During Business Disruptions - Shopping Carts Escaping Into the Wild - Feral Packs Spotted In East Blue Hills (Boson Globe) 20 April 2020
While many Boson businesses are shut down because of the COVID-19 virus there has been a notable disappearance of shopping carts. At first managers thought customers were on foot and taking carts to walk home with their groceries and other purchases. A company that drives around neighborhoods picking up the stray shopping carts has said that many of the carts are actually escaping into the wild.
Philip Jackson, of the We-Pick-Up-Carts, has been studying shopping carts for decades after working as a bag boy in a local Stop and Shop and being in charge of collecting the shopping carts.
Jackson shared some of his notes for previous weeks as the number of wild shopping cart sightings increases.
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Like the very similar Green-throated Gray Wobbler, this is a cart that can be fairly secretive for most of the year and very difficult to find. You're more likely to see this species in the spring when it moves into more open areas during rutting season.
Note the black decorative plumes on the right side of the male cart in the photograph. Typically males of this species will have plumes on both sides of the basket. When competing for available females, jostling males will often lose plumes in the violent contest for a mate. More attractive, stronger males retain more of their plumes, and thus are more desirable to females.
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It's been a long time since I've been able to get out cart hunting (with my camera) but with the winter weather lessening on Half Moon Island, Boson, Massachusetts I thought that I might have a little more time to search out new species.
Last week I spotted this aggressive Black Tiger-cart near the popular Courtenay Airpark Lagoon walkway. Although normally rather timid around humans, these carts are active predators and often hunt in packs, separating the old and infirm carts from larger herds.
This Tiger-cart was alone and preoccupied with digesting its meal - in the basket you can see what remains of an unidentifiable cart and what looks to be an automobile transmission.
Field marks to look for - the sleek all black frame and medium sized basket (that is expandable to eat larger prey).
The Tofino Trundler is a very mellow cart and is non aggressive. Shy in nature, it spends most of its time rolling around the docks hoping to pick up any sort of scraps left behind by locals and tourists. Fairly unimposing and small in size, it is recognized by the patina of rust that is a result of constant exposure to the maritime air. Red highlights are noticeable in the right light conditions.
Count yourself lucky if you happen to stumble upon this delightful little trundler. Numbers have never been very high at this northern extent of its range and its solitary nature makes it difficult to find.
This is the time of year to be on the lookout for Crimson Wanderers as they make their way up the small creeks feeding into the Neponset River to spawn. It's a challenging time for female Wanderers: after the eggs are laid they spend their energy protecting the eggs, the males are off elsewhere gathered in small herds.
Sometimes the females don't survive the two weeks that it takes for the eggs to hatch into small aquatic nymphs. Such is the case with this female Crimson Wanderer near Boson's Half Moon Island.
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