April 2012
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Weekend Update
On various errands this rainy weekend. Still, there was no stopping the sights to be seen as soon as I walked out the front door. The tulip, that bulb-bundle of joy, is one of the few store-bought flowers I actually appreciate.The Amelanchier is in bloom. Traditionally, this means the ground is thawed out enough to…
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Does This Komodo Make Me Look Fat?
There’s a giant monitor lizard on the loose at Atlantic Ave and Henry St. It’s about five feet long and looks hungry. I’ve called 911 and the ASPCA and the tabloids. Traffic snarled, people freaking out, dogs hiding. If you’re in the neighborhood, for God’s sake, stay indoors!
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Dire Ox
By now, a lot of you know about the abandoned brick-arched train tunnel underneath Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. But I’m guessing far fewer of you are aware of the caves honeycombing what the geologists call the “Heartland Formation” “Ravenswood Granodiorite” under Brooklyn Heights. I had a rare opportunity to go there recently with the Brooklyn…
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Zoo-ology
The very rare and endangered North American Bare-Faced Feathered Cobra, Pseudobitis clementins, rarely stirs in its thicket at the Bronx Zoo. But it’s overnight escape into the wilds of Van Cortland Park has stirred something in this jaded city’s breast. A Facebook page and fueding Twitter accounts (@BareFacedCobra, @RealBareFaceCobra, @CobraAmI) allege to chart the animal’s…
Backyard and Beyond 