Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

VLS

Very Large Snapper: Green-Wood has a few of them.
In general, they stay in the murk of three of the four ponds. The forth has lately been drained to just a few inches of water.
This one must be a female, ashore to lay eggs. Where the devil is she doing that?
Once I passed out of sight, she got back to moving, towards the water. They are very lumbering when on the move.
Here’s another of the big ones, up-periscope in late June.
Leech-heaven.

PSA:
New York City residents can now request absentee ballots for the November election.

In NY, the “temporary illness” category now includes the pandemic thread: “If you are affected by COVID-19 and/or the potential of contracting the virus, please check the box for “Temporary Illness” on the application. The definition has been temporarily expanded to include “a risk of contracting or spreading a disease” such as COVID-19.”

More on voting in NY this November.

Folks in other states, now is the time to figure out your options.

mthew

4 responses to “VLS”

  1. elwnyc

    I wonder if the eggs have a chance of hatching since I’m sure Green-Wood Cemetery has hungry raccoons.

    Reply
    1. mthew

      Many less raccoons in recent years. The effects of canine distemper a couple of years ago were culling.

      Reply
  2. Paul Lamb

    A slider laid some eggs in the middle of my gravel/dirt road by my dam. I had hopes for them until the big trucks FINALLY arrived (after a year and a half of waiting for them) to repair my washed out spillway. I suspect the eggs didn’t survive that.

    Even though there is a risk of catching/transmitting the virus, I think I’m going to volunteer at the polls this year. It’s probably the most important election of my life.

    Reply
  3. Monica Murphy

    No excuses this time. Many options. Non-votes and “3rd” party = Trump.

    Reply

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