Back to Cutler Park

[urbpan]

Today was a crisp windy chilly October day, so we put up our hoods and went to Cutler Park.


The entrance we use is distinguished by this little stone cabin.  I have no idea what it was used for.




Despite the dry weather, I managed to find some mushrooms.


The red maple leaves were most impressive.


If I ever move from New England, I'll have to come back to visit every October.
It's the best month of the year; unfortunately followed by five of the worst.




This tunnel is under the Commuter Rail; passing through it you pass from one town to another.


The graffiti inside is always evolving.


Cutler Park includes the biggest freshwater marsh on the middle Charles River, with several boardwalks through it.


And, for the first time since the spring, we pulled ticks off the dogs after our walk.
These are deer tick nymphs, each one about 1 mm long.

 

Comments

[candent.livejournal.com]

Man, I love that freshwater marsh boardwalk.

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

The weather here was great too. G.D. and I walked through our local old growth forest on the way to do the shopping.

Those deer ticks, do they bite the dogs?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

They sure do. They bite us, too.

[buboniclou.livejournal.com]

They'd be the ones that carry lyme disease.

[brush-rat.livejournal.com]

Beautiful Pictures. They make me feel all nostalgic and melancholy.

I found the cabin comment very telling. If I was there, I'd be trying to find that out. On the other hand, I only have a cursory interest in the plants and animals. I appreciate them, but I don't feel the call to deeply investigate them. It' interesting to me that we both feel the desire to find out more, just about different things.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

Duuude! You look like the unibomber in that first pic! ;-P

Thanks for sharing the gorgeous. I always am reminded of what I don't see in our neck of the woods from your pics.

[buboniclou.livejournal.com]

How do you find the ticks on Charlie? Isn't it difficult to see them?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

It is difficult. Fortunately, Charlie's coat is short and slick, like a horse's, so they don't have many places to hide. I noticed one on his head early in the walk.

Maggie, on the other hand, has thicker fur, so they tend to be on her more. The two in the picture are from her head and neck. We checked both dogs again when we got back to the car and found one more on Maggie. Then when we got home, we noticed another one on her. It's a constant battle in the cold months.

[smallerdemon.livejournal.com]

I know people think ticks are gross, but I grew up on a farm with chickens and dogs and cats all around and ticks were just part of going outside. Now, don't get me wrong, I know they disease carrying parasites, but they are a pretty interesting little creature too. The only thing that DOES kind of gross me out about them is how flat they are. I wonder if anyone has ever studied tick bodies for elasticity composition, because those guys get HUGE.