are small, long and narrow and have a tuft of downy hairs at the top …similar to dandelion seeds …that catch the wind which disperses them far and wide. Various species of sparrows, finches, mice and voles devour thistle seeds.

The European thistle’s spines protect it from foraging deer, rabbits, woodchucks, and other vegetation eaters. They will munch on it when other greens are scarce, but they do so very carefully.

For humans, first year thistle leaves and roots are edible and tender. During food shortages brought on by wars and famines thistles were an important survival food in Europe and Asia. In its second year thistle roots become fibrous and tough, however the leaves and stems can still be used as a cooked vegetable. The thistle plant would be more widely eaten if it wasn’t so difficult to prepare for the table. All spines must be removed before cooking and this is a long, tedious …and painful process. 

Bon appétit!

 

RIDING THAT TRAIN – Maybe!

The Army Corps of Engineers has released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), which the MA Department of Transportation has adopted for the state required Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR).

Comments on the document are due by October 26, 2013. The document contains information on where comments can be submitted.

Read the Army Corps of Engineers document here: http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Missions/ProjectsTopics/SouthCoastRail.aspx

Here is an article opposing the route chosen by the Army Corps: http://www.wickedlocal.com/canton/news/x1155164392/Activists-say-Stoughton-commuter-rail-route-would-be-environmental-disaster

We will discuss the commuter rail issue at our October meeting. One area of concern is whether the train is powered by electricity or diesel. The Army Corps wants electrically powered locomotives. Massachusetts DOT wants diesel. Bristol County has some of the dirtiest air in New England. Diesel is not the way to go.

Our decision and comments will be in next month’s newsletter. Stay tuned. 

 

FALL IS HERE – October

Every month is a special month outdoors in New England …but October is extra special. Leaves in southeastern New England should be at peak color around the third week in October. If you sit quietly beneath a tree in area woodlands and the air is still you can actually hear the leaves as they detach from the trees and float to the ground.

Click on our Calendar to find organized activities.

 

Here are a few photos from recent Exploring the Bioreserve Walks. 

Photo – Barry French

Photo – Barry French

Photo – Stefani Koorey

October

Robert Frost

 

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind if it be mild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild, 

Befor the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief,

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know

Release on leaf at break of day.

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist,

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grape’s sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves are already burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost

For the grape’s sake along the wall. 

 

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