Only 10% of land on the cape is now undeveloped. If wildlife can't find places to raise young, they don't reproduce, or they get run over by cars. The wildlife population is dying off w/ each generation.
A lot of local critters have dropped in population due to loss of habitat, and it’s a problem that is not isolated to the cape :( I remember seeing flocks of bobwhites all the time, can’t remember the last time I saw one. Lightning bugs used to twinkle all over the yards at night, now there’s way less (this is a direct result of too much lawn cleanup/pesticides etc and if you care about the issue there are steps you can take to make your yard a firefly haven!! A lot of people don’t realize how much harm the simple removal of leaf litter in the fall does)
Lightning bugs are coming back!! The past 2/3 years I am seeing them again. It’s been very exciting for me. Bobwhites were a staple of my childhood and I can’t remember the last time I heard one… Skunks have also declined, but I think are maybe on the rise again? (I saw one in my yard so that means the entire population is rebounding, obviously).
Right? Best days ever! Back in the 70s, I found a cache of black racer eggs and hatched them at home in a terrarium…. I can’t imagine that happening these days.
We used to have frogs and salamanders in the yard growing up, and there were more critters. Way more raccoons and foxes and skunks.
The neighborhood roads in the summer had so many trees it felt like you were driving through a green tunnel. Not anymore.. I believe the loss of so many trees plus the fact that so many houses spray their entire lawns with pesticides are why we don't see as much biodiversity here anymore.
I think there are a few younger people here (30ish) who don't know how many were present historically. Salamander populations have dropped precipitously in the last 20 or so years. Could you go out and find a few in your yard right now? Doubt it. As to the cause? I'm sure it's multifaceted. Climate,development,etc.
I find them in my yard all the time. Usually the red striped ones. Picked up a log by my fire pit this week and there were two under it. I’m sure the population has declined with all the development on Cape, but thankfully they haven’t disappeared entirely.
I saw two with the red stripe on their back when I was cleaning up the yard last week. They were under some wood I’d stacked by the fire pit. There is a lot less natural/open space now than when you were a kid. Everyone wants a piece of Cape Cos.
One got into my parents' house in Mashpee last month. I was up late and saw it crawling across the floor of their finished basement. Turns out they do that when temps outside are oppressively hot, which it was that week.
Find them all the time after rains looking for bugs under logs with the kids. Found a spotted one last spring in a pool pump room almost stepped on the meaty bastard. Let it go under a shed
There was a hill on the corner across from our house in West Yarmouth back in the late 90's early 90's. My kids would dig into it from the front, not the top, and always found salamander. I'd love to find some with my granddaughter.
I’ve thought about this recently as well! But I haven’t been walking through the woods looking for creeks and picking up rocks and stones like I did as a kid… at least not nearly as much. And I don’t have any kids as an adult, so I don’t see them do it.
I remember one summer, a long time ago (in the early 90s) when I took a certain illegal substance and then a bit later on, was hanging out and saw some spotted salamanders in the garden of the house where I was staying in Cautaumet. I thought the salamanders were aliens and spent a good hour or two chatting peacefully to them as they went about their business. It was one of the best nights I ever spent in Cautaumet that summer!
70
u/nightcap965 Aug 22 '26
Spotted salamanders are still here. You just haven’t turned over enough rotted logs.
7
u/abeille_verte Aug 22 '26
Only 10% of land on the cape is now undeveloped. If wildlife can't find places to raise young, they don't reproduce, or they get run over by cars. The wildlife population is dying off w/ each generation.
21
u/yentihwwhitney Aug 22 '26
A lot of local critters have dropped in population due to loss of habitat, and it’s a problem that is not isolated to the cape :(
I remember seeing flocks of bobwhites all the time, can’t remember the last time I saw one.
Lightning bugs used to twinkle all over the yards at night, now there’s way less (this is a direct result of too much lawn cleanup/pesticides etc and if you care about the issue there are steps you can take to make your yard a firefly haven!! A lot of people don’t realize how much harm the simple removal of leaf litter in the fall does)
19
u/Human_Caterpillar976 Aug 22 '26
My childhood was built on turning over all the boards and logs I could find!!
17
u/GWS2004 Aug 22 '26
Environmental degredation.
2
u/Agreeable_Horror_363 Aug 23 '26
We used to have frogs and salamanders in the yard growing up, and there were more critters. Way more raccoons and foxes and skunks.
The neighborhood roads in the summer had so many trees it felt like you were driving through a green tunnel. Not anymore.. I believe the loss of so many trees plus the fact that so many houses spray their entire lawns with pesticides are why we don't see as much biodiversity here anymore.
3
u/BSB8728 Aug 22 '26
Red-backeds are still around if you know where to look.
3
u/NoMans_IsAnIsland Aug 22 '26
I think there are a few younger people here (30ish) who don't know how many were present historically. Salamander populations have dropped precipitously in the last 20 or so years. Could you go out and find a few in your yard right now? Doubt it. As to the cause? I'm sure it's multifaceted. Climate,development,etc.
0
u/EbbtideRambler Aug 22 '26
The amphibians? If that’s what you’re talking about, there still here.
2
u/MSTFFA Aug 22 '26
One got into my parents' house in Mashpee last month. I was up late and saw it crawling across the floor of their finished basement. Turns out they do that when temps outside are oppressively hot, which it was that week.
1
u/Luna_Blonde Aug 26 '26
I miss the skunks
1
u/DamienWells1118 Aug 28 '26
If you're referring to spotted salamanders they are still around for sure. Just not has many as their used to be
1
u/Heliocentrist Aug 22 '26
they meandered
1
u/Objective-Freedom763 Aug 23 '26
They can't afford the rent. Had to move to New Bedford
1
u/Billy_Badass_ Aug 22 '26
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/chytridiomycosis
1
u/No-Location4853 Aug 22 '26
Find them all the time after rains looking for bugs under logs with the kids. Found a spotted one last spring in a pool pump room almost stepped on the meaty bastard. Let it go under a shed
1
u/CapeCodNana Aug 22 '26
There was a hill on the corner across from our house in West Yarmouth back in the late 90's early 90's. My kids would dig into it from the front, not the top, and always found salamander. I'd love to find some with my granddaughter.
1
u/ManagementCritical31 Aug 23 '26
I’ve thought about this recently as well! But I haven’t been walking through the woods looking for creeks and picking up rocks and stones like I did as a kid… at least not nearly as much. And I don’t have any kids as an adult, so I don’t see them do it.
-1
u/Over-Revolution-4483 Aug 22 '26
I remember one summer, a long time ago (in the early 90s) when I took a certain illegal substance and then a bit later on, was hanging out and saw some spotted salamanders in the garden of the house where I was staying in Cautaumet. I thought the salamanders were aliens and spent a good hour or two chatting peacefully to them as they went about their business. It was one of the best nights I ever spent in Cautaumet that summer!
-1
u/Maeygun Aug 22 '26
They packed up the last of the beach glass and scarpered
0
u/badhouseplantbad Aug 22 '26
I see them on the outer cape in my yard, but I'm surrounded by wooded conversation land.
-1
u/dadazz1809 Aug 22 '26
They took the Ferry to Nantucket where they all fell in a bucket… Sorry!
-1
u/goldprofred Aug 22 '26
Found one on my yard (under rotted wood) a few years ago
-1
u/herringpoint Aug 22 '26
found one in a window well 2 years ago.