Nature & Science
By LYNNE IRONS
Two years ago this month, one of my young women workers got a reaction to a plant which sent her to the emergency room. She was told it was the worst chemical burn they had seen and was sent home with prescription burn cream and her arms wrapped from shoulder to wrist in bandages.
We got on the Google-machine and found that certain plants, called apiaceous, contain toxic chemicals. These furanocoumarins are absorbed by the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light and cause painful blistering or photo-dermatitis.
As entries pour in for the 148th annual Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair, poster competition winner Morgan Lucero is readying her autograph hand.
Ms. Lucero’s winning entry for the highly competitive contest is of a team of strapping oxen attached to a cart in the foreground of the agricultural hall.
“I was very excited, it felt like I’d won the lottery,” said Ms. Lucero yesterday, “It’s the little things in life, you know.”
Least terns have nested on the Vineyard for as long as I can remember. According to Ludlow Griscom and Guy Emerson, the least terns of the Vineyard were able to avoid “plume-hunting persecution” of the 1800s. They nested successfully along what was termed Great South Beach and at Cape Pogue in the 1900s. No doubt the plume hunters were not willing to walk for miles in soft sand for a few plumes. However, least terns have not fared well on the Island since skunks were introduced, off-road vehicles are a dime a dozen and dogs accompany the family to the beach.
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
July 31 80 67 Trace
August 1 79 65 .60
August 2 82 67 .00
August 3 76 69 .06
August 4 83 69 .00
August 5 82 70 .00
August 6 79 67 .05
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 76º F.
The Perseid meteor shower, a favorite astronomical event of the summer, will take place on the evenings of August 11 through 13. Pick your night. Unfortunately, a gibbous moon will dominate the early morning sky. Whenever the moon shows up, meteors become less visible.
By LYNNE IRONS
Is it the end of the world? Aside from the unusual weather, I had three experiences recently which have given me pause. I thought wild animals were supposed to be afraid of humans!
I keep pigs in an open area — so open, in fact, I needed to provide shade for them in the form of an enormous beach umbrella. In the last week or so, when I feed them, an inordinate number of seagulls show up and basically dive-bomb the pen. It is positively Hitchcockian.
Almanac
A comprehensive guide to weather and tides on the Island.
Vineyard Gardener
I guess this past week weather-wise is called a January thaw. We did not really experience it the last several years as December was unseasonably warm.
Farm & Field
Beige and brown and tan and black, with horns spiraled or semicircular or in undulating waves, a legion of goats marched up the hill toward us, bleating in anticipation of fresh grass and leaves.