Drought takes major toll on region’s wildlife and crops
Post date: Aug 28, 2016 1:09:49 PM
By David Abel GLOBE STAFF AUGUST 27, 2016
Trout and other freshwater fish are dying in rivers and streams run low. More bears are foraging in neighborhoods, with berry supplies down. Butterflies are a rarer sight, as the nectar they need dries up.
The water shortage is turning suburban lawns brown, but the greater worry is the havoc it is causing to ecosystems throughout the region, wildlife specialists say.
It has also kept Eastern spadefoot toads from breeding and spurred large numbers of painted turtles to venture across dangerous territory to find a suitable habitat, said Bryan Windmiller, a herpetologist in Concord. In the Concord area, many of the vernal pools and ponds have dried up, sparking an exodus of turtles across roads in search of water, making them easy prey for other animals and vulnerable to traffic, he said.
“There was a very heavy road kill of this type in Concord when Goose Pond, a normally permanent shallow pond, dried completely,” he said.
ETHAN DANIELS/SHUTTERSTOCK
A painted turtle. Officials in towns that have imposed partial or total sprinkler bans say most residents have complied, letting their lawns go brown in response to the worst drought in more than a decade.
David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @davabel.