Rattlesnake Hill WMA

The Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area is a 5,100 acre upland tract, situated approximately eight miles west of Dansville, New York. Roughly two-thirds of the area lies in southern Livingston County, while the remaining third lies in northern Allegany County. The tract was purchased in the 1930’s under the Federal Resettlement Administration and is one of several such areas turned over to DEC for development as a wildlife management area.

The area is appropriately named after the Timber Rattlesnake, which may be occasionally found in the more remote sections of the “Hill”.

The area offers an interesting blend of upland habitats such as mature woodland, overgrown fields, conifer plantations, old growth apple orchards and open meadows.

The area is inhabited by a variety of game species and is open to public hunting. The white-tailed deer, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, grey squirrel, cottontail rabbit and woodcock are found on the area. An occasional snowshoe hare may be observed adjacent to thick creek bottom brush or conifer plantation habitats.

A number of small marsh units have been developed and provide limited hunting for waterfowl. Some of the area’s furbearing species such as mink, beaver and raccoon may be occasionally viewed at these marsh units.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/24443.html

Show Only ...
Maps - Photos - Videos

Little messed up

It’s just messed up that the Latitude is the Y axis, longitude is the X axis, but most of the time you write Latitude (Y), Longitude (X) — but Y does not come before X in the alphabet unless you are a Little Endian and think Z is the first letter in the alphabet.

My Gadsen Flag

As much as horrifies my liberal friends I really love my Gadsden flag.

You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to own my own Don’t Tread on Me Flag but was too embarrassed to spend the $8 to buy it.

I’m a life long liberal Democrat who loves guns and burning things that government is involved in too much in our private lives. Β I’ve always kind of liked the Tea Party message of defending the second amendment, individual empowerment and less government interference with the lives of private citizens.Government shouldn’t regulate individuals like it does large corporations. You might say my views are closer to Malcom X and Huey Newton then Donald Trump or Paul Ryan but I couldn’t find an inexpensive Black Panther flag that I liked. Moreover, nobody knows what the meaning of the Black Panthers is anymore. The Panthers flag just isn’t that nice color wise, especially next to my Blue Marble Earth Flag or now my Rainbow Flag. I thought about getting a Molon Labe flag but I didn’t like the colors or the military undertones. I’m not a war monger but I believe in citizen empowerment and the right of self-defense and self-reliance.

I’ve long flirted with the Tea Party because I love the Man (lol!) and his aerial highway patrols as much as the next person, but I also think that Obamacare has helped a lot of people even if I think that the subsidies should have been a lot more generous for middle class families. Why can’t government help people get healthcare and an affordable college education without spying on our emails or beating up on the farmers just trying to do their jobs? Animal rights and environmental extremists have gotten much too much control in our society today. People who are ill informed and act only emotion, have no role in our governing. I’m more concerned with air pollution from coal power plants and large landfills then marginal farmers in the mountains grazing cattle and rednecks burning trash and riding quads in the woods. Not every acre of land should be declared wilderness. We can have public lands with great backcountry camping and trails, hunting and fishing but we can also have logging and mineral production to help pay for upkeep of the land.

I believe we can have a government that works for the people and promote the common good without treading on people’s rights.

 Grin

Why solar panels hate shadows β˜€

Solar panels are made up of solar cells which are diodes or silicon junctions or check valves that put out 0.5 to 0.6 volts each without load (open circuit). To charge a 12 volt battery, you put 10 solar cells in series to get roughly 20 volts which under load will drop down to closer to 15 volts.

Every solar cell is a diode and not only prevents the backwards flow of current it also prohibits forward flow of current without sunlight to excite the electrons and bridge the junctions.

As solar panels are strings diodes wired in series, if you partially block one diode by providing less light due to a shadow the performance of the entire panel suffers disproportionately. It’s actually bad for the panel to be exposed to shadows continously as when you are blocking flow of current due to shadows you are starting to wear down the silicon junctions in other cells eventually causing permanent damage to the panel.

Suicide Culture

Suicide has been in the news a lot lately. The liberal media likes to blame guns and conservative media blames social media but I think there is little convincing evidence given on either side of the debate.

I have a different take – growth of consumer culture and the promotion of immediate gratification over saving, investing and planning for a better tomorrow – is leading to increased suicides. Is there any reason to live if you are not working for a better community and a better tomorrow in your own life?

From fast food to easy credit, it seems like everything is promoting live for today, don’t worry about tomorrow. Your life is busy, says the mass media, so focus on labor savings like drive thrus and trinkets and not a better tomorrow.

Most products you buy today are designed to be disposable, sent to the landfill or incinerator shortly after purchase. In such a culture, why is it not surprising that thousands of Americans view it totally acceptable to throw away their lives like they do their iPhone or overpackaged item from Amazon?

If we became a culture that valued saving, planning for tomorrow and reduction of waste, maybe life could once again become more valuable to more Americans. Too many think everything in this world is disposable, to be consumed and discarded.

 Landfill

We should work to
build a society that is
more inclusive and less disposable.

Long nights

It’s nice that it’s still light out at 8:50. Now we just need some of that really hot summer weather….

O Albany

“Misery, wretchedness, ennui and the devil β€” I’ve got to spend another evening in Albany. Of all the miserable, wretched, second-class, one-horse towns, this is the most miserable.”

~ H. H. Richardson, architect of Albany City Hall (as quoted in William Kennedy’s O Albany)