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Interlude (tldr)
My Canon camera (the one I bought to replace the one I dropped in the Muddy River) no longer works. The motor won't extend the lens when I turn it on. I don't seem to have the data cable to my other camera, a Pentax digital SLR. I ordered a new one, and it should be here this week. No photos alas until that's resolved. But some other interesting stuff is going on:
I found a great piece of science journalism. This story combines several passions of mine: lifeforms that are preadapted to live in man-made ecosystems, booze, and taxonomy. The story doesn't resort to idiotic puns or name-checking pop culture either. Go read. "Evolution is full of stories of animals and plants fitting into hyper-specific man-made niches, as if nature somehow got the specs in advance."
A strange thing happened on Saturday, and Alexis wrote a letter to the town administrator about it:
I'm writing to bring to your attention an incident that occurred this
past Saturday, June 10th, 2011. When we arrived home from an errand,
there were 2 loose dogs outside of our house, harassing the children
playing in the yard next door. I approached the dogs, and was able to
look at their collars and see that the collars had no tags, and
therefore no owner contact information. I decided that I would get
them into the car and drive them to the Animal Rescue League. The dogs
willingly hopped into the car when I opened the door.
However, when I approached the car again, one of the dogs became
extremely aggressive and wouldn't let me enter the car. First, we
called the canine control department and were informed that the canine
control officer was on vacation, and we should contact the police.
The police informed us that they didn't handle situations with
canines, and that I should just open the doors to the car and let the
dogs roam free. As it was clear that one of the dogs was aggressive, I
didn't think this was the best course of action. We spoke with the
people at ARL Dedham and they informed us that they didn't deal with
stray dogs. In fact, I was told by the people at ARL Dedham that the
Dedham police department didn't have a plan of action when it came to
canine control coverage, so the best approach would be to take the
dogs to the police station. Unfortunately, we were stuck with an
aggressive dog in our car, that wouldn't let us near the car, and no
possibility of assistance from town officials. After a second call to
the police, an officer was sent to our house and seconded the
recommendation of just opening the doors and letting the dogs loose,
saying that he did not want to shoot the aggressive dog. While I
applaud his compassion, I didn't want the dog shot either - it was
clearly just scared, I still don't think that releasing the dogs was
the right course of action, especially from a public safety
standpoint.
I did end up opening the car doors and the dogs did eventually exit
the car. As we were waiting for them to exit, our neighbor across the
street exited her house with her small dog. As my husband crossed the
street to inform her of the situation, the aggressive dog left the car
and charged my husband who kicked the dog in the face, sending it back
into the car. My husband's foot was injured in the process. Our
neighbor hurried back into the house, as did our neighbor on the side,
whose kids had been playing in the yard.
Fortunately for all of us, ARL Boston came to our aid after my husband
contacted them via Twitter. The kind woman from ARL Boston was able to
get the dogs into the back of her van, I'm not sure, at this point, of
the disposition of these animals.
This entire fiasco could have been avoided if Dedham had
an appropriate canine control plan in place. While stray dogs should
not be wandering the streets, it sometimes happens. While the majority
of wandering dogs are friendly, not all of them are. While the canine
control officer is sometimes available to answer calls of this nature,
clearly she is sometimes not.
I was told by the dispatcher that answered the police non-emergency
line to contact the Town Administrators office about this matter, and
such is the reason for my writing to you today.
I look forward to your response.
I'm scheduled to do a bunch of interesting things in the next few weeks: Present a slideshow to the Friends of the Muddy River, participate in a BioBlitz, host a housewarming party (in the area and weren't invited? email me your email address/facebook name), go on vacation with my brother and father, then help run some fundraisers.
Mostly I'm excited because we're having a fence built.
Also, this lives in my house now.
I found a great piece of science journalism. This story combines several passions of mine: lifeforms that are preadapted to live in man-made ecosystems, booze, and taxonomy. The story doesn't resort to idiotic puns or name-checking pop culture either. Go read. "Evolution is full of stories of animals and plants fitting into hyper-specific man-made niches, as if nature somehow got the specs in advance."
A strange thing happened on Saturday, and Alexis wrote a letter to the town administrator about it:
I'm writing to bring to your attention an incident that occurred this
past Saturday, June 10th, 2011. When we arrived home from an errand,
there were 2 loose dogs outside of our house, harassing the children
playing in the yard next door. I approached the dogs, and was able to
look at their collars and see that the collars had no tags, and
therefore no owner contact information. I decided that I would get
them into the car and drive them to the Animal Rescue League. The dogs
willingly hopped into the car when I opened the door.
However, when I approached the car again, one of the dogs became
extremely aggressive and wouldn't let me enter the car. First, we
called the canine control department and were informed that the canine
control officer was on vacation, and we should contact the police.
The police informed us that they didn't handle situations with
canines, and that I should just open the doors to the car and let the
dogs roam free. As it was clear that one of the dogs was aggressive, I
didn't think this was the best course of action. We spoke with the
people at ARL Dedham and they informed us that they didn't deal with
stray dogs. In fact, I was told by the people at ARL Dedham that the
Dedham police department didn't have a plan of action when it came to
canine control coverage, so the best approach would be to take the
dogs to the police station. Unfortunately, we were stuck with an
aggressive dog in our car, that wouldn't let us near the car, and no
possibility of assistance from town officials. After a second call to
the police, an officer was sent to our house and seconded the
recommendation of just opening the doors and letting the dogs loose,
saying that he did not want to shoot the aggressive dog. While I
applaud his compassion, I didn't want the dog shot either - it was
clearly just scared, I still don't think that releasing the dogs was
the right course of action, especially from a public safety
standpoint.
I did end up opening the car doors and the dogs did eventually exit
the car. As we were waiting for them to exit, our neighbor across the
street exited her house with her small dog. As my husband crossed the
street to inform her of the situation, the aggressive dog left the car
and charged my husband who kicked the dog in the face, sending it back
into the car. My husband's foot was injured in the process. Our
neighbor hurried back into the house, as did our neighbor on the side,
whose kids had been playing in the yard.
Fortunately for all of us, ARL Boston came to our aid after my husband
contacted them via Twitter. The kind woman from ARL Boston was able to
get the dogs into the back of her van, I'm not sure, at this point, of
the disposition of these animals.
This entire fiasco could have been avoided if Dedham had
an appropriate canine control plan in place. While stray dogs should
not be wandering the streets, it sometimes happens. While the majority
of wandering dogs are friendly, not all of them are. While the canine
control officer is sometimes available to answer calls of this nature,
clearly she is sometimes not.
I was told by the dispatcher that answered the police non-emergency
line to contact the Town Administrators office about this matter, and
such is the reason for my writing to you today.
I look forward to your response.
I'm scheduled to do a bunch of interesting things in the next few weeks: Present a slideshow to the Friends of the Muddy River, participate in a BioBlitz, host a housewarming party (in the area and weren't invited? email me your email address/facebook name), go on vacation with my brother and father, then help run some fundraisers.
Mostly I'm excited because we're having a fence built.
Also, this lives in my house now.
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I appreciated the quick history of the development of distilling, and of mycological taxonomy, and the brief glances at the economics of spirit manufacture (<--aughh! term to die for), both in the olden days and nowadays.
Thanks!
Alexis's letter is good. The town really does need a plan.
(And Dora is super cute)
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My goodness, is that puppy cute or what??
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Puppy :-D
M