These weren’t just chickens.
They were beloved by the children and grownups who visited them weekly at Newton Community Farm. The Globe’s Steve Annear has the story.
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
These weren’t just chickens.
They were beloved by the children and grownups who visited them weekly at Newton Community Farm. The Globe’s Steve Annear has the story.
Crazy Divers: Men be like...
drivers man be like
So many people fretting about losing open space but no one has a comment about losing critters that occupy one of Newton’s best open spaces?
@Greg,
As it so happens the girl holding the chicken in the picture is my daughter. She was at the camp just last week. She’s very upset, and doesn’t believe it was an animal who took them all away because thats a lot of chickens to kill and take.
Its very sad, and we are discussing.
A bunch of cooped up chickens are not much of a match for a pack of coyotes. They took out the entire deer population in the preserve near Hammond pond. Parents of small children and pet owners must be aware of the threat from coyotes and exercise caution.
@Mike: if only someone had warned us about coyotes 15 years ago!
@Simon: My comment was a reference to a time when a mayoral candidate named Mike Striar was rather heavily ridiculed (by, um, me) for saying he would “hunt down and kill” all the coyotes if elected.
@Greg: If only people had been warned about Turnips several years ago!
I wouldn’t put beyond the act of one or more Coyotes.
Last year here in Newton a 10-year-old Cavalier Spaniel was no more than 20 feet away from his home when he was snatched and dragged away.
I have seen fisher cats near the farm. They’re vicious. Greg Maslowe told me that years ago he saw one eyeing the chicken coop. I suspect the culprit was a fisher, not a coyote.
I would think there would be feathers scattered around if either a coyote or fisher cat grabbed the chickens. The fisher cats were imported here several decades ago to control the porcupine population which had exploded to out of control numbers. The fisher was the only predator that could get around the quills to eat them. We used to have several cats roaming around our neighborhood until a few years back. I haven’t seen one on the loose in over a year.
Most likely the culprit is homo sapiens.
Like in a prison movie only the opposite?
Sorry to disappoint all our Village 14 conspiracy theorists: From Newton Patch this morning…
I’m more sympathetic to coyotes than I used to be. But they have killed a lot of family pets. You can’t walk a few blocks anywhere in Newton now without seeing a Lost Cat signed tacked to a telephone pole. Pet owners need to be aware of the threat, keep their cats inside, and never leave a small dog unattended in the yard.
Far more importantly, coyotes do pose a real threat to small children. Forgive the graphic example, but most coyotes are more than capable of snatching a baby from a stroller. Awareness is a more effective preventative than fear.
“So many people fretting about losing open space but no one has a comment about losing critters that occupy one of Newton’s best open spaces?”
Greg, what are you getting at? What happened at NCF is sad and big loss to the farm and the community, but there isn’t too much discussion to be had about the event. Just because this thread has been quiet doesn’t mean that people don’t care about the farm as much as they do other open space.
Racoons…maybe…don’t know if they dig tunnels tho….never heard of a coyote snatching or even killing a child…educate me ,thanks.