GMG Reader Renate writes: “I am writing to you today to tell you that I also noticed the absence of foxes in the past two years. We live out near Wingaersheek Beach and we used to see the foxes crossing the big meadow, that is used for parking in the summer and we even had a fox walk up our driveway, with a dead bunny in his mouth, to go behind our neighbors property, where she had young ones waiting for food, I am sure. I woke up a couple of nights ago to the screaming of coyotes (it is probably mating season), not a pleasant sound. A couple of years ago, we had a coyote leave her young ones behind our house to go hunting for food and I was able to take a couple of pictures. I am attaching one for you to see if these were in fact young coyotes. Some people think they are foxes, but I think they are too big in the legs. What do you think?”
Renate, I believe these are Red Fox kits. Thank you for sharing and sending the photos!
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This list used to be easy to make but Cape Ann is exploding with openings today. So turn this computer off, finish that cup of coffee and get off your butt and get out there. Because when you are putting up your Christmas wreath this fall you do not want to regret missing one day of the season. The outdoor, eat a fried clam and enjoy Cape Ann season.
Below I stick my normal list but there are plenty more places opening this weekend. I could spend time adding names and links but I got a date with a fired clam and I don’t want to
Hot Tip:Cape Ann Whale Watch sets sail starting on Saturday April 13 at 10AM weather permitting. Tonight, after you drag your fired clam filled sunburned butt back to the couch click here and get tickets.
Everyone knows that coyotes have moved onto Cape Ann and Cape Cod but did you know they are actually a new hybrid with the eastern wolf? The DNA typing of this new species is just in its infancy. Mostly using mitochondrial DNA to get a rough understanding but now that genomic sequencing is much cheaper a more detailed picture is forming. Some coyotes trapped have come up as 90% eastern wolf DNA! These hybrids, I’ll call them coywolf from now on, are bigger than coyotes. They are very sociable, live in family packs and can have a range of ten square miles. That is a decent chunk of Cape Ann. I would guess though if the food is plentiful they would hang in one region near their den.
Should you be fearful of these coywolves? You shouldn’t. In fact we should be happy they are here. They fill the niche that the wolf filled here for centuries and now she is back. They eat deer, mice, rabbits, all those small animals. The deer and mice are key. Lyme disease has a life cycle that explodes when deer and mice populations increase. Knocking down both of these populations will keep Lyme disease in check.
Yes, the coywolves will eat your cat but your cat should not be out there anyway. Feral and outdoor cats eat more than 3 billion birds in the US annually. You can’t blame them. They have been trained to do this since ancient egyptian times protecting granaries from vermin. They don’t even eat them just killing one bird after another. Keep your cat inside and let these coywolves keep the population of Lyme disease plagued vermin like deer and mice down to tolerable levels. They are a perfect fit for Cape Ann. They don’t like to eat birds. And if you find a dead coywolf I need just a very small blood sample to run a genetic haplotype test to see how much of a wolf she was. But please do not hunt them. They are doing us all a big favor. Imagine going for a hike in Dogtown and having no fear of being covered by disease ridden deer ticks. If you’ve had Lyme disease you should kiss a wolf on the lips for moving into your neighborhood. They might even take out a fishercat or two.
If the genetic testing of the coywolves on Cape Ann come up as over 80% wolf DNA we can drop the hybrid coywolf name. That is a wolf.
[3/26/13 edit] Lots of great comments on this article. For some local information on wolves go to Wolf Hollow in Ipswich:
MIT Museum has a FREE program on the second Friday of each month, and this month’s program is their fourth annual Nautical Night. Families are invited to come explore the museum and see special demonstrations and presentations focusing on MIT’s Commitment to Marine Sciences. Harold Burnham will be there demonstrating his shipbuilding skills and talking about building the Ardelle, and representatives from Maritime Gloucester will be there sharing the rich nautical traditions of Gloucester. There’s also a lot of other demonstrations and presentations including one from the MIT’s Marine Robotic Team. It’s a great family outing, and the MIT museum is a fabulous place to see the where the technology that surrounds us today started.
from the New York Times story: “The harbor in Gloucester, Mass., part of the Northeastern fishery declared a disaster by the Commerce Department last fall.” photo: Gretchen Ertl for The New York Times
The home page of today’s New York Times website features a story on Gloucester’s big debate about what to do with our waterfront (see story here).
Mayor Kirk is quoted a number of times promoting her vision of our port supporting both fishing and marine science, saying some of the $150 million Congress might appropriate should be used for “Programs that might attract those other uses that allow you to maintain a smaller fleet, and maintain an infrastructure for that fleet, and sit side by side.”
Everybody who’s seriously working on attracting marine science to Gloucester knows we need more than a port. We also need a thriving cultural economy in order to attract the workers that power marine science. Most of these workers are young, single PhDs who work very long hours and want to go out after work — and on weekends — for food, drink and music. They want to feel surrounded by culture. These people think they want to live in Cambridge. What they may not know is that Gloucester has a burgeoning cultural economy. Just look at all the live music available this weekend — and it’s supposed to be the dead of winter!
We’ve got momentum. But in order to grow a sustainable economy for Gloucester’s long-term, we have to grow our cultural economy a lot more. That’s where you come in. Think of Gloucester FIRST when planning what to do at night and on weekends. Not sure where to eat? Check out this HUGE list of restaurants. Check the live music schedule. You’ll likely find music for every taste. Want to enrich your life and the lives of your kids? Check out this impressive list of galleries, studios, museums, theatres, etc. Think you need to drive to the mall? STOP! Check this out and think again.
The secret to growing our cultural economy without losing our soul is to honor our past and embrace our future. That’s precisely what Fred Bodin does. His store honors our past by helping to keep the core of our history and culture alive. And now, he’s taken to filming the future. Here he is filming Jon Butcher with Dave Brown, Dave Mattacks and Wolf Ginandes at Jalapenos on Tuesday singing Sam Cooke’s classic Change is Gonna Come — how perfect it that! Boston rock star Jon Butcher moved to Gloucester. Let’s get out and support his decision, prove him right, boost our cultural economy and — most importantly — have a blast doing it!
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I found this listing on Ebay. It’s one of my fathers Paintings Of the Dunes of Wingaersheek Beach with Annisquam Lighthouse in the distance. Every once in awhile I’ll check ebay and see if one of his paintings would pop up. $295.00 is a great deal for one of my Dad’s 16″X20″ paintings. Looks like it needs a new frame though. Check it out.
Since the symmetry of today’s date and time will never happen again unless we start using Unix code.
The word “twelve” is the largest number with a single-morpheme name in English. Etymology suggests that “twelve” (similar to “eleven“) arises from the Germaniccompoundtwalif “two-leftover”, so a literal translation would yield “two remaining [after having ten taken]”.[1] This compound meaning may have been transparent to speakers of Old English, but the modern form “twelve” is quite opaque. Only the remaining tw- hints thattwelve and two are related.
Last year our sister city Gloucester, England asked its citizens what were the 12 coolest buildings in their city and came up with a list. What would be on your list of 12 for our island?
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Interested in Gloucester/Rockport real estate? Watch Kenny MacCarthy’s video commentary, complete with photos, stats and attitude. This week there’s a tour of 7 properties and analysis of sales to date.
Kenny MacCarthy’s weekly review of Gloucester and Rockport homes and condos for sale. 7 properties reviewed this week as well as some analysis of this year’s sales.
Call Kenny here (978) 758-0983 if you have any questions. He’s my boy!
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I am posting this outside my normal posting schedule because of the unfortunate accidents occurring upon viewing the previous rough cut of this time lapse video. Several keyboards have been damaged and Ejay’s birthday cake has spoiled some new birthday shoes. This remake is after Rubber Duck read the directions. Much higher resolution since I am not rendering a 4:3 format to 16:9 format. The rubber ducks are much clearer. I also slowed it down by half so one does not have to wear a seat belt or snort an expresso to keep up. The music is also more Rubber Duck twin sister genre.
Rubber Duck has got the time lapse bug now and she has already designed some RDBM for quick mounting. (Rubber Duck Butt Magnets complete with felt padding.)
How about a map?
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I was in San Francisco for 24 hours last week and had one hour free time so they took me to Chaat Cafe, an Indian Restaurant on 3rd and Folsom next to the Mosconi Center. Highly recommend if you are in a hurry or not.
6AM flight out of Boston and I had the starboard view of Cape Ann as we turned west. From left to right, the Essex River complete with Cross Island just inland which is the turn around for the Essex River Race. Then Annisquam River cutting off Cape Ann from the mainland, Folly Cove, Halibut Point, Hoop Pole Cove, Andrews Point Sandy Bay, Straightsmouth Island and you can just pick up Thacher and Milk Islands. A tiny bit of Salt Island on the photo’s edge.
Packed so light I forgot a GMG sticker to represent!
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Interested in Gloucester/Rockport real estate? Watch Kenny MacCarthy’s video commentary, complete with photos, stats and attitude. This week, tour several new property’s as well as a couple favorite "open houses" this weekend.
You have local Real Estate Questions? Call my boy Kenny- (978) 758-0983
http://gloucesterhomefinder.com/ Kenny MacCarthy’s weekly review of new Gloucester and Rockport homes and condos for sale. 10 properties this week including some good values that are "open houses" this Sunday.
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Interested in Gloucester/Rockport real estate? Watch Kenny’s video commentary, complete with photos, stats and attitude. This week, tour 8 properties as well as some "what’s selling" analysis.
Call my boy and podcast partner Kenny for your Real Estate needs-
(978) 758-0983
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Interested in Gloucester/Rockport real estate? Watch Kenny MacCarthy’s video commentary, complete with photos, stats and attitude. This week, tour 12 property’s that he’s seen/shown or that are new to the market.
Call my boy Kenny for your Real Estate needs. I trust him, you can too.
his number- (978) 758-0983
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