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September 17, 1998 - A weekend of crabs and caterpillarsSeptember 17, 1998 • The Suffolk Times • 7A A weekend of crabs and caterpillars Sunday morning of Labor Day week- end most people are asleep, but as age catches up with you those mornings of staying in bed have less and less appeal and early rising makes more sense. Perhaps FOCUS our unconscious ON inner time clock knows something NATURE we don't. What- by Paul ever it is, I'm glad StoutenbuMh it's working, for these early -morn- ing hours carry with them a certain charm and peace that the rest of the day misses in its busy holiday hustle and bus- tle. Outside we had hot blueberry muffins and coffee overlooking our dew - drenched pasture to the east. The two cows munched, head down, in their usual feeding positions, their tails only occasionally swinging as the pesky flies hadn't yet shown up. Once the sun comes up and warms them, the flies will start their attack and the tails of both cows will be busy throughout the day until the cool of evening once again gives them relief. The rooster hasn't yet start- ed his proclamation that he is king of the roost and will challenge any and all. It's been a wonderful summer with hardly a lost weekend due to rain or bad weather. Some almost wished for a break in the never - ending days of sun and sparkling water. Even the crabs returned this summer to our creeks in numbers that mimic the early days of my youth, when crabbing was a normal part of everyday life. We were lucky and had a good mess of blue crabs last week. Knowing that crabs can live a short time out of water and boiling them up didn't fit into my schedule when we returned, I left them in the back of the pickup for the next day. All went well, except, when I went to get my crabs, I found four or five had gotten out and were now crouched in various parts of the pickup body. It was good I had put them there for crabs have the natural ability to climb out not only from a basket, but out of the crab net as you try to catch them. Needless to say, all the escapees were rounded up and received their due fate in the kitchen. Later that day we had occasion to go out, and on our return trip, as I swung into our 200- foot -long driveway, I noticed something ahead of me. I stopped and got out, and to and behold, there in the pathway was one of my crabs heading down its newfound freedom road. The creek, by the way, was just across the road from the driveway. Could the crab have known that and was heading for water? And how did it get out of the pickup? I guess the answer was that one edge of my basket lay alongside the body of the truck and Mr. Crab climbed over this and fell to the ground. All the rest took another route and fell back into the truck and could go nowhere. It brought to mind again my youth, when crabs were plentiful and buckets and baskets of crabs bristled at the back door. Often a few would escape and we'd find them wandering about the yard and if we did- n't find them it wouldn't be long before our noses would locate them. Fall brings changes Yes, the summer is just about over and with it comes a changing world for many. One such change came when the young person in charge of These translucent cases — jade colored, about the thickness of your pinkie and approximately one inch long — were marvelous to see. They were decorated with a golden necklace and spots that gave them a jewel -like luster. She knew that it would only be about 12 days before the butterflies would emerge and so the waiting game started. Soon relatives and neighbors became ing chrysalises, to my amazement I saw three monarch butterflies dangling from their spent cases. They were still wet, with yet - unfurled wings. I quickly spread the word and soon a collection of eyes were peering in at this remarkable transformation taking place before us. It's hard to imagine that a monarch or milkweed caterpillar fits into this small chrysalis and comes out a beautiful, big, a butterfly house at a local nursery this summer was get- A yello ting ready to leave for the sea - phosis, son and close the butterfly terfly house. He still had some unfold) undeveloped butterflies in translu their caterpillar form and when our daughter made a stop at the nursery she was asked if she would like to have some of them in hopes they would go through metamorphosis (the change from a caterpillar into a butter- fly) and emerge as butterflies in her classroom. She teaches fifth grade and was excited about the opportunity of bringing this magic to her students. All went well except nature's timing, which was out of sync with the opening of school, and before she knew it each caterpillar had formed its chrysalis. Suffolk Times photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh w aand -black striped green caterpillar forms a chrysalis and after 12 days of metamor- emerges Into a beautiful orangend�black butterfly. Upper left: empty casing that but on left (holding on to early stage of chrysalis) emerged from; center: butterfly still ng after emerging from case to Its right; right: butterfly almost ready to fly; far right: cent case with butterfly formed and ready to break out; lower right: empty case. interested in the wondrous changes tak- ing place in the time capsules before them. As time went on you could begin to see a color change taking place within the chrysalis. They became darker and upon close examination you could actu- ally see the wings of a butterfly starting to form. Excitement rose, but all this took time as the chores of daily life took over. Yet there were some watchful eyes keeping tabs on them and hourly reports were verbally given and passed on to all. As I walked by the collection of hang- BIRDS AND BULBS 0 . , It's time to put out feeders to establish your yard as the place to be this winter! It's time to plant bulbs to establish as the place to be next spring! your yard ATTITUCK FLORIS Main Road Mattituck & GARDEN SHOPT 298 - 5840 ®® Open 7 Days orange- and -black butterfly. From then on it was a continuous show of butter- flies emerging. Now that we had all these butterflies, what were we to do with them? Thank goodness there's a period of time between their emergence and the time they are ready to fly. Our little green- house became a nursery area for the newly arrived butterflies. As time passed their wings filled out and started to move. Our part of their journey was over. Now it was up to them to fly away. One by one they took to the air. Hopefully they will join the millions of monarchs now migrating southward down our eastern seaboard. Some will go as far as Mexico. Each fall you can witness this but- terfly migration along our barrier beaches. The best and easiest place to see them is at the county's Smith Point Park at the south end of William Floyd Parkway. If you haven't visited this mammoth park you should do so, and who knows, you might be lucky enough to be there when the hawks pass through on their migration as well. This end of the William Floyd Parkway is also the easterly end of the Fire Island National Seashore. Here the federal government has built a fabulous handicap boardwalk through the dunes that affords easy access through this dif- ficult and restricted area. There are handy guides you can pick up at the ranger station, along with bench stops where one can stop and rest while tak- ing in the wonders of a barrier island. For six summers I led walks through this and other parts of this magnificent Na- tional Seashore. I can assure you it is well worth the effort to explore either the Smith Point County Park or the National Seashore at Smith Point. ! t ' Ix Pp k �' • r AW o t xro 4) d& a butterfly house at a local nursery this summer was get- A yello ting ready to leave for the sea - phosis, son and close the butterfly terfly house. He still had some unfold) undeveloped butterflies in translu their caterpillar form and when our daughter made a stop at the nursery she was asked if she would like to have some of them in hopes they would go through metamorphosis (the change from a caterpillar into a butter- fly) and emerge as butterflies in her classroom. She teaches fifth grade and was excited about the opportunity of bringing this magic to her students. All went well except nature's timing, which was out of sync with the opening of school, and before she knew it each caterpillar had formed its chrysalis. Suffolk Times photo by Barbara Stoutenburgh w aand -black striped green caterpillar forms a chrysalis and after 12 days of metamor- emerges Into a beautiful orangend�black butterfly. Upper left: empty casing that but on left (holding on to early stage of chrysalis) emerged from; center: butterfly still ng after emerging from case to Its right; right: butterfly almost ready to fly; far right: cent case with butterfly formed and ready to break out; lower right: empty case. interested in the wondrous changes tak- ing place in the time capsules before them. As time went on you could begin to see a color change taking place within the chrysalis. They became darker and upon close examination you could actu- ally see the wings of a butterfly starting to form. Excitement rose, but all this took time as the chores of daily life took over. Yet there were some watchful eyes keeping tabs on them and hourly reports were verbally given and passed on to all. As I walked by the collection of hang- BIRDS AND BULBS 0 . , It's time to put out feeders to establish your yard as the place to be this winter! It's time to plant bulbs to establish as the place to be next spring! your yard ATTITUCK FLORIS Main Road Mattituck & GARDEN SHOPT 298 - 5840 ®® Open 7 Days orange- and -black butterfly. From then on it was a continuous show of butter- flies emerging. Now that we had all these butterflies, what were we to do with them? Thank goodness there's a period of time between their emergence and the time they are ready to fly. Our little green- house became a nursery area for the newly arrived butterflies. As time passed their wings filled out and started to move. Our part of their journey was over. Now it was up to them to fly away. One by one they took to the air. Hopefully they will join the millions of monarchs now migrating southward down our eastern seaboard. Some will go as far as Mexico. Each fall you can witness this but- terfly migration along our barrier beaches. The best and easiest place to see them is at the county's Smith Point Park at the south end of William Floyd Parkway. If you haven't visited this mammoth park you should do so, and who knows, you might be lucky enough to be there when the hawks pass through on their migration as well. This end of the William Floyd Parkway is also the easterly end of the Fire Island National Seashore. Here the federal government has built a fabulous handicap boardwalk through the dunes that affords easy access through this dif- ficult and restricted area. There are handy guides you can pick up at the ranger station, along with bench stops where one can stop and rest while tak- ing in the wonders of a barrier island. For six summers I led walks through this and other parts of this magnificent Na- tional Seashore. I can assure you it is well worth the effort to explore either the Smith Point County Park or the National Seashore at Smith Point.