I took this photo at a recent vacation in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Every evening the roadside was filled with deer eating the new spring grass. We saw about 50 deer in twenty minutes. Amazing.
Check out the rib cages on that deer, visible even under the thick winter coat. Ever since the Disney movie "Bambi", doing anything about the deer population has been labeled cruel, as if starving all winter isn't cruel (note we saw the survivors only). Here in Shelton, hunting has only very recently ceased (I remember hearing hunting shots out my back door not too long ago and I still get calls about deer blinds in the open space), so the deer population is presumably rising. Unless our "mountain lion" keeps them under control ;-D.
While walking along some Shenandoah trails I noted how open the forest was - there was nothing for the deer to eat. This is what happens when there are too many deer - they eat every plant they possibly can, and pretty soon all that's left is mature trees and a few plant species they don't like, such as green brier and hayscented fern (a native species that is classified as invasive in areas of large deer populations). This can be catastrophic for forest ecology and the entire food web. When a tree falls over in a storm, there are no young trees to replace it, because the deer have eaten them all. Native insects cannot find the type of leaf they need to eat, and perish. The birds, amphibians, and mammals that survive by eating those insects find that they too are starving. If only there were some way to make the Bambi people care about ALL the species of the forest, not just the cute ones.
On Assateague Island the situation was even worse. They have two deer species (Sitka Elk, technically) as well as the famous wild ponies. The forest was nothing but white pines and greenbrier, and I do mean nothing -- greenbrier as far as the eye could see in every direction.
Several years ago I saw a deer exclusion zone at Bluff Point State Park, protected by fencing, and it was very dramatic. Most of the park looked just like Assateague does now - nothing but mature trees and greenbrier. But within the tiny plots protected from deer, a healthy forest flourished, filled with saplings, shrubs and wildflowers.
Some people think of the ATV problem as one of simple "trespassing". On the contrary, ATVs and dirtbikes cause serious damage to parkland. Unchecked, the ruts grow deeper and deeper, like the ones here at Fountain Lake in Seymour, which were over 3 feet deep. Even if all ATV usage stopped here today, these unsightly ruts will be visible for hundreds of years. Sometimes the ruts from just a few passes can cause damage that lasts for decades.
Here's a video of ATVers in Oxford tresspassing on private property that has become a regional destination for ATVers, including some from Shelton who drive across the city using powerlines, church property, open space, and RR tracks to get there.
Most people around here have been to Short Beach in Stratford at one time or another, but very few know that you can walk south along the shore for about a mile to the Stratford Point Lighthouse, built in 1881.
From Short Beach you can see the former Remington Gun Club at the point, the really big house sitting all by itself. The Gun Club was shut down due to lead contamination, and the owner Dupont was ordered to remediate the site, which it did. The land was then going to be transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as an addition to the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge, who was to turn the site into a public access and educational facility. However, the land transfer has stalled due to remaining contamination. The site is none-the-less being used as a scientific research facility as well as a local public access point, although it is not advertised as such.
When you get near the Gun Club, the shore will steepen and is covered by rip-rap. At that point, you have the option of walking along a mowed grassy path at the top of the slope, which is what most people do because it's a beautiful walk. You'll round the point and head straight to the lighthouse, which is occupied by a Coast Guard family and strictly off-limits (a fence surrounds the lighthouse complex). This spot is a wonderful location for a picnic.
The Point marks the tip of the Housatonic River Delta. Yes, we have a delta in Connecticut.
If you go, be sure to respect any signs or barricades that may be installed to protect the Plovers or ongoing scientific studies. An alternative access point is on Prospect Drive, just past Riverdale Lane, at a pull-off lined by boulders. Walk to the left of the chain-link fence and follow the heavily-used trail down to the water (this avoids the beach fee).
Here's a pair of Long-Tailed Ducks near the lighthouse. These are sea ducks that breed in the Arctic and can dive as much as 200 feet to find food such as snails.
This is a fascinating place. It looks like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service may buy the property for a wildlife refuge and would certainly remove the old structures. Until then, anyone can take a nice long walk down the beach. If you walk the entire route and back it's almost 3 miles.
Update 3/7/2008: Last night 3 of the cottages burned down, and the two men who called 911 after seeing smoke were given $94 trespassing tickets for walking down the beach, according to the CT Post. I called up the Stratford Recreation Department and was assured that the public is welcome to walk down the beach - just stay away from the 45 cottages - they are strictly off limits. But you can walk past the cottages, staying down by the water. When you get to the Bridgeport side, and Pleasure Beach, I saw no signs prohibiting entry to the park.
Update 3/16/2008: How quickly things change! Stratford has officially closed all of Long Beach past the parking lot and there are no trespassing signs up. However, under state law, the public is guarenteed access to the beach below the mean high tide line. I was surprised to learn this law originates from Roman times. Apparently there is a very long tradition of shoreline property owners trying to keep everyone away, so that laws were passed to allow the public to fish, hunt, gather shellfish and, more recently, just recreate along the shore. This time it's the City of Stratford trying to deny public access, ostensibly worried about someone damaging the abandoned cottages that need to be demolished (I'm not exactly sure why that is such a catastrophe if they're going to remove them anyway, but what do I know?)
3/26/2008: Per the CT Post this morning, someone stole the 'no trespassing' signs, and due to lots of angry residents calling the Mayor, the new signs will say 'no trespassing near the cottages'. How surprising that people might get angry about a mile of beach being closed.
Some letterboxing directions lead me to Beach Memorial Park in Trumbull today, where I was greeted with this nasty sign: "Park permit required year round" and "Trumbull residents only".
Year round? There wasn't a single car in the parking lot on a Sunday afternoon with spectacular winter weather. What are they afraid of? Hoards of out-of-town hikers in February?
Here in Shelton our trails are open to everyone, and there's no fee.
I ignored the sign, hoping the Trumbull police wouldn't haul me off to jail for hiking in the Trumbull woods.
The letterboxing clues brought me to an engraved outcrop in the woods, which said:
Trumbull is a town dedicated
to matters of the spirit
It's a town to live in
It's a town to remember
It's a town to love
If you're a resident
OK, I added that last line. But really, if Shelton, Monroe, Fairfield, and other towns in the region can share their parks with non-residents, why can't Trumbull?
Monroe did a really nice job at their new "Webb Mountain Discovery Zone", located on 171 acres of new open space next to Webb Mtn Park, just over the Shelton border. There are lots of interpretive signs, benches, landscaping, security cameras, and wide easy trails. There were maps and scavenger hunt cards at the entryway when I visited today (see photos).
From Shelton, take East Village Road and just after you cross into Monroe, take a right at Webb Circle. The very large parking area and sign are on the left maybe half a mile up the road. Can't miss it.
Funding for the $35,000 "outdoor classroom" came largely from private businesses. Wouldn't it be nice to see some contributions like that from our own businesses here in Shelton?
These fruits of the Osage Orange Tree are nicknamed "Monkey Brains". I found them under a grove of trees near Black Rock Lighthouse in Bridgeport while geocaching.
I had never run across this bizarre tree before, so I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered more interesting tidbits about it. Although the fruit are not very toxic, they tend to make you vomit. An oil of the fruit shows promise as a mosquito repellent.
Also, there are no animal that eat the fruit, so what's the point? Fruit is normally designed to be eaten for seed dispersal. According to one theory, giant ground sloths used to eat it, but went extinct when people came to North America.
The tree is native to the Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas and is also called Osage Apple, Wild Orange, Mock Orange and Bodark. The fruit has other nicknames besides Monkey Brains, including Monkey Ball, Monkey Fruit, and Brain Ball. So there you go, learning something every day.
By the way, the lighthouse and Seaside park are very picturesque and easy to get to in the middle of the winter. No crowds. The lighthouse was once on a island, but that's been connected to the mainland by a huge causeway of boulders you can walk on. From the parking lot, it's about a 15 minute walk.
