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.
I have to admit I am getting tired of visiting the same places every time I go out and camp. It seems like lately, I’ve been following almost the same schedule every year, never mixing it up for the holiday weeks.
I’ve been thinking about some alternatives this year — things to for me to consider — not necessarily what I will end up doing.
Memorial Day Weekend to East Branch of Sacanadaga River?
I am getting tired of going out to Vermont each year for Memorial Day Weekend. That weekend is often too wet and buggy to be great for camping, so I’m thinking this year if I want to enjoy the long weekend, I should think about not going so far away — maybe some camping along the East Branch of Sacandaga River?
Summer Trip to the Adirondacks and North Country?
I haven’t done a summer trip up through the Adirondacks in years. I have spent little time in the North Country. Rather then doing the Finger Lakes again, this might be a good alternative.
Autumn Trip to Southern Ohio?
I am thinking rather then West Virginia this year, I could go out to Southern Ohio for my autumn road trip. There is the Warren National Forest down there, which would be a nice change compared to always going to West Virginia.
It’s shoulder season out there. Spring as we know, doesn’t come to the mountains until mid-May, when things finally green up.
But by now, one can pretty much take it for granted that a lot of energy of winter is diminished as each day becomes harder for it to be cold with the sun’s angle growing stronger.
Lots of mud and “surprise” snow in the mountains will be left for some time, but eventually it will dry up and green up too. Figure May 10th to be safe.
Cultural diversity is increasing across the world. Migration is bringing new people together, changing the face of cities and countryside.👥 But new people and new ideas doesn’t mean traditional values are on the way out — it just means they are changing.
Respect for hard work, dignity, or that land that sustains us is not going away just because demographics are changing.
Many liberals want to believe that there will be a surge in demand for liberal policies with the new immigrants. 🌋Many conservatives bite into that ideology — ignoring the diversity of immigrants or that a sizable number of them are quite conservative.🏰 People who tend to immigrant are of a higher social class, seeking a better life, more dedicated then average person towards free enterprise and economic growth.
Are really migrants that come to America to milk cows🐮, work on farms, live in rural communities — all that liberal? Rural life or even hard blue collar life in the city does not promote liberal ideology for sure.🚜 And the many immigrants who own small businesses, are not clamoring for more regulation or taxes on small businesses.🏢 Catholics, which many hispanics are, have no love for new abortion facilities popping up in their neighborhoods. 💒
New people entering into a community can lead to change, for sure. Not all change is bad, more diversity leads to more innovation and growth. Part of embracing diversity is accepting not just new but also existing cultures. 👪Change is tough but with mutual respect between the new and old people of an area, we can have a more diverse stronger 💪 society.
When I say I am considering various options, be it for housing or other choices in life,people often assume that because I’m considering option “X”, I have already decided option “X” it ill be.
The thing is when I’m undecided, I am undecided. If I dwell on an idea for a longer period of time, then I’m more like to choose that option, because I find that option more interesting and worthwhile. Often my earliest notions end up being the best option that I choose to go with, but that is not necessarily true. I like to take my time, evaluate all the facts and think carefully what I value most, even if it’s different from what you think is important.
While you might think I’ve discarded the idea of building my off-grid cabin in New York State that isn’t neccessarily 100% true. But here’s my top concerns with building in New York:
It’s a densely packed urbanized state, even in Upstate New York with a fair amount of land, you’re going to have neighbors nearby even on acreage unless you are very far away from the city.
The burn ban and not running afoul of it with all the restrictions, I don’t burn much noxious plastic anymore, but you know the wrong kind of neighbors can cause all kinds of trouble for you.
Gun laws, particularly when and where you can carry, restrictions on buying semi-automatic firearms including even basic ones like my trust squirrel hunting Remington 537 .22 rifle, lengthy delays buying simple basic ammunition, a regulatory scheme designed to put gun owners behind bars rahter then support them.
Permitting and design costs and restrictions. While I think the building and sanitatory codes are good thing as they protect water quality, provide fire safety and energy savings, sometimes they make things overly complicated to comply.
But you really forget how much noise those motorcycles, cars with fart pipes, big ol’ diesel trucks and just tires make on the road. I live relatively close to a busy intersection. Over time the noise kind of gets drowned out of your mind, and I certainly like the fresh air, it can be kind of a minor annoyance at first.
It’s also nice that the birds are back and are chirping.
I’ve always been a big fan of Blood Sweat and Tears’ 1968 hit, “And When I Die“,which actually was put out first by Peter, Paul and Mary on their their sixth studio album “The Peter, Paul and Mary Album”.
And when I die and when I’m dead, dead and gone, There’ll be one child born and a world to carry on, to carry on
I think those lyrics make a good point. Human life is inherently reproducible — it’s not steel or oil that gets used up. Just like livestock and all other animals, humans can and do breed to produce babies, most of which become children then adults. While each human has a personality – as do many animals – humans really just are masses of carbon-based cells and water. Raising a human life is an expensive proposition for sure, and their raising and life consumes a lot of resources, there is nothing really that special about human life.
Most humans only live about 70-80 years, and while they contribute to their families and communities in innumerable ways, their personal impact on the larger world over time is fairly minimal. While It’s sad to see a loved one or a friend leave this world, but realistically their just one of millions, one whose life will be reproduced like any other commodity at the factory. Rather then focus on life itself, we should focus on personal enjoyment, human freedom, and dignity.
While life on it’s own may not be valuable or even noteworthy, experience and human freedom is something worth preserving. Meaningful time in one’s life is short, it’s essential one gets out and enjoys it. We should do everything in this world to maximize the enjoyment of our own lives and those of fellow citizens, stop celebrating life alone — as life without experience is meaningless. It’s not meaningful or even significant that we have preserved life, when what really matters, is that we are giving individuals a chance to enjoy a meaningful life and a better tomorrow.
