...was about all I accomplished yesterday in my first scouting trips of the year for the upcoming deer hunting season. I went to a couple of tracts of state land I have not been to before. or should say I looked for a couple of them but only found one. That one, Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area is in Schuyler and Tompkins Counties. It is the largest WMA (wildlife management area) in NY at over 11 thousand acres. At that size it should be hard to miss but it took me some time to find - no signs of the road that was supposed to be the access road. As a matter of fact, had I not turned off on a dirt road called Connecticut Hill Road - I would never have found it as all the land I could see from the main road was posted.
I kicked about there for awhile, but not really long enough to find any good hunting spots. That was okay because I will go back a few more times before the start of the deer hunting season in November. In October, I'll probably bring along a rifle in .22LR and do some squirrel hunting - I saw enough of them yesterday to assure me they are in good number there. After that I went to Cascade Valley State Forest in Broome County. It is a place where I have hunted before and where I immediately began to find lots of deer sign in an area I plan to hunt again. What they say about hunting deer in a funnel or corridor is right on in this instance. There is a road to the left and a swamp to the right and they funnel into the woods from the other side of the road walking through a narrow corridor at this point. Hopefully they will be funneling through when Brendan and I hunt the area.
Deer sign is not all that I saw while out and about. I kicked up a few smaller critters like turkeys, grouse, other birds, a salamander or two and a few frogs (the frog in the pic is a Wood Frog). In addition there was a lot of color out in the woods. Being it is August one might not expect to find a lot of reds, yellows and oranges out there, at least not until October, but those colors were there blazing away and saying 'hey look at us'. That hey look at us could well have been a warning shout - you see the things wearing nature's warning colors were all mushrooms. 
As much as I love em sauteed for a steak, I am not about to pick and eat wild ones not even the white or brown ones that I spotted. Still though, they did look pretty and were deserving of me taking the time to stop to admire them and get some photos so I could share them with you. I am sure the woods' salamanders and toads enjoy their beauty. As for their names, I don't know them, I may check on that yet, but you don't need to know exactly what they are to enjoy how they look.
As a matter of fact, one of them sort of looked appetizing in as much as it looked like a pizza pie covered with cheese and sauce. You take a look and tell me what you think - but to me it even almost smelled like pizza. As I said though, I was not about to eat a wild mushroom, and if I remember anything about wild mushrooms that was probably a good idea. You see I seem to recall this particular one as being deadly.
At least one of the interesting things I spotted had no color, it was as white as the driven snow. I am not even sure if it was a mushroom but am pretty sure it was some type of fungus. Very interesting looking - whatever it was. Again though, I was not about to taste it - especially not this one since it just looked to gosh darned alien.
There was one thing I would have gladly eaten, that is had there been enough of them to make them more than a tease to my taste buds. No its not a lobster although it sure looks like one. I found this crayfish under a stone in a stream. I was hoping to find a lot more and later went to the Susquehanna River to do just that. When I got there imagine the delight of the crayfish, and my disappointment, when I discovered that the river was so swollen with waters from a rainy last couple of days that I dared not venture out to look for the little delectable crustaceans.
All the best,
Glenn B
Hump Day has not dawned yet, and I am already pining for the weekend. For many weeks now I have been eager to get away for just one day to have some fun with my metal detector (which has not gotten a test run yet -mostly thanks to Officer Jones ruining my day at Jones Beach some weeks ago - and to other obligations I have had that were carried out over recent weekends. I have also wanted to get away to do some amphibian watching/listening. Those little Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers should be at it by now, and I'd love to hear their springtime chorus as it fills the air under the canopy of a NY forest. There just has not been the time.This weekend, I also have an obligation to start plastering a room in anticipation of painting it, but that can be done on either Saturday or Sunday. That means one of those days will be - or should be - free for me. So on one of em, I'll hop into the Corolla, take a spin, and hopefully arrive at a place where I can enjoy my two pursuits in the same trip. As a matter of fact, according to my brother-in-law, this time of year is good for the metal detector enthusiast here in the northeast. Why - well because the Daffodils are, or will soon be, in bloom. Much of New York state was populated in areas that I will go exploring with my metal detector. The key word in that last sentence is "was". You see those areas are no longer populated. Farms, homesteads, mines, factories, are all long gone in my target areas. Sure the areas around them are still populated, but not the specific places I want to search. So what about those Daffodils? Well, the Daffodil was apparently a quite popular flower in the early days of New York state. They were often planted around homes, and other areas where people congregated. So if I find Daffodils in the forest, it is likely that the area near the Daffodils had once had a house there. This greatly increases chances of my coming up with some long buried artifact, or so I would imagine. I guess every pursuit of the treasure hunting nature has its little secrets as to how to increase your chances of success. Finding Daffodils is just one of them; and having a knowledgeable brother-in-law is another. Keep your fingers crossed for me that nothing pops up to ruin my plans, if for no other reason than because you will probably get a decent blog out of my weekend adventures.All the best,Glenn B
...Phyllobates terribilis that is; but he seems hesitant to take on the responsibility of something he has to care for and feed everyday. I tend to think though, that once he finds out why their species name is terribilis, he may reconsider. Such is the nature of 18 year old young men, they are, shall we say, often somewhat impressed by the impressive; and this diminutive frog is just that despite its less than impressive size. You see it carries a terrible wallop, thereby the name terribilis. Despite its tiny size of about 2.25 inches at most, and despite the fact that it can carry only about one milligram of toxin in its skin, The Golden Poison Frog's poison lode is powerful enough to kill thousands of mice, or maybe up to 20 people. Yes the amount of toxin in the skin of just one Golden Poison Frog (Phyllobates terribilis) is enough to do that, and that is impressive. This is one of three frogs known to be used by South American Indians to make a poison with which they tip their arrowheads and dart points when they hunt for prey items like monkeys; and it one of the most poisonous animals in the world.
Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, these frogs loose their ability to produce this toxin when they are in captivity. Wild caught specimens soon loose their toxicity. Captive bred specimens apparently never have the capability to produce any toxins. While it is hypothesized that a certain food item, or possibly combinations of food items, in nature allow for this frog to produce it toxic skin secretions - no one knows what it is that this frog eats to make it toxic. Some had believed that it was a species of ant, but today it is believed more likely that it may be a certain form of beetle that gives this frog its ability to kill. In other words, it is believed that this frog quite possibly eats something as toxic as, or more toxic, than itself in order to load up on its poison. What is it they used to say: One man's meat is another man's poison!Well, I am going to work at getting a few of these in the yellow or orange variety. I found this pic at: http://www.aaronsfrogfarm.com/images/orterrmal.JPG, and I am quite hopeful they will have some available for sale that look just like this one because I want to buy 4 to 5 of them. They are extremely striking in appearance, and they possibly could make us a fortune. I don't mean by breeding them and selling the offspring, as do many folks, and as we would likely endeavor. What I do mean is that we may experiment at feeding them a variety of available insect species in order prod them into producing their natural toxicity, or at least something that closely mimics their natural toxicity. Why do this, why take the chance of producing one of the most toxic natural substances known to man. Well first of all, there is little chance of toxicity to us since we would handle the frogs safely (for instance while wearing gloves, and we would take other precautions to avoid puncturing our epidermis, and we surely would not eat them). Now the answer as to why take the risk at all. Well, if one was able to have these frogs produce their toxins while in captivity, and do so with timely regularity, and with reliability of as to strength of toxin, that person could make a million, maybe more. The toxins from this frog are considered highly prized in the world of scientific research, especially medical research - yet it is not readily available. These frogs are native to area of Colombia wherein there are often violent activities carried out by terrorists and drug lords. It is not a safe place in which to conduct field research, so the wild caught frogs, with the ability to produce the toxins, are not always readily available. One can only dream of being able to produce these toxins in captive bred frogs, while in captive kept conditions.Besides all of that, I am just into reptiles and amphibians, and so is Brendan. Right now though I think he would like to venture into the world of fish keeping, and he might prefer an aquarium in his room. I am sort of hopeful I can convince him to keep the frogs in his room, and an aquarium in the basement (safer in the basement if it breaks, the water would do less damage down there). Time and tactful persistence will tell if I can do it, but as you may know, I am none too tactful - so I will also be keeping my fingers crossed that he will see the light. All the best,Glenn B
...was about all I accomplished yesterday in my first scouting trips of the year for the upcoming deer hunting season. I went to a couple of tracts of state land I have not been to before. or should say I looked for a couple of them but only found one. That one, Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area is in Schuyler and Tompkins Counties. It is the largest WMA (wildlife management area) in NY at over 11 thousand acres. At that size it should be hard to miss but it took me some time to find - no signs of the road that was supposed to be the access road. As a matter of fact, had I not turned off on a dirt road called Connecticut Hill Road - I would never have found it as all the land I could see from the main road was posted.
I kicked about there for awhile, but not really long enough to find any good hunting spots. That was okay because I will go back a few more times before the start of the deer hunting season in November. In October, I'll probably bring along a rifle in .22LR and do some squirrel hunting - I saw enough of them yesterday to assure me they are in good number there. After that I went to Cascade Valley State Forest in Broome County. It is a place where I have hunted before and where I immediately began to find lots of deer sign in an area I plan to hunt again. What they say about hunting deer in a funnel or corridor is right on in this instance. There is a road to the left and a swamp to the right and they funnel into the woods from the other side of the road walking through a narrow corridor at this point. Hopefully they will be funneling through when Brendan and I hunt the area.
Deer sign is not all that I saw while out and about. I kicked up a few smaller critters like turkeys, grouse, other birds, a salamander or two and a few frogs (the frog in the pic is a Wood Frog). In addition there was a lot of color out in the woods. Being it is August one might not expect to find a lot of reds, yellows and oranges out there, at least not until October, but those colors were there blazing away and saying 'hey look at us'. That hey look at us could well have been a warning shout - you see the things wearing nature's warning colors were all mushrooms. 
As much as I love em sauteed for a steak, I am not about to pick and eat wild ones not even the white or brown ones that I spotted. Still though, they did look pretty and were deserving of me taking the time to stop to admire them and get some photos so I could share them with you. I am sure the woods' salamanders and toads enjoy their beauty. As for their names, I don't know them, I may check on that yet, but you don't need to know exactly what they are to enjoy how they look.
As a matter of fact, one of them sort of looked appetizing in as much as it looked like a pizza pie covered with cheese and sauce. You take a look and tell me what you think - but to me it even almost smelled like pizza. As I said though, I was not about to eat a wild mushroom, and if I remember anything about wild mushrooms that was probably a good idea. You see I seem to recall this particular one as being deadly.
At least one of the interesting things I spotted had no color, it was as white as the driven snow. I am not even sure if it was a mushroom but am pretty sure it was some type of fungus. Very interesting looking - whatever it was. Again though, I was not about to taste it - especially not this one since it just looked to gosh darned alien.
There was one thing I would have gladly eaten, that is had there been enough of them to make them more than a tease to my taste buds. No its not a lobster although it sure looks like one. I found this crayfish under a stone in a stream. I was hoping to find a lot more and later went to the Susquehanna River to do just that. When I got there imagine the delight of the crayfish, and my disappointment, when I discovered that the river was so swollen with waters from a rainy last couple of days that I dared not venture out to look for the little delectable crustaceans.
