Urban Moss and Leverett Pond

a series of photos from yesterday's walk

( several more )

Lucky office workers

This link takes you to a gallery of photos of a wild turkey that likes to hang around an office building. I'm very eager to get wild turkeys on my 365 list, but I've only seen them in the city once. But it could happen! We got the raccoon last night.

Calling the Wildflower People!

Can you help us identify this precious weed? I've got it down to family, but there are a whole mess of wild mustards it could be.


photo by cottonmanifesto

( one more )

skylines

Boston didn't make the list of the 15 Best Skylines in the World, I thinkl mostly because we don't have enough buildings shaped like spaceships.

I'm not bothered (Boston's Skyline looks like home to me, but isn't a big deal in the scope of things). But if I lived in Las Vegas, I'd be pissed that it didn't make the list.

365 Urban Species. #086: Raccoon

photo by cottonmanifesto

Urban species #086: Raccoon Procyon lotor

At my job, taking care of caged animals in a woodland setting, the wild raccoons are my enemy. Early on I realized that I was at war with "raccoon nation," as I termed them. These crafty beasts are armed with intelligent minds and dextrous hands. They can climb any fence and can reach through fencing to grab caged birds. They eat nearly anything, and have a knack for an easy meal. Their ability to open trash cans, and to raid campgrounds, is legendary. Dave Barry has said that if we ever want to get to the planet Venus, we need to convince the raccoons that there's food there, and then follow them.

Raccoons are among the largest of urban mammals, weighing up to 25 pounds. They can survive in large city parks and wooded neighborhoods because they are nocturnal, and spend the daytime sleeping in holes in trees. They can live in almost any environment, but have a strong desire to be near water. Besides trash and pet food, urban raccoons feed on the fruit of landscaping plants, and on various small animals.

I'm hoping that cottonmanifesto will post her story of the raccoons in the Boston neighborhood of Allston.

( If one picture is good, three pictures is thrice as good. )