What "Nature-based" things do you like/not like about Long Island? (New York: buy, pharmacist)

[hotkarl]

There were bears and wolves and coyotes on the Island way back when.
Rattlesnakes too. We killed everything over the years to put up all those vacant strip malls and assisted living housing.

I love the ocean, I'm a retired surfer, ha!
But there is nothing like jumping into a pristine body of fresh water.
No scuzzy dried salt feeling after you get out, no burning eyeballs, no yucky salt taste, no sharks, no seaweed, no medical waste washing up, etc...

[LauraC]

I don't know if geography qualifies for the question.

Worst Aspect: geographical position. Having to go through some part of NYC to leave it by car. In any kind of a disaster scenario, too many people would die simply because they could not easily evacuate.

runner up: ticks and mosquitos



Best Aspect: geographical shape. You really can't get lost on Long Island. Head north or south and you are bound to run into some major road/hwy going west/east fairly quickly.

runner up: beaches

[geo123]

Originally Posted by Peter B

The water in those aquifers still contain many cancer causing chemicals. Cancer clusters exist all around LI, especially in the Glen Cove/Rosyln area. Weapons plants from WWII have polluted the aquifers for many years and are responsible for instances of breast cancer 10 times the national average. The aquifers are nowhere NEAR far enough underground to prevent cancer causing chemicals from all over LI polluting them. Don't believe otherwise.

Peter - the air you breathe has so many more cancer causing chemicals than the tap water you drink, it is no comparison. Everything you come into contact with is inherently hazardous, not to mention the people you meet every day that may be carriers of disease. Do you have definitive proof that "Weapons plants from WWII have polluted the aquifers for many years and are responsible for instances of breast cancer" ? How about other parts of the country that have WWII vintage weapons plants ?? Or that don't have weapons plants and still have breast cancer outbreaks. To blame any health issues like breast cancer on the public tap water you drink is idiotic and irresponsible. Throughout the country, public tap water is about the safest thing you can put into your body.

[LIMA]

Originally Posted by Peter B

The water in those aquifers still contain many cancer causing chemicals. Cancer clusters exist all around LI, especially in the Glen Cove/Rosyln area. Weapons plants from WWII have polluted the aquifers for many years and are responsible for instances of breast cancer 10 times the national average. The aquifers are nowhere NEAR far enough underground to prevent cancer causing chemicals from all over LI polluting them. Don't believe otherwise.

I have to agree with this, not mentioning what i have seen and where that is on top of that stuff...

I do not drink the water, and neither do my dogs...

There are many areas watched by the epa for leaching further down....those are the areas they know to watch.

Now for things i dislike keeping to the nature topic...

Mosquitos, termites, ticks, deer.

Until you drive home and have a deer jump from your neighbors yard over his fence into/thru your windshield almost stab your wife with it's antlers....

You won't mind hunting deer to extinction on long island

Not to mention they carry ticks to get you, your kids and your dogs sick or die...

Just a bigger version of rat, and if not sick you can eat...

[Johninwestbury]

What I love are the pine barrens and barrier beaches. The sea breeze helps keep us cooler in summer. However the weather here is getting too cloudy and moist, it wasnt like this when I was growing up. The ticks are very bad too, due to less severe winters.

[Johninwestbury]

Originally Posted by dman72

I too wish we had swimmable Lakes. Lake Ronkonkoma is a crime, the way it was treated and allowed to degrade. The entire shoreline looks like a glass recycling bin. I can't believe people actually swim there.

I like the woods. The natural topography of the North Shore in Head of the Harbor and Nissequogue is magical to me. The South Shore Ocean beaches, especially out in East Hampton, are great.

Imagine how much different Lake Ronkonkoma would've been if development was curbed in the area. The lake is surrounded by development and suffers as a result.

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by lialleycat

I think it's just a matter of time before the Pine Barren's have coyotes. There have been reports of coyotes in Jamaica Bay, but I haven't heard anything recently. Coyotes would be great for the local environment and may help with the deer overpopulation problem, which would limit the tick populations.

Field mice serve as deer tick vectors. The only benefit to the deer population being culled by a predator (other than man) would be the reduced pressure on their limited food sources. It would provide for a healthier herd. The ticks will still be riding on the mice -- culled herd or not.

[Johninwestbury]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Field mice serve as deer tick vectors. The only benefit to the deer population being culled by a predator (other than man) would be the reduced pressure on their limited food sources. It would provide for a healthier herd. The ticks will still be riding on the mice -- culled herd or not.

Awwww...

[lialleycat]

Originally Posted by OhBeeHave

Field mice serve as deer tick vectors. The only benefit to the deer population being culled by a predator (other than man) would be the reduced pressure on their limited food sources. It would provide for a healthier herd. The ticks will still be riding on the mice -- culled herd or not.

In areas where the deer populations are reduced, the tick population was also reduced. Not eliminated, but reduced. Of course if NYS would allow it on a larger scale, the 4-poster device has been effective in significantly reducing tick populations (since it kills the ticks on the deer), but since the lure is food based and feeding deer in NY is illegal, no 4-posters for the larger area. They are conducting experiments with the devise on Fire Island. So far, I've heard positive effects from them.

So instead of feeding deer a few kernels of corn to attract them to rub against the pesticide rollers, NY would rather it's citizens be debilitated by Lyme Disease and the other diseases that ticks carry.

[thebobs]

Regarding the water, last week I was using it and I noticed a clorox smell coming from the tap. We don't use clorox and it is public water, so I'm not sure if it really was clorox in the water or something else that just happen to smell like it. It has gone away but thank goodness we don't drink it.