Monthly Archives: May 2011

Lobby Day for Animals

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Without thinking too much about it, I agreed in late March to participate in Lobby Day for Animals at the State House in Boston.  Today was the day, so I was up at 6 am so that I could get on the 7:35 Commuter Rail train from Union Station in Worcester to South Station in Boston.  From there it was a quick two stops on the Red Line to Park Street, then I walked up the hill to the building with the golden dome.  Our bags went through an X-ray machine, then we walked through a metal detector (I guess that is standard procedure in any public building these days), then we all converged upstairs on the second floor.

The Humane Society and the MSPCA had planned a full day of activities for us hundred or so constituents who had signed up to lobby our state legislators.  From 10 to 10:45 we registered and reviewed the material in our folders.  Alexis Fox, HSUS State Director for Massachusetts, coordinated our gathering, together with Linda Huebner, MSPCA Deputy Director for Advocacy.  From 10:45 to 11:30, we heard from three of the legislators who had filed animal protection legislation in this session.  First to speak was Senator Katherine Clark, followed by Senator Robert Hedlund, followed by Senator Patricia Jehlen.  We then greeted the winner of the “Most Adorable Dog” photo contest as well as a finalist in the dog competition; we also saw a photo of the “Most Adorable Cat.”  Around 11:30, we broke into small groups; Kara briefed my group on what we should expect in the meetings with our legislators that had been scheduled for us.

During the next 45 minutes, I ate some snacks and developed a presentation for my state senator and rep.  Just before 1 pm, I made my way to Room 212, the office of Senator Steve Brewer, who is also chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.  As I expected, I met with his legislative director; we spoke for about a half hour.  She was cordial and informative, and I hoped I made a case for protecting animals.  Shortly before 2 pm, I took the elevator to the fourth floor to Room 473F, the office of Representative Anne Gobi, chair of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture.  Unfortunately, she was in a hearing that had begun at 1 and was not expected to finish before 5, and her aide had to leave because his wife went into labor.

I felt that I had done what I could, so I glanced quickly at my watch and decided to try to get on the 2:40 train back to Worcester.  An outbound Red Line train departed from Park Street within minutes, and I was at South Station Platform 2 with 10 minutes to spare.  By 4:15, I had retrieved my car from the Union Station parking garage and was on my way home.  Folks may be interested to know that Free Wi-Fi on Commuter Rail worked very well.

A number of bills pertaining to treatment of animals were filed this session; these five are the ones that the HSUS and MSPCA asked us to focus on:

For

  • H.458 and S.786: Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty
  • S.1033: Update Animal Control Laws
  • S.682: Pet Protective Orders

Against

  • H.3315: Remove Restrictions on Trapping
  • S.335: Create Livestock Care Advisory Board

If you’d like to learn more about these issues, please visit the MSPCA site.  Note that this is an advocacy site and therefore not unbiased; this is okay with me because I’m not particularly amenable to compromise when it comes to animals.  I’m not good at talking to people and really dislike doing it (I dreaded this day), but someone has to be a voice for those who can’t speak for themselves.  Let it be me, I said.

Bird Walk at Muddy Brook

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Two members of the East Quabbin Bird Club agreed to lead a short hike this morning along the trails in the Muddy Brook Wildlife Management Area in Hardwick.  Although I wasn’t too keen on getting up at 6 am (!) on a Sunday morning, by 7 am I had parked at the washed out bridge at the end of Patrill Hollow Road.  Nine of us were thrilled to be outdoors on this first day of May, enjoying a morning filled with sunshine and birdsong.

Because I’m not a birder, I won’t list the species we either heard or saw (I didn’t keep notes and don’t remember what they were, other than Red-Winged Blackbirds and Woodpeckers).  I can report that there were a fair number, though nothing out of the ordinary.  I did take a few photos of the landscapes we passed through on our 3-hour hike.

This marked tree is a Pitch Pine, an uncommon species in Central Mass. The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Natural Heritage Program are planning to remove the white pines which have overrun this area of sandy soils; they’ll then introduce controlled burning which will re-establish a fire-tolerant habitat for birds such as the Whip-Poor-Will.

This area includes diverse landscape features such as ponds and wetlands, as well as fields that are considered sandplain grasslands.  Here you see the flatness that is typical of an area scoured by the last glaciation.

I’m not sure the animals still live here, but this is definitely a beaver lodge.

Here is a close-up (yes, I know this was supposed to be about birds, but I could barely see the avian fauna, much less photograph them).

We also walked through a frost pocket and past a vernal pool.  I don’t know what this body of water is (maybe it’s the eponymous Muddy Brook?), but I loved the colors.

Please do follow the link to the Bird Club website — it includes a lot of information on both the ecology of the East Quabbin area and the bird species that are found here.  For my part, I hope to learn more about the area and visit some of the other sites mentioned.

Score: 5-0 Ticks