Embedded Files
December 5th, 2020 Framingham, MA
Accuweather is right. The day started with a freezing, slushy downpour of rain. at around noon it became mix, then snow. by 7:00 pm, Everything had been blanketed with snow. Its pretty awesome outside now.
About a week ago, we coiled Christmas lights around our Dogwood and Magnolia trees. It is below freezing right now and there are icicles forming on cars, roofs and trees. It would be great if the ice stays here until Christmas.
-Aidan Garrity
December 4th, 2020 Framingham, MA
I have a pet frog. T2 or as I now call him "Gorf" has fully developed, and has no trace of a tail. I have moved him into a pet carrier with shallow water, and a rock to rest on.
I am having trouble getting him to eat. About every day, I try feeding him a sow bug and a cricket, and he always refuses. I am becoming worried that Gorf will die of starvation. He has been living like this for about a week. I have tried force feeding him but anything similar to grabbing him or trapping him just makes him jump like crazy.
I chose to keep him over the winter rather than release him, because if i cant get him to eat bite sized food right in front of his nose, than I highly doubt he will be able to keep himself fed in a food-less winter river. I am also concerned about the protein he is lacking from growth during metamorphosis.
-Aidan Garrity
December 3rd, 2020 Framingham, MA
Recently, the feeder has been emptying every day. I think this is due to the fact that I started using real birdseed rather than pet smart parrot feed. It is also possible that this is resulting from the discovery of the feeder by grey squirrels. This morning I will fill my feeder and document how it disappears.
Almost as soon as i walk back inside, chickadees and titmice swarm the feeder. They had been waiting in a nearby tree for me to leave when i was filling the feeder. I also notice that by far the most common bird type at the feeder is the invasive house sparrow. Im debating how to deal with this. They seem to only eat the millet. I could start buying millet free bird feed, or a BB Gun. I want to promote use of the bird feeder in native birds like chickadees, blue jays, and juncos.
I think that the sparrows and the squirrels are responsible for the emptying of my feeder.
-Aidan Garrity
December 2nd, 2020 Framingham, MA
My new Emertoni's Funnel Weaving spiders (Agelenopsis emertoni) Are doing amazing. I was afraid having two of the same species of spider at such close proximity would result in one killing the other. I found the second spider in my feeder cricket enclosure, clearly trying to feed on the crickets. Also, both spiders are feeding well, neither has refused any food yet and each of them have their own pile below their funnels of dried up cricket body parts. I will name the spiders once I figure out their sexes.
My newest spider wandering around my original spider's first web
My original spider guarding it's newest web
My oldest spider, that I found at assabet river wildlife refuge, has spun a total of three webs. it started off with the web that I found it in (shown above to the right) and then it built and abandoned a second web. recently, it currently living in a third, Brand new web. I am beginning to think it is a female, impregnated by the new spider, as it's abdomen is about twice the width as the new spiders, however, this could simply be a result of a full month of easy food compared to the new spider's mere week.
For now, I am going to refer to it as a SHE, and the new spider as a HE, until i get better information. It would be really cool to document the pregnancy and birth of an animal this cool. If she does give birth, I will move her, the father, and all of the babies into a new, bigger enclosure.
The enclosure that they are living in now is one out of my two "Log Underside Simulations" as most of my current pets naturally live in or under rotting logs. Also in this enclosure are 3 co-existing breeding populations. I have a population of common woodlice, A slug that I cannot identify, and a third population of camel crickets. Soon I will do a section about my second Simulation.
-Aidan Garrity
December 1st, 2020 Framingham, MA
Today, I watched the film "The Lost Forests Of New England ". The film gave information on what an old growth forest is. In order for a forest to be old growth, it must contain trees that have lived for 200 yrs or older. Unfortunately, these types of forests are extremely rare due to logging by the British a long time ago, and lumber companies.
photo taken in Scarborough Maine, near pine point beach
The film explained that the British Navy had created an act before the revolutionary war reserving any white pine meeting certain width and height requirements to be turned into masts on war ships. This was one of many things the British did to provoke war. The trees were called "Mast Pines".
I was surprised to hear this as I had assumed that nearby forests to my house such as Callahan State Park, and Nobscot Scouting Reserve had always been there. However, It turns out that this land was previously farmland that had turned back into forests when organizations and the Mass. Gov bought it.
These "Secondary Forests" are made up of relatively young trees.
Overall, If you are interested in this type of stuff, I recommend the film.
-Aidan Garrity
November 30th, 2020 Sudbury, MA
Yesterday, I did not post due to it being thanksgiving break, but I went to Assabet River Wildlife Refuge. I was looking on google maps a few days ago, and I looked at the geography of the Assabet River. I wanted to know where the water goes and how it gets to the ocean.
The Assabet River and the Sudbury River join up miles away, in Concord, MA. The Sudbury river is fed by the Sudbury Reservoir, While the Assabet is fed by Warner's Pond and Hopp Brook. The combination of the two rivers is the much wider Concord River. The Concord River goes almost directly north. After about 30 miles, it collides with a much wider, and famous river. The Merrimack.
This takes place in Downtown Lowell, MA. I find it pretty cool to imagine a fish and try to see how much that fish could swim to, without entering the ocean. The Merrimack connects to an uncountable amount of rivers, lakes, and streams including the Nashua River. The Merrimack river begins with the combination of the Winnepesaukee River (flowing from Silver Lake, Which is fed by Lake Winnisquam, Which is fed by Lake Winnepesaukee) and the Pemigewasset River. Lake Winnipesaukee is the biggest lake in NH.
Eventually and inevitably, the Merrimack empties into the Atlantic Ocean. You can see the Merrimack River underneath you if you ever cross the famous Whittier Bridge in Newburyport, NH. At this point, The water quickly becomes brackish, and about a mile further, saltwater.
. . . Just to give you an idea of where Newburyport is, find the grey marker on the above image.
-Aidan Garrity
Thanksgiving Break:
I have not been blogging during thanksgiving break because I would rather spend the time relaxing and being with family. Now I will resume writing as of November 30th.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse