Nesquehoning (31-May-2016)

I had posts to catch up on, so I wanted to keep the clean-up short and close to home. I decided to take an access road down to the Nesquehoning Creek. Too often there is trash along this dirt road and I expected there would be some on this outing. 

The first item I came across was this dumped tv. This is not an item I can take and I see more of them dumped all the time. There isn't any place I know of taking them for free anymore, if there was I would remove every one I came across.

This left me scratching my head. Plastic and metal hanging baskets. In order to get to this access road, you have to pass the recycling center. Both the plastic pots and metal are accepted at the center. The individual who dumped these had to do more work than just dropping them off at the proper disposal. I only had my pack on me, so I left these for now, I will try to get back there soon to pick them up.

This Red Eft was slowly making his way across the access road. It brightened the hike up a little bit after seeing the recently dumped items. 

This Tiger Beetle was also on the access road. These like to hang out in cleared areas like dirt roads and trails. When you approach them their normal behavior is to fly down the path five to ten feet and land. Some will repeat this over and over again if you keep walking toward them. 

Along the road there were bottles and cans. Where the road meets the Nesquehoning Creek, there were small piles of bottles and cans. I do not go to this area often anymore and every time I do it is always the same thing. The others that go here simply just do not care, the woods serve as their garbage can. Just how can someone reach these people and change their perspective on things? I am still trying to figure that out.

Penny made the coolest find of the day. She started pulling me towards this and when I realized what she was after I had to pull her back. A carcass full of Carrion Beetles! You may not like them, you may think the photo is gross, but they do a very beneficial job for the environment and us. In this photo there are at least two similar, yet different species. Carrion beetles can also be found on decaying fungus and scat. Cans, especially beer cans with contents left inside act as attractants and traps to these beetles. We need these beetles around and litter kills them.  

By the end I did fill my pack, Penny had a good enough walk for the day and I was able to catch up on my blog posts. I did put this one off though, so it is a little more than a day late. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA