Coyote Alert: Dog walkers, please avoid Selden Creek Preserve and Mt Archer Woods Red Trail during the spring/early summer 2016. Coyotes are rearing pups. They perceive dogs, especially those that are running loose, as a threat and they will protect their young. Dogs should be on leashes or under direct control when in the preserves. A dog on a short leash is safer because of its close association with a human.  It is extremely rare for people without dogs to have an encounter with coyotes on the preserves. They are afraid of humans and prefer to leave us alone. It is up to us to keep it that way by not feeding them, intentionally or unintentionally. Many problems with wildlife occur when they associate people with food and lose their fear of humans.

Coyotes are established in CT. They are highly intelligent and have moved in to fill a niche in the environment as a top predator. They benefit the ecosystem by helping to maintain the balance in the populations of the many species. Their diet mainly consists of rodents, turkey, fruits, carrion and occasionally deer. Small pets and livestock are vulnerable to attack by coyote. Pet owners must be vigilant about keeping their pets under close supervision. To read more about coyotes. 

The Lyme Land Trust has announced a fund raising drive to protect 82 acres of ecologically strategic upland forest and swamp wildlife habitat in Hadlyme on the headwaters of Whalebone Cove, one of the freshwater tidal wetlands that comprises the internationally celebrated Connecticut River estuary complex. The new proposed preserve is part of a forested landscape just south of Hadlyme Four Corners and Ferry Road (Rt. 148), and forms a large part of the watershed for Whalebone Creek, a key tributary feeding Whalebone Cove. To read more, click here. To Donate, click here. In the comments box, write “Hawthorne Preserve Fund”. For a guided walk on the Lyme Land Trust’s proposed new Hawthorne Preserve or to make a pledge, contact Humphrey Tyler at: hstyler45@yahoo.com or 518-253-4844.

Lyme Consolidated School 5th Graders celebrated Earth Day this year by taking a short field trip with the Lyme Land Trust to the Moulson fish ladder. Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped make this possible – Eliza Sharp, Emily Bjornberg, and Sue Cope. A special thank you to our hosts Sue Hessel and Karen Dahle.