wildlife

News

Apartment Complex Declares War on Squirrels, Squirrel Sympathizers

By Katie Pyzyk

The flyer at the left was recently posted at the Washington & Lee Apartments (2200 2nd Street N.), threatening “legal action and fines” against those who feed the squirrels. Sandra Rose, who has been the apartment property manager for 18 years, stresses she’s not trying to be nasty, but the animals have been causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the property.

“People think they’re cute and cuddly, and they are. But they don’t always understand they’re a rodent,” Rose said. “As a rodent they do rodent type damage.”

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Around Town

Ballston Pond to be Drained for Construction

By Ethan Rothstein
The Ballston Pond (file photo)

The pond has already begun draining after Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services removed the stop logs on the pond’s weir, after which the county will begin the construction bidding and plant treatments.

Construction to the “new and improved pond design that will provide stormwater treatment benefits, as well as improved habitat for wildlife,” is expected to begin in spring 2014, according to Arlington Stormwater Outreach Specialist Jen McDonnell.

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News

Federal Funds Approved to Help Restore Four Mile Run

By ARLnow.com

The funds will allow Arlington and Alexandria to create new wetland areas near the stream, thus adding needed habitat, enhancing aesthetics and improving water quality.

“This federal grant will help us fund the crucial first phase of the comprehensive restoration of Four Mile Run,” Arlington County Board Chairman Christopher Zimmerman said in a statement. “Restoration of the wetland and stream banks in tidal Four Mile Run, which we expect to begin work on next year, is central to the effort to return the stream to a more natural, better functioning waterway that will serve people from across the region.

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News

Ballston Beaver Pond Spared From I-66 Widening Impacts

By ARLnow.com

The Ballston Beaver Pond, as it’s called, was initially designed to collect stormwater runoff from I-66. But that started to change in the 1990s when beavers moved in and dammed up the drainage system, creating a pond and wetlands to form. The Beaver Pond is now a habitat frequented by muskrat, geese, ducks, heron, egrets, redwing blackbirds, fish, turtles and the occasional beaver.

The Beaver Pond is located next to a bike trail that connects Ballston and the Custis Trail, just north of the ramp from Fairfax Drive to I-66.

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Events

To Do Tonight: Dream of Spring

By ARLnow.com

With all this talk of blizzards and groundhogs seeing their shadows, now might be a good time to willfully escape from reality and dream about spring (which is exactly a month and a half away.) Tonight, naturalist Greg Zell will lead a presentation about the wide variety of natural habitats and unique wildlife that reside within Arlington’s borders. Imagine, while everybody else is fighting for bread, milk and toilet paper at the grocery store, you can be learning about natural wonders that exist in your own backyard.

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