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| July 18, 2014 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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ByMaryRichmond
E
very neighborhood has
its characters. Someyou
can pretty much set a
clockbywhileothers maysend
you into hiding. Some can be
counted on to help everyone
and some can be counted on
to hold parties long into the
night at least once or twice a
year. And that'sjust thehuman
neighbors.
Thesedaysmyneighborhood
is being taken over by noisy
gangs of teenagers. They get
up early and holler and whistle
all day long. They chase their
parents around yelling at the
top of their lungs and their
exhausted parents sometimes
seemto look asif theywouldn't
mind losingthe kids for a while
so they could take a nap or eat
somethingwithoutsomeyoung
thing grabbing it right out of
their mouth. The rest of us are
justreadyforthemtoquietdown
a bit and settle in and grow up.
You've probably been seeing
someof theseunrulycharacters
in your own neighborhoods.
Theygoby thename of Oriole,
Blue Jay,Grackle and Robin,to
name just a few.
Allneighborhoods havetheir
regulars.Theymayvarybytype
dependingontheneighborhood
but I bet you know where you
might see the fox kits or deer
family, the groundhog or otter
family. Maybe you have had
turtles laying eggs or lots of
toads hopping about. Turkeys
andhawksarealsoamongthose
that settle into a specific area
and stay there.
Coyotes tend to have pretty
large territories so you maynot
see or hear them as regularly,
but even they tend to make
the rounds on some sort of
schedule. Maybe you have an
owl or ^i fisher, raccoons or
possums. I think we all have
squirrels, mice, voles, moles,
chipmunks and rabbits. They
are pretty adaptable in all our
neighborhoods.
If you are looking for red
squirrel or flying squirrel
neighbors you will need some
woods around you and if you
are looking for muskrats you
will need some water. In any
case, each neighborhood may
have its unique characters but
others may be familiar to just
about all of us.
On a recent early morning
ramble along the back trail of
Sandy Neck I found myself
captivated by the number and
variety of tracks all over the
path.There weretheusualdeer
andcoyotebut alsohundredsof
toad tracks. In Barnstable we
are more likely to haveAmeri-
can toads rather than Fowler's
toads and let's just say it must
be good bug hunting out there
by the marsh at night because
the toad tracks went on for
days. We saw snake tracks as
wellandknowingthathognose
snakesparticularly liketo hunt
toads we guessed that at least
one story there in the sand did
not end well.
There were crow tracks and
mouse tracks and even some
great blue heron tracks in one
muddy area Wecouldsee and
hear willets, osprey and salt
marsh sparrows. Several kinds
of swallowswere helping keep
thebug count downbut on this
muggy morning stopping for
morethan afewsecondsinvited
a multitude of greenhead flies
to descend upon us. Even my
long-sleeved shirt, long pants,
socks and sneakers were no
matchforthemostdetermined.
These nasty buggers only visit
for a month or so in midsum-
mer and I have to say they are
one neighbor I alwayswant to
wish farewellwitha, "and why
not let the door hit you on the
way out?"
Animals and birds are not
our only neighbors. There are
countless plants, grasses and
shrubs either blooming or set-
tingfruit right now.Somebattle
every unplanned sprout of
chicory or Queen Anne's lace
but not me.Iwelcomeacertain
amount of the cheery 'butter
'n eggs' as well as the evening
primrose. I have learned that
givingthe pokeberry and stock
a foothold in the yard may not
have been my best idea. The
catbirds lovethefruit of thefirst
and the seed-eating birds love
the seeds of the other though,
so I leave at least one or two |
while trying to cull the rest.
I'll tell you how that'sworking
after Iuntanglemyself from the*
bittersweet, okay?
Summersofarhasbeen sweet*
and lovely and I for one am'
trying to enjoy every minutef
of it. Like many of you, I was
ready for the winter that neve|
wanted to end to end and I ami
not in a big hurry for the next
one.Let'skeep summerarountf
for a while and savor it. Whil|
you're out and about itcouldbe
a good time to check out youi
new neighbors and welcome
them. Some of them will bl
gone before we know it.
ThejlH
pS largest classifiedsectionis now @ capecodCLASSIFIED.com
PWM Cfje Barnstable patriot
.gA ^
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g0fl-862-1247 * www.
ba
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