Jamaica Plain News (https://www.jamaicaplainnews.com/category/animals)
Many of us have seen wild turkeys roam around Jamaica Plain. But how many of us have seen a smoky grey turkey? Recently, Rosetta Martini has seen a flock of turkeys by her home in the Forest Hills area, and one poult (a baby turkey) has a distinctive look to it -- smoky grey. According to Audubon.org, turkeys come in five different colors. The commonly seen color is chestnut.
Turtles, toads, frogs, and catfish were all relocated this spring as part of the Arnold Arboretum's dredging project of two of its ponds. If you've been by the trio of the Arboretum's ponds recently you probably noticed there was roping and fencing around Rehder and Faxon ponds. There were also floating and bucket traps set generously provided by Zoo New England, which caught turtles more than 80 times since April 20, said Arnold Arboretum Horticulturist Brendan Keegan to Jamaica Plain News. Keegan stressed that visitors not go around the roping and fencing, as it can stress out the Arboretum's wildlife. The number of individual turtles caught are probably in the 50 to 60 range, said Keegan.
Recently Kim Ribeiro took a walk around Jamaica Pond and look who she saw swimming -- a muskrat. Muskrats are native to North America, but aren't commonly seen. Their tails are actually covered in scales, not fur, and they can swim underwater up to 17 minutes, according to wikipedia. Muskrats probably get their name comes from a word of Algonquian (possibly Powhatan) origin, literally means "it is red", or from the Abenaki native word mòskwas, which is in the archaic English name for the animal, musquash, according to wikipedia. The name stuck because of its musky odor, which the muskrat uses to mark its territory.
In 2018, the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation announced that a site by Oakdale Street on the Southwest Corridor Park was selected to become a dog park. That proposal never came to fruition, and it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. The Oakdale Street site was chosen after public meetings and the discussion of three proposed sites. At the time there seemed to be overwhelming support for a dog park in Jamaica Plain. Fast forward to 2020 and DCR got a new commissioner with Jim Montgomery, who performed a review and evaluation of many projects.
Come warm weather Franklin Park Zoo goers will get to see the troop of gorillas outside thanks to a new outdoor habitat. The new habitat 360,000 cubic feet habitat cost $8.1 million, and was made possible by generous donors who wish to remain anonymous. The funding for the new gorilla habitat, with restricted capital donations, was made prior to the start of the pandemic, according to a press release. Six gorillas currently call Franklin Park Zoo home. Little Joe, Kitombe (Kit), his mate Kiki and their three offspring – Kambiri, Azize and Pablo, a male gorilla born in October 2020.