Rabbit Video – New England or Eastern Cottontail? Among Phil LeMontagne’s amazing wildlife videos is this close-up of a rabbit really enjoying some plantain. Notice the active ear action. Distinguishing the rarer native New England Cottontail from the more common Eastern Cottontail is tricky. If you know which one this is, let us know. Click here to watch the video.
Water Chestnut UpdateIt has been a strange year for water chestnut removal. Lots of rain and the consequent flooding of the Connecticut River in late July made the water dirty and full of debris. That stopped all activity for several weeks. These conditions harmed wildlife, but they also stunted the growth of invasive plants, or so it seems. Our final outing will be a mega-pull on Pecausett Pond on Wed. Aug. 23, at 6 p.m. See details here.
Reduce Waste & Improve Food Quality in Schools.
Middletown’s Recycling Coordinator, Kim O’Rourke, is spearheading the city’s effort to eliminate single use items such as plastic sporks and paper boats in the school cafeterias and replace them with reusable items such as real plates and utensils. Citizen contributions to this effort will be matched dollar for dollar by the Sustainable CT Matching Grant fund. More information is available here.
Find out what's happening in Middletownfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Electricity Rate Update
Electricity rates have stabilized at a lower level following last winter’s steep rise. Residential generation rates from 3rd party suppliers are now in the 12 cents per kilowatt-hour area. Visit EnergizeCT and click on the “supplier rate finder” to see current offerings.
Air Line Trail – Farmington Canal Trail Connector is about to begin. The RiverCOG is managing the project, and VHB has been selected as the engineering consulting company. The image below shows the areas to be studied. The final proposed route is to be determined by the study.
