Poltrack Blog

New Ipswich illustrator Matt Patterson  spoke about his love of amphibians and reptiles at the New Ipswich Library. Matt did the illustrations for the book The Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia. He brought along original prints and as an extra treat a pet African Spurred Tortoise. Eddie the Tortoise  was the big hit with everyone Just to be clear, Eddie is a SHE, She loved the library. One of Matt's illustrations. He uses coffee for the wash. He paints in acrylics. He always starts with a pencil drawing. I love this expression Matt holds Eddie (Female). She spends summer outdoors.

Just for fun and in celebration of August here are a few crab photos. Cape Cod morning in 2013 If you look carefully at a crab sometimes they appear to have a human face Three Claws Carving at the Vancouver International Airport (July 2017) My cousin sent me this photo taken at Cape Cod back in the "old film days". Is that a cork for a wine bottle?   www.poltrack.net

I attended the Sea Lamprey Appreciation Day at the Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester, NH. It offers the opportunity to handle this fascinating primitive fish. In the video you'll see children wearing gloves, these are being worn to protect the slime on the fish. I was able to feel the suction when I placed my fingers near the mouth parts.  Amoskeag Fishways Close up of Lamprey mouth. Its tongue rasps and eventually penetrates the skin of its host fish. Secretions prevent the blood of the host from coagulating. By I, Drow male , CC BY-SA 3.0 , Link Young lampreys are filter feeders and have no means of digesting blood Impressive looking machine which I guess is used to capture a bucket of fish for stocking streams Fish ladder, note the path to the exhibit hall marked with blue fish icons Topological Sandbox was a big hit Mural at observation deck Fish delivery Up close with a painted turtle Staff member explains how young lampre...

When we returned from vacation we were given the sad news that Pickles our elder feline warrior did not return from his nightly hunt of rodents and moles. It was impossible to keep this guy in the house for any length of time (and we tried). He loved the outdoors and and would complain loudly if we didn’t let him out. He was definitely a warrior, we found him as a stray many years ago. Over the years he lost a fang, managed to kill some big game (a rabbit) and gathered a few battle scars. He was gentle with us and the other cats but was not interested in typical cat distractions like boxes, bags and laser pointers. He couldn’t be bothered with such frivolities. Paris and Buster are still with us. Paris is an indoor cat and Buster spends time outside only when he gets banished for tormenting Paris. He’d rather sleep on an amplifier than hunt. Paris concentrates on insects and moths. If vermin are in the house I know I can depend on her. Pickle’s got along with both of them. He will b...

Years ago while visiting my children's middle school, I was shown a vermicomposting project that the science teacher had set up for her students. Vermicomposting is the process of using worms ( Eisenia foetida ) to eat food scraps and produce rich compost. After ordering a pound of worms from Plains Georgia, I received a package label "live worms". Preparation was simple, I prepared a bedding of shredded newspaper, some soil, coffee grounds and some crushed eggshells, and dumped in the box of worms. The worms have been thriving every since. The are easily the most trouble free creatures I have encountered, they are much less problematic than the cats (who produce unusable compost). All they need is an occasional melon rind or some corn cobs and they happily munch away. You can actually hear them eat! The only issue I face is the separation of the worms from the compost. Placing newer material on one side of the bin is supposed to produce a "worm migration"...