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.
Eventually, I plan to become a landowner more then a homeowner. Land not just a place to have a home on, but land where I can call my own, use for my own purposes, study nature and wildlife, hunt and trap on. Public lands are a fantastic resource, but they aren’t really my own even though I temporarily occupy the lands.
As a landowner you become responsible not just for your home, but also maintaining the land to maximize habitat and value to you. There are many ways to use land, farming, firewood, timber, hunt, trap, and so forth. Careful methods of use can maximize both the value of the land to you and wildlife that lives on it.
Land is more important to me then any kind of home I would have on it. I don’t want to chop down the forest or develop it more, I’d much rather take an adapt an existing structure, and use as much of the land that I own for natural purposes — be it agriculture or forest property. I would like to meet as much of needs on-site as possible, from renewable energy to food, to an live with as small of an externalized impact as possible.
“To divide this cockeyed world in two
Throw your pride to one side, it’s the least you can do
Beatniks and politics, nothing is new
A yardstick for lunatics, one point of view
“Who cares what games we choose
Little to win, but nothing to lose”
Lately I’ve been quite interested in vegan cooking mostly because its often rich in fiber, vitamins and protein without the saturated fats, especially the Omega-6s which are so problematic from a health perspective.
But gets werid so quickly as it’s not just a way of cooking but also in many cases a doctrine as most vegans have ideological reasons against eating all meat and dairy, and to a lesser extent fish. Vegans don’t necessarily oppose processed foods or excessive salt and sugar. Yet, I do appreciate their creativity at cooking and how much different than the unhealthy crap so many Americans eat these days and a great way to introduce yourself to new foods.
The internet advertisers have discovered my interest in vegan cooking and I’m now getting served up a steady series of advertising for ultra processed vegan food, which is basically the standard unhealthy American fare loaded with sugar and salt and made to look like traditional foods. Probably with half the taste and even more unhealthy then traditional American fare due to processing to make crap ingredients taste like meat and dairy.
I’m not a believer in orthodoxy, my diet included. Even some bacon in moderation is a good thing. But it should be a treat, not an every day or even every week thing. Just like it used to be back in the day of the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich before it became an unhealthy kitchen stable mostly due to the push of the hog farmers.
I just shared some articles about the March for Science. It’s an interesting movement, one I’m decidedly on the fence about participating, especially should I end up staying in town this weekend.
Science has an important role in society for sure – without it I wouldn’t be typing this blog post into a $40 Smartphone or sharing it on the web. Basic research, funded by the American government is essential for moving society forward. Everybody should accept facts based on the scientific method but realize that facts alone can not justify any public policy.
Science is good at quantifying specific actions, it can illuminate the likely outcomes of public policy. It can give us estimates of deaths caused by a specific action or predict lives saved. But science can not place a value on human freedom or choice, it can often not quantify the things that make us happy as humans. Science can never tell us what’s right or wrong.
I worry about people using science to create self evident truths. I am fine with accepting facts but facts must always be put in context and our society’s values considered in the bigger picture. Just because science suggests a particular bad outcome to a public policy, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
We should fund public science and make sure that the knowledge gained by science is widely distributed. But we should also expect scientists to be non-political, abide by the Hatch Act, and provide nothing but the facts. Scientists who choose to include context to their research should always try to provide the widest context possible and present opposing views.
It’s important as a society to invest in science and use science to weight the pros and cons of public policy.
Climate change is a serious crisis. We’ve waited too long to take action, and as result to make the changes recommended by scientists, it’s going to threaten both democracy and environment. The truth is an expedited action means cutting corners, emboldening bureaucrats, fostering corruption and damaging the environment through poorly reviewed and thought out projects.
That said, is it worthwhile to take climate action? Of course, we should. But we should be cautious, take reasonable steps after thoughtful review. Science has to be based on reality, not a projection of world we want to live on. We should take steps to reduce climate change emissions that are protective of environment and not harmful. It’s better to be slow and cautious, and if we don’t meet emissions targets, we don’t meet them. It’s better to save democracy and our environment, then meet a set emissions target.
While it is possible to convert electricity into other forms of energy like chemical or physical energy, your not actually storing electricity – your storing another form of energy that can be converted back to electricity. ⚡
Capacitors do store small amounts of electricity temporarily but inductors actually convert electricity to magnetism temporarily so they don’t count. So some of the rules of electricity don’t always apply.
One of the most entertaining parts of voir dire at jury duty is the way some people either try to get on or off the jury. Retires and blue collar union and state folks like jury duty.
While juror numbers are picked at random there many things a potential juror can say to be instantly disqualified and many ways to explain away potential disqualifiers.
My number was never called but I spent two days listening to people’s excuses and figuring out the best disqualifications – usually showing knowledge about the case’s subject matter, personal emotional experiences, and suggesting that your blatantly prejudicial towards one side.
On the other side, there was folks who had a way to explain away anything. Those folks who were determined to get on the jury usually did. Apparently if people express and interest and profess a view that they are non-biased get on, despite mitigating factors.
If you haven’t served on a jury (actually served, not just called) within 6 years , you can request to serve on a jury by calling the commissioner of jurors. Some seniors do this — because if your called in and even if you don’t serve, you can get $40-80 for the time you sit waiting to be interviewed.
