nature
Salamanders contending with snow
This sign on Conant Road was partially obscured by the latest snowstorm. (Photo / Alice Waugh)
Each year around this time, the Conservation Commission puts up sandwich-board signs on a couple of roads to warn drivers that the road will be closed for a night or two to allow safe passage for amphibians. Well, the signs are now up—but they’re camouflaged by snow, which is undoubtedly also puzzling the creatures who thought spring had arrived.
Warrant piece: Leaf blowers
Editor’s note: This is one of several Lincoln Squirrel articles about an agenda item (a “warrant piece,” with apologies to Leo Tolstoy) to be considered at the March 23 Town Meeting.
By Alice Waugh
A group of residents calling themselves Quiet Lincoln is asking residents at Town Meeting to consider the possibility of restricting the use of leaf blowers, which cause air and noise pollution and are bad for the land they’re trying to clear, according to the group.
Up for a hike?
The next outing for the Lincoln Junior Hikers is Sunday, March 17 at 2 p.m. We’ll meet at Lincoln Cemetery and explore the trails near the Wheeler and Flint farms. Be aware that there are three cemeteries in town. The Old Burial Ground is behind Bemis Hall. The Arbor Vitae Cemetery is the small one on Trapelo Road about…
Drumlin Farm raising money for new education center, exhibits
By Alice Waugh Drumlin Farm recently kicked off a campaign aimed at raising money to fund improvements starting with a new education center, wildlife care center and fox exhibit. The “Landscapes for Learning” campaign aims to bring in $4.7 million over four to five years, said Christy Foote-Smith, Drumlin Farm’s sanctuary director. The campaign aligns…
Where are we farming?
Did you know that there are 497 acres of land in active farming in Lincoln—and that there are another 287.5 acres in town that could be farmed? See maps and learn more about this current and potential farmland in Lincoln at the Lincoln Agricultural Commission’s third annual community meeting, “The Future of Farming in Lincoln: A Community…
Storm-chaser to share experiences in Feb. 25 talk
Tornadoes as seen by storm-chasers. (Photos courtesy Chris Curtis)
By Brett Wittenberg
The van barreled down I-44, its occupants’ excitement reaching a fever pitch. The chase that had started that morning in Oklahoma had traveled a serpentine route across much of Kansas, and by the time they crossed the Missouri border, the chasers had almost caught up with their prey—a giant tornado.
One of the “storm chasers” in the van was Concord resident Chris Curtis, who will give a talk about his experiences on Monday, February 25 at 12:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall.
On that day in May 2011, Curtis and his team could tell by radar that their prize was only a few blocks to their north, but in the limited visibility of the accompanying rainstorm, they had yet to actually see the Class EF5 multiple-vortex tornado. But the radar clearly showed a huge tornado with a cloud of swirling debris, and it looked like it had stopped on top of Joplin, Missouri.
Lincoln groundhog prediction comes true in spades
Looking back from the vantage point of the Blizzard of ’13, it looks Ms. G. was right when she predicted six more weeks of winter. Ms. G, Drumlin Farm’s resident groundhog, emerged from her carrying crate on February 2 and saw her shadow, a prediction contradiction with her better-know fellow woodchuck, Punxsutawney Phil. But the…
Lincoln’s groundhog in today’s Boston Globe!
Boston Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham seems to be on the Ms. G bandwagon in the drive to have Drumlin Farm’s resident groundhog named as the official groundhog for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You can read her column here (which we will note appeared after two stories in The Lincoln Squirrel here and here)….
Lincoln groundhog basks in media attention, hopes for future stardom
Drumlin Farm’s resident groundhog, Ms. G.
By Alice Waugh
Will there be six more weeks of winter? Only the shadow knows—Ms. G’s shadow, that is. Come to Drumlin Farm on Saturday, Feb. 2 to see Drumlin’s resident groundhog — the potential future Groundhog of the Commonwealth.
The festivities kick off at 10:00 sharp at Drumlin’s main entrance, where WBZ-TV meteorologist Joe Joyce will be broadcasting the weather report live starting at 7 a.m. After everyone gets the long-term forecast from Ms. G and learns a bit about woodchuck behavior, there will be coffee, crafts and treats provided by Whole Foods Market of Wayland and Wellesley.
Groundhog Day at Drumlin actually features several TV weather experts. From 10:30 a.m.to noon, Mish Michaels, Joe Jones of WBZ-TV, Terry Eliasen (executive weather producer at WBZ), and Cindy Fitzgibbon (a former Fox-25 meteorologist) will be on hand to answer weather-related questions—and Ms. G will also be available for photos form her adoring public (see below for a full rundown of the day’s activities). Learn more about Ms. G and other groundhogs as well as the origins of Groundhog Day here.