News & Opinion About Huletts Landing, N.Y.
ALBANY, NY (03/19/2009) An extensive undercover investigation into the poaching, smuggling and illegal sale of protected reptiles and amphibians by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has led to charges against 18 individuals for 14 felonies, 11 misdemeanors and dozens of violations, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today.
These are some of the types of turtles that were being poached.
To read about the operation click here.
Flood Watch for Washington County
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for an area which includes Huletts.
Bears Be Gone
WNBZ Radio has an interesting story on the DEC’s release of how many bears were taken by hunters in the state this past year.
“Harvest increased in the Adirondacks as well, with a total of 582 bears taken in 2008 compared to 544 taken in 2007 and 318 taken in 2006.”
30 Days Are Up – Governor Still Doesn’t Want To Pay
The Post Star has a good article about the Governor’s proposal to cap NY state tax payments to local governments with state forest preserve land. This is a must read for all taxpayers and voters. If you’re a NY state resident, please contact your downstate representatives and tell them NY state has to pay their property taxes. We do.
Dem’s Down to 6
This story from the Post Star is about the finalists who are being considered by the Democrats to be their nominee for Congress in the 20th Congressional District. The special election to fill former Rep Kirsten Gillibrand’s seat will be held 30 days after the Governor calls a special election.
Reynolds Game Farm Won’t Be Closed
The pheasants are going to make it after all. Cruella De Ville is crying.
Snowy Owl Seen in Area
The Saratogian has a good article about the snowy owl appearing in our area. This is a perfect article to read today because Huletts is under a winter storm advisory, with lots of snow expected.
Ice Fishing Better Understood
This is a story which I missed that came out about two weeks ago which aired on North Country Public Radio. It’s about the start of the ice fishing season and they interview some ice fishermen on Lake George. You can learn something about ice fishing while sitting inside, nice and warm.
Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait c. 1890
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If you’re coming into or out of Huletts during the next couple of months and you happen to see any wild turkeys, the Department of Environmental Conservation is asking that you report your sightings to them. |
The DEC is undertaking a statewide count of wild turkeys in the months ahead to better understand the bird’s population in the state.
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Remember the cries of Cruella DeVille to “kill the puppies, kill ALL the puppies” in 101 Dalmatians? Well Governor Paterson is killing all the pheasants and closing the Reynold’s Game farm by the end of the year. |
The Reynolds Game Farm, is the last-of-its-kind New York game preserve where pheasants have been bred and released into the wild since the 1920’s. You won’t hear much about this in the mainstream press but this is the type of thing that makes upstate sportsmen really mad. The reason is that this preserve is funded by excise taxes collected on all firearm and ammunition purchases. Instead of releasing the birds into the wild in the Spring, they will be slaughtered and given away in the city and the Governor will claim credit for a free holiday bird. Sad but true.
The Nature Conservancy has a neat slideshow about how the Bald Eagle was reintroduced into the Adirondacks and how their numbers have grown over the last 35 years. We have had an occasional sighting in the area but hopefully we’ll see more in the years ahead.
“I was heading North on Route 22 with my partner. This creature came from the left. I saw it take 2 steps off the road over the guardrails. … I would not have pulled that revolver unless I was afraid.”
Dan Gordon
Retired Whitehall Village Police Officer
Watch the History Channel as they interview numerous people from Whitehall who claim they’ve seen Bigfoot. On dark nights, after a few drinks in the Casino, you might see it also.
Here is a picture of a ruby-throated hummingbird. Out of all the birds that we regularly see in Huletts in the summer, this little bird has one of the longest winter migrations. Right now it’s probably wintering in Central America somewhere between Mexico and Panama.
“As with most of our migratory birds, hummingbirds apparently evolved to their present forms during the last ice age. They were (and largely still are) tropical birds, but as the great ice sheets retreated from North America, they gradually expanded their ranges to exploit rich temperate food resources and nesting space, filling unoccupied niches in the U.S and southern Canada while evading intense competition in the tropics.”
With news in Huletts being kind of slow with winter hanging around, we thought we’d share some original artwork. This sketch done by Elyse Kapusinski is entitled; “Frogging in Huletts”. She did it a few years ago when she witnessed some children running around the fountain exhibiting great glee trying to catch some frogs. Now being a child in Huletts is probably one of the best things on earth, so she imagined what it would be like from the frog’s perspective. In this case, being a frog in Huletts is also a great thing because of the happiness some child gets when you’re caught! Now you understand the frogs expression.
The sketch below is entitled “Doe at Huletts” done by guest Laura Rushin about 1990. It was resting on the side of the mountain, when she spoted it with her sketch pad.
A really cool short clip (about 3.5 minutes) on how the prehistoric short faced bear differed from today’s grizzly bear and black bear. I saw a black bear once on top of the mountain about 15 years ago. If you’re interested in bears, here’s an interesting clip for you.
[hulu=ra06vuFlOWTX4zsJfKSN5w,LEFT,340,16:10,Prehistoric Bear,AUTOPLAY]
While winter is getting close, one of our reoccurring topics will be spottings of local wildlife. This picture was submitted by Ed Briody of a snapping turtle he came across this past summer. It may have been looking for a place to lay eggs and yes it did snap at him (but only when provoked).
