News and Events for Nantucket Island
If you’ve ever seen the 1993 movie Tombstone, you’ve heard the iconic line, “I’m your huckleberry” that Doc Holiday says to Wyatt Earp. It’s a way of saying that he’s just the right person for the job. So, when it comes to eating wild huckleberries? Well, “I’m your…” you get the idea.
Last weekend, the first Portuguese Man-o-War of the season were spotted off of Cisco and Ladies Beaches. By the time this article is printed, I expect there will have been more sightings.
Known for its vibrant blue and pink colors, Portuguese Man-o-War has a gasfilled bag on top with tentacles that can extend up to 30 feet in length. During the day, the Man-o-War tentacles coil up, and appear thicker and shorter, but when they fish for prey at night, the tentacles extend out further, difficult to avoid for a swimmer.
by Dr. Sarah Treanor Bois, PhDDirector of Research & Education at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation There is a children’s book of poetry called Love Poems for the Unloved by Diane Lang which highlights species in nature that are often given a bad rap. Some of the poems focus on […]
We love to boast about the open space on our island. We are so fortunate for the early insight of those who began preserving land so long ago with the idea of conserving the island’s natural landscapes for the benefit of the whole community. With more than 50% of Nantucket’s land mass under some kind of conservation, there is so much natural beauty to explore. From rolling terrain of the Middle Moors, to the wetlands of Squam, the grasslands of the south shore, access to our beautiful coastline, and the natural wonder of our barrier beach system of Coatue; we have much to be thankful for.
In the early 2000s, I was sampling vegetation in the Middle Moors for a joint project between the Nantucket Conservation Association and Massachusetts Audubon. It was a hot summer with long days sampling transects through the dense brush. Ticks, poison ivy, thorns, and dehydration were my worst enemies. One day I thought I was hallucinating from lack of water when I saw a relatively small fluffy bunny nibbling vegetation in front of me. It wasn’t scared of me and just went about eating as if it was pleased to see me. This wasn’t the common Eastern Cottontail ubiquitous on Nantucket. This bunny was chocolate-colored with long fur and floppy ears.
Director of June 21 marked the 2023 summer solstice, and it has me thinking about what the solstice means. Technically, it is when the sun is at its azimuth, the longest day of the year for us. The particular dates are targeted as the boundary between our seasons because of a series of factors based upon the relationship between the earth and the sun. I am an ecologist, not an astrophysicist (though one of my best friends is!), but I do know the seasons change based on more than just the calendar and light levels. However, there is a lot to think about when we consider solstice.
On Nantucket we like to boast about our open space and the amount of conservation land available to the public. In theory, these spaces are open to all. There aren’t any physical gatekeepers (unless you’re trying to drive to Great Point). But for many in our community and more broadly across the US, nature and open spaces aren’t as welcoming as some would like to think.
With FIGAWI in the rearview mirror, it really feels like summer is upon us on the island. As we all start to spend more time outdoors on our conservation trails, we come into contact more frequently with one of the few hazards we have on Nantucket. We don’t have skunks, bear, coyotes, or venomous snakes. We do, however, have ticks. Late spring/early summer is a boon time for ticks, but with a mild winter and temperatures rarely going below freezing, ticks on island have been active all year round.
